The Radio Bird

L'Uccellino della Radio is the third album by Blue Penguin, a historic a cappella group from Bologna. It takes its cue from a musical and narrative show about the radio songs of the 1940s, when Italy at war was singing Rabagliati and the Trio Lescano. The occupation of Bologna in 1943-45 is relived here in the stories of two families through the eyes of Guido, a ten-year-old boy who remembers the war as a great game in which the tragic side is always hidden from his view. A sweet and bitter tale that takes its cue from real events and faithfully describes historical evidence with apparent light-heartedness, revisiting the suffering imposed by the war on the families of the Bolognese territory, from the city within the walls to the Apennine and lower areas. With "L'Uccellino della Radio" the Blue Penguin and the Compagnia della Quarta undertake a project of great social commitment, based on the evocation of the historical memory of our territory, in order not to forget the cultural roots from which the post-war society was born. The narrative does not follow the events of the "great story", but is based on the daily chronicle and brings to life the small events of everyday life, describing from the point of view of a child the days of a family like any other during the war. It is the eyes of the children, who have lived through no other time than that of war, that accompany us closely through the story, conveying the everyday reality better than any other point of view. The story of The Little Bird of the Radio is based on testimonies of events that really happened to ordinary people, men and women who knew how to resist and survive those years with courage and dignity. This narration is made so as not to forget them. It is a living story, made up of everyday life and cheerful characters, characterised by the popular wisdom that made it possible to resolve even insurmountable problems with tranquillity. There is Vittoria who loses all her possessions together with her house in the first bombardment. There is Benedetto, who has to cycle from Argelato to Bologna every day to go to work. Fedora, who forges a visa without knowing a word of German and manages to move with the Wermacht. Augusto, taken prisoner, is set free by a kind-hearted officer. There is aunt Norma, who always carries an American flag. There is grandfather Ettore, known as Enzo, who is put in jail every time Mussolini visits, as a preventive measure. There is Piero, who left for the front without leaving any news. And there are Guido, Paola and Carlina, three children who live the sacrifices of war quietly, as if it were normal to live in a cave, sleep three to a bed, eat only apples and chestnuts, or see the fires of the bombardments from afar. And so Guido remembers the best moments of those years: the lovers who threw messages written on paper aeroplanes at each other from the balcony, the recipes for cooking whatever the day had to offer, the games of tresette between his imprisoned grandfather and the guards, the first chocolate given to him by an American soldier on the day of liberation. And finally there is the radio. A radio that gives hope and that is listened to at night at a low volume so as not to be heard, with the news of the Allies from London and with the light-hearted rhythms of the IAR orchestras, to ease the pain and restore a little lightness to suffering hearts. A narrator interprets all the characters and the Blue Penguin reproduce with only their voices and no other instruments the sounds of the orchestras of Cinico Angelini, Pippo Barzizza and Gorni Kramer. Lyrics and arrangements by Andrea Rizzi. Blue Penguin with Giuseppina Randi. Directed by Mario Coccetti.