Novecento: the duel

A pianist named after a century, who distills the vastness of the world into the keys of his piano—Novecento, Alessandro Baricco’s theatrical monologue that later became a novel, a film, a graphic novel, and even a playlist, continues to inspire stories, sounds, and visions. In Piazza Duomo, a special performance brings it to life, narrated by Baricco himself and performed by the eclectic pianist Stefano Bollani, winner of the 2023 David di Donatello for his score for Il pataffio.

In art, Stevenson once said, all that matters is the magic dust. And if anyone deals in this magic dust when it comes to storytelling, it is Alessandro Baricco. Whether writing about music or architecture, his hypnotic narrative style conjures enchantment and wonder. Together, Baricco and Bollani take the stage for a duel of text and music, a challenge Bollani describes as “a direct confrontation between words and sound.” Enhancing this interplay is the legendary trumpeter Enrico Rava, one of Italy’s most internationally celebrated jazz musicians.

On one side stands Novecento, a character who embodies the dazzling eclecticism of his era, absorbing every influence—from jazz to Debussy, from folk to non-Western traditions—and transforming it into something extraordinary. On the other, Jelly Roll Morton, the American pianist and self-proclaimed inventor of jazz, boards the ocean liner determined to defeat this enigmatic Novecento, whose reputation he finds unbearable. “To summon him at the keyboard,” says Bollani, “is like stepping into myth.”

As we already know, Novecento emerges victorious. But he does so not just through his breathtaking talent. Where Morton plays to dominate, Novecento plays out of sheer curiosity. He wins because, instead of meeting aggression with aggression, he counters it with the power of wonder—the desire to learn something new from his rival.