For Mediterranean duo Enza Pagliara and Dario Muci, music is a means of preserving tradition
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26.02.2020

For Mediterranean duo Enza Pagliara and Dario Muci, music is a means of preserving tradition

Words by Tammy Walters

Taranta Festival says ‘buongiorno’ to Melbourne as it returns for a second year.

Across five days, Taranta Festival will transform Melbourne into a European haven, offering an authentic taste of Mediterranean and Southern Italian culture through a celebration of music, dance, visual arts, fine foods and vibrant parties.

Taking place across several venues, including the Darebin Arts Centre, Meat Market, Co.As.It and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, with more than 15 events from concerts to dance and music workshops and event breakfast with the artists, Taranta Festival has stepped things up for 2020.

Flying in from the deep south of Italy to make their debut Down Under and to headline the festival is renowned folk duo, Enza Pagliara and Dario Muci. Both prominent solo artists representative of Puglia, the two came together during the folk-revival to breathe life back into forgotten songs and stories.

“I found Dario’s voice in a historical moment of the revival of the traditional music of Salento. We would continually meet up to go and sing, in the old towers, in the old caves, in taverns. Taking up old arias of songs in vocal polyphony, we retraced the songs and melodies backwards, and gave them new life,” says Pagliara.

Their connection to their songs is ancestral, Pagliara grew up with agricultural labour, native dialect and song coursing through her veins, while Muci was serenaded by his maternal grandfather who embedded the traditions into his repertoire. Together, their aim is to protect, maintain and spread their tradition like wildfire.

“It’s a world of poets, storytellers and singers, who have preserved the oral traditions of the people from the Salento Peninsula,” explains Muci. “Our music is made of ancestral rites, like all the music of the world. We have the songs we have inherited in our blood and surely passion and emotion are also fundamental to acquire and re-propose them.

“Keeping a tradition alive means feeling that you have unique roots that can allow you to love and appreciate the roots of others,” echoes Pagliara. “In this time of globalisation, there is a need to regain one’s roots to distinguish and recognise each other. Southern Italy is a region that has suffered a lot, but it is experiencing a really happy time of cultural re-birthing.

“Music traditions really must be rigorously explored and protected, in every place in the world. I’m lucky to live in a place that is sensitive to the recovery and revival of oral heritage. I keep it alive because for me it is not just my duty, but a mission. Knowing where we come from helps us understand where we need to go,” Muci adds.

The duo are excited to bring their traditions to Australian audiences to not only introduce fresh ears to their world, but to spark memories and a sense of pride in the members of our rich Italian communities within Melbourne.

“Singing the tradition means being a small part of something that transcends time and space. Today we act as skilful weavers, and we join the past to the present, and we join Salento to distant Australia with the thread of voice and memory,” Pagliara says.

“I think it is a good opportunity for us to share our traditions and our rhythms in this festival, for the locals and for the Italian community we know is very active here,” Muci says. “The distance that divides us is oceanic, but a two-part song or a drum beat is enough to make you feel at home, at least for a moment. I hope that you will sense the Mediterranean warmth. My thoughts go to the Italian community of Australia. I hope that our presence, together with the other bands, will bring them the beauty and pride of their origins.”

Enza Pagliara and Dario Muci will headline Taranta Festival when it goes down from Wednesday March 11 to Sunday March 15 at venues all across Melbourne. For tickets and all the details, head to tarantafestival.com.au.