Italian Rhapsody – Filippo Spreafico
The Italian comedian has a dry, dark sense of humour and a talent for taking everyday observations and pushing them somewhere wonderfully unexpected.
The Italian comedian has a dry, dark sense of humour and a talent for taking everyday observations and pushing them somewhere wonderfully unexpected.
At one point, Paolo and Matteo are each playing their own piano, then they move to the same instrument, creating a completely different interaction between the two.
Between the songs, there are little moments of complicity and interaction that make the performance feel relaxed and personal rather than simply a succession of songs.
You are watching two artists create together, in real time, each adding another layer to the experience.
There is a conversational quality to the songs, as though she has simply decided to sit down at the piano and tell you exactly what went wrong this time.
It is a performance rich with urgency and compassion, intensity that rocks the piano and movements both physical and musical that engage the full space with sound.
Instead of focusing only on tasting notes, I found myself noticing their texture, intensity and overall mood through the music.
We were carried into a kind of bubble for more than an hour and a half, with gentle and soothing moments, more lively and uplifting ones, and plenty of laughter in between.
Altogether, it feels like a meditation—it is easy to get lost in the moment, the world shrinking down to just lights, noise, and sensation. It is disorienting, in the best of ways.
With the wide grin of a salesman – or indeed, a true showman – he launches us into the first song, a rendition of “My Blue Heaven”, kicking off an incredible set that, much like the audience, was well-known and unfamiliar, from all over the world.