Half a century later, it’s not just a record that returns. An authentic, surprising, and free Ornella Vanoni returns, suspended between song and laughter, between elegance and irony. This is perhaps the most precious gift that comes today from the tapes of those historic recordings.
Fifty years later, “Desire, madness, unconsciousness, joy” returns in a new celebratory edition. The album, released in 1976 and born from the unrepeatable encounter between Ornella Vanoni, Toquinho and Vinícius de Moraes, will be available from November 13th on double LP, double CD and digital, via Nar International.
Pre-orders will open on September 15th, just days before September 22nd, the date on which Ornella Vanoni would have turned 92. A coincidence that makes this reissue even more significant, inevitably transforming it into a tribute to one of the most original and recognizable voices in Italian music.
When Brazil entered Italian music
The album was born in Rome under the artistic direction of Sergio Bardotti, who transformed some of the most fascinating compositions in Brazilian music into Italian. Alongside Vanoni’s voice were the poetry of Vinícius de Moraes and Toquinho’s guitar, in a musical dialogue constructed with great naturalness.
The result was something much more important than a simple meeting between Italian and Brazilian artists. The album helped to introduce the bossa nova, bringing its atmospheres, melodies and sensibilities into homes without resorting to the stereotypes of a postcard Brazil.
Sensual and melancholic, but at the same time light and ironic, Desire, madness, unconsciousness, joy It quickly won over the public and achieved gold status, becoming one of the most significant works of Vanoni’s career.
Fifty years later, the tapes still speak
The new edition, however, holds a surprise that goes beyond a simple celebration of the record. From the archives, new songs have resurfaced: unreleased recordings and studio conversations between Ornella Vanoni, Toquinho and Vinícius de Moraes.
These are precious fragments: jokes, laughter, complicity, and moments of spontaneity that capture the atmosphere of those sessions and allow us to listen to the artists even away from the microphone, in the more intimate and human dimension of studio work.
The original master has been restored from the original tapes, bringing to light a musical document that belongs both to the history of Italian song and to the cultural relationship between Italy and Brazil.
To complete the edition there will be a book edited by Julia Knight, unpublished photographs, a collectible poster and a commemorative sticker. The graphic design was entrusted to Hello Italian Disco.
Fifty years later, that Brazil of music, friendship, poetry, and improvisation speaks Italian again. And it does so through the unmistakable voice of Ornella Vanoni, reminding us that some songs never get old: they simply wait to be heard again.