Born a few hours apart, on 4 and 5 March 1943 respectively, Lucio Dalla and Lucio Battisti had never shared the same record. It’s happening now, decades later, thanks to an initiative by Sony Music which bears the evocative name of “L’alba di Lucio”, a collectible 12″ 45 rpm vinyl, available only on 4 and 5 March and exclusively on the Sony Music Store, with each copy numbered and purchasable within just 48 hours.
View this post on Instagram
The operation has a simple logic, that is, to exploit the coincidence of age – two giants of Italian song born in the same year, one day apart – to build an object that certifies the symbolic bond, never fully explained in the history of recording. Both were linked to Rimini: Dalla with the boat at the dock, Battisti with the house in Marina Centro. A geographical thread, as well as biographical, which adds even more meaning to the initiative.
The songs
The choice of repertoire is consistent with the premise, given that on the A side we will find “4 March 1943” by Lucio Dalla, a symbolic song that undermined the very idea of a popular story, bringing a then unusual lyrical realism to the Festival, while on the B side there will be “The Gardens of March” by Lucio Battisti, a sort of confession suspended between fragility and melodic momentum, between autobiography and collective myth. Two songs that belong to different seasons and sensibilities – Dalla’s visionary and popular writing, Battisti’s intimate and melodic one developed with Mogol – which however both converge towards a suspended, seasonal and nostalgia-filled dimension of time.
The object
The vinyl is made in a special marble blue/lavender color, the illustrated cover bears the signature of Matteo Berton, while the personalized inner sleeves can be framed as the attempt to build an ideal visual dialogue between the two artists, capable of intertwining different eras and sensibilities. The special contribution of Vincenzo Mollica, who signs an unpublished text dedicated to “that magical night” in which they were born, a few hours apart, completes the project.
The pre-order can be made exclusively on store.sonymusic.it, given that physical distribution in stores is not foreseen and there is no possibility of purchasing it outside the foreseen time window, which we remind you is limited to the days of March 4th and 5th only.
