Pippo Pollina

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Pippo Pollina (2018)
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
South ( Schmidbauer / Pollina / Kälberer )
  DE 50 06/29/2012 (5 weeks)
L'appartenenza
  DE 72 31/01/2014 (1 week)
  CH 20th 01/26/2014 (4 weeks)
Il sole che verrà
  DE 62 01/20/2017 (1 week)
  CH 3 01/22/2017 (8 weeks)
South II ( Schmidbauer / Pollina / Kälberer )
  DE 18th 02/01/2019 (4 weeks)
Pippo Pollina (2009)

Giuseppe "Pippo" Pollina (born May 18, 1963 in Palermo ) is an Italian songwriter and musician .

resume

Pollina was born in Palermo in 1963 to the lawyer Enzo Pollina and his wife Giuseppina and lived there until he was 21 years old. At the age of six he was hit by a car while playing. This serious accident left him with severe visual impairment. Early on he developed an interest in music, politics and archeology - topics that shape his work to this day.

With other boys he founded the group Agricantus, with which he was able to gain his first musical experience abroad, including a concert in the GDR . The music of this phase was based on the Chilean , politically active group Inti-Illimani and combined these influences with the sounds of Sicilian folk music and the Sicilian language . He started studying classical guitar and music theory at the Amici della musica Conservatory in Palermo at an early age .

Pollina began at the University of Palermo Law to study to be a political journalist against the mafia to get involved, their influence in Sicily at that time was very high and affected the lives of people in everyday life. At the beginning of the 1980s, Pollina began working in the Catanesian monthly magazine I Siciliani , whose editor-in-chief Giuseppe Fava was one of the journalists who worked against the mafia and tried to reveal the close links between politics and the mafia. Fava had given specific names of politicians who worked with the Cosa Nostra and was then murdered by the Mafia in Catania. The hopeless political situation and growing artistic tensions with Agricantus prompted him to interrupt his studies and take some time off and reflection outside of southern Italy. So in 1985 he set out on a trip all over Europe as a street musician. He has remained connected to his homeland to this day and is primarily engaged musically against abuse of power and corruption as well as for peace.

The leap to bring his music from the street to the stage and onto sound carriers was initiated through the acquaintance of the Swiss singer-songwriter Linard Bardill , who spoke to Pollina while he was making music in Lucerne's pedestrian zone. Bardill invited the young stranger to accompany him on his new album "I nu passaran" as well as on the accompanying 60-concert tour. This was the beginning of Pollina's professional musical activity and the beginning of a musical friendship that has existed to this day, from which other albums together emerged.

The acquaintance and collaboration with Konstantin Wecker , who was so convinced of the talent of the young Italian that he invited him to write pieces together, was also decisive for the degree of awareness of Pollina . The fruit of this collaboration are the bilingual songs "Questa nuova realtà" and "Terra", which both artists sang together on stage on Wecker's 1993 "Uferlos" tour. Pippo Pollina was also given the opportunity to present himself and his own music.

In the meantime, Pollina is traveling in Germany, Italy, Austria, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands and is constantly finding new musical expressions with different musicians and instrumental groups. He lives in Zurich, is married and has two children who are also musically active. Pollina's daughter Madlaina Pollina is part of the acoustic duo Steiner & Madlaina , his son Julian Pollina is on the road as Faber with German lyrics .

music

Pollina's music is mainly characterized by his powerful, emotional singing and his lyrical stories. He writes his texts in Italian, in individual cases also in Sicilian dialect . He repeatedly interweaves lines from other European languages ​​in his texts where appropriate. He accompanies himself on the guitar, on the piano or with the tambourine , an instrument that is traditionally used in Sicilian music.

Characteristic is Pollina's openness to working with other artists, which has led to the fact that he has continuously developed throughout his long musical career and has been able to develop various stylistic variants. He worked with, among others, Georges Moustaki , Inti-Illimani , Franco Battiato , Nada, Charlie Mariano , Konstantin Wecker , Linard Bardill , Patent Ochsner and Schmidbauer / Kälberer .

A special work by Pollina was the composition of an opera entitled Ultimo volo (“The Last Flight”). The work is dedicated to the tragedy of Ustica . The opera premiered on June 27, 2007 in Bologna and was subsequently translated into German and performed in Germany.

In 2009 Pollina released the album Fra due Isole (“Between Two Islands”) in collaboration with the youth orchestra of the Conservatory of Zurich under the direction of Massimiliano Matesic. The musicians undertook a tour through Italy, which was documented on film.

The album Süd , which Pollina conceived with the Bavarian duo Schmidbauer / Kälberer and presented on a 99-concert tour in Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland, was released in 2013. This successful cooperation culminated in a final 100th concert in the arena from Verona in August 2013.

The album L'appartenenza (“The Belonging”) was released in January 2014. From spring 2014 to summer 2015 Pollina toured with it. a. through Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. With L'appartenenza , he entered the charts in Germany and Switzerland for the first time with an album consisting only of his own songs . The tour ended in August 2015 with the finale in the Hallenstadion in Zurich, with an orchestra and many musical guests.

In January 2017 the album Il sole che verrà (the sun that comes again) was released. The CD was able to achieve the highest chart positions so far, 3rd place in Switzerland, 62nd place in Germany. This album also includes duets with the soprano Odilia Vandercruysse, the Argentine singer Marili Machado and the Norwegian singer Rebekka Bakken . Since it was released, Pollina has been touring Europe again with his band, mainly in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. In 2017 he performed at Lieder auf Banz and again in 2019 . He sang with Wolfgang Niedecken and Werner Schmidbauer .

Movie

In addition to his musical activity, Pollina was also seen as the male lead in the film Ricordare Anna (2005) by the Swiss director Walo Deuber. The drama tells the true story of a Sicilian street musician who dies of AIDS and who is followed to death by the equally infected woman and her two children. Pollina was chosen for the role because he knew and appreciated the musician.

Discography

Studio, live albums and compilations

  • 1987: Aspettando che sia mattino
  • 1989: Sulle orme del Re Minosse
  • 1991: Nuovi giorni di September
  • 1993: Le pietre di Montsegùr
  • 1995: Dodici lettere d'amore
  • 1997: Il giorno del falco
  • 2000: Rossocuore
  • 2000: Elementary Watson
  • 2001: Versi per la libertà
  • 2002: Insieme (together with Linard Bardill )
  • 2003: Racconti brevi
  • 2005: Bar Casablanca
  • 2006: Racconti e canzoni (Live-CD and DVD)
  • 2007: Ultimo volo (theater opera about the Ustica plane crash )
  • 2008: Di nuovo insieme (live, together with Linard Bardill )
  • 2009: Caffè Caflisch (Canzoni di amanti e migranti / songs about home abroad , together with Linard Bardill)
  • 2009: Fra due isole (with the youth symphony orchestra of the Zurich Conservatory)
  • 2012: South (with Werner Schmidbauer and Martin Kälberer )
  • 2014: L'appartenenza
  • 2014: Grande Finale (live recording from the Arena di Verona)
  • 2017: Il sole che verrà
  • 2019: South II (with Werner Schmidbauer and Martin Kälberer)

Singles and appearances in other sound carriers

  • 1987: Collaboration with Linard Bardill's I Nu Passaran
  • 1988: La casa di Armon (song for the compilation Viva Natira )
  • 1993: Questa nuova realtà (single, together with Konstantin Wecker)
  • 1996: L'anima ombrosa del mio verbo (song for the compilation Stop Aids Songs )
  • 1997: Cambierà (single)
  • 1998: Ken (maxi single)
  • 1999: Finnegan's Wake (single)
  • 2002: Gioia di vivere (on the album Ma dove vai by Ombre di Luci )
  • 2003: Camminando (compilation)
  • 2005: Chiaramonte gulfi (single)

Video albums

  • 2005: Ricordare Anna (feature film)
  • 2006: Viaggio in Italia
  • 2006: Racconti e canzoni (live)
  • 2012: Between Islands - Fra due Isole (double DVD, documentary and concert)
  • 2013: South - The Concert (Live from the Krone Circus )
  • 2013: I concerti del compleanno - Pippo Pollina & Band live at Volkshaus Zürich (triple DVD)
  • 2014: Grande Finale (live recording of the concert in the Arena di Verona)

Prizes and awards

He was u. a. Awarded the Ravensburger Kupferle in 1996, received the Swiss KleinKunstPreis in 2012 and the “Freiburg Music Director 2013” ​​award of the 25th Freiburg International Culture Exchange in the following year.

  • 1989: Swiss Television Award
  • 1996: Sponsorship award from the City of Zurich
  • 1996: Ravensburger Kupferle
  • 1999: Star of the Year award from the Munich evening newspaper
  • 2003: Una Casa per Rino Prize , Crotone
  • 2005: Prize of the Festival of Independent Labels in Faenza
  • 2005: City of Palermo Prize for the role in Ricordare Anna
  • 2007: Prize Premio alla Carriera at the festival of the Italian author's song Canzone italiana d'autore in Munich
  • 2009: German Record Critics' Prize for the CD Caffè Caflish
  • 2009: Prize Padre Pino Puglisi nel mondo , Palermo
  • 2010: Pino Veneziano Prize , Trapani
  • 2011: Prize Premio Giacosa Colleretto
  • 2011: Prize Premio musica e cultura-Peppino Impastato
  • 2011: Prize Premio Lunezia , Marina di Carrara
  • 2012: Prize Premio lettarario città di Sciacca
  • 2012: Swiss Small Art Prize, Thun
  • 2013: Prize of the Freiburger Kulturbörse Freiburg director

Works

  • Verses for freedom. My life, my songs. With 146 photos and bilingual lyrics. Rotpunktverlag, Zurich 2017, ISBN 978-3-85869-770-7 .

literature

  • Camminando, Camminando. The Sicilian Cantautore Pippo Pollina in conversation with Benedetto Vigne. Facteon Verlag, Besigheim 1997.
  • Nando dalla Chiesa: Storie eretiche di cittadini perbene. Edizioni Einaudi, ISBN 88-06-14324-7 .
  • Frank Baasner: Poesia cantata 2. The Italian Cantautori between Commitment and Commerce. Niemeyer Verlag, Tübingen 2002, ISBN 3-484-50387-4 .
  • Giangilberto Monti, Veronica Di Pietro: Dizionario dei cantautori. Garzanti, Milano 2003, ISBN 88-11-74035-5 .
  • Stefan Loeffler: Encounters with Pippo Pollina. Kawe8 Verlag, Ulm 2005, ISBN 3-9810137-0-0 .
  • Franco Vassia: Abitare Il Sogno. Vita e Musica di Pippo Pollina. Stampa Alternativa, Viterbo.
  • Franco Vassia: A song carries us across borders. Life and Music of Pippo Pollina. Rombach Verlag, Freiburg i. Br. 2011, ISBN 978-3-7930-5073-5 .

Web links

Commons : Pippo Pollina  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chart sources: Germany - Switzerland
  2. ↑ Cf. Franco Vassia: “A song carries us across borders.” Rombach Verlag KG, Freiburg i. Br., ISBN 978-3-7930-5073-5 , pp. 17-28
  3. ↑ Pippo Pollina - Biography ( Memento from December 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), biography at the artist agency Lamb-Art, status: December 3, 2010, in the Internet Archive , on archive.org, accessed January 21, 2018
  4. ↑ Cf. Franco Vassia: “Carrying over borders and a song.” Pp. 58–78
  5. ↑ Cf. Franco Vassia: “Carrying over the borders and a song.” Pp. 117–124
  6. ↑ Cf. Franco Vassia: “A song carries us across borders.” Pp. 154–160
  7. ↑ steinermadlaina on soundcloud
  8. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/fabermusik?fref=ts
  9. ↑ Cf. Franco Vassia: “A song carries us across borders.” Pp. 238–243 and 248–257
  10. ↑ http://www.taz.de/!109997/
  11. ↑ zwischendeninseln.com
  12. ↑ south music
  13. ↑ Cf. Franco Vassia: “Carrying over borders and a song.” P. 223
  14. ↑ See www.pippopollina.com/Opere/Dvd
  15. ↑ http://www.zehntscheuer-ravensburg.de/page/programm/kulturpreis-ravensburger-kupferle.php
  16. ↑ Awards: The Swiss Cabaret Award will be part of the Swiss Theater Awards from 2015 (www.ktv.ch). November 26, 2014, accessed January 21, 2018 .
  17. ↑ FREIBURG LEADER 2013 for Pippo Pollina | Artist agency Lamb-Art. January 12, 2014, accessed January 21, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Pollina, Pippo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pòllina, Giuseppe (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian Cantautore and musician
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Palermo , Italy