Liberta'

Editorial, November 21, 2004
"Sunday Interview"
by ELEONORA BAGAROTTI

1.
"Beppe Cantarelli: from his debut with Mina & Quincy Jones to sacred music"
Interview by ELEONORA BAGAROTTI

               Maybe it was the air of his hometown Busseto, where his fellow citizen Giuseppe Verdi was also born almost 200 years ago, that gave Beppe the opportunity to breathe the music from the beginning. "I believe - says the musician who composed worldwide famous melodies - that the reason is not because of Busseto, with all the due respect for my glorious hometown, but because of my passion for the music: Verdi was and still is an inspiration, but also Mozart, Beethoven, Bach...anyway, I wouldn't certainly dare to make any comparison with my humble music."
               Cantarelli is really a personality who needs to be known and discovered, starting from his debut, when he was a very young man, with some of the most legendary names of the world music business.
               Q.: You had some major hits in the United States and in the world: how did that happen?
               A.: Back in April 1982, when I just moved to Los Angeles, I found out through Patti Austin (who was, along with James Ingram, the lead singer for Quincy Jones) that Quincy was looking for a lead guitarist for his United States Tour "The Dude." Patti introduced me to Quincy Jones who agreed to give me an audition. That's how I got to participate to that historical tour where we performed in stadiums all over the States such as Houston, Dallas, Detroit, Indianapolis, Saint Louis, Los Angeles, New Orleans. Part of the same show and within the same tour were also other major Artists, such as Steve Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, Cool & The Gang, and Ashford & Simpson.
               Q.: With which Artist did feel more at home?
               A: I know, it sounds so obvious, but I must confess that each and every time I've had the honour to work with Artists such as Mina, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso & Francesco Di Giacomo, Mario Lavezzi, Caterina Valente, Renato Zero, Ornella Vanoni, Toto Cutugno, Loredana Bertè, Anna Oxa, Fiorella Mannoia, Amii Stewart (just to mention a few in Europe) and in the U.S. Quincy Jones, Steve Wonder, Luther Vandross, James Ingram, Patti Austin, Bonnie Tyler, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Joe Cocker, and others, it has always been a major pleasure because from each one of them I have learned something, and that something is and will always be my personal treasure.
               Q.: Now you have been returning to Italy more often and you areproducing sacred music. Is there any particular reason for this decision?
                A.: More than a decision it has been a natural evolution. Toward the end of the 80s I've started to compose, for simple pleasure and pure passion and certainly not for economical reasons, what I like to call "pseudo-classical" music, even though the wizards of the marketing, etc., prefer to call it with a more refined term, which is "classical-crossover." In doing so I also ended up composing, sometimes upon commission, music to lyrics with a sacred content such as "Mentre Il Silenzio (While Silence)," beautiful lyrics by theologian David Maria Turoldo, and a new "Magnificat (My Soul Exalts)" along with a new "Veni Sancte Spiritus (Come Holy Spirit)." At that point I followed my heart, like I did several other times in my artistic life, and, as I did 20 something years earlier when I left Italy and my prosperous career over there and I moved to the States where I had to start all over, I did start from scratch a brand new artistic and creative activity. During the celebrations of the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, in front of the Pope and the entire world, there has been the premiere of my new "Magnificat" in the Vatican: it was Christmas Day 1999. I then start to perform with tremendous success our own concerts back in the States. I was afraid though, due to the famous "the grass is greener in your neighbour's garden," that my music, so very Italian for certain aspects (especially within the so-called "classical-crossover" field), was received with "excessive enthusiasm" by the American audiences and critics. Maybe because it is an "exotic" music for an audience that is more used to the "blues" and "jazz" genres, certainly more a part of the American heritage, and historical and cultural background. So that's how I've decided to run some "tests" in Italy as well, where the audiences are more "spoilt" and, if you want, a little bit "jaded", due to the fact that this kind of music, at least in its appearance and in its first approach, features that "pseudo-classical"...ooops, I mean "classical-crossover," flavour so typical of the Italian culture and background through the past centuries. And that's how I premiered my concerts with the Millennium Choir & Guests in Italy back in March 2001: we did perform in the Duomo (Cathedral) in Piacenza, in March 25, 2001, and we had over 2,500 people attending, quiet an unprecedented event in that famous cathedral, the largest one, along with the Milan's Cathedral, in Northern Italy. So my "test" was much better than I expected, and now I receive constant requests for concerts and recitals, debunking the old motto "nemo propheta in patria" ("no one's prophet in his own town..."), that take me around Italy several months per year.
               Q.: Which projects are you most involved with at the moment?
               A.: Besides several concerts with the Millennium Choir & Guests and several recitals by myself both in Europe and in the States, I am currently working on the production of 3 CDs and DVDs-Videos: the first one, which is almost finished, is my "Magnificat Recital" (an hour of meditation and prayer with music, composed for and performed by lead tenor and acoustic guitar), of which both myself and my co-producer Giorgio Gardini from TV Salso have chosen, in between over 20 recitals that we have recorded and filmed in the last year or so, the premiere of such a recital, last December 2003, at the XV Century Monastery of "Santa Maria degli Angeli" in Busseto, Italy; the second project I'm currently involved with is a co-production with TelePonte TV Studios in Pontedell'Olio, Italy, Director & Editor Renato Podestà at Sida Studios in Piacenza, Italy, and Sound Engineer-Producer Alberto Callegari and Elfo Studios in Piacenza, Italy, of a CD and DVD-Video of the concert "Fammi Cantare Con Gli Angeli (Let Me Sing With The Angels)" recorded and filmed last May 31, 2004, at the "San Giacomo Maggiore Church" in Pontedell'Olio, Italy, also featuring the Millennium Choir and Guests such as Russian soprano Irina Lazareva, Italian mezzo soprano Paola Leveroni and soprano-jazz-singer and second conductor Giovanna Gattuso; finally a third project with some very important roots from Piacenza: a low-budget feature film based on 12 compositions of mine, arias for tenor and orchestra and/or choir, called "Renaissance Man" written and directed by Dino Maucci, an emergent talent native of Ferriere (in Piacenza County, Italy), a young "Fellini-Zeffirelli-for-MTV" writer-director, as I like to describe him to producers and organizations with whom I have been in contact lately during the pre-production of this exciting project.
                Q.: Is there any Artist with whom you would love to collaborate?
               A.: I am always honoured and pleased when another Artist, whether he or she is famous or unknown, records and/or simply sings one of my compositions. Notwithstanding all the projects I am involved with, and considering also the time necessary in order to promote such projects along with all the concerts connected with such activities, I am realistically "booked" up until the year 2006, and even if there were 48 hour days available, I could not possibly find the time to work with and produce for other artists.
               Q.: How was it to perform in the Vatican?
               A.: To perform on Christmas Day in the Vatican a new "Magnificat" composed for the Pope, during the Celebrations of the Great Jubilee to the New Millennium, with my choir, the Millennium Choir, as the official choir in the Vatican during that historical day when the Holy Father was opening the Holy Doors to the entire world...do you think I can easily forget such an experience?
               Q.: From your experienced point of view, what do you think of the music today?
               A.: Unfortunately what is the "music culture" is confused with "entertainment" not only in Italy but all over the world, this thanks to the irresponsible and consumer politics of the major recording companies that achieved the total control of the market killing its creativity in the process. As a result they ended up destroying a market that is already in bad shape. The proof of this is the fact that for over ten years now the recording industry is not a primary industry anymore but a secondary one that barely survives supplying product for other primary industries such as film industry, television, etc. There is no doubt whatsoever that we are living in a decadent moment and, as it happened before during negative and crisis times, history teaches us that or a revolution came along and things changed drastically and very fast or adjustments to the system took place and slowly but surely the situation got somehow and somewhat rectified, modified, and possibly improved, changed for sure. It's clear that the situation is hastily changing: finally the multinational majors are losing more and more the control that they accumulated in the past decades. So, besides an inevitable "re-education," unfortunately necessary after years and years and several generations literally "contaminated" by too much "consumer-plastic-music," there will be, as I already see happening all around the world, a growing need and request for "quality product." Need and request directly proportional to the strong need for values that I constantly experience during my concerts, recitals, interviews, seminars, masses, and all sort of public activities I am involved with due to my music. The multinational of the recording industry have acted exactly like huge elephants that did not only eat all the grass around, which would've eventually grow back, but unfortunately burned it to the roots. So now, in order to grow it back, it will take longer and much more sacrifices by everyone involved...and in the end it will grow back because people have demonstrated over and over that they do not buy anymore "plastic music" as they used to. Therefore only a quality product should and will prevail.
               Q.: Which suggestions would you give a young person who would love to embark upon a career like yours?
               A.: Depends. If a young person is interested in achieving a successful status right away, "whatever it costs," my suggestion is that he or she gets involved as more and as quick as possible with the politics of the multinational majors, etc., and in doing so that he or she gets as "more power" as possible within those entities "without scruples." If he or she really loves music and wants to do it all his or her life, they can still follow my aforementioned suggestion...but they should also try not to lose focus on the real objective (even though I am fully aware of the almost impossible task of not getting a big head especially when you get a fictitious success). Or he or she should take one step at the time, but they should "keep growing." Very probably, this way, it will take them longer but what it really matters is to keep growing, is to refuse to be used by the establishment and thrown away in a few years and/or a few months like perishable product, is to keep going ahead and keep being creative and adding culture to our world, to our society. I know, this latest suggestion of mine it sounds, especially to the contemporary consumer world, like pure utopia, but I dare your magazine's readers to brush up this article 10 or 20 years from now...probably 5 will be enough.

2.
"Beppe Cantarelli, a composer from Busseto,
spreads the Gospel's message with his music"
"A Musician for the Pope: - What emotion,
my Magnificat at the opening of the Jubilee -"
by ELEONORA BAGAROTTI

Beppe Cantarelli, a native of Busseto, studies flute and jurisprudence at the conservatory and university of Parma. Attracted to the music from overseas, he moves to Milan, the capital of the Italian recording industry, where he forms a band called "Quid." With his new band he plays the clubs and starts his first recordings. After his first solo endeavour, an album with CBS Records called "Confusione," starts his collaboration with Italian icon, singer Mina, who immediately recognizes his talent. After participating to her "Mina Live Bussoladomani 1978," Beppe composes, arranges and produces songs for her: this brings to completion Mina's double studio album "Attila," the number one selling album of her long and unparalleled career that features over one hundred and twenty albums.
This starts his ascent in the music and recording business: he collaborates with Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Renato Zero, Fiorella Mannoia, Ornella Vanoni, Anna Oxa, Marcella, Mario Lavezzi, Amii Stewart and many other Italian and European Artists in the late 70s and early 80s. In 1982 he moves to Los Angeles where he collaborates as lead guitarist with his myth Quincy Jones, in his U.S. Budweiser Tour 1982-1983; he works with music legends such as Aretha Franklin, Bonnie Tyler, Steve Wonder, Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey, Joe Cocker, Laura Branigan, Cool & The Gang, James Ingram, Patti Austin, Michael Jackson, Ashford & Simpson, Phil Perry and many more. After several international successes, in the late 80s and early 90s Cantarelli concentrates his creative and articstic activities within the "classical-crossover" field along with the sacred music and acoustic jazz-rock formats. With his Millennium Choir, a multi ethnic and multi confessional group of singers, he performs in concerts around the world: it is a music of emotions and spirituality that symbolizes an immense embrace between people from different ethnics and different religions. The success is so overwhelming that Cantarelli is commissioned by Mother Maria Luigia Aguzzi to compose a new "Magnificat" for John Paul II. And in the Vatican, during the Great Jubilee to the Third Millennium, at the opening of the Holy Doors by the Pope, on Christmas Day 1999 the whole world can hear the notes of his "Magnificat." Ever since that Christmas Day, Cantarelli and the Millennium Choir have not stopped for a minute...and Busseto has found a second "swan."

3.
"Spirituality as source of inspiration for Masses and Recitals"
by ELEONORA BAGAROTTI

Beppe Cantarelli is like a "river in spate," enthralling like his music. If the present time of the composer and performer-interpreter from Busseto is thick as far as projects, mixes and DVDs-Videos and CDs productions and post-productions, his future is already "pre-destined" - as it usually happens to fertile and passionate artists always very much in demand - and, as always, there is somewhere an agenda filled with appointments with musical notes. As a matter of fact, what it seems to be endless for Beppe Cantarelli it certainly is his inspiration. Not an inspiration as an end to itself but a spontaneous course of action, passionate and enthralling, that goes hand in hand with an experienced talent, a very strong determination and a desire that transcends the exacting "weight" of he who is very serious about his music. "I will finish the recordings of my Mass that I fully composed back in the summer of the year 2000," discloses the Maestro. "My musicians and I are already performing several selections from my Mass during our concerts, such as Sanctus, Kyrie, Panis Angelicus and Pater Noster(Our Father)." We will then perform several "premieres" of the entire Mass in some churches of the Diocese of Piacenza as well as in other dioceses where they have asked us to do so (such as the Church of "Ognissanti" in Rome this upcoming November 27, 2004), and we will follow with the production of the various DVDs-Videos and CDs.
Another project that Beppe Cantarelli and the Millennium Choir are involved with is the concert "Bridge of Sighs": "Originally, I've composed this concerto for flautist Roberto Fabbriciani, for flute, choir and orchestra," explains the musician, "and I am now re-arranging and re-writing some of the movements for tenor, choir and orchestra. I am also composing a new series of concerts and recitals called respectively 'Eternity Recital' and 'Eternity Concert'." Right now Cantarelli is working at the production of several concerts with the Millennium Choir & Guests for the upcoming Christmas season at the Abbey in Chiaravalle and in the City of Piacenza: two dates not to miss for the fans, as well as for the people who are simply curious and/or passionate about this music. "I can not confirm as of now in which church we will perform," concludes the composer, "as there are so many and they are all stunning and beautiful. We are considering several propositions, treasuring also in the matter precious suggestions from the Diocesan Curia of Piacenza."

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