ANDREA VITALI

Andrea Vitali was born on March the 2nd 1952 in Faenza.

He has graduated in classical studies at the Bologna University and has subsequently achieved the Diploma of Post-University Improvement in Musicology. In the meanwhile he has been studying to be an Archivist, Palaeography and Diplomat at the State Archives in Bologna.

After various years of teaching and direction of a town library, he widened the study of symbolism and the iconology of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, his greatest interest, with particular attention to the religious and profane celebrations days and the structure of the triumphal processions, objects of his thesis of degree.

While he was frequenting the Course of Musicology at I.M.E.T (Institute of Musical and Theatrical Studies) directed by the professor Giuseppe Vecchi, together with other students he founded the Consortium Terrae Plebis, one of the first groups appeared in Italy to deal with medieval and Renaissance music, singing in the role of countertenor. With this formation he has performed in numerous concerts from 1973 to 1990. In 1988 he has covered the role of the white voice in the baroque capriccio Il Teatro alla Moda by Benedetto Marcello at the Theatre La Fenice in Venice. He has even sung at the Deutsche Theatre in Munich of Bavaria, at the Palais Royal in Paris, in Salonika on the occasion of the Carnival and in other numerous European cities. It is due to him the preface in the volume Einführung in die mittelalterliche Musik by Daniela Herzog and Marco Ambrosini edited by German publishing house Verlag der Spielleute, 1992.

His voice endowed by a great transparency and power, has been considered one of the most beautiful countertenor voices by experts of the interpretation of the ancient music (Luisa Baldassarri, Marco Ferrari, Marco Ambrosini and from so many others).  Unluckily, such typology of voice, not being used in the Eighties as it was later, prevented him from dedicating completely to the activity of performer.

In 1980 he started to deal with the ideation and of the artistic direction of cultural events and in that year he conceived the Medieval Days in Brisighella, first review of theatre, music and dance of the Middle Ages, of which he has been artistic manager up to 2004 and for whose ideation and the bright management he received in 1992 the Regional Counsel Plaque of Emilia Romagna and in 2004 the one of the Office of Tourism. With the Days in Brisighella, Andrea Vitali created an event about the middle ages that in a short time was imitated in Italy and in the rest of the world.

His artistic and spectacular inventions have been object of different theses of degree:
The Middle Ages in the contemporary imaginary.  The case of the Medieval Days. Academic year 2000 - 2001, Bologna University, Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, Course of Degree in Modern Letters (Supervisor: Prof. Massimo Montanari).
Medieval shows:  Sacred and Profane. Academic year 2001 - 2002, Academy of Beaux Arts of Catania, Scenography (Supervisor: Prof. Mario Romano).
The Languages of the academy of the Remotes of Faenza. Academic year 2001 - 2002, Trieste University, Faculty of Sciences of the Formation, Course of Degree in Science of the Communication (Supervisor: Prof. Tiziana Piras).
The Medieval Days in Offagna. Academic year 2003-2004, Bologna University, Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, Course of Degree in Disciplines of the Art, of the Music and of the Show. Address History of the Show (Supervisor: professor Marco De Marinis).

Besides the historical events, Andrea Vitali has directed dance, theatre and musical festivals, having as guests famous actors of the Italian Theatre, such as Giorgio Albertazzi, Beppe Barra, Riccardo Cucciolla, Duilio Del Prete, Arnoldo Foà, Andrea Giordana, Renzo Montagnani, Ivana Monti, Paolo Poli, Flavio Bucci, Valeria Moriconi, Chiara Muti, Lina Sastri, Massimo Rinaldi, Piera degli Esposti, Ugo Pagliai, Paola Quattrini, Sandro Lombardi, David Riondino, Ivano Marescotti ;  dance companies and famous soloists: Arsis Ballet de Cambra de Barcellona, Ensemble Micha van Hoecke, Roberto Bolle, Luciana Savignano, Raffaele Paganini, Toni Candeloro, Margherita Parrilla, Lorena Baricalla. Cantanti: Maria Carta, Fausta Vetere, Ambrogio Sparagna and the most prestigious groups of ancient and baroque music: Unicorn, Oni Wytars, Clemencic Consort, La Maurache, Les Nations, The Early Music Consort of London, The New London Consort, La Rossignol, La Camerata de Paris, etc.

In the meantime his interest toward the world of the symbolism brought him to found in 1984 the Cultural Association "Le Tarot" (www. letarot.it), organism specialized in the study and in the historical research about the symbolic and hermetic disciplines, composed by eminent personalities of the international academic and cultural world, among which Franco Cardini, Cecilia Gatto Trocchi, etc.  As president of the Cultural Association "Le Tarot", Andrea Vitali has taken care of numerous exposures of historical character, among which the most important Italian shows about the symbolic universe of tarots (Museum of Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome - Archaeological Civic Museum, Bologna - Estense Castle, Ferrara, etc).

Recognized by the international scientific community among the maximum authorities for what concerns the iconography of historical tarots, you has written different iconological essays translated in six languages, considered fundamental for their symbolic-allegorical understanding.In this way has written about him Alain-Jacques Bougearel in his work Origines et Histoire du Tarot (Envol Editions, Toulouse, 1997): "To me Andrea Vitali, among all the contemporary tarot experts, is the most relevant medieval historian " (page 21).

In this field his essays and scientific contributions have been published by the Publishing Nuova Alfa, Electa, Le Tarot, Meneghello, Martina-Bologna and Lo Scarabeo.To him we owe the preface to the book Einführung in die Musik mittelalterliche by Daniela Herzog and Marco Ambrosini published by German publishing house Verlag der Spielleute, 1992 and the historical-interpretative advice for two recordings performed by the Ensemble Oni Wytars: Canto Novello. Laude from late-medieval Italy (Raum Klang, RK 2809, 2009) and From Bysantium to Andalusia. Medieval Music and Poetry (Naxos, 8.557637, 2006).

To know the profile of Andrea Vitali as historical of symbolism, his studies and publications, see the website of the Cultural Association "Le Tarot" at link
http://www.letarot.it/page.aspx?id=9&lng=ENG