Hi,

My name is Pier Michelatti, I’m a musician and for 25 years I had the privilege and the good fortune to collaborate with some of the greatest Italian Artists (see my website www.piermichelatti.com). Naturally I built up a relationship with all these people, however it never went beyond the classic professional relationship. The only artist with whom I developed a true friendship, not just me but all his musicians and collaborators, was indeed Fabrizio. I don’t know why ... Perhaps because he was a truly special, authentic, generous and honest person. As Dori (Fabrizio's widow) says I wouldn’t want to turn him into some kind of “saint” ... Bicio was a man with many good qualities but a lot of faults, nevertheless weighing it all up, the strong points weigh more than the weak ones. His ability to analyse and above all summarise left his interviewer speechless. He was hungry and thirsty of “knowledge”. He wished to fully know his collaborators, he could look into you and find things you didn’t know you possessed ... sometimes even frightening you. Obviously when he passed away he left an empty space in all his collaborators’ lives, for me it was immediately followed by regret that I could no longer play his wonderful Music.

 

I fully realised that Fabrizio had gone the evening of the 12th of March 2000, when Dori, a year after his death, invited me as part of his historic group to play the wonderful songs he left behind for the last time on the stage of the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. That evening playing “Creuza de Ma” I felt really sad and somewhat anxious ... Would I really never have played those songs again? No, it wasn’t possible.

 

So, on second thoughts, I went to the “Foundation” to speak to Dori Ghezzi about this idea. Dori was happy to give me the Foundation’s sponsorship, and so here we are: the group’s called “Faber Per Sempre” (Faber Forever), because in fact, in our own small way we would like to ensure that Fabrizio’s work is not slowly forgotten and although I must say his name is now part of the Country’s folklore since it has been given to squares, roads, schools, associations etc. nonetheless you don’t hear his Music very much, so as we said, we would like to make sure that this doesn’t happen. It would be unforgivable to lose this treasure left to us by this fantastic person and Artist.

 

Pier Michelatti

 

“...io mi dico e’ stato meglio lasciarci che non esserci mai incontrati...”

( ... I tell myself, better to have left each other rather than never have met ... )

 

Fabrizio De Andre’

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