The result of the initiative and commitment of Mario Tronco, with his lengthy experience with the Avion Travel, and that of Agostino Ferrente, who made the documentary of its genesis (Nastro d’Argento, Globo d’Oro Awards and success at many international festivals), today the Orchestra has become independent and tours with a their own version of Mozart’s “Magic Flute.” It has performed in Lyons, Barcelona, Athens, London, Rome, Naples and in January will play in Paris. Is this band a highly symbolic example of tolerance? Conductor Mario Tronco does not like the sound of the word tolerance because he says, “it reminds me of food intolerances. When people are concerned it is about friendship and sharing.”

Allow us to revisit the brief history of the Piazza Vittorio Orchestra. How was it formed and what have been the fundamental moments in this musical experience?

It all started seven years ago thanks to the idea of transforming the sounds of this square into an orchestra, a feasible idea also thanks to the cultural association set up during that same period to save a cinema in the Esquiline district (the Apollo 11 Association, editor’s note). The idea also arose from the persuasion that diversity produces wonderful and beautiful things and should not be feared. The fundamental stages were the performances held by the Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio. In addition to the social issue, the musicians and I intended to create a valid musical project. If this orchestra still exists it is because it is based on a valid artistic project.

How did you become internationally known? Perhaps this is the first orchestra of its kind…

I really don’t know how this happened. When the idea came to me I searched online for similar experiences and found none. This really did frighten me, because I thought “If they haven’t done this in London or New York, there must be a reason.” Instead we succeeded. In recent years we have travelled a great deal and Agostino Ferrente’s film contributed to making the orchestra known. Progress is made in a curious way, by word of mouth. We are neither a radio nor a TV phenomenon, but strangely at each concert the audiences grow, obviously because people talk to their friends and relatives about us. This kind of promotion creates audiences that come to like us and don’t abandon us easily.

The Orchestra was the result of the union of different types of music and different cultures originating in Piazza Vittorio. Was it hard in the beginning to find musicians?

It was difficult because things were difficult at the time, and they still are. Things have not changed much. There was great fear immediately after 9/11; Arab musicians were hiding and foreigners were, to a certain extent, “enemies.” The atmosphere was not favourable. Residency permits are a kind of Damocles sword for the Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio, and the law has become increasingly complicated, with thousands of traps and this still makes the orchestra’s work very difficult today.

Now you are internationally famous, a documentary has been made about you and you are producing the Magic Flute. How is the Orchestra welcomed abroad?

It is welcomed magnificently. Audiences that do not know us are amazed and their appreciation is confirmed when they do get to know us. We have performed the Magic Flute in Lyons, Athens, Barcelona and London. Audiences in Lyons were enthusiastic but totally surprised because they did not know us, while in Barcelona we were greeted with a long applause before the performance. The audience there knew us and had seen us on previous visits.

What is your experience as far as tolerance is concerned?

Tolerance is a word I do not like very much because it reminds me of tolerance or intolerance to food, something that brings you out in spots… I find it totally normal to interact with Pap, with Carlos, with people from faraway places, to the extent that this does not surprise me. Rather than of tolerance, I prefer to speak of sharing, of friendship. One is speaking of human beings. I really don’t like the sound of the word “tolerance.”

We have used this word inspired by a book that distinguishes between, on one hand, tolerance, rather in the sense you applied to this word, and on the other the merging and sharing of experiences. In your opinion, is Italy a country open to sharing with others?

Italy, and above all Southern Italy, is historically an open country. I come from the Campania region where Naples and the Amalfi Coast are in some points Arab cities. The Mediterranean has been nourished by nomad cultures. We are losing this characteristic because of underhand political games, electoral games, which involve finding enemies and pointing them out as foreigners. At the moment this brings more votes, greater consensus. Politicians have no scruples in using these cheap tricks, which also totally change the consciences of the people and make sharing really impossible.

You conduct an Orchestra with musicians from all over the world. Do you have a recipe for a society capable of valorising the various cultures that are part of it and not perceiving them as enemies?

I believe this is easier for an orchestra thanks to the shared language of music. I have, however, imagined the Orchestra’s musicians not on the basis of their nationalities but as people. I believe that it is the valorisation of individuals with their particular capabilities that allows people to live together. The Orchestra’s musicians are my friends, they are talented. But no, I have no secret recipes.

On the basis of your own experience, do Europe and America perceive immigration differently?

I believe they do. The United States is a society based on immigration. People came from all over the world to live there. In Italy immigration is a headline. Until a little less that Seventy years ago we were the ones who left our country, so for us this is a novelty. Europe, and I am thinking of cities such as Paris and London, has addressed this by building ghetto districts that are a disaster. In a sense it is the same in the United States. I have a feeling that the same mistake is made over and over again. It will happen in Rome too when the historical centre spreads even more and districts for immigrants will be created… Sadly people keep making the same mistakes.

And districts for immigrants will be built in Rome…

Everything is in the hands of real estate developers. The larger the market for the suburbs the more suburban districts will be created for the poorer classes and non-EU nationals to live in.

What solution do you see for this?

One could take the cities out of the hands of building speculators.

Translated by Francesca Simmons