Italian singer Daisy Lumini as an interpreter of the post-avant-garde music
Authors: Kordovska P.A. 
Published: August 2020

Introduction. In the music of the late twentieth century the realization of the creative potential of performers is rarely limited with the framework of direction which was chosen in the beginning of career. The field of the academic music may be too narrow for the artist, but this does not mean a definitive departure from this area. The life and performances of Italian singer, actress and composer Daisy Lumini (1936–1993) could be considered as one of the examples of the twentieth century “variability” of the artist’s way. She developed from a graduate of the Conservatory to a pop star and a cabaret singer, from a medieval folklore performer to an interpreter of contemporary academic music. Daisy Lumini’s unique performing experience led her to collaborate with Italian composers of the late twentieth century. Theoretical background. The extraordinary personality of Daisy Lumini received a certain resonance in the European press. High historical value is the biographical essay “Daisy e la musica. Una grande e tragica storia” (2019) by Chiara Ferrari, based on the memories of Beppe Chierici. Daisy Lumini and her works are mentioned in digest “The Singer-Songwriter in Europe: Paradigms, Politics and Place” (2016) and in Jacopo Tomatis’s “Storia culturale della canzone italiana” (2019). The purpose of this paper is to reveal the specifics of the interaction of the composer and performer in the post-avant-garde music based on the creative collaboration of Daisy Lumini and Italian composers of the late twentieth century (Franco Mannino, Luciano Berio, Salvatore Sciarrino). This study requires the use of analytical, style and performing methods of scientific research. Results of the research. Daisy Lumini’s singing style has implicated using a lot of types of intonational practices which is usually associated with the mass twentieth century culture (including pop songs, folk music, cabaret aesthetic etc.). Nevertheless, she had started her musician career with getting education (as a composer and pianist) in totally academic environment in Luigi Cherubini Conservatory (Florence, Italy). Being a daughter of the Florentine painter Vasco Lumini, Daisy Lumini had would be able to continue a calm and comfortable existence in Florence. However, after she had been graduated from the Conservatory in late 1950s she decided to change her life vector, moved to Rome, started her activity as a cantautrice (female singer-songwriter) and produced her first singles. During this period, Lumini found success in collaboration with lyric writer Aldo Alberini and well-known Italian singers Mina Mazzini and Claudio Villa. Along with traditional vocal techniques, Lumini used the whistling technique, due to which she got the nickname “l’usignolo di Firenze” (“the Florentine nightingale”) and was invited by Ennio Morricone to whistle in the soundtrack of Lina Wertm&#252;ller’s “I Basilischi” (“The Lizards”, 1963). In 1960s a work in Gianni Bongiovanni’s Derby Club Cabaret (Milan) and a collaboration with the RCA (Radio Corporation of America) turned into the fields of Lumini’s creative activity. The acquaintanceship with Beppe Chierici, an actor, who would become her husband, lead to a new “folklore” stage of Lumini’s career. As a result of careful research of Italian folk music founded on the materials of Conservatory Santa Cecilia Library (Rome), the singer together with Beppe Chierici had produced several musical performances in the aesthetics of poor theater based on the Tuscan and Piedmontese songs of the XV–XIX centuries, as well as the Songs of Minstrels album based on the texts of the XII–XIV centuries. There was DaisyLumini’s gradual return to the environment of academic music in 1970s. Singer’s friendly communication with conductor Gianluigi Gelmetti, composers Franco Mannino, Domenico Guaccero and others, who represented Santa Cecilia Conservatory, has resulted in a number of creative collaborations. In 1973, even being immersed in ethnographic research, Daisy Lumini performed as mezzo-soprano in Franco Mannino’s “Il diavolo in giardino”. Another milestone in Daisy Lumini’s work became 1982, when director Roberto Scaparro invited the singer to participate in the Italian premiere of Luciano Berio’s “La vera storia”. In the opera, which is a creative reinterpretation of Verdi’s “Troubadour”, Daisy Lumini played the role of one of the cantastorie – singing storytellers or narrators describing and commenting events of the plot. Daisy Lumini achieved a real success as a performer of the post-avant-garde music in the 1980s, in collaboration with Salvatore Sciarrino. Daisy Lumini has premiered a great number of his chamber works, such as “Efebo con Radio”, “Canto degli specchi”, “Vanitas”, “Lohengrin” and some others. Conclusions. Although Daisy Lumini is an individual case, the phenomena and strategies discussed here may turn out to be symptomatic for contemporary music practice. Performers may rarely allow themselves to remain within the same intonational practice in the contemporary music art. It is especially important if it comes to the first performing of the post-avant-garde music that requires a certain congeniality of the performer and the author. The interaction of the composer and the performer is often a factor affecting the creation of a musical work at all stages, from the appearance of an idea for a premiere performance. The musician with a rich life experience and wide range of performing techniques may be considered as the co-author of the score.