Oteme - Un Saluto Alle Nuvole (2021)

The new musical manifesto by OTEME Realistic, desperate, emotional, on tiptoe... Face to face with death through testimonies, thoughts, reflections of real angels… The Angels of San Cataldo Well yes, this time we’re talking about death. Not the virtual, imagined death, made up of metaphors and thoughts about the soul. Instead, we’re talking about real death, told in first person by those who care for the terminally ill every day: family, nurses, healthcare assistants and doctors who work at the Hospice of San Cataldo (Lucca). This work is the winner of the competition ON DEATH AND DYING, launched for the 2018/2019 season of the Associazione Dello Scompiglio. It is part of a re-worked version of interviews Stefano Giannotti held with the personnel of the Hospice of San Cataldo (Lucca) for the short film SAY HELLO TO THE CLOUDS (2012). These testimonies became words for pieces in perfect OTEME style, halfway between folk songs and chamber music, avant-rock and contemporary poetry, historical 1900s and psychedelia, “almost-a-radio drama” and musical theatre. The group is made up of 13 musicians who alternate voice, strings, reeds, hammers, electric, wood and metal, including distinguished guests such as Antonio Caggiano (historic founder of Ars Ludi, who collaborated on the previous work THE BODY IN THE DREAM) on the vibraphone and classic percussion and Blaine Louis Reininger (historic founder of Tuxedomoon) on the violin. As in the three previous works, artistic and musical contexts freely intersect and combine, outside of any simple market logic, but the sound obtains more personal characteristics, becoming what is now an OTEME trademark. Irene Benedetti: voice, flute, piccolo Valeria Marzocchi: voice, flute, recorder Elia Bianucci: clarinet, bass clarinet Lorenzo Del Pecchia: piccolo clarinet, clarinet Stefano Giannotti: voice, guitar, electric guitar, banjo, componium, percussion Emanuela Lari: voice, keyboards Valentina Cinquini: harp, voice Vittorio Win Fioramonti: voice, double-bass, electric bass, chromatic harmonica Antonio Caggiano: vibraphone, percussion Riccardo Ienna: drums Blaine L. Reininger: violin Edgar Gomez, Gabriele Stefani: vocals