SARDAIGNE

RAIGHINAS

MARINA PITTAU

Marina Pittau was born in Cagliari, Sardinia. From her earliest childhood she was inspired by the melodies and rhythms she heard around her. And she loved to sing! But her homeland seemed hostile: she could not develop her passion for singing and music there. Rather than resigning herself to the life of a caged bird, she decided to take flight, to head north, taking with her memories, her melodies. From then on music was her only real home. For a long time she wandered like a nomad. Completely self-taught, her singing and guitar playing showed great freedom of expression.
In 1982 she arrived in Paris, where she began to study music and had her first stage experiences singing the traditional songs of her native Sardinia. She was also invited to appear on radio, France Musique and France Culture; the latter devoted a programme to her entitled ‘Une Sarde à Paris’.
A few years later she went on to study at the Conservatoire Populaire in Geneva, where she obtained her diploma in classical singing. It was then that she began to take an interest in composition and theatre. She has taken part in many concerts, festivals, and radio and television broadcasts in France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and, recently, Morocco.
Marina Pittau recorded her first CD, ‘A Distempus’, in 1996, in duo with the singer Lucia Albertoni. For several years now she has been teaching the guitar and singing - including courses in vocal polyphony – within the framework of the Ateliers d’Ethnomusicologie in Geneva.
In preparation for this new recording, Marina returned to Sardinia for a protracted stay, with the aim of finding her roots and creating new relationships with traditional musicians. These recordings made in Sardinia present the results of her encounter with some of the island’s most remarkable musicians.

Valentino Meloni was born at San Gavino Monreale in Sardinia. Immersed in music since he was very young, he took his first guitar lessons with his father, Maestro Celio Meloni. An eclectic guitarist, trained in classical music as well as in the traditional style of Sardinia, he has often accompanied the ad-lib performances of poets. As a musician and composer, he appears solo, in duo, or as a member of various groups. And for several years now, he has been teaching the guitar in Sardinia.

Orlando Mascia was born at Maracalagonis in Sardinia. For many years now he has been performing with aim of keeping alive various instruments that are typical of Sardinia: the launeddas (a triple reed clarinet), the sulittu (a small shepherd’s flute), the trunfa (jew’s harp) and the organittu (diatonic accordion). He also makes these instruments, as well as teaching and organising courses in various schools in Sardinia. As a soloist and an accompanist he has taken part in many festivals and has appeared on radio and television, in Sardinia and elsewhere.

Peppino Cabiddu was born at Abbasanta in Sardinia. He has been singing and playing the Sardinian guitar since the age of thirteen. Very keen on boghe a chiterra (‘guitar song’), a style that developed in the northern-central part of the island, where he was born, he often takes part in the famous traditional ‘serenades’. He has often accompanied great singers on the guitar, notably at the gare de boghe a chiterra (‘guitar song’ contests), and he also appears as a soloist.

Rossella Faa is a singer and a composer, also from Sardinia. She works with various traditional music groups and has taken part in many theatre projects as an actress and musician. On this recording, she is heard in two compositions by Marina Pittau, ‘Rosariu’ and ‘Dadenos abba’.

Marco Malatesta comes from the Abruzzi. He studied musicology at the University of Bologna and trained as a pianist, drummer and percussionist in Rome. He now works as a composer and musician with various theatre companies and music groups, touring frequently.

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Detail about the disc

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