Noa - Achinoam Nini

Noa at the Jerusalem Book Fair, February 20th:

Noa will be singing 3 songs at the "Literary Cafe" at the Jerusalem Book Fair on February 20th at 18:00. She will be a guest of famed Italian author Erri De Luca

- "Italian literature as a bridge between the Cairo Fair and the Jerusalem Fair". This was was the first point underlined by Simonetta Della Seta, director of the Italian Culture Institute in Israel, during the presentation of the Italian participation in the 23rd International Book Fair, which opens on Sunday in Jerusalem. "This is an important political moment," Della Seta said showing the programme of the fair, organised in cooperation with the Italian embassy in Tel Aviv. "We do it because our culture is a culture of dialogue and through our literature we manage to transmit certain messages and approach certain worlds." The key event will be on February 22 in the Italian pavilion, where "we have invited Arab-Israeli publishers, writers and poets who took part in the Cairo Fair, as individuals, given the fact that Israel is not accepted there. Through us, they will be able to tell the Israeli public what these two fairs do and in this way in Jerusalem there will be more than one voice from the Cairo Fair," Della Seta said. The pavilion will host other important events too. The first such event is linked with the works of Neapolitan author Erri De Luca, the most translated Italian author in Israel. "Many of his books, starting with 'Montedidio', have a deep connection with Jerusalem," Della Seta said. "He learned Hebrew and is deeply connected to the city. In fact he is a real star in Israel, and two of his books will soon be turned into films by Israeli producers." Moreover, the meeting between the author and Noa in the literary café on February 20 will focus on Neapolitan songs, the theme of the latest CD by the Israeli singer. De Luca and Noa also work on a musical based on Neapolitan songs. The Italian author has already written the screenplay. (by ANSA)

On your doorstep, like the noonday heat (By Shiri Lev-Ari - haaretz.com)

On the steps leading up to the entrance of Binyanei Ha'uma in Jerusalem, dozens of people sat huddled together on Tuesday evening. This was also the case around the small stage that had been set up there. Those who found no place to sit remained standing. All of them came to see the joint appearance of Italian writer Erri De Luca and musicians Achinoam Nini and Gil Dor, which was held at the International Book Fair in Jerusalem.

This was a short, enchanted evening made up of Neapolitan songs, translated into Hebrew, and also memories of Naples, where De Luca was born and raised. Nini sang with the naturalness and charm that always characterizes her, Dor accompanied her on the guitar and De Luca sometimes took the microphone and sang along with her. "You sing beautifully," she said to him, and she was right.

Some of the songs in the performance were taken from the Neapolitan disc that Nini has issued with the Solis String Quartet. It all began around performances by Nini and Dor in Italy, where they fell in love with books by De Luca, author of "God's Mountain," "You Are Mine," "Three Horses" and others. Now they are planning a theatrical performance with Neapolitan songs, for which De Luca will write the connecting texts.

De Luca visits Israel often. He loves the place, feels at home and understands Hebrew. He has studied Hebrew and Yiddish on his own but prefers to reply in English or in Italian (the work of translation was done on Tuesday by Simonetta Della Seta, the director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Tel Aviv).

"Each time I have taken a step in the direction of Israel, Israel has come thousands of steps toward me," De Luca said.

And now Nini says the same thing about the Neapolitans. "I've been performing in Italy for 15 years now," she related after the performance. "The Italians have given me record amounts of love, and at a certain stage I wanted to repay them for accepting me with the Hebrew and the English and the Yemenite and this mishmash that I represent. I started singing Neapolitan songs, the way Glykeria sings in Hebrew. This made them feel good, so gradually I learned one song and then another."

In one of the newspapers here in Israel, she relates, there was once a picture of De Luca. "Underneath there was the caption: 'Someone ought to give him citizenship already.' The same thing happened to me in Naples: Next to my picture in a newspaper, someone wrote: 'Someone ought to give her citizenship already.'"

De Luca told about the neighborhood where he was born, Montedidio, a name whose meaning is the title of his book, "God's Mountain." Vendors would move around, from neighborhood to neighborhood, and they had to make a special noise if people were to pay attention to them.

"In Naples, people live in very crowded conditions," said De Luca, "and for the vendors to be noticed, they had to make their cries melodious. This taught me that music is important in order to sell, and anyone who doesn't know how to make music is poor. In Naples, music was also something democratic, because you don't need money or education to make music," he said.

Together, Nini and De Luca sang some of the great Neapolitan love songs, filled with longing. Sentences like "The fragrance of the rose in bloom has reached your window," or "I wanted only to be the drawer of water / On your doorstep, like the noonday heat," flew through the air.

"It is always great love for beautiful, difficult and merciless women," said De Luca. He added: "There is a world of love, where the women rule the men with great tyranny."