With his violin, curly hair, and gentle voice, Angelo Branduardi is one of Italy's most influential cantautori.
The Italian cantautore is returning to Switzerland with his violin, curly hair, and songs that have long since become part of the national heritage. Anyone who sees him perform live will understand why, for five decades, no one else has been able to do what he does. On October 18, 2027, at the Stadtcasino Basel, and on Thursday, October 28, 2027, at the Volkshaus Zurich, accompanied by Fabio Valdemarin.
There are artists who set trends, and there are those who simply exist outside of all trends. Angelo Branduardi undoubtedly belongs to the latter category—and he’s proud of it.
Born in 1950 near Milan and raised in Genoa, young Angelo actually wanted to learn to play the piano. But the instrument was too big and too expensive for the family—so his father took him to a violin teacher. What began as a stopgap measure became a life choice: “The violin is my life,” Branduardi says today. He earned his violin diploma at the Niccolò Paganini Conservatory in Genoa, and in Milan he met his wife, Luisa Zappa, who still writes the lyrics for his songs to this day.
His breakthrough came in the second half of the 1970s with hits like “Alla fiera dell’est,” “La pulce d’acqua,” and “Cogli la prima mela.” Above all, the song about the little mouse that the father bought for two groschen has become deeply ingrained in Italy’s collective memory. Branduardi himself takes it in stride: “This song no longer belongs to me; it has become part of the national heritage. And it’s a touch of eternity.”
On stage, he is joined by his longtime duet partner Fabio Valdemarin: a multi-instrumentalist and arranger who began playing the piano at the age of four and, over the course of his career, has collaborated with Ornella Vanoni, Mario Lavezzi, Neffa, J-Ax, and Fiorella Mannoia.
Branduardi has always moved between worlds: classical training, medieval and Renaissance music, Celtic and Northern European folklore. All of this blends together in his work to create a distinctive sound. With his “Futuro Antico” series, he has been breathing new life into music from past centuries since 1996, most recently with music from the court of the Este in Ferrara. His concerts prove time and again that this is by no means stuffy, museum-style music: In Venice, the audience at the Teatro La Fenice went wild—of all things—over a sacred dance from the year 1000.
The maestro draws his inspiration from nature; at home on a hill between Lake Maggiore and Lake Lugano, in a national park he affectionately calls “my little Canada.”
At his Swiss concerts, Branduardi presents a cross-section of his entire repertoire. With his soft voice, his virtuoso violin, and his philosophical art of song, this modern-day minstrel leaves his audience equally enchanted and contemplative. If you want to know what a touch of infinity sounds like, this evening is for you.