Track Listing

1. Elegia
2. Sandwich Man
3. La Casa Cinese
4. Frisco
5. Chissá
6. Molto Lontano
7. Non Ridere
8. Il Regno Del Tango
9. Bamboolah
10. La Nostalgia Del Mocambo
11. Sonno Elefante
12. India
13. La Vecchia Giacco Nuova

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #100651 in Music
• Released on: 2005-03-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import

From the Label
Nine years after his last album of new songs, Paolo Conte releases Elegia. Released in Italy in November 2004, the album debuted at No.1. Elegia is one of the most beautiful records Paolo Conte has recorded in his entire career, a jewel of an album whose songs open up universes, uncover stories and discover people, always referring back to that post-war individual that still represents us perfectly in this confusing and daunting beginning of a new millennium in which all the energy of the artistic vanguards of the 1900s seem to have been dissipated. And yet, through all this, Conte goes on working his charm, marrying music to words in such a way as to reach artistic and aesthetic peaks, almost nonchalantly, as if it were even more second nature for him now that he is of a more mature age; as if it were all a vivid, unsought dream.

In the last few years, Paolo Conte has performed hundreds of concerts around the world, reinterpreting his repertoire in order to give it a form and essence more in tune with his inner self. That's how Paolo Conte lives out his art, without setting deadlines or obeying the rules of today's record industry, without taking part in those artificial events which fuel fads and trends. Paolo Conte prefers a secluded life, which allows him to make the most of his time and freedom as he pleases, with no need to be in the limelight, quite content to tell his stories with no tricks or deception, singing about life with the awareness that the heart often beats to illogical and unpredictable rhythms, chasing the imagination, feelings, emotions, all of which, more than anything else, mark the passing of our days in this world.

Conte's new songs leave traces of truth in the listener's heart, they need each other and point out directions in which to lose oneself and then find oneself, conveying images evoked by a recognisable voice that has the power to cross borders and explore the human soul with discreetness, never seeking to compromise with the superficiality and banality of our times. Elegia--a title at once revelatory and hermetic, well suited for a masterpiece, a treasure chest full of heart-warming surprises. It is always hard to comprehend what the eyes of an artist see, and, by delving into the worlds in which that artist's work is born, what's certain is that poetry is always apparent in all the creations. Paolo Conte goes on bringing us as gifts.

Customer Reviews

Good but not his best
Having played my copy of "the very best of" to death, I thought I'd see what this new recording had to offer.

Yes it has all of Contes usual style (and wit) and is very likeable as musical wallpaper, it won't be getting the same airtime in my car as the other CD.

OK if you want to expand your familiarity with his work but definitely not his best.