'Se il violinista cade dal tetto…'. L'Italia nel 'revival' della musica 'klezmer'

Abstract

Over the past decade, a new genre - «klezmer music» - has surfaced in the music world. Rooted in easter European Jewish instrumental music and Yiddish song, klezmer has become popular throughout the world, even in countries where Jews are note (or are no longer) present, and where this form of music originally did not exist. Italy - where the extreme popularity this music enjoys has overshadowed local Jewish traditions - presents an interesting study case. «Klezmer» has become a synonym for «Jewish», and denotes a (musical) culture that is believed to live in a transnational and multicultural world outside history. This article reviews recent scholarship on the definition and history of traditional klezmer repertoires, explores general trends in the klezmer revival, and shows how the Italian «klezmer scene» tends to present a repertoire devoid of traditional and Jewish content, while at the same time shaping a «usable tradition» and a new «aesthetic of the old».