Franco Battiato

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Franco Battiato (2010)

Franco Battiato (born March 23, 1945 as Francesco Battiato in Ionia, today Riposto , † May 18, 2021 in Milo ) was an Italian cantautore , composer , film director and non-party politician . He also worked as a painter under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani . Musically he crossed a multitude of genres, from prog - psych- rock to synth pop to electronic and world music, and wrote several operas in addition to his pop production .

In 2003 Battiato was honored by the President of the Italian Republic with the Gold Medal of Merit in Art and Culture and in 2004 with the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (officer's class).

Career

Music and film

Battiato came to Milan from his native Sicily in 1964 to gain a foothold as a musician. At first he worked with Giorgio Gaber e Ombretta Colli , his first solo attempts were crowned with little success. In 1970 he met the experimental musician Juri Camisasca and worked with the prog / psych rock band Osage Tribe . His first albums Fetus and Pollution , which he released on the independent label Bla-Bla , presented themselves as musical collages , located somewhere in experimental prog rock. By examining the work of John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen , the musician found inspiration for albums such as Sulle corde di Aries (1973), Clic (1974) and M.elle le “Gladiator” (1975). For Ricordi he recorded three more aggressive albums in the second half of the 1970s, Battiato (1977), Juke Box (1978) and L'Egitto prima delle sabbie (1978). In the meantime he became a cult figure abroad and appeared as an opening act for Brian Eno and Nico .

The long-term collaboration with the musician Giusto Pio was to shape Battiato's later works. Now at EMI , he discovered his fondness for ironic, mystical songs, and approached spiritual topics, especially those of an oriental nature. Increased use of the keyboard moved the music more towards Synth Pop . After the formative albums L'era del cinghiale bianco (1979) and Patriots (1979), La voce del padrone was released in 1981 , which made Battiato an undisputed star. Songs like Bandiera bianca or Cuccuruccucù found a wide audience and the follow-up album L'arca di Noè (1982) was able to build on this success. From now on he tried his hand at a variety of genres and was also successful as a songwriter for others, such as Giuni Russo , Milva and Alice . The musician also founded the book series L'Ottava , in which he henceforth published esoteric books. In 1983 the album Orizzonti perduti was released , the following year Battiato and Alice represented Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song I treni di Tozeur and reached fifth place.

Manlio Sgalambro , longtime lyricist for Battiato

In 1985 he released the Italian album Mondi lontanissimi , which also contained the successful single No Time No Space , and the English and Spanish albums Echoes of Sufi Dance and Ecos de danzas sufi for the international market . With Genesi 1987 Battiatos first saw opera the light of day, the 1992 Gilgamesh succeeded. Meanwhile he achieved another number one success with Fisiognomica in 1988, and with Giubbe rosse his first live album was released the following year . The studio albums Come un cammello in una grondaia and Caffè de la Paix (1993) followed. With Messa arcaica he also presented his first trade fair in 1993 . In 1995 the musician began a collaboration with the philosopher Manlio Sgalambro , with whom he first wrote the opera Cavaliere dell'intelletto about Frederick II and then the album L'ombrello e la macchina da cucire . Sgalambro would henceforth be Battiato's main songwriter .

After changing the record company, Battiato released the album L'imboscata (with the well-known single La cura ) in 1996 , which again ushered in a new musical phase, continued by Gommalacca (1998). The very successful albums were characterized by dream-like guitar accompaniment and dissonant sounds. The second in particular also served harder registers, borrowing from hard rock and metal . He struck more traditional tones the following year on the cover album Fleurs , with songs by a.o. Fabrizio De André , Jacques Brel or the Rolling Stones . As part of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino , he presented the ballet album Campi magnetici in 2000 , now under contract with Sony . On Battiato's next successful pop album Ferro battuto (2001) Jim Kerr was to be heard in the song Running Against the Grain , and it also contained a cover of the song Hey Joe , made famous by Jimi Hendrix .

Battiato at a concert in Madrid, 2013

Battiato continued the cover album from 1999 with Fleurs 3 in 2002 , this time among others. with songs by Bruno Lauzi , Charlie Chaplin or Richard Strauss . At the same time he made his first appearance as a film director and published the film Perdutoamor, which earned him the Nastro d'Argento as best newcomer. In 2005, his second film, Musikanten, about Ludwig van Beethoven , was released, which was also shown at the Venice International Film Festival in the Horizons section, but received poor reviews. His last studio album at Sony was Dieci stratagemmi in 2004 , which again reached the top of the chart; In addition, the live albums Last Summer Dance and Un soffio al cuore di natura elettrica were released in 2003 and 2005 . With Il vuoto ( Universal ) he returned in 2007, followed by the cover album Fleurs 2 in 2008 , the end of the trilogy. The ensuing duet with Carmen Consoli , Tutto l'universo obbedisce all'amore, was particularly successful . In addition, the film Niente è come sembra and the documentary La sua figura about the singer Giuni Russo were released in 2007 .

Battiato's penchant for esotericism was also evident in the title of his 2009 album Inneres Auge (il tutto è più della somma delle sue parti) . The following year the film Auguri Don Gesualdo about Gesualdo Bufalino followed , in 2011 the musician was among the participants of the Sanremo Festival for the first time , where he presented the song L'alieno at the side of Luca Madonia and achieved fifth place. In the same year he wrote his next opera Telesio on behalf of the city of Cosenza , about the philosopher Bernardino Telesio . In 2012 he returned to the top of the charts with the album Apriti Sesamo . After a joint tour with Antony and the Johnsons , the live album Del suo veloce volo was released in 2013 , while in 2014 the experimental Joe Patti's Experimental Group together with Pino “Pinaxa” Pischetola . A live album with Alice and the Ensemble Symphony Orchestra followed in 2016 .

painting

Around 1990 Battiato began to look for other forms of expression besides music. He found one of them in painting , even if he never wanted to see himself as a “painter”. Since 1993 his works have been exhibited worldwide - also in solo exhibitions. At an exhibition he worked with the artist Piero Guccione . Battiato signs his works with the pseudonym "Süphan Barzani". The predominant technique is oil paint on canvas or gold panel. Battiato also used some of his pictures for his own album covers (such as Fleurs , Ferro battuto or Gilgamesh ). Frequent motifs are praying Sufis or dervishes as well as faces from everyday life. Critics see a proximity to late Byzantine art .

politics

In November 2012 Battiato was appointed by Rosario Crocetta to the regional government of Sicily as a consultant for tourism, sports and events. At his own request, he did not receive any salary in this office. However, after he made abusive statements about Italian members of parliament during a speech in the European Parliament , Crocetta removed him from the department on March 27, 2013.

style

Battiato moves between canzone d'autore and pop , bringing orchestral music, progressive rock and ethno - electronic music. His texts, often peppered with quotations , are often provided with polemical references to consumer society and Italian politics. Thematically, philosophy , esotericism and mysticism can also be found .

His musical work can be roughly divided into three phases. The beginnings were very experimental, strongly inspired by minimalists like Terry Riley and other avant-garde composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen and shaped by Battiato's increasing disinterest in pop music. The most important album of the first phase was Sulle corde di Aries (1973). After this musically and substantively imperfect (and also relatively unsuccessful) phase, the musician surprised the public with the album L'era del cinghiale bianco (1979) and experienced the great breakthrough in Italian pop with " Postmodernism for the masses". In this second phase Battiato developed his poetic style and discovered the esotericism of Georges I. Gurdjieff . The most important album of this phase was Fisiognomica (1988), in which he tried his hand at the psalmist and made use of orchestral songs by Mahler and Strauss . The third phase was initiated in 1995 through the collaboration with philosopher Manlio Sgalambro , in which Battiato concentrated almost exclusively on music, whereby much of the initially humorous and amateur-like quality was lost.

Honors

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
IT IT CH CH IT IT
1973 Pollution IT19 (6 weeks)
IT 		- -
Blah blah
1981 La voce del padrone IT1
Gold (2018)
Gold (2018)

(60 weeks)IT 		- -
EMI
Sales: + 25,000;
1982 L'arca di Noè IT1 (27 weeks)
IT 		- -
EMI
1983 Orizzonti perduti IT7 (15 weeks)
IT 		- -
EMI
1985 Mondi lontanissimi IT3 (15 weeks)
IT 		- -
EMI
1987 Genesi IT22 (4 weeks)
IT 		- -
Opera
Fonit Cetra
1988 Fisiognomica IT1 (23 weeks)
IT 		- -
EMI
1991 Come un cammello in una grondaia / Como un camello en un canalón IT10 (16 weeks)
IT 		- -
EMI
1993 Caffè de la Paix IT3 (9 weeks)
IT 		- -
EMI
1995 L'ombrello e la macchina da cucire IT4 (11 weeks)
IT 		- -
EMI
1996 L'imboscata / La emboscada IT2 (45 weeks)
IT 		- -
Mercury
1998 Gommalacca IT1 (18 weeks)
IT 		- -
Mercury
1999 Fleurs IT4 (29 weeks)
IT 		- -
Cover album
Mercury
2000 Campi magnetici IT27 (7 weeks)
IT 		- -
2001 Ferro battuto / Hierro forjado IT2 (22 weeks)
IT 		CH95 (2 weeks)
CH 		-
Columbia / Sony
2002 Fleurs 3 IT1 (26 weeks)
IT 		- -
Cover album
Columbia / Sony
Fetus / fetus IT49 (1 week)
IT 		- -
Bla Bla
debut album from 1972
2004 Dieci stratagemmi IT1 (25 weeks)
IT 		CH94 (1 week)
CH 		-
Columbia / Sony
2007 Il vuoto IT1 (32 weeks)
IT 		- -
Mercury / Universal
2008 Fleurs 2 IT4 (43 weeks)
IT 		- -
Mercury / Universal
2009 Inner eye (il tutto è più della somma delle sue parti) IT5
platinum
platinum

(20 weeks)IT 		- -
Mercury / Universal
sales: + 70,000
2011 Telesio. Opera in due atti e un epilogo IT51 (4 weeks)
IT 		- -
Opera
Sony
2012 Apriti Sesamo / Ábrete sésamo IT1
platinum
platinum

(27 weeks)IT 		- IT21 (5 weeks)
IT
Universal
sales: + 60,000
2014 Joe Patti's Experimental Group IT5 (7 weeks)
IT 		- -
Universal
with Pinaxa
2018 Universi paralleli di Franco Battiato IT52 (2 weeks)
IT 		- -
Sony / RCA
2019 Fleurs - 20th Anniversary IT20 (1 week)
IT 		- -
L'era del cinghiale bianco IT29 (2 weeks)
IT 		- -
EMI
first published: 1979
Torneremo ancora IT2 (10 weeks)
IT 		CH63 (1 week)
CH 		-

hatched gray : no chart data available for this year

More studio albums

  • Sulle corde di Aries (1973; Bla Bla)
  • Clic (1974; Bla Bla)
  • M.elle le “Gladiator” (1975; Bla Bla)
  • Battiato (1977; Dischi Ricordi)
  • Juke Box (1978; Dischi Ricordi)
  • L'Egitto prima delle sabbie (1978; Dischi Ricordi)
  • Patriots (1980; EMI)
  • Echoes of Sufi Dance / Ecos de danzas sufi (1985, English / Spanish speaking; EMI)
  • Nomadas (1987, Spanish-speaking; EMI)
  • Gilgamesh (1992, opera; EMI)
  • Messa arcaica (1993, fair ; EMI)

Live albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
IT IT CH CH IT IT
1989 Giubbe rosse IT11 (18 weeks)
IT 		- -
EMI
1997 Battiato Live Collection IT27 (2 weeks)
IT 		- -
2003 Last summer dance IT8 (15 weeks)
IT 		- -
Columbia / Sony
2005 Un soffio al cuore di natura elettrica IT23 (8 weeks)
IT 		- -
Columbia / Sony BMG
2013 Del suo almost volo IT7th
gold
gold

(17 weeks)IT 		- IT61 (8 weeks)
IT
Universal
with Antony and Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini
Sales: + 25,000
2016 Live in Roma IT8 (13 weeks)
IT 		- -
Universal
with Alice and the Ensemble Symphony Orchestra

More live albums

  • Unprotected (1994; EMI)

Compilations (selection)

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
IT IT CH CH IT IT
1996 Studio Collection IT9
Gold (2015)
Gold (2015)

(48 weeks)IT 		- -
EMI
Sales: + 25,000;
2000 La cura IT22nd
Platinum (2013)
Platinum (2013)

(112 weeks)IT 		- -
Universal
Sales: + 60,000;
2002 Introspettiva IT21 (4 weeks)
IT 		- -
EMI
2003 Le stagioni del nostro amore IT34 (10 weeks)
IT 		- -
Universal
2004 The Platinum Collection IT11
Gold (2020)
Gold (2020)

(23 weeks)IT 		- -
EMI
sales: + 25,000
2006 The Platinum Collection 2 IT98 (1 week)
IT 		- -
EMI
2010 Sigillo d'autore. Best Studio & Live IT89 (1 week)
IT 		- -
Sony
The Best of Platinum Collection IT34 (14 weeks)
IT 		- -
EMI, published in 2007
Povera patria (Best & Rarities) IT69 (1 week)
IT 		- -
EMI
2015 Anthology. Le nostre anime IT4th
gold
gold

(32 weeks)IT 		- IT98 (1 week)
IT
Universal
sales: + 25,000

Singles (selection)

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
IT IT CH CH IT IT
1981 Bandiera bianca
La voce del padrone 		IT24 (1 week)
IT 		- -
B-side: Summer on a Solitary Beach
1982 Cuccurucucù
La voce del padrone 		IT-
Gold (2017)
Gold (2017)
IT 		CH11 (4 weeks)
CH 		-
Sales: + 25,000
Centro di gravità permanent
La voce del padrone 		IT94
Platinum (2019)
Platinum (2019)

(1 week)IT 		- -
Sales: + 50,000
chart entry in IT not until 2020
1984 I treni di Tozeur IT3 (17 weeks)
IT 		CH18 (6 weeks)
CH 		-
B-side: Le biciclette di Forlì
with Alice
1985 No Time No Space
Mondi lontanissimi 		IT17 (7 weeks)
IT 		- -
B-side: Il re del mondo
1998 Shock in My Town
Gommalacca 		IT8 (1 week)
IT 		- -
2001 Running Against the Grain
Ferro battuto 		IT27 (3 weeks)
IT 		- -
B-sides: Sarcofagia / In trance
80's stars
 IT22 (4 weeks)
IT 		- -
Eiffel 65 feat. Franco Battiato
2008 La stagione dell'amore
 IT17 (8 weeks)
IT 		- -
Mango feat. Franco Battiato
Tutto l'universo obbedisce all'amore
Fleurs 2 		IT5 (8 weeks)
IT 		- -
La cura
L'imboscata (1996) 		IT19th
Double platinum (2017)
× 2
Double platinum (2017)

(30 weeks)IT 		- -
Sales: + 60,000;
2009 Inner eye
Inner eye (Il tutto è più della somma delle sue parti) 		IT37 (2 weeks)
IT 		- -
2011 L'alieno
L'alieno 		IT20 (4 weeks)
IT 		- -
Luca Madonia feat. Franco Battiato
Up Patriot to Arms
Eden (repackaging) 		IT26th
gold
gold

(11 weeks)IT 		- -
Subsonica feat. Franco Battiato
Sales: + 15,000
2012 Passacaglia
Apriti Sesamo 		IT62 (2 weeks)
IT 		- -

More singles

  • Voglio vederti danzare (1982) - IT (2017):goldgold (25,000+)

Filmography

Director

  • 2003: Perdutoamor
  • 2005: musicians
  • 2007: Niente è come sembra
  • 2007: Giuni Russo. La sua figura
  • 2010: Auguri Don Gesualdo
  • 2014: Attraversando il Bardo

bibliography

  • Franco Battiato with Giuseppe Coco: Sowa Rigpa. La scienza della guarigione per un'alimentazione consapevole. Infinito, 2010, ISBN 88-89602-75-9 .

literature

  • Franco Pulcini: Franco Battiato. Tecnica mista su tappeto. EDT, Turin 1996, ISBN 8870631451 .
  • Maurizio Macale: Mentre ascoltavo un disco di Battiato. Bastogli, 1996, ISBN 8879664166 .
  • Enzo Di Mauro, Roberto Masotti: Fenomenologia di Battiato. Auditorium, 1997, ISBN 8886784082 .
  • Maurizio Macale: Franco Battiato: Centro di gravità permanente. Dalle origini a “Gommalacca”. Bastogli, 1998, ISBN 8881851784 .
  • Luca Cozzari: Franco Battiato. Pronipote dei padri del deserto. Zona, 2000, ISBN 8887578133 .
  • Maurizio Macale: Franco Battiato. Una vita in diagonal. Bastogli, 2002, ISBN 8879664166 .
  • Vincenzo Mollica: Franco Battiato, Parole e canzoni. Einaudi, 2004, ISBN 9788806169138 .
  • Paolo Jachia: E ti vengo a cercare. Franco Battiato e il sacro. Ancora, 2005, ISBN 978-8851403072 .
  • Alessandro Pomponi: Franco Battiato. Discografia Illustrata. Coniglio, 2005, ISBN 978-88-88833-49-1 .
  • Guido Guidi Guerrera: Battiato. Another link. Verdechiaro, 2006, ISBN 8888285253 .
  • Lovato Vanna: Franco Battiato 1965-2007. L'interminabile cammino del Musikante. Editori Riuniti, 2007, ISBN 9788835958772 .
  • Falzone Michele: Franco Battiato. La Sicilia che profuma di oriente. Flaccovio, 2009, ISBN 978-88-7804-440-1 .
  • Daniele Bossari: Battiato io chi sono? Mondadori, 2009, ISBN 978-88-04-59662-2 .
  • Annino La Posta: Franco Battiato. Soprattutto il silenzio. Giunti, 2010, ISBN 9788809742536 .
  • Pulina Giuseppe: La cura. So do be our essere speciale. Zona, 2010, ISBN 9788864380865 .
  • Haberl Wolfgang: Franco Battiato: Oh! Sweet Nuthin ' . Epubli, 2021, ISBN 9783754109359 .

Web links

swell

  1. ^ Morto Franco Battiato, la musica italiana piange il Maestro di Catania. In: ilmattino.it. May 18, 2021, accessed May 18, 2021 (Italian).
  2. ^ Franco Battiato a colori “Pittura, meravigliosa fatica”. In: Repubblica.it . May 6, 2010, accessed May 25, 2018 (Italian).
  3. ↑ Pittura. (No longer available online.) In: Franco Battiato. Official website. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013 ; Retrieved May 25, 2018 (Italian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.battiato.it
  4. ↑ Enrico Giustacchini: Franco Battiato, pittore di tele Armoniche. In: Stilearte.it. Retrieved May 25, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Sette donne, Crocetta completa la giunta assessori Zichichi e una universitaria. In: Repubblica.it. November 23, 2012, accessed May 26, 2018 (Italian).
  6. ^ Anthony Distefano: Battiato ha detto sì. Ma sarà assessore al Turismo. In: LiveSicilia.it. November 6, 2012, accessed May 26, 2018 (Italian).
  7. ↑ Battiato "licenziato" Crocetta revoca incarico dopo offese al Parlamento. In: IlFattoQuotidiano.it . March 27, 2013, accessed May 26, 2018 (Italian).
  8. ↑ a b c Cesare Rizzi: Progressive & Underground . Giunti, 2003, p. 168 .
  9. ↑ a b c Enzo Gentile, Alberto Tonti: Il dizionario del pop-rock 2014 . Zanichelli, 2014, p. 115-118 .
  10. ^ Massimo Cotto: Il grande libro del rock (e non solo) . BUR, 2011, p. 235 .
  11. ↑ Giangilberto Monti, Veronica di Pietro: Dizionario dei cantautori . Garzanti, 2003, p. 55-56 .
  12. ↑ Alessandro Carrera: Mystical Arrogance. Franco Battiato's Esoteric Pop . In: Franco Fabbri, Goffredo Plastino (Ed.): Made in Italy: Studies in Popular Music . Routledge, London 2016, ISBN 978-1-138-21342-5 , pp. 136-147 .
  13. ^ Franco Battiato in the Small-Body Database of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (English).Template: JPL Small-Body Database Browser / Maintenance / Alt
  14. ^ Battiato Franco. In: Quirinale.it. Presidenza della Repubblica, accessed May 19, 2021 (Italian).
  15. ^ Battiato Sig. Francesco. In: Quirinale.it. Presidenza della Repubblica, accessed May 19, 2021 (Italian).
  16. ↑ Laurea 'honoris causa' a Battiato. In: Quotidiano Nazionale. January 4, 2008, accessed May 19, 2021 (Italian).
  17. ↑ a b c Chart sources (albums):
  18. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Certificazioni, Battiato. FIMI, accessed June 8, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Chart sources (singles):
personal data
SURNAME Battiato, Franco
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Battiato, Francesco; Barzani, Süphan (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian songwriter, musician, painter and director
DATE OF BIRTH March 23, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Ionia , today Riposto
DATE OF DEATH May 18, 2021
PLACE OF DEATH Milo