CLAUDIO BAGLIONI - A Journey Through Music, Memory and the Future

Forty-four years after his historic concert at Piazza di Siena, Claudio Baglioni returns to the very place that witnessed one of the most memorable moments in Italian music history.

On 8 October, in the magnificent setting of the Aula Giulio Cesare at Rome’s Capitoline Hill, and in the presence of Rome’s Mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, and Councillor for Major Events, Alessandro Onorato, the singer-songwriter unveiled Che notte è questa! to the press: a series of seven concerts that will usher in a new chapter of the GrandTour La Vita è Adesso.

It was an occasion filled with memories, emotions and plans for the future, but also an opportunity to reflect on almost sixty years of music and an enduring bond with Rome that has always remained truly special.

Claudio, on 24 October you will return to Piazza di Siena, exactly 44 years after the legendary Alé-Oó concert, which attracted 250,000 people in 1982. How does it feel to return to that very place after so many years?

Piazza di Siena holds a very special meaning for me. That concert in 1982 has remained etched in the collective memory and represented an extraordinary moment, not only in my career but also in the history of live music in Italy. Returning to the same venue 44 years later means reconnecting with an important part of my life and artistic journey. But I don't want it to be simply a celebration of the past. Above all, I would like it to be another opportunity to come together, share emotions and continue telling stories through music.

Seven concerts, from 24 October to 1 November, promise a truly special experience. What can audiences expect from Che notte è questa!?

It won't be a celebration in the traditional sense. There will, of course, be music, but much more besides: images, illustrations, meaningful glances and moments of shared participation. The audience will be able to sing along, take photographs and feel part of the performance. I will be joined by twenty musicians, and together we will perform forty songs spanning almost sixty years of my career. It will be a magnificent open-air theatre, designed to bring people together through music in a truly extraordinary setting.

The project takes its name from one of your most beloved albums, La Vita è Adesso. For the first time, you will perform every track from the album live. What does this work mean to you today, more than forty years after its release?

La Vita è Adesso is an album that has touched several generations and continues to resonate today. Songs are born at a particular moment in time, but they eventually come to belong to those who listen to them, to the people who make them part of their own lives. Performing the entire album today means rediscovering those stories and seeing them through different eyes. We have all changed in the meantime, myself included. And yet music has this extraordinary ability to bring the past and present together.

Your GrandTour will also take you through some of Italy's most beautiful locations, from historic cities and monuments to archaeological sites. How important is the relationship between music and beauty to you?

Music doesn't necessarily belong only in theatres or arenas. It can become part of a place, engage with its history and create entirely different experiences. This GrandTour is also intended as an artistic and cultural journey, a voyage through our country's extraordinary heritage. Every location has its own identity and can help make a concert truly special. I like to think of this project as a travel diary, filled with encounters, landscapes, experiences and, of course, songs.

Rome will be both the starting point and the final destination of this long journey. You have often spoken about the special bond you share with the Eternal City. What does Rome mean to you today?

My roots are firmly planted in Rome. It's the city I love, where I grew up and where I have had so many experiences. I've performed practically everywhere: in stadiums, schools, prisons, at the Foro Italico, in the Vatican, and even from the balcony of the house where I lived as a young man in Centocelle. And yet Rome is also the city where I feel I have the most to prove. Roman audiences are demanding and difficult to surprise. After all, Romans have even seen kings paraded in chains! It's a city that constantly puts you to the test, but that is precisely why, whenever you manage to win it over, the satisfaction is all the greater.

A few months ago, you went through a difficult period due to health problems, which forced you to put your plans temporarily on hold. How much did that experience influence your decision to return to the stage?

When I was unwell, I was afraid I might never be able to perform again. And that possibility made me angry, because I wanted to be the one to decide when to bring this journey to an end, rather than leave that decision to fate. That's why this comeback holds such special significance for me. After so many years, I no longer take for granted the opportunity to continue making music and connecting with audiences.

In the run-up to these concerts, you have also unveiled Frammenti, a multimedia project featuring some of Italian cinema's most celebrated actors, including Paola Cortellesi, Luca Zingaretti and Vittoria Puccini. What inspired you to give your songs new voices?

Frammenti offers a different way of experiencing La Vita è Adesso, through images, words, music and performances. Each song becomes part of a broader narrative, enriched by the sensitivity of the actors who lend their voices to the lyrics. It's a journey through memories, evocative impressions and fresh perspectives. A way of packing our bags for this adventure, rediscovering the songs through different forms of artistic expression.

Throughout your career, you have explored virtually every form of live performance, from enormous open-air gatherings to more intimate concerts. After almost sixty years in music, what continues to surprise you about your relationship with audiences?

The most extraordinary thing is that every concert, even after all these years, is different. The venues change, the people change, and so do the emotions. There are songs I've performed hundreds of times that still manage to give me something new. That's the beauty of live music: it's never an experience that belongs solely to the person on stage. It comes to life through the connection with those who are listening. And it's precisely that shared experience that makes every performance so special.

On 23 October 2027, after fifty concerts over eighty days, the GrandTour will conclude at the Imperial Fora in Rome. Will this really be your last major concert?

It will certainly mark the end of an important journey, a way of bringing full circle something that began many years ago. I don't know whether it will be my very last concert, but it will undoubtedly mark the end of a particular chapter in my life as a live performer. I like the idea of everything beginning and ending in Rome, in two such symbolic locations. We want to create something truly extraordinary at the Imperial Fora, a magnificent celebration to bring this journey to a close.

You once said that reaching the age of 75 and being able to say you have spent almost your entire life playing is a great privilege. If you could speak to the young Claudio who dreamt of making music, what would you tell him today?

I'd tell him how fortunate he has been to spend so many years doing what he loves. After all, in many languages, the verb to play is the same whether you're talking about music or a game. And, in a sense, I've spent almost my entire life playing. I've had the opportunity to create, experiment, tell stories and meet so many people through music. I've done exactly what I wanted to do and, as I've said before, it's always been better than working!

From Piazza di Siena to the Imperial Fora, taking in some of Italy’s most breathtaking locations along the way, Claudio Baglioni is preparing to embark on another journey through music and memories. A journey that embraces the past while keeping its eyes firmly on the future because, as the title of one of his most celebrated albums reminds us, life is now. And perhaps, after almost sixty years of music, that is the most beautiful message of all: to keep living, feeling and playing, for as long as there is another story to tell.

Che notte è questa! La partenza will take place at Piazza di Siena in Rome on 24, 25, 27, 28, 30 and 31 October, and 1 November 2026. The GrandTour will continue throughout the summer of 2027, culminating on 23 October that year at the Imperial Fora with Che notte è questa! Il ritorno.

Cover image: Claudio Baglioni © Alessandro Dobici
Inside images: © Angelo Trani
(Courtesy of Parole e Dintorni Srl)