Antonio Fresa explores “The Art of Happiness”: a multimedia journey through music, words and emotions

An invitation to rediscover the essence of the inner “scugnizzo” to navigate the storms of life: this is the spirit that animates “L'Arte della Felicità”, the new project by Antonio Fresa, a Neapolitan musician known for his compositions for cinema and television. On May 12, ChiPiùNeArt Edizioni will publish the book-experience of the same name (78 pages, €14), based on the RAI docuseries, the animated feature film by Alessandro Rak and the concert-talk conceived by Fresa himself. The work will be presented on Monday, May 19 at 6 pm at the Feltrinelli Appia bookshop in Rome.

On stage, as well as between the pages, Antonio Fresa takes the audience on an intimate journey through six fundamental states of mind: anger, love, happiness, pride, fear and sadness. Through the lens of music, the pianist, composer and teacher explores how dissonances and chromaticisms can intercept, overturn and protect our feelings, shaping our individuality beyond social conventions.

“I have always thought of music as a bridge between emotions and the stories that contain them,” Fresa confides. “With this book I have made the reverse journey: from music to words, from the score to the page. The Art of Happiness is an intimate story in six movements, six emotions to be experienced through listening, reading and, perhaps, a little courage.”

The book is configured as a true multimedia atlas of emotions. The six chapters are enriched by special QR codes that lead to video clips and audio fragments created specifically by the artist, offering an immersive experience that intertwines reading, listening and viewing. In a surprising dialogue between quotes by Haruki Murakami, Saint Augustine, Homer, Zygmunt Bauman and Robert Thurman, Fresa offers food for thought for young people and adults, inviting them to confront their deepest feelings and the emotional chains imposed by everyday life.

“The concert-talk – says Fresa – is a show of music, philosophy and cinema. It expands our moods as verbal and sound spaces in which to reconstruct the connections of our emotional education and vision of the world. A true musical immersion that puts us in mutual relation.”

Between the pages, the reader comes across a varied soundscape that ranges from “La serenata degli artisti” to the waltz “Naranjas”, from “Felicità” by Al Bano and Romina Power to “'O Rre scugnizzo”, up to original creations born from a vintage Casio-Tone MT40 keyboard.

Antonio Fresa, born in 1973, boasts an eclectic career as a musician, conductor and composer of soundtracks for cinema and television. Among his creations, the music for the Vatican Chapels and Borges' Labyrinth at the Cini Foundation in Venice, for the Pantheon in Rome and for the Museo del Tesoro di San Gennaro in Naples stand out. He has collaborated with numerous prominent artists and signed the soundtracks of films directed by Antonietta De Lillo, Stefano Incerti and Alessandro Rak, receiving several nominations for the David di Donatello and Nastri d'Argento. In 2024 he won the SIAE Music Awards for the music of the TV film "I cacciatori del cielo".