Staino: “There is no longer a war between the Tenco Prize and the Sanremo Festival”

Even if the ‘Tenco Award’ in Sanremo never rhymes with the ‘Sanremo Festival’, the wall that in the past has always separated these two musical ‘institutions’, so close geographically and so far musically if not ideologically, now it is knocked down or in any case significantly lowered. “It is no longer time of war”: to confirm this, in the interview with AdnKronos, it is Sergio Staino in his capacity as president of the Tenco Club. “The ‘war’ was a fundamental element for the birth of the Tenco Club half a century ago and then a few years later of the Tenco Award – explains Staino – It was necessary because there was a whole part of the innovative musical culture that was excluded from the Festival, in favor of a commercialization that we could define as a bit too quiet. But today, there is no longer this barrier, on the contrary there is almost an interchange between ‘Premio Tenco’ and ‘Festival di Sanremo’: it is up to us to explore lands that perhaps are still difficult for the festival “. When, then, three evenings live to broadcast the ‘Tenco Award’ on Rai – which ended during the night and saw the awarding of the career award to Claudio Baglioni – instead of the synthesis already foreseen by Viale Mazzini? “I must say that I have found a lot of willingness and sympathy towards us both on the part of the CEO Carlo Fuortes and in the apparatus of Rai”, replies Staino. “We hope that now this change of government does not manifest different wishes on the part of the company, which traditionally is always the first cornerstone that is invaded and occupied in favor of the winning forces of the political elections – observes Sergio Staino – It is a ‘tradition’ that always turns out to be negative for the world of information and specifically for that of culture, of which music is a living part “. (by the correspondent Enzo Bonaiuto)