Marsala, Eugenio Bennato, and Mario Incudine perform Canti Briganti on stage.

Last Updated: August 30, 2023

“There are figures that official history would never tell us. Stories that have become legends, legends that have become history to be passed down orally. There is a whole lesser literature that has made official history and has been crucial for the most important events, especially between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The phenomenon of banditry was a violent response to the government’s wrong policies.” It will be a revealing and enlightening concert that will take place on Friday, September 1st at 7:00 PM and then again at 9:00 PM at the seaside theater “Pellegrino 1880,” titled “Canti Briganti” (Bandit Songs). Exceptional performers will be Eugenio Bennato and Mario Incudine, who will close the program of the VI Exhibition “‘a Scurata cunti e canti al calar del Sole” Enrico Russo Memorial, an event conceived and organized by the artistic and cultural movement city of Marsala – M.A.C. with the patronage of the Municipality of Marsala and the Regional Assembly of Sicily. “After the unification of Italy – explain Bennato and Incudine – there was a rejection of the government by the poor people of the South who relied on singing and oral tradition to narrate these stories. The still current ‘southern question’ is linked to banditry. The repertoire of songs and stories that tell these controversial and fascinating figures is rich in precious poetic and literary nuances. The song “Brigante se more”, the photograph of Ninco Nanco, the smile of Michelina Di Cesare.” The topic is dear to Eugenio Bennato’s heart, who has been dealing with the theme of banditry since the early days with Musicanova and the album “Brigante se more” from 1981 quickly became the soundtrack of the epic of the southern bandits: Eugenio Bennato rewrote the history of resistance against the Savoys, the epic of the “losers” that the narrative of the winners has always kept hidden and silent.” With Eugenio, there will be Mario Incudine, a Sicilian artist known for addressing social issues with his art, for a reversal of official history, giving voice to the underprivileged, thanks to the study of stories and songs passed down orally, which will come to life on September 1st in the ancient Salina Genna, on the eco-sustainable theater, an art island in the Stagnone Nature Reserve. On stage, together with Eugenio Bennato and Mario Incudine, there will also be musicians: Antonio Vasta, Pino Ricosta, Ezio Lambiase, and vocals by Sonia Todaro.