Future Classic Women Awards – Luciana Di Bella

Hello and welcome to the 5th edition of Future Classical Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station, the program where we search for the most amazing new female artists on the classical panorama. Today on Future Classical Women Awards, we have a very special guest. Um, she was a nominee on the very first edition of Future Classical Women Awards, so we're very happy to welcome back soprano Luciana Di Bella. Hello, Luciana! Hi, good evening, Stefania, and everybody. Sure, very happy to see you. We were together, um, just few days ago for a very special occasion, and that's how we came together to, to come back on Future Classic Women Awards to share the beautiful rendition that you made of the Italian anthem, uh, by Mameli. Um, so would you like to tell us a little bit about where we met and what was this and why you recorded this special arrangement of the national anthem of Italy. Yeah, sure. The special event was the Festa della Repubblica, the Italian— Republic Day. Exactly, the Italian Republic Day. And the place was the Minor House in the heart of London. And I was the soprano singing the Italian anthem and the English anthem too. But of course, to make that day more special with the Consul, we decided to make a new version of the Italian anthem. And I asked for it because I felt that I wanted to sing something less martial and much more intense and nostalgic. And they accepted, so there was a great opportunity to work on it with the arranger Massimiliano Pace from Italy. He's in Rome, and he immediately accepted the challenge because it was challenging to change something so important and make it so different. Because it's a totally different and emotional approach to the Italian anthem. Well, this is something, you know, that belongs when you're talking about, you know, uh, the culture, the identity of a country. So the national anthem is something very special. So you need to be brave in a way. Yeah, to change it in a way. Yes, I have to say it was a beautiful rendition, so I'm— we're gonna share it in a moment. Um, but you know, it was very special, particularly because, you know, you, you were singing in front of, um, uh, 700 of the best, uh, of the Made in Italy, uh, in the UK. Uh, and, um, you know, there was the consul, the ambassadors, and so many champions of the Made in Italy. Um, so, you know, to be chosen to perform the national anthem is something that, um, I guess might be somehow scary as well. Were you excited? Or a lot? Or— I was very excited, a little bit scared, honestly. Also because I was, uh, doing something, uh, different. So I, I was a bit scared about the reaction that people could have about the new version. But the moment has been very special because Everyone of them was silent and very focused and very emotional. So it was hard to keep my emotion low because there was people crying. So it was very intense. And it's been a very intense moment for everyone of us, I think. But even more, you recorded the video where this version of the national anthem is played, and that's in support of Emilia-Romagna that was recently flooded. And, you know, under such a catastrophic event, everyone was talking all around the world about this. We decided to link something important, uh, the fundraising for, uh, the rebuilding of the Emilia-Romagna, because it's been really dramatic. And I saw— I was in Italy a few days after the, the tragedy happened, and it was because probably from here the perception could be less strong, but there, watching TV and seeing what was really happening was really terrible. So I felt I needed to do something useful for them, and I didn't know what I could do. And I think this is what I can do. I can sing for, for make some money for these people and to help them to return back to their good life, because, because it was really, really, really bad. So I think it's a way to be close to my country being far. Absolutely. Well, you know, Luciana is a professor of the London Performing Academy of Music, and she's been working with our Ukrainian refugee students that we managed to save from the war. And the word you're saying, they are exactly the same that apply to our students when they're performing the Ukrainian music in the In that case, their country is still under siege. Their, um, their house have been destroyed by the bombing, and the only thing they can do, and they— what they know to do best, is to sing or to make music. Exactly. And keep the country alive, because music and culture is the identity of the country. So if you can keep that alive, you you will always have Ukraine alive, even if, you know, the war would end with Russia making Ukraine a region of Russia. And as you said, you know, for us, for anyone really, music has this power of transporting you in a faraway land. And so when you are abroad, away from your country, and your country's suffering, like what was happening in Emilia-Romagna— and I am from that region, yeah, Very lucky that no one of my family got affected by this, but we were very near to that. So the bridges, you know, were destroyed, the area were isolated, my nephew couldn't go to school, and we would be talking to them every day, you know, worried that this flooding would reach them. So we've been blessed in that sense. And the music, that's exactly what can bring us together. I guess we felt a little bit the same during the COVID as well, when we were all separated, isolated. You would have, particularly in Italy, that is where the lockdown started, you would have opera singers singing from the balcony, and then everyone started doing the same. So that's really very powerful. So let's listen to the Il canto degli italiani, or the Mameli anthem, from the national Italian anthem, arranged and performed at the piano by Massimiliano Pace and sung by our special guest of Future Classical Awards, Luciana Di Bella. Sitting close, not distant, to the river Victoria, let your love be a tunnel Il canto degli italiani by Mameli, performed by our special guest of Future Classic Women Awards, Luciana Di Bella. Luciana, this was absolutely beautiful and it was really, really special. Now, your collaboration with Massimiliano, who was the pianist performing this version of the Italian anthem and the arranger, goes for the— you know, you've done— you're doing actually currently something very special Um, so you have, um, an album that is coming out soon, and the single from this album, uh, it's called Baby Mine. So before we listen to this special, um, single that was released in January this year, would you like to tell us about this special collaboration? Yes. Oh, I met Massimiliano around 10 years ago. So we've been in touch for all these years. Then I went away from Italy. So they— we never had the opportunity to start a collaboration. He's a composer and a pianist, as he said, and he works a lot as a composer for theater in Italy and different projects, also audio and visual projects. Project. So he's a very peculiar artist because he was born as a totally classical pianist, so his job was just to play concerts, and he expanded his, his work. Last year we decided to start to experiment something together, so we started recording last summer, his album, his album 7 Days. No, sorry, 21 Days, not 7 Days. Sting album. No, 21 Days. And it was really special because it was an experiment for both, for me approaching his music and for him approaching my voice, because I knew it was good. He knew I was good. But, you know, there is a chemistry in music that has to work. And it was— we were blown up by, by the result. So after a while, uh, I, uh, thought, uh, about making an album and to call it Lullaby. Lullaby, it's a very special title. And, uh, the album is around the lullabies, but it's not the lullaby for just for children. So, you know, simplified music to, uh, to make the children fall asleep. Yes, or entertain children. But it's something more. It's more, much more conceptual. It's a concept is a place, is a place where you can release your tension, where you can cuddle maybe your, your inner child. Because there's something that we often, uh, don't think about— our inner child. And, uh, so Lullaby is, uh, is a little more than just songs to sleep. It's the surrender place, a music place where you can, uh, surrender, just finding your peace, where there is no sex, there is no tension, there is no aggressivity. So this is the idea, and it was born— this idea came up because I was, uh, cuddling a child. I was holding the child of one of my students, and, uh, and I was telling the story that in my whole life, anytime I, uh, I was holding a child or, uh, or some child was listening to my voice or some of my recordings, they fell asleep. They didn't know me, and it was really magical because you say, why? How is that possible? Because a child that never saw me before, so it's something else. It's a perception, is a feeling. It's not in their consciousness. And exactly when I was telling about this story, this 1-month child, uh, Lorenzo felt asleep. And one of my friends told me, oh, look at him. And he made— they made a picture. So I have this picture of this child that was totally relaxed and deeply sleeping on my shoulder. And it was the first time I saw him. So because many times I have a recording of La Simenzina, there is an ancient lullaby, Sicilian lullaby, And some people, you can find it on YouTube, and some people sometimes talk, my, some of my family, some my mom, my dad, or something connected to me, to tell, oh, my, my daughter just sleep with this song. So you can't imagine how many times we have listening, uh, and have listened it. So this is— I think that this is quite, uh, interesting and powerful. So I said, why don't we realize an album on Lullaby? Release? Yeah, obviously say yes. Okay, okay, I, I accept the challenge. And I like to call it Lullaby also because my dad, when I was a child called me Lulla. Like Lala. Yeah, exactly. That is the beginning of the word. So it is cute, I think, and interesting. So we decided to choose some lullabies between some of the most famous lullabies in the world. And here is my question. The first one that you released, the first single out of the upcoming album, it's Baby Mine. So that's from, um, is a rework of the soundtrack of the very famous Walt Disney movie, uh, animation movie Dumbo. So why, why have you chosen this one? Because we're gonna listen to others that are, uh, very famous, more classical, because you come from classical. Um, so why Baby Mine? Consider that I can consider this album crossover, as in England we love to call it. Yeah, I decided for Baby Mine because, uh, you know, in your memories sometimes music is so powerful. So it reminded me some very nice moments, nice emotions. Emotions of when I was a child or when my sister was a child, because we have a big difference, so I can't say I grew up her. So I decided to sing this piece because it's beautiful and because it was connected to very strong emotions. And And yeah, this is not performed as a classical song because it's not. But as I said, I consider this album a crossover. So we decided to— and I choose the songs. In Italy, we say "a cuore." I mean, it's not the same. With your heart. With my heart, exactly. It's not a scientific research of, or a philosophical research. It's something more connected to, to, uh, to heart and to the, the feelings and to the emotions connected to songs. And I can see and I observe that anytime I talk about, uh, this album and I say Lullaby, people is immediately interested because I think we all need a place where we can, we can surrender, we can relax, we can for a while go in a different place. Wonderful. Let's listen then, Baby Mine from the movie Dumbo, reworked by pianist and arranger Massimiliano Pace and sung by our beautiful guest of Future Classic Women Awards, Luciana Di Bella. Baby mine, dry your eyes. Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine. Little one, when you you play. Don't you mind what they say. Let those eyes sparkle and shine. Never a tear, baby of mine. Idhenu, sweet little you. They'd end up loving you too. All the same people who scorned you What they'd give just for the right to hold you, from your head to your toes. You're not much goodness, no. But you're so precious to me, cute as can be. Baby, you're mine. Baby mine, don't you cry. Baby mine, dry your eyes. Rest your head close to my heart, never to part. Baby of mine. And so this was Baby Mine, the latest single released by Luciana Di Bella and arranged by Massimiliano Pace, available in all the streaming services and the download and online music shop. Beautiful, beautiful version. Now, um, actually, Luciana, we were gonna play something, but because I'm so curious about this album and I think this is really beautiful beautiful. I would like to play another one of your tracks, uh, so that has not been released yet. So this will come out with the album. So it's in, um, anteprima, uh, so it's the UK first. Um, and so this is Butterfly. Now this is actually, uh, from Madama Butterfly is the choir, um, the beautiful choir that everybody knows and that is sung with your in mute, so with your mouth shut, with no words. So would you like to tell us a little bit about this piece? Yes, um, last summer I went to the first, uh, of Madame Butterfly here at the Royal Opera House. It was amazing. That moment when the choir was singing this part I was totally destroyed because I was crying and I couldn't resist. It was so powerful, so beautiful, so, so simple because it's a simple melody, but it is genial. It is so powerful. And I was there like, oh my God, I couldn't resist. Gosh, it happened to me too sometimes. So music just takes you, you know, by surprise, even if you know it. That's the worst, you know, because it's our job. You sang it at the time. So, but that moment, me and my friend— I was with a friend of mine, she's an actress, so she, she knows how to manage emotions. We were both crying like children, believe me. And it was beautiful. Funny enough, it's not even— it's not even a sad piece, it's just the beauty of it, isn't it? That makes you cry. Yeah, it's genial. So I said, okay, uh, nobody, uh, brought words for this choir, so I want to do it. I want to, I want to sing it. And, um, so we decided to rearrange and Of course, it was challenging. Consider like the Italian anthem, because it's some of the most important pieces in opera, in Puccini's music. So it is like, are you crazy? You are going to put your hands on this music? Yes, I'm going to put my hands, but it's a tribute. It's because it's too beautiful, and maybe it's a way to bring this music out from the opera world, because some people think that the opera world is something not for everybody, far from common people, just for some posh environments, but it's not. It's deep, it's precious. So what I thought was maybe we can make it famous as a pop song, you know what I mean? Yes, I know what you mean. Yeah. And I wrote the lyrics of this. Yes, I wrote the lyrics in English and it was beautiful. It was beautiful because it was my— one of my first experiences in, uh, uh, in songwriting. And, uh, yes, I started with the best music. So, well, I come— I come with the question straight away. So, um, I'm— I was working with a film director, theater director, on a film called Charmed Nights. It's called Dumle Kokbara. And he— it was a theater movie, really, not a normal movie with a normal plot. Um, so it was about, you know, 3 friends meeting and talking to each other through love poems from some of the most famous, um, poets of the 20th century, 18th and 20th century, 19th and 20th century. And, um, I had to choose the music, so I went with the written by Chopin, hence the title Charmed Night. And one of them, out of the blue, I don't know why, just kept giving me words. So I was playing it and just these words just were coming out of my mouth. Yeah. Did you have this experience with Puccini? Yes, kind of. It was like it was already on my mind, in my mind. So, um, so it was nice. And of course then I did some work on it. I started with some words, then I, uh, that, you know, that the creative process takes time. So I was quite scared at the beginning to, you know, put my hands on it, but then it was very exciting. And I was scared when I had to record it because I said, oh my God, 'What am I going to do?' 'Oh, how is that going?' I was— because it's something that didn't exist before, so yeah, it was quite— oh, I was— I felt like insecure about the result. And then I've been happy of the result because it's like a metropolitan lullaby, and there is a lot of the Oriental influence, the Japanese sounds of the culture. And I'm maintaining under my voice the choir, so I'm putting these words on the choir that is kindly and nicely singing the original melody under me. And I really love it. I think it's intense and, uh, and, uh, yeah, I have goosebumps when I listen to it. So, well, let's listen to it. So let's listen to Butterfly, um, with the lyrics and the beautiful voice of soprano Luciana Di Bella and performed at the piano and arranged by Massimiliano Pace. Don't you cry, I'm by your side. The sun is rising. Lift your heart. Nightmares are fading away. And go. What? Let your mother ring, so you get my, my light every day of your life. Butterfly. Butterfly. Mind the gap, mind the gap. Wow, so this was Butterfly, um, with lyrics written by Luciana Di Bella over the choir, the Muted Choir by Puccini from Madame Butterfly, arranged and produced at the piano by Massimiliano Pace from their upcoming album Lullaby. Very beautiful. Now you have something that is happening right now that is very strange. So you're talking with me, you are in the UK, but actually you're touring in Italy. How is that possible? Explain us this beauty of the 21st century musician being everywhere at the same time. It's possible because I'm like an avatar in this moment, singing in a show that debuted yesterday. No, yesterday? No, Friday. Yeah, it debuted Friday in Montecatini in Italy, and it's a nice— it's produced by the AICS. Oh my God, in English, AICS. And, uh, yes, it's— what does it mean, the IACS? Sorry, I'm getting lost. It's the Italian Association for the Sport and Culture. I-A-C-S. Okay, okay. And I think you have to spell it out, it's the only way. Anyway, yeah, it's quite difficult. And, uh, um So I debuted in this show in a different form because I'm an avatar, like a kind of a siren, and I'm projected on the wall, on the stage. And yeah, like an hologram. Like an hologram, exactly. And I sing these pieces that are— the lyrics are some poems of Giovanni Pascoli because the show is inspired on the female figures, the female characters of the Giovanni Pascoli literature. So, so wait, Giovanni Pascoli was one of the greatest romantic poets, Italian romantic poet of the 1300s. So, um, we, we all studied Giovanni Pascoli in school. Exactly, maybe in a less interesting, uh, form, probably. I have to say I was quite charmed by his, by his poems. He had this unique way of using the language and the rhyme and the musicality of the words itself without music. That was very powerful. Beautiful, I think. So yeah, a question, because it's, um, yeah, yeah, tell me, tell me. No, no, well, that's a silly question, but I'm too curious, you know. I have a young daughter and she loves mermaids and sirens. So, um, are you dressed as a mermaid, or— oh no, I'm naked. What? Naked. And it makes everything much more interesting. No, I'm kidding. I'm supposed to be naked because I am in the waters, but you can just say my shoulders and my hands. Ah, okay. So, don't worry. So we don't see the rest, we don't see the fishtail or anything? No, no, no, no, you can't see a fishtail, but maybe you can suppose I have because I am blue and I have my hair floating on the water with flower in my head. So it's very impressive. And the music is beautiful because it's been composed totally— the music of the whole show is being composed by Massimiliano. And as I said, the words— there are two lead— leader, as we say in classical music. And yeah, as I said, the words are some of the Giovanni Pascoli's poems in Latin. And the story is very, very beautiful. As I say, it is distributed also by the Montecatini International Short Film Festival. And so, and it's inspired on a book written by Francesca Sensini on the on the female figures, real figures, imaginary figures, symbolic, the myth. So it's very interesting and it's very, uh, and it's very intense. And, uh, the story on— yeah, yeah, there is a— ah, there is a story that links the poems. Yes, exactly. Ah, um, Giovanni Pascoli wrote this poem on, uh, on, on— was inspired by Creperea. Creperea was a girl, a dead girl that they found under the— when they did some archaeological researches under the, the Justice palace in Rome, and they found two tombs immersed in water for the half. So they were both mummified. It was a man and his daughter. And what was very suggestive and impressive was that the girl was, as I said, like a mom, but on her head there was, there was something that looked like hair, but they weren't hair, they were just, um, seaweed. Exactly, they were seaweed that were installed on their skull and they grew. So when they opened this tomb, they found this girl with the, this alive, her, and she had a ring with the name of, uh, uh, beloved one of her boyfriend, but they never found this boy around this, uh, uh, sepulture. So, um, the name of the, the boy was Fileto, and she also had something really special. She had a doll She had a doll, a wood doll, but she was, as you say in English, snodabile. She was movable. She had movable parts. Yeah, well, if you forget, because you told me before, Luciana, you told me at the beginning, but you didn't say during our interview. So these two toms, they were from the Roman ancient Period. Yes, so they were Romans, um, tomes. And, uh, so it's impressive that they— she had this doll that was very modern, very similar to Barbie, to our Barbie. Yeah, it's crazy. And, uh, so Pascoli was very, uh, moved by this, uh, this event, and he wrote something about her. And I have to say that Massimiliano's music really enhances this, this moving poetry. And yes, I've been debuting 2 days ago in Italy, but I was I was here in London, so it will be in tour in Italy for a while, and hopefully I'll go to see some show this summer, and probably I'll perform sometimes live these pieces for the show. Wonderful. So the song that we're gonna listen to now is called Creperea. Yeah, so Because it's in Latin, uh, that is not even Italian, is the ancient Latin. So could you tell us a little bit more about what this— the, uh, the poem is talking about? Uh, the poem is talking about, uh, this girl, uh, the, the, uh, how beautiful she was or something like that. Okay, it's a nostalgic a nostalgic poem about her. But if you listen to it, you can immediately— also if you don't understand exactly the words, but you can feel exactly what the poet wanted to express. Well, because what you said is that this show is around the characters, the female characters of Pascoli. So I guess there is other characters, not just Creperea? No, there are other characters, but Creperea is the one that I performed for. I see. And you are a mermaid in the sense that you are maybe Creperea, that you are like Creperea talking, or is someone watching these girls becoming a sort of a mermaid in a way? With that hair of muse, the news of the water singing about her. Super. Well, let's see her, but I'm amazed. Yes. All right, super. Then let's listen to Creperea, uh, sung by our wonderful Luciana Di Bella with the music by Massimiliano Pace. And this was Creperea, um, on the lyrics by Giovanni Pascoli, performed by our fantastic guest soprano Luciana Di Bella, with the music By Massimiliano Pace. I didn't say the name of the show, that was Le Fantasme di Svanì in Italian, so the female ghosts of Svanì. It was, I had to say it. Absolutely, it sounds so intriguing. I hope it will come to the UK as well and we are able to watch it. Is it also talked or it's just, um, uh, songs? Yes. No, no, it's also— it's, uh, read. So there is a few actors reading and dancers, and, uh, I'm the only one singing. So beautiful. Okay. And now there are many projections. So, you know, this, this new, uh, concept of show that is immersed We call it immersive. So you have projections that enhance the emotions, the feelings, and that make the show, I think, really interesting. Beautiful. Well, now the very last song we can play today, it's something that has to do with what we have right now. That is a very hot day. Finally, summer has arrived in London, here in the UK. Um, what have you been doing for this hot, uh, UK summer? Uh, this last piece is Summertime, the Gershwin Summertime, the original one. The original one, exactly, because we mainly, we know it as a jazz, uh, as a jazz song, but originally it It was a lyrical song from Porgy and Bess. That was his only opera. It's the only opera that Gershwin composed. Exactly, it's the only Gershwin opera, and it was lyrical. So, you know, because I am a soprano, a naughty soprano that likes to sing also jazz, but I'm of course an opera singer. Opera singer. I'm a classical singer, and, uh, but I like to, uh, to affirm that Gershwin did something very classical, very beautiful. And of course it's a lullaby because it's, uh, the, the most sweet moment of the, of the opera, and, uh, So it wants to be a tribute to one of the best songs of the music history. And of course, we also rearranged it. So we worked on it to make it just different from the jazz versions and different from the original one. But we wanted to bring it back. I mean, in probably my personal way, maybe, uh, because our, uh, project and we're working on it, and probably we will be in London quite soon, uh, for concerts. So probably it could happen that I can decide to sing in both ways. So probably, uh, jazz side and the classical side, and maybe to mix these two identities, as I can— if I can say it. Absolutely. Well, of this piece. So that's really interesting. Wonderful. Well, let's listen then, Catherine. Summertime from Porgy and Bess. Performed by our fantastic soprano Luciana Di Bella and the piano arranger and producer Massimiliano Pace from their upcoming album Lullaby. The world that is rich and the most good-looking. So how shall they, baby, go to cry? You take you the sky. Oh, till the morning, there's nothing can harm you. It's Daddy and Mommy. Sitting by. And this was Gershwin's Summertime performed by our guest Luciana Di Bella, arranged and produced at the piano by Massimiliano Pace from their upcoming album Lullaby. If you have any questions that you would like to ask our guest or nomination for our future Classic Women Awards, please email presenters@womensradiostation.com or tweet us @WomensRadioStn. A big thanks to our guest Luciana Di Bella for the great chat and the beautiful music played today. Thank you, Stefania, for having me in your wonderful radio show. It was a pleasure to have you back. It's been fantastic listening to your music. You've been listening to Future Classic Women Awards on Women's Radio Station, live every day at 10 AM and 10 PM London time. And if you would like to listen to it again or catch up on our previous programs, you can head to my presenter's page, Stefania Passamonte, Future Classica Women Awards on womensradiostation.com. Thank you for listening.