Bonifica Emiliana Veneta – Quattro (Visage Music, 2025)
Bonifica Emiliana Veneta’s Quattro marks the group’s first new recording in nearly two decades, a return shaped by homage and reinvention. For sure, this northern Italian ensemble draws inspiration from the musical traditions of Italy’s “Quattro Province.” Their album explores the folk heritage of the Apennine foothills through timelessly crafted original compositions and graceful, versatile and modern recreations.
The eleven-track collection includes only two traditional pieces (“Mond e pais e mond” and “Quattro”), while the rest reimagine regional dance forms such as perigordino, alessandrine, and monferrine, within new melodic structuress (“Lingua madre,” “Leb,” “5&6,” “oXaia”). Other tracks adapt narrative styles like the stranòt and serenata, channeling personal and deeply emotional storytelling (“Sull’alba,” “Libero stile,” “Serenata controtempo”).
Each piece is paired with a micro-text in the liner notes: short poetic vignettes that serve as interpretive keys. These snippets frame the album as both introspective and dialogic, a call and response between memory and innovation.
Formed back in 1998, Bonifica Emiliana Veneta includes Marco Mainini, Alessandro Mottaran, Walter Rizzo, Claudio Caroli, and Luciano Giacometti. They are known for their historical research and contemporary composition. For a long time, the group has long emphasized the importance of traditional music as a living, evolving language. Their previous albums, Apotropaica (1999), Variabile Naturale (2001), and Materiali Tradizionali (2006), garnered critical acclaim and positioned them as essential voices in Italy’s folk revival.
Musicians: Marco Mainini on vocals, piffero, soprano and tenor saxophone; Alessandro Mottaran on mandoloncello, piva, musa, clarinet in C, backing vocals; Giorgio Panagin on double bass; Walter Rizzo on hurdy-gurdy, folk oboe; Walter Sigolo on accordion; Claudio Vezzali on violin, tenor violin, trombone in C, mandolin; Marco Dainese on viola, electric piano, backing vocals; Antonello Del Sordo on flügelhorn, trumpet, trombone; Tiziano Negrello on percussion; Luciano Giacometti on diatonic accordion; and Claudio Caroli on backing vocals.
Recorded and mastered by Alessandro Mottaran. Mixed by Alessandro Mottaran & BEV
Text: Antonio Àrsàn.
Graphics: Claudio Farinone.
Photo: BEV.
English translation: Federica Fornaciari
Track List
1) Sull’alba (Mainini Marco; Mottaran Alessandro) 2’40”
2) Lingua madre (Dainese Marco, Mainini Marco, Mottaran Alessandro, Sigolo Walter) 5’07”
3) Mond e pais e mond (Traditional) 3’48”
4) Leb (Dainese Marco, Mainini Marco, Mottaran Alessandro, Sigolo Walter) 3’16”
5) Libero stile (Dainese Marco, Mainini Marco, Mottaran Alessandro, Sigolo Walter) 6’09”
6) 5&6 (Dainese Marco, Mainini Marco, Mottaran Alessandro, Sigolo Walter) 2’02”
7) Stato d’anima (Dainese Marco, Mainini Marco, Mottaran Alessandro, Sigolo Walter) 4’36”
8) oXaia (nel senso dell’ape) (Dainese Marco, Mainini Marco, Mottaran Alessandro, Sigolo Walter) 3’24”
9) Serenata controtempo (Dainese Marco, Mainini Marco, Mottaran Alessandro, Sigolo Walter) 5’30”
10) Genova (per te domani) (Mainini Marco, Mottaran Alessandro, Sigolo Walter) 3’15”
11) Quattro (Traditional) 2’40”
Buy Quattro.
Author: Iliana Cabrera
