The POLV (Piccola Orchestra la Viola) was founded in Coreno Ausonio (FR) in 1994 by an idea of Alessandro Parente and Antonella Costanzo. Their aim was to collect, in a new key, the memory and the roots of our past years. The young musicians of the orchestra come from different towns in Lazio: Coreno Ausonio, Rome, Ienne, Subiaco, Formia, Esperia, San Giorgio a Liri, Sant’Elia Fiumerapido.

 

The folk music is able to put the audience in contact with the man and his history. It traces us back to the relationship that for many years man had established with earth and nature, through the melody of the songs and the use of “poor” instruments.

 

 

In this sense the music played by this orchestra is a qualifying and convincing way to the recovery of “our memory” and it becomes a more convincing way if this music has the bravery to reveal such memory in the metropolitan context where usually every moment has no memory of the previous one.

 

This orchestra, which for years has been working on the recovery of our folk culture, has always pursued two aims: on one hand they wanted to recover some musical stiles and themes from a philological point of view, and on the other hand the orchestra has never neglected its inventiveness in the composition.

 

The white scene costume of the musicians is not only the symbol of purity and innocence, but in XVIII century, it was the colour of the clothes the farmers usually wore when they worked in the fields of our area. The explanation is that white clothes don’t attract sun and also because it was the “poor” material woven by women.

 

 

The POLV collaborated with:

 

  • Peppe Barra, Daniele Sepe and Hector Ulises Passarella in memory of “Colavrè e le Sere Cantate”; 

  • Angelo Branduardi–Franco Battiato in the CD “L’infinitamente piccolo” by Angelo Branduardi, music by Alessandro Parente;   

  • Solis String Quartet ed Ellade Bandini in the CD “Il Cavaliere delle Dolomiti”;  

  • Riccardo Tesi ,Lino Cannavacciuolo, Vincenzo Zitello e Piero Ricci in the show “Gli amici di Ivano ”; 

  • Mohssen Kasirossafar in the concert “Radici di memoria”;  

  • Massimo Carrano in the show dedicated to  “Shri Mataji”; 

  • Alfio Antico in the concert “Radici del suono”;

  •  Eugenio Barba ”Odin Teatret”;  

  • Pino Di Buduo “Teatro Potlach”  

  • Riccardo Tesi and Massimo Carrano in the show “La voce della memoria”.  

 

Performances: 

 

Teatro Eliseo (Rome), Teatro Zandonai (Rovereto), Teatro S. Carluccio (Naples), Auditorium S. Chiara (Trento), Carpino folk festival (Carpino), Abbazia di Farfa, Università La Sapienza di Roma, Santa Maria in Campitelli (Rome), Ospedale "Bambin Gesù” (Rome).

 

 Participations:

 

short film "Os to telos", a documentary film entitled  "La scatola del vento",

 

May, 1 on the screen with  Paolo Pietrangeli;

 

 Tours:

 

France, Germany, Denmark, Poland.

 

 

 

 Discografy: 

 

Radici di memoria (CD), Colavrè (CD), Arovà (CD) by Alessandro Parente, "Il Sultano di Babilonia e la prostituta" in the CD "L'infinitamente piccolo" by Angelo Branduardi in collaboration with Franco Battiato.

 

 

 

People said about them:

 

“Alessandro… I can see from their eyes that what you tell and  what you teach them is true”

                                                                Fernando Birri  15/11/1999

 

                                          In occasion of the twenty years of  the Archivio Audiovisivo                                                        del Movimento Operaio e Democratico   

 

 

“… I was listening to an orchestra playing in an extremely classical way…with an attitude which is folk and refined at the same time…with a passion and an involvement that…I was taken aback listening to a song in particular …and that song is now in my CD that the Franciscan Family commissioned to me “L’infinitamente Piccolo”, with little arrangement …. where I sing together with Franco Battiato, with  music written by Parente….”

 

 

                                               Angelo Branduardi   TG3 Italie - 12 march 2001     

 

 

“Dear Parente,  I think your made a great quality work, I’m glad to know the culture of our area has got a new voice of such level…

 

                                               Sandro Portelli  21 march 2001- open letter       

 

 

 

“From now on, when in Holstebro it rains, people will remember about you because the drops of your notes will fall from the roof gutters of their houses…”

 

                                               Eugenio Barba  2 September 2001—Festuge 2001       

 

 

The Piccola Orchestra La Viola is the testimonial of the Association  to help the children in Tanzania.

 

Contacts:

 

ALESSANDRO PARENTE  Address: C.da San Giuliano, 7 – 03040 Coreno Ausonio (FR) 

 Phone: Home 0776.952336   -   cell. phone 333.7676934 

E-mail  info@piccolaorchrestralaviola.it 

 

 

 

 

trad. Generosa Palombo