Three stadiums (also considering the tennis center), two auditoriums, large and small theaters, the square of the childhood neighborhood in Centocelle and that of San Pietro, the Paul VI room in the Vatican, prisons and hospitals, the Trinità dei Monti, even on the tram in motion and on a truck in Ostia.
"In Rome, my city, I played practically everywhere", he says proudly, but Claudio Baglioni, in over 50 years of career, lacked an iconic and fascinating place in the heart of the city: the Baths of Caracalla, where he made his debut. with his "Twelve Notes - Tutti su!", opening with pop music - for the first time - also the summer season of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma with twelve evenings, between tonight and June 19 for a total of over 50 thousand spectators (which with the winter tour make 150 thousand in six months).
"I had been waiting for this moment for 33 years, since in 1989 I went to a Vangelis concert in Caracalla. Now I can finally get on the stage of this millenary theater", says the singer-songwriter shortly before performing, rightly crowned Divo Claudio.
A "total" show defines it, including music, dance and theater, lights and scenic effects, for a duration of over three hours, during which he will be accompanied by 123 musicians, choristers, classical and modern performers under the artistic direction of Giuliano Peparini.
Also on stage are the Italian Cinema Orchestra and the Giuseppe Verdi Choir.
"We'll combine cream, ham and mushrooms," he jokes.
ANSA agency
Claudio Baglioni's pop conquers Caracalla - Music
The magical atmosphere of ancient Rome, the darkness that falls on the city and the lights and projections (with a spaceship darting between the millenary walls to kick off the evening) to give life and shape to the remains of the Baths of Caracalla.
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"Monstre" lineup, with 30 tracks from the most recent to the timeless ones.
And if, he assures him, "it will be a concert of music, gestures, suggestions, without too many words", the messages will be entrusted to songs and choreographies.
Not surprisingly, Baglioni also chose to sing Lullaby of the war, inserted in the 1974 album E tu, taking up the text of a poem by the Roman poet Trilussa on the First World War.
And that sounds fiercely current today.
"The words that are able to tell the great failures of the world are the simplest ones - explains Baglioni -, like those of Trilussa who tells the war through a lullaby. Many times the song when it approaches these issues tends to become sloganistic, losing so of vivacity and substance ".
Yet the artist has never pulled back, as when between 2003 and 2012 he organized O 'Shah in Lampedusa to talk about migrants and hospitality.
"All things have a time, even O 'Shah. It was an invitation to meet. Today it could be exploited", he says with a touch of sadness and then adds: "On certain themes we must not exalt too much the role of the artist who in the army of good will he represents the trumpeter: he gives the charge, but the infantrymen make war on the ground ".
After the twelve Roman events, "Twelve Notes - Tutti Su!"
it will arrive at the Greek Theater of Syracuse (July 15th and 16th) and at the Verona Arena (July 26th and 27th).
Baglioni does not rule out, in the near future, also returning to the stadiums, which he has been missing since 2003. "In my head there is the idea of returning, of still feeling that blow to the stomach when you enter in front of 80 thousand people".
Provided, he explains, that you have an ad hoc project because too many times "the artists do not take into account the locations in which they perform, they do not have the perception of the place and the sacredness of certain places. For me, you have to wear a different dress according to of the ceremony in which you participate ".
Tonight, he will be very elegant.
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