"Happy birthday, dear Raoul." Smooth meets symphonic.

"It will be a celebration, just as he would have liked it and as we have done every year since Raoul passed away." This is how Mirko Casadei introduces 'Raoul's Summer,' the event dedicated to the 'King of Liscio' that will be held this evening (9:30 pm) in Piazza Romagna Mia on Viale delle Nazioni, between Cesenatico and Gatteo Mare, where the musician, born on August 15, 1937, and who passed away on March 13, 2021, lived with his family. The concert, which will feature the Mirko Casadei POPular Folk Orchestra and the Forlì Musica Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Stefano Nanni, on the same stage, is part of the Balamondo World Music Festival.

Maestro Nanni, this evening we'll be listening to liscio in a new light: how did your relationship with Casadei's music begin?

"It's first and foremost a matter of origin and connection to the region. When you live in Romagna—I'm from Cesena—music is your job as well as a great passion, and your connection to liscio dance runs in your blood. Even for those, like me, who later turned to classical music, orchestras were an extraordinary training ground: it was in dance halls that many instrumentalists, who now use different sound languages, truly learned their craft."

She cultivated this profession not only through her studies at the Conservatory, but also through smooth dancing.

"Yes, mine is a family story. My father was the leader of an important liscio orchestra, 'Il liscio di Romagna'. I come from there. Then I worked with Raoul on the arrangements of some of his songs, and thanks to him, the collaboration with Mirko began, whom I supported in the production of his debut album. It was an important and delicate task, because Mirko's aspiration was to take a step beyond tradition, blending it with other influences, some truly distant. Which is the stylistic hallmark of the entire Balamondo festival, and therefore also of the concert on August 15th."

What will happen on the stage in Piazza Romagna Mia?

"It's a project that began last year, when Mirko asked me to arrange performances by seven bands that paid homage to Raoul. This time, a fifteen-piece symphony orchestra, Forlì Musica, which usually performs classical repertoire, will meet Mirko Casadei's POPular Folk, who will join us on stage to create a unique, expanded ensemble that will demonstrate that even the most seemingly unusual dialogue is possible. It's the power of the great songs of the Romagna tradition; they continue to make generations of listeners dance and twirl, making people fall in love."

What pieces will the Orchestra conduct?

We'll offer a journey through the most significant pages of liscio, performing songs such as 'Romagna Capital' and 'Romagna Mia', among many others, which in Mirko's version even lights up with overwhelming ska nuances. It will be a concert in which we will respect the originals, which will all be instantly recognizable, but adding a symphonic touch to the tradition that will make the concert a unique experience.