Alessandro Baricco (; born 25 January 1958) is an Italian writer, director and performer. His novels have been translated into a wide number of languages.

Early life, family and education

Baricco was born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. He has earned degrees in philosophy (under

Gianni Vattimo Gianteresio Vattimo (born 4 January 1936) is an Italian people, Italian philosopher and politician. Biography Gianteresio Vattimo was born in Turin, Piedmont. He studied philosophy under the existentialism, existentialist Luigi Pareyson at the Un ...

) and in piano.

Career

Baricco published essays on

music criticism ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

: ''Il genio in fuga'' (1988) on

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

, and ''L'anima di Hegel e le mucche del Wisconsin'' ("

Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends a ...

's Soul and the Cows of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

", 1992) on the relation between music and

modernity Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular socio-cultural norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the Renaissancein the " ...

. He subsequently worked as music critic for ''

La Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arnoldo ...

'' and ''

La Stampa ''La Stampa'' (meaning ''The Press'' in English) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin, Italy. It is distributed in Italy and other European nations. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. History and profile The paper was fou ...

'', and hosted talk shows on

Rai Tre Rai 3 (formerly Rete 3) is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It was launched on 15 December 1979 and its programming is centred towards cultural and ...

. Baricco debuted as a novelist with ''Castelli di rabbia'' (translated as ''Lands of Glass'') in 1991. In 1993 he co-founded a creative writing school in Turin, naming it Scuola Holden after

J. D. Salinger Jerome David Salinger (; January 1, 1919 January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel ''The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger got his start in 1940, before serving in World War II, by publishing several short stories in '' ...

Holden Caulfield Holden Caulfield (identified as "Holden Morrisey Caulfield" in the story "Slight Rebellion Off Madison" , and "Holden V. Caulfield" in ''The Catcher In The Rye'') is a fictional character in the works of author J. D. Salinger. He's most famous ...

. The Scuola Holden hosts a variety of courses on narrative techniques including screenwriting, journalism, novels and

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

. In the following years, his fame grew throughout Europe, with his works topping the Italian and French best-seller lists. Larger recognition followed the adaptation of his theatrical monologue ''Novecento'' into the movie ''

The Legend of 1900 ''The Legend of 1900'' ( it, La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano, 'The Legend of the Pianist on the Ocean') is a 1998 Italian drama film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore and starring Tim Roth, Pruitt Taylor Vince and Mélanie Thierry. It was Tor ...

'', directed by

Giuseppe Tornatore Giuseppe Tornatore (born 27 May 1956) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is considered one of the directors who brought critical acclaim back to Italian cinema.Katz, Ephraim, "Italy," ''The Film Encyclopedia'' (New York: HarperRes ...

. He has also worked with the French band

Air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

, releasing " City Reading", a mix of the band's music with Baricco's reading of his novel ''City''. Baricco directed the critically acclaimed film ''Lezione 21'' on

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

's '' Ninth Symphony''.

Personal life

Baricco resides in his hometown, Turin. He has two sons. He and his girlfriend

Gloria Campaner Gloria Campaner (born 5 April 1986) is an Italian pianist. She was born in Jesolo (Venice), Italy in 1986. Education Born in the Venetian inlands, she started playing the piano at the age of 4 under the guidance of Daniela Vidali, she perfor ...

live together. In January 2022 Baricco announced he had been diagnosed with

chronic myelomonocytic leukemia Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a type of leukemia, which are cancers of the blood-forming cells of the bone marrow. In adults, blood cells are formed in the bone marrow, by a process that is known as haematopoiesis. In CMML, there are i ...

.Alessandro Baricco on Instagram January 22 2022
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Bibliography

Novels

* ''Castelli di rabbia'', Rizzoli 1991, Tascabili Bompiani 1994; '' Lands of Glass'', Penguin 1992. Awarded with Prix Médicis étranger – France * ''Oceano Mare'', Rizzoli 1993; ''

Ocean Sea The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the worl ...

'', , 1993. Awarded with 'Palazzo al Bosco' — Italy * ''Novecento. Un monologo'', Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore, Milan, 1994; '' Novecento: pianist'', 1994. * ''Seta'', Rizzoli 1996; ''

Silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

'', , 1996 (See ''

'' for the film adaptation.) * ''

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

'' (original title), (edition in English), Rizzoli 1999 * ''

Constellations A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the earliest constellation ...

'' (original title), 1999 * ''Senza sangue'', Rizzoli 2002; '' Without Blood'' , 2002 (Also published in revised form in

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

) * ''Questa storia'', Fandango 2005 * ''Emmaus'', Feltrinelli 2009 * ''Mr Gwyn'', Feltrinelli 2011 * ''Tre volte all'alba'', Feltrinelli 2012 * ''Smith & Wesson'', Feltrinelli 2014 * ''La Sposa giovane'', Feltrinelli 2015; ''The Young Bride'' , Europa Editions 2016

Theatre

* ''Totem'', a literary and musical happening staged in various locations throughout Italy with varying structure and contents. Mostly it consisted of a two-night theatrical event in which Baricco himself, helped by director Gabriele Vacis, actor Eugenio Allegri and musician Daniele Sepe, would read and comment on bits of literature from all centuries and countries, accompanying them with music. In 2001 Rizzoli published the video of ''Totem'' recorded in Milan in 1997. * ''Novecento'', Feltrinelli 1994; ''The Legend of 1900'' (1994) – originally a monologue for theater staged by director Gabriele Vacis, adapted in 1998 into a film by

, '' La leggenda del pianista sull'oceano'', with music composed by

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone (; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor, and trumpeter who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 scores for cinema and television, as well as more than 100 classica ...

. * ''Davila Roa'', staged only once by director

Luca Ronconi Luca Ronconi (8 March 1933 – 21 February 2015) was an Italian actor, theater director, and opera director. Biography Ronconi was born in Sousse, Tunisia. After growing up in Tunisia, where his mother was a school teacher, Ronconi graduated ...

. Reportedly a huge fiasco, it was never published in written form. * ''Omero, Iliade'', Feltrinelli 2004; ''An Iliad'', Vintage International 2004 ( ) – a rewriting of

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

's ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odysse ...

'' consisting of 24 chapters, each telling a part of the story through the eyes and words of a prominent character in the poem. The theatrical event from which the book originated was staged only twice due to its logistic difficulties: it spanned over three nights during which the best contemporary Italian actors would impersonate one character each, eight per night. *''Palamedes - the cancelled hero,'' 2016; a theatrical event about Palamedes translated from ancient Greek by Andrea Marcolongo and staged by Baricco himself and the Italian actress Valeria Solarino.

Cinema

* ''Partita Spagnola'', Audino Editore 2003 (screenplay never shot). * ''

Lecture 21 ''Lecture 21'' (aka 'Lezione 21' 'Lesson 21') is a 2008 British-Italian film written and directed by Alessandro Baricco and starring John Hurt, Noah Taylor and Leonor Watling. The film is in English. The film is set in 1824, 1997 and 2007 and tel ...

'', 2008 (written and directed).

Collected short writings

* ''Barnum. Cronache dal Grande Show'', Feltrinelli 1995 * ''Barnum 2. Altre cronache del Grande Show'', Feltrinelli 1998 * ''Next. Piccolo libro sulla globalizzazione e il mondo che verrà'', Feltrinelli 2002 * ''Il nuovo Barnum'', Feltrinelli 2016

Essays

* ''Il genio in fuga. Sul teatro musicale di Rossini'', Il Melangolo 1988, Einaudi 1997 * ''L'anima di Hegel e le mucche del Wisconsin'', Garzanti 1992 * ''I Barbari'', La Repubblica 2006 * ''The Game'', 2018

Awards

* Prix Médicis étranger — France * Selezione Campiello — Italy * Viareggio – Italy * Palazzo al Bosco – Italy

References

External links

Alessandro Baricco
at the Berlin International Literature Festival 2002/03 {{DEFAULTSORT:Baricco, Alessandro 1958 births Living people Writers from Turin Italian dramatists and playwrights Italian essayists Italian journalists Italian male journalists Italian literary critics Italian male short story writers Prix Médicis étranger winners Viareggio Prize winners University of Turin alumni Male essayists Italian male novelists 20th-century Italian male writers 21st-century Italian male writers 20th-century Italian novelists 21st-century Italian novelists Italian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Italian short story writers 21st-century Italian short story writers 20th-century essayists 21st-century essayists Theatre people from Turin