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Martino e Marianna
Have you ever wondered how your grandparents enjoyed themselves, or better yet your great-grandparents?
The answer is very easy. They enjoyed themselves with the simplicity of the stornellos in the taverns. The popular cabaret of grandparents and great grandparents was made of easy stories, of cheerful songs with very simple contents such as the song Martino and Marianna which tells of the perennial dispute between husband and wife.
This song is thought to have origins as far back as 1600, but it is difficult to establish a certain date. However, the fight, the struggles between husband and wife have always been the target of all the tavern satires of popular songs and much more.
The cabaret was born in the late nineteenth century in France as a variation on the forms of entertainment of the Cafè-Chantant which in Italy took the name of Caffè Concerto.
The first cabaret combined different forms of entertainment by inserting theater, dance, comedy, prestidigitation, song and other numbers.
It was a very wide offer of shows.
The famous places of the first French cabaret were “Le Chat noire” and the Mulin Rouge.
The German Kabarett was different from the French cabaret for its satirical, provocative, intellectual and critical vein towards power.
In Italy, on the other hand, it was proposed in concert cafes, which thus expanded their range of shows.
In Milan the city temple of the Milanese cabaret was the Derby Club, which from 1959 to 1985 hosted all the greatest artists of the Milanese scene. The Derby was later replaced by the Zelig.
The character and spirit of the ancient cabaret has been almost lost because today the televisions offer only the current comedy that is closer to the dementia compared to the valiant comedy of the “real original” cabaret.
Video – Martino e Marianna
Un abbraccio/ a big Hug
Marcus Dardi
