TURIN. “Poverty is my wealth because those who are born poor know how to wait”. And he, Nino D’Angelo, knew how to wait. Born on the outskirts of Naples, he will turn 65 this year. I am 40 since he sang “Nu jeans e ‘na t-shirt” with a blond bob, 25 since he won the David di Donatello for the music of the film “Tano da morte” by Roberta Torre. Neomelodico even before the word existed, he changed the Neapolitan song that in the 70s spoke only of the underworld by bringing love back to pop, first snubbed and then loved by intellectuals. In October his book “The Poet who does not know how to speak”, Baldini + Castoldi, was released, which is also the title of the album and of the tour that is going through Italy and will bring the artist on the stage of the Colosseum theater on Friday 18 March.
How’s the tour going?
“Very well. People love me too much and the fans don’t make me miss the warmth. It’s great to be back in the theater even if with masks. We hope to remove them soon ».
We live in a painful time. What is the role of the artist today?
«Who sings does not help to end wars, they only offer a moment of distraction even if it can make us reflect. It’s not easy to sing now: anyone with a little heart and soul feels it. I start the show with “Hatred and Tears” that I had written for the Iraq war in the 2005 album “Il ragù con la guerra”. Then I sing “I want to speak sulo d’Ammore” about the desire for normality after the pandemic and I mix passed to the new ones “.
Who comes to hear his concerts?
«Many people who believe in Neapolitan values and songs. I noticed that, compared to other tours, there are a lot more young people. These last two years have made me discover by young people, my records need time. And so there are those who were boys in the 80s along with those who are boys today. The collaboration with artists such as Toni Servillo, James Senese and Rocco Hunt introduced me to a new audience. I am experiencing a new wave of esteem ».
“The Poet Who Can’t Talk” is a tour, a record and a book. Does he feel himself a writer?
«People like the book because it is a beautiful story. I didn’t have to invent anything: my life is full of twists and turns. I tell of when I was very poor, the first records, the friendship with Maradona who took me to a football field in front of an empty goal. I was about to say “So I can do it too” when he hit three bars in a row. Poverty is my wealth because those who have nothing know how to wait. And everything is wealth: even breathing. Many young people, at the end of the concert, come to have the book signed and thank me because they have received ideas to reflect on ».
How do you see the younger generation?
«I apologize to the young people every evening. They are tenderness, they are wonderful and intelligent but they pay sins that are not theirs. We have given too much to our children but we have not fought for the things that matter: work, culture, environment. It is our fault because we have voted in governments that have not done much for them. Then many live in crumbling families and the family is a special place to grow up. Moms and dads should talk to them more. Perhaps young people should stay a little further away from mobile phones and civic education in the classroom should be as important as Italian and mathematics. I say this as a happy grandfather: parents should also educate us grandparents so that we become children again ».
Do you still hear “The Poet Who Can’t Talk”?
“So said my Italian teacher. She said that I reached the heart even when I expressed myself badly. When she sent for my parents to tell them, my mother beat me up because she thought I had done some trouble. ‘
What is your relationship with Turin?
“I love it. I have been coming here every year or two for 50 years. It’s beautiful and looks like a southern city: it’s like being in Naples, Calabria or Sicily. Italy is one. Unity equals equality. All beautiful words with the “U” ». –