Omar Pedrini returns with Songs about knowing how to live for the new generationsa song-theater show inspired by Treatise on knowing how to live for the younger generations by Raoul Vaneigem. The project has its roots in situationist thought: rejection of passivity, centrality of lived experience, criticism of the repetition and impoverishment of everyday life.
After saying goodbye to the rock tours one last time, this time he will build a path for macro-themes that revolve around the concept of knowing how to live: the city and its conflicts, the feminine, spirituality, the relationship between the individual and society. Each repeat, as announced, will be different from the previous one with the liquid lineup, ready to change based on current events and breaking news, leaving room for improvisation and the uniqueness of the experience. On stage, next to him, an essential line-up: Beppe Facchetti on drums, Marco Montanari on guitars and Pietromaria Tisi on bass.
For the occasion, Pedrini wrote an open letter to the public and professionals.
«Never before has society lived with a widespread sense of anxiety, for different causes and at different levels: political, environmental, social and cultural. The “old world” is collapsing under the constant blows of the digital one. But the future of the world is also called into question. The distribution of wealth is very unbalanced “at the top”. The values of the twentieth century and, to a larger extent, of Western culture are in crisis, leaving humanity in suspense. Wars and claims cloak the blue planet.”
«From these bases my reflection starts to give voice to the values that live in me, not to change the world but to reflect together with the public on what is happening to us. I didn't have ready answers, but I realized that my artistic commitment, through musical and literary compositions, my reflections, somehow trace a coherent line that can propose a direction, and without the presumption of giving answers, but lighting small flames, stimuli in the viewer to share some emotions, with the desire to change our lives for the better, waiting for changes. Some other people's compositions will also help me, from Piero Ciampi to Neil Young, which I considered appropriate for the show, alongside my own. As a student in Political Science at the University of Milan I encountered the situationist movement and, today, I think it can help me, at least in terms of concepts and approach. The same cultural current that fascinated the student movement in '68 and the punk movement ten years later was making its way into me.”
«I think the criticism of the entertainment society of the time should be a stimulus even today for those who do not want to settle “only” in the comfortable world of algorithms and platforms and renounce higher artistic research or “impetus”. With the help of writings, poems and songs, look for a thread that unites us on a short journey in the hope of understanding something more about this “situation” of disorientation and looking for some certainty between us. Or at least let's try.”
«I feel halfway between the “lightness” of songs and the “seriousness” of theatre. A need born like this, between the rock professor Omar and his 15-year-old lessons at the Catholic University of Milan, “hic et nunc”, and the warrior of Italian rock. All proposed by a pacifist anarchist in his fifties, but in my heart dedicated to my, our disoriented children. And seasoned with my consolidated bravado. I look forward to seeing you for another evening of song theatre. Omar.”
The preview of the show is scheduled for January 25th in Trento, Living Memory, followed by an updated calendar.
10 April CTM Theatre, Rezzato (BS)
11 April Auditorium Vivaldi, Cassola (VI)
15 April Sanzio Theatre, Urbino (PU)
16 April Teatro De Andrè, Casalgrande (RE)
18 April Civic Theatre, Dalmine (BG)
24 April Martinitt Theatre, Milan
