DECIMO CERCHIO (WITH "I SINCOPATICI")

Decimo Cerchio is a collaboration between Claudio Milano as vocalist and performer and the band "I Sincopatici". The album is the result of a very interesting project that has its roots in the pictures of Dante's Inferno published by Gustave Dore' in the year 1861. 50 years after, three Italian film makers, Francesco Bertolini, Giuseppe De Liguoro e Adolfo Padovan released "L'Inferno", a movie clearly inspired to the Dore' paintings.

153 years after Dore's work, I Sincopatici and Claudio Milano have put music on this movie, that of course was mute, and performed it during the projection of the movie in various theathers. Here on this site I have posted a youtube movie of the full performance. Viewing it will be surely better than reading my words, so invite the readers to spend about one hour on it.

I assume that everybody knows about Dante and the Inferno which is the first of the three parts that compose the "Comaedia" or "Divine Comedy". The subject is very dramatic and in some parts very dark (can anything be darker than the Christian Hell?). Useless to say, the music fits very well with the images, but it works well even on its own. Claudio Milano is able to add a sort of "visual" mood to his singing thanks also to his huge vocal extension which allows the use of very high and very bass notes.

Add to this the excellent musical compositions of I Sincopatici, in particular the piano of Francesca Badalini who makes it sound melodic or dramatic depending on the situation, An example is "Amor Che A Nullo Amato Amar Perdona", which refers to one of the most famous episodes of the Inferno: the two lovers, Paolo and Francesca. On this track the piano sets a specific mood for the different parts of the episode, while Claudio shows their sufference with the vocalisms at the end of the track.

Another track that I can't not mention is "Il Conte Ugolino". Here in Italy we study Dante's comedy in the schools, as it's the first big poem using a language that can be called "Italian", instead of the Latin that was the literary language in the 13th Century. Knowing the story of the various episodes surely helps in appreciating the way they have been translated into music.

At this point, let me say that vieweing the performance with the movie, and listening to the CD are very different experiences: in the first case it's a complete performance and also the movie has its value, invluding some "special effects" that were ahead of its times in 1911, while the pure listening gives the possibility of creating your own mental images. It's quite like the difference between viewing a movie and reading a book.

I suggest both. In the video, Claudio Milano shows also his ability as live performer.

In the end, through "Il Cammino Sotterraneo" (the subterranean path), after you have passed Lucifer, you'll finally see the stars again, on the movie or in your mind.

If you don't know much of Dante's Inferno it's better starting with the video. If you have alredy your mental images of it, the CD first is better.

Up to you.