2021

Bestiale Comedìa and Eclissica

Bestiale Comedìa

Anniversaries offer the chance to measure the passing of time and the changes that come with it, but also the opportunity to value time that did not pass and what is left behind. In 2021 there was the sevenhundredth anniversary of Dante Alighieri's death, so it's quite natural that Vinicio Capossela, an artist who has been working on making ancient figures and topics new, thought of a project that started from the Divine Comedy, to land on the shores of his repertoire.

The musical, artistic and literary research that Capossela carries on from a long time is full of references to Dante. Although the explicit Divine Comedy quotes belong especially to the album «Marinai, profeti e balene», released in 2011, the metaphysic universe of Dante echoes in the entirety of Capossela's discography. So, "Bestiale Comedìa", a concert aimed at celebrating Dante drew from this wide repertoire: a real journey between saints, mytical creatures, beasts, heroes and, most of all, sinners.

The musicians performing in this tour have been Vincenzo Vasi and Raffaele Tiseo, replaced in a few shows by Giovannangelo De Gennaro. They supported Capossela, just as Virgil and Beatrice, in facing one of the most incredible, wonderful and monumental works in the history of literature.

Artistic notes

Getting close to Dante is like getting close to human nature's well. I first got interested in Dante thanks to the hero of my youth, the damned and bohémian painter Amedeo Modigliani, who knew Dante's verses by heart.

The attraction for humanity, for its myths, for the sublime, for Hell, for sin and virtue, for everythign that ariuses wonder, is what has been leading my artistic journey for the last fifteen years. There is nothing that cannot be found in Dante's works. Saints, heroes, vicious people, a certain attraction for mysticism, an encyclopedic vision of the world, whose topic is the entirety of nature, starting from human nature, what fascinates me the most. Many books have been important to me, but only Dante holds them all.

Vinicio Capossela

Introduction. Ulysses from XXVI Chant

Directed by Simone Cecchetti and Emiliana Aligeri during the concert played in Verona, on July 22nd 2021.

The concerts

«Bestiale Comedìa» has been hosted all through Italy, but also had two foreign stops in Bruxelles and Dubai. The tour has been arranged by International Music and Arts.

These were the tour dates:

10th July / Trani (BAT) / Piazza della Cattedrale

22nd July / Verona / Teatro Romano

23rd July / Gavi (AL) / Forte di Gavi

24th July / Castelnuovo Magra (SP) / Piazza Querciola

26th July / Firenze / Piazza Santissima Annunciata

27th July / Castiglione del Lago (PG) / Rocca del Leone

28th July / Carditello (CE) / Real Sito

30th July / Pescara / Teatro D'Annunzio

31st July / Tagliacozzo (AQ) / Chiostro di San Francesco

1st August / Vasto (CH) / Piazza del Popolo

3rd August / Melpignano (LE) / Piazza San Giorgio

4th August / Laterza (TA) / Sagrato Chiesa Mater Domini

7th August / Gibellina (TP) / Cretto di Burri

8th August / Piazza Armerina (EN) / Piazza Cattedrale

10th August / Ragusa / Castello di Donnafugata

12th August / Borgia (CZ) / Parco Archeologico di Scolacium

20th September / Bruxelles (Belgium) / Botanique

23rd October / Mantova / Teatro Sociale

11th November / Salerno / Teatro Verdi

29th November / Dubai (UAE) / Expo 2020

6th December / Ancona / Teatro Muse

8th December / Avellino / Teatro Gesualdo

16th December / Bologna / Teatro Duse

28th December / Rome / Auditorium Parco della Musica - Sala Santa Cecilia

At Burri's "Cretto" in Gibellina (TP)
In Pescara.
In Florence.
In Verona.
In Verona.

21st September 2021. «Invito al viaggio», Vinicio Capossela plays «La torre»

A song that has been played during the whole «Bestiale Comedìa» tour is «La torre» by Franco Battiato. Capossela explains the motivation of his choice in this video taken from the show «Invito al viaggio» which was held at Verona's Arena on 21th September 2021 and hosted on 5th January 2022 on Rai 3. The musicians, except for Capossela, were Vincenzo Vasi, Raffaele Tiseo, Giovannangelo De Gennaro and Alberto De Grandis.

Eclissica

On 30th September 2021 Capossela published his new book, named «Eclissica», with Feltrinelli.

«Eclissica» is a journey in Capossela's life and work in the last fifteen years, it is a book coming from the darkness of an eclypse, proceeding through flashes.

Life, like the sun, burns the eyes if you watch it while it is on flames. It is necessary to watch it through a small glass and for Capossela, writing has been that small glass. In fact, destiny, just like a whale, reveals itself when it is gone, a moment before getting back into the shadow.

The cover photo was shot by Agne Raceviciute, the content layout is an idea of Jacopo Leone.