A Sicilian-Balkan wedding in the heart of Sicily
Today we were part of a beautiful and unusual love story between Claudia, Romanian by birth, and Gianluigi, a true, full-blooded Sicilian from San Cataldo. And we’re taking the opportunity to tell you about our unique approach to music and to the couple on their wedding day: a trait of ours that sets us apart from many others, and that tailors the music and entertainment of that all-important day with the same care a tailor puts into the wedding clothes. So that the music, too, has the same proportions, measurements and shape as the couple’s soul.
Antipasti with a trio
Sala Ricevimenti Tiffany: one of the most popular reception venues in Caltanissetta, welcoming, elegant and intimate. Excellent food and excellent service. But much as we enjoy eating well, that’s not why we’re here today. Our job is to set Gianluigi and Claudia’s wonderful story to music, and we start early, earlier than usual, because the reception is a lunch and we’ll be playing from the antipasti onward. After the usual recorded music played through the sound system to welcome the guests and give the welcome aperitivo, the drinks reception before the meal, a soft and unobtrusive background, we began the live performance in the venue’s outdoor courtyard, with a typical reduced line-up that sets the mood of Sarabanda’s music perfectly: the trio of vocals, piano and soprano sax, one of our favorite line-ups, which we never tire of suggesting to couples for the opening of the reception. How lovely to begin with “Io te vurria vasa’”, a timeless story of Mediterranean love: the tale of the shy, inward passion of a humble shoemaker who would like to wake his beloved with a kiss but doesn’t dare, because it’s so beautiful to watch her sleeping on rose petals, and he would rather fall asleep beside her, close to her breath.
And then “Almeno tu nell’universo”, “Lontano lontano”, “Nuovo cinema paradiso”, “Averti addosso”. In short, Claudia and Gianluigi are certainly not short on romance, and we compliment them on a choice of music that is perfect for this minimal line-up: if we had to describe in one word the blend of our singer’s warm baritone voice with the delicate, sophisticated harmonies of the piano and the dreamy, soft lyricism of the soprano sax, that word would be “romantic”. And if we were allowed two words, we’d add “elegant”.
An unusual (but welcome) request
Claudia and Gianluigi asked for truly “made-to-measure” music for their first dance as husband and wife: a few months before their wedding day they sent us a song sung in English that meant a lot to them, and asked Salvo to write an Italian version of the lyrics.
Not a whim or a random request like so many others, but a specific request tied to the importance Italy has had in their personal story. It was in Italy that they met, and in Italy that they chose to marry and to live. She, Romanian by birth, was only here on vacation, visiting relatives, and it took her quite some effort before she could understand all the wonderful things Gianluigi had been telling her since the day they met: “Maria! quale visione inebria i miei occhi!” (“Maria! What a vision intoxicates my eyes!”). One of the first things Claudia learned is that here in Sicily “Maria” isn’t always a name: sometimes it’s an exclamation that evokes beauty. And then so many other things of which, she admits, “I understood half”.
As you can imagine, with that background we simply had to make their wish come true, and so “Come riconoscersi” was born, with its world premiere and one and only performance on May 23, 2026, in Caltanissetta. We’ll probably play “Senza fine” hundreds more times, but this one, admittedly a little smaller, belongs to them alone.
Wild Balkan dances
Taking care of the music on the big day doesn’t just mean playing. Music has to be present throughout the reception and accompany it from beginning to end in the most suitable way, which sometimes means a band playing live and other times means recorded music played through the sound system in the most appropriate way. The music that welcomes the guests at the start is soft, barely noticeable; it discreetly introduces the atmosphere of the party without yet having the impact of live music. It’s like an athlete’s warm-up massage before the race: not only the couple but the guests too have a long day ahead of them, and it’s right to start calmly and lightly, comfortable from an acoustic point of view as well, so as to reach the high point of the reception relaxed.
Once you get there, though, recorded music can take on yet another meaning, as it did on this occasion. We couldn’t have played the wonderful music of the homeland of Claudia and her guests, which calls for specialists and a knowledge of their language and their (complex and fascinating) musical world. But to make the wedding special not only for the Italians there but also for the Romanian relatives and friends, so that everyone would feel equally welcomed and pampered, we did quite a bit of research on Balkan traditions and, with Claudia’s help, put together a compilation of intoxicating, wild Romanian music. Of course they didn’t need to be asked twice (or even once, to be honest), and they immediately launched into their characteristic circle dance, which instantly spreads sincere happiness and an urge to move wildly: an iconic expression of the joy of living, which we were delighted to share in, even just as spectators. And more than one guest from the “Italian” side jumped into the fray, because things this engaging, fun and communal are universal and sweep everyone along in the same way.
A Jungian review
When you’re a musician, what more could you want, in recognition of your work, than a groom who publicly credits you with the attitudes and skills of a psychoanalyst? But in the end that’s how it is: in our own field, all of us are called on to deal with the human side of our clients, patients, users or colleagues, and for musicians this is especially true, because our “musical service”, as it is often rather clinically called, takes place on the most important day of a couple’s life: the day when all that matters is who they are as people, the love they have for each other and the affection they receive from the people dear to them. It is the day when, more than on any other, you are a human being with your own joys and weaknesses, your own character, your flaws, your desires, your passions, your little idiosyncrasies. And that’s why we try to make sure that, on that day, our “musical service” becomes their soundtrack: the music of Gianluigi and Claudia and no one else in the world.
