Verso Nuova York

Stories and Music of the Italian Migration

Between the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, hundreds of thousands of Italians left their country for the Americas. This performance uses words and music to tell their story: a story of hope and creativity that ended up changing those new lands into an appendix of the Italian motherland. This tale is told thanks to the songs of those migrants and their voyages, from Mamma mia dammi cento lire to Ma se ghe penso, from Ciao Turin to Tragico naufragio del vapore Sirio.

Elena Buttiero, piano
Ferdinando Molteni, vocals and guitar

In ENGLISH (songs in Italian)

Produced by Associazione Culturale Allegro con Moto

Organized in collaboration with the Associazione Liguri nel Mondo (New York Chapter)

Elena Buttiero, a graduate of the Conservatorio in Turin, is a musician and professor. She plays the piano, spinet, and celtic harp. She has recorded two albums with Birkin Tree (Continental Reel, A Cheap Present), two with mandolin player Carlo Aonzo (Il mandolino italiano nel Settecento, Fantasia poetica), and one with the Arethusa Consortium trio. She has toured all across Europe, the United States, where she plays regularly, in Tanzania (Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar), in Canada, Argentina, and Uruguay. She recently was pianist for the performance, Luigi Tenco: L’ultima notte, directed by and starring Roberto Tesconi. Buttieri has written solfège and piano teaching methods published by Edizioni Carisch. She released two albums with Ferdinando Molteni, Saluti dall’Italia and Lontano nel mondo.

Ferdinando Molteni is a writer and musician, and has published about twenty volumes with publishing houses such as Vallecchi, Electa, and Arcana. He has written and still writes on culture in 20th century Genoa, on Giuliano Ferrara’s Foglio, and on Enrico Deaglio’s Diario. His latest essays include Controsole: Fabrizio De André and Crueza de ma (Arcana), and L’ultimo giorno di Luigi Tenco (Giunti). Molteni has written the text for La strana morte di un cantautore for Massimo Ghini (appearing on Raidue in the series, Delitti rock), as well as the first act for Luigi Tenco: L’ultima notte for Roberto Tesconi (De Ferrari Editore). As a musician, Molteni is a songwriter and also plays traditional music. He has played concerts in Italy, Switzerland, France, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar), the United States, Argentina, and Uruguary. He recorded an album with the Arethusa Consortium trio. He released two albums with Elena Buttiero, Saluti dall’Italia and Lontano nel mondo.

From the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo.