Mey, Wader, Wecker – Bella Ciao – Live

Three bards sing one of the classic resistance songs made famous by Italian partisans during the Second World War.

On the occasion of Hannes Wader’s 60th birthday, the singer hosted an anniversary concert with Reinhard Mey, Konstantin Wecker and Jo Barnikel. The concert took place on June 21, 2002 in Bielefeld – Wader’s hometown. In this respect, the concert has an almost unique character. The three of them performed again at the big anti-war demonstration against the Gulf War in Berlin in 2003. For all those who do not know the text, they sing a German / Italian version. The appearance of the enemy, the sense of approaching death and the consolation that the small flowers at the grave could bring joy to those passing by. The three perform this with sparse instrumentation but all the more vocally powerful. For me, this is one of the best versions of the song. Bella Ciao has been covered by many other artists. The version by Anita Lane from the soundtrack of the film “Herr Lehmann” is well-known, Dario Fo sang the song at his wife’s funeral and many, many other versions can be found on music services. At Dario Fo’s funeral, the song was also sung for him, the fearless critic of the elites, who “… had the ability to ridicule the powerful by making faces”. So said Fo’s close friend and founder of the Slow Food movement, Carlo Petrini. Let’s make faces at the aggressors too.