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    Cine Concerto/ Monogatari

    Sonorization of Japanese animated films from the early 20th century
    by Valerio Mirone and Sergio Schifano

    Monogatari (物語) means tale, narration, story, chronicle. The duo formed by Valerio Mirone (double bass and voice) and Sergio Schifano (electronics) musically comments on a series of Japanese animated shorts and medium-length films made in the first half of the 20th century.
    From Katsudō Shashin (“Images in motion”, dated 1907) to Kujira (“The Whale”, 1952), the narrative arc sketches now naturalistic now incorporeal scenarios that define an almost calligraphic visual landscape. The music helps the scenes to unravel by marking their rhythm and at the same time the flow of brushstrokes, photograms and small stories preserved by the film imagery of early twentieth-century Japan.

    Moving Pictures

    (活動写真, katsudō shashin), 1907

    Early example of Japanese animation known today, only found in Kyoto in 2005.

    The Spider’s Thread

    (蜘蛛の糸, kumo no itō) by Noburō Ōfuji, 1946
    Based on a short story by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, the story revolves around a thief who ends up in hell but is rescued by a silk thread dropped from above, a fragment of a spider’s web that he saved in his youth. Incredulous at the opportunity to ascend to heaven, the damned soul begins to scramble towards heaven.

    The Animal Olympics

    (動物オリンピック大会, dōbutsu orimupikku taikai) by Yasuji Murata, 1928
    A series of Olympic challenges between animals of all breeds and sizes competing in contests of strength, speed and dexterity.

    The Mountain of Abandonment

    (姥捨て山, ubasuteyama) by Yamamoto Sanae, 1925
    The Lord of a fiefdom orders a farmer to abandon his elderly mother on a desolate mountain because she is now unable to contribute to the welfare of the community, so as to have one less mouth to feed. Grieved, the farmer obeys the order but an exceptional event will upset the apparent peace of the fiefdom.

    The Whale

    (鯨, kujira) di Noburō Ōfuji, 1952
    A festive sailing ship finds itself sailing in a storm that ends up breaking it to pieces, decimating its passengers. The Whale arrives, proudly contending for the tribute of the survivors: three men and a woman, the latter disputed in the meantime by the sailors drunk on wine and terror.

    Two Worlds

    (世界の二つ, sekai no futatsu) by Yasuji Murata, 1929
    The eternal contrast between industrious ants and indolent cicadas. The summer passes between the work of the former and the idleness of the latter. But when winter comes…

    Urashima Tarō

    (浦島太郎), by Seitaro Kitayama, 1918
    Restored version of one of the first Japanese animated shorts found today. After rescuing a turtle on the beach, fisherman Urashima Tarō is invited to visit the Dragon Palace at the bottom of the ocean.

    Valerio Mirone

    Sergio Schifano

    Valerio Mirone: Polistrumentista e studioso di throat singing e canto armonico, in passato è stato attore e compositore per il Teatro del Baglio di Villafrati, per cui ha inciso un triplo album dedicato alla trilogia basata su Horcynus Orca di Stefano d’Arrigo; docente di lingua giapponese alle scuole superiori, membro del Contemporary Sounds Unity di Lelio Giannetto e collaboratore esterno presso l’Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Tokyo e l’associazione culturale Curva Minore per la musica contemporanea. Attualmente si divide tra il mestiere di traduttore e l’attività di musicista e performer: Utveggi (4 album, un tour in Giappone), pakkyone (un tour europeo programmato a inverno 2023), Monogatari e Wadi Ensemble della Fondazione Merz sono alcuni dei progetti di cui fa parte o con cui collabora.

    Sergio Schifano: Sergio Schifano, classe 1985, musicista multiforme e mai sazio di novità, suona, sperimenta, compone e insegna chitarra a Palermo. Laureato in chitarra jazz con il massimo dei voti presso il Conservatorio “A. Scontrino” di Trapani, nel suo percorso artistico ha approfondito e studiato musica classica, elettronica, jazz e rock in tutte le sue forme e derivazioni, sviluppando una particolare predilezione per l’improvvisazione multistilistica e per l’utilizzo creativo di effetti, synth e loops. Ha suonato con molti artisti e gruppi di qualsiasi genere, sia dal vivo che in studio di registrazione mentre con lo pseudonimo GRUNDÖ produce e suona musica elettronica, lo-fi beats, dreamwave e ambient. Ha suonato con: Goød Falafel, Nuclearte, Forsqueak, SSSS, Bahobab, Moonseht, RahGoo, UnePassante, Come Affair Quartet, Sicilian Open Youth Band, Giovane Orchestra Dis\Accordo, Orchestra Instabile Dis\Accordo, Macchina di Suoni di Marvi La Spina, Francesco Leineri e l’ensamble Musica Necessaria.