''Ritratti'' is the twenty-first album by

Italian singer-songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted th ...

Francesco Guccini Francesco Guccini (, born 14 June 1940) is an Italian singer-songwriter, considered one of the most important '' cantautori'' of his time. During the five decades of his music career he has recorded 16 studio albums and collections, and 6 live a ...

. The title means ''portraits'', and some of the songs of the album are portraits of historical figures. It was released in 2004 by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

, was generally well received by critics and fans, and remained at the top of the Italian album chart for two weeks.

Overview

''Ritratti'' ("portraits") was released on February 20, 2004, four years after Guccini's last studio album, Stagioni. It consists of nine songs, three of which are portraits of historical figures: "Odysseus" and "Cristoforo Columbo", in which Guccini focuses on the theme of travel through the voices of

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

and

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

, and "Canzone per il Che", the second Guccini's song in honour of

Ernesto "Che" Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

after "Stagioni", included in the album of the same name. "Piazza Alimonda" is about the demonstrations at the 2001 G8 Summit in Genoa and the

death of Carlo Giuliani Carlo Giuliani was an Italian anti-globalization protester who was shot dead while attacking a Carabinieri van with a fire extinguisher, by an officer who was inside the van, during the anti-globalization riots outside the July 2001 G8 summit i ...

during the riots. There are several literary references throughout the album, especially in "Odysseus", which references the

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

, the Canto 26 of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

Inferno Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * Inferno (1973 fi ...

, and "

A Zacinto "A Zacinto" (; "To Zakynthos") is a pre- Romantic sonnet written by Ugo Foscolo in 1803. Short analysis The sonnet is about the poet's feelings: when he wrote the poem he was in exile, so he knew that his remains would have been buried far awa ...

", a poem by

Foscolo Ugo Foscolo (; 6 February 177810 September 1827), born Niccolò Foscolo, was an Italian writer, revolutionary and a poet. He is especially remembered for his 1807 long poem '' Dei Sepolcri''. Early life Foscolo was born in Zakynthos in the I ...

. "La ziatta" was translated in the dialect of

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

by Guccini from "La tieta" by

Joan Manuel Serrat Joan Manuel Serrat i Teresa (; born 27 December 1943) is a Spanish musician, singer and composer. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern, popular music in both the Spanish and Catalan languages. Serrat's lyrical style h ...

, while "La tua libertà" was a song first written in 1971 but never recorded before.

Reception

The album was generally well received by critics. The Italian music website Ondarock gave it a 6.5 mark, saying Ritratti was not outstanding for its music but for its lyrics, which "face current affairs both seriously and lightly". The two major Italian newspapers also praised the album; the ''

Corriere della Sera The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015. First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of It ...

'' said it contained songs which are still necessary, and the fact that Guccini didn't change his style was "a piece of luck", while ''

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 ...

'' described the album as an "earthquake of sharp words". The website Rockol.it, in its review, criticised the album, saying it was "old, anachronistic, with songs full of obsolete images". Ritratti was a commercial success: it reached the number one spot in the

FIMI The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when major corporate labels left the previously exist ...

Albums Chart, and held it for two weeks, from February 26 to March 11. It remained in the Top 20 chart for eight weeks.

Track listing

Personnel

*Vince Tempera –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

*Antonio Marangolo –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

, percussion *Roberto Manuzzi – saxophone, keyboards *

Ares Tavolazzi Ares Tavolazzi (born July 1948) is an Italian bass player and jazz musician born in Ferrara. Biography Tavolazzi studied cello and double bass in the Music School of Ferrara and began his career as bassist playing for Carmen Villani in a beat g ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

*Juan Carlos Biondini –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, backing vocals, bouzouki *

Ellade Bandini Ellade Bandini (born 17 July 1946, Ferrara, Italy) is an Italian drummer. Bandini started his prolific career at the young age of 17. Among his notable collaborations in pop music and jazz are Francesco Guccini, Fabrizio De André, Paolo Conte, ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

*Daniele Di Bonaventura –

bandoneón The bandoneon (or bandonion, es, bandoneón) is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It is a typical instrument in most tango ensembles. As with other members of the concertina family, the bandoneon is held bet ...

*Giancarlo Bianchetti –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

(in "Odysseus")

References

{{Authority control Francesco Guccini albums 2004 albums