Franco Battiato

Franco Battiato, a veteran Italian music icon, evolved from his beginnings as a prog-psych singer-songwriter in the opening years of the 1970s into one of Europe’s most prominent pop figures, all while maintaining an active interest in recording across multiple styles that encompassed pop, electronic, and opera fusing rock with classical traditions. Beyond music, he also worked as a visual artist and filmmaker, adopting the name Süphan Barzani specifically to distinguish those projects from his recording identity.

Born during 1945 in Sicily’s village of Ionia, Battiato relocated first to Rome and then to Milan in 1964. His earliest music attempts in the 1960s included the single “La Torre,” which received television exposure, followed by the romantic track “È L'amore,” which performed more strongly on radio. After additional pop covers failed to gain traction, he encountered experimental musician Juri Camisasca in 1970 and joined forces with the Italian psychedelic-progressive band Osage Tribe. As a solo performer he issued the science-fiction single “La Convenzione” (The Convention), regarded as one of the strongest Italian prog rock releases of the decade. He then began a series of albums for the independent label Bla Bla. The sequence opened with Fetus in 1971—later singled out by Julian Cope as one of the decade’s most significant recordings—and closed with L'Egitto Prima Delle Sabbie (Egypt Before the Sands) in 1978, establishing his distinct position within the dense landscape of Italian prog rock. Technically skilled though occasionally roughly captured, and willing to incorporate playful elements, these releases ranged from radical experimentation to more song-oriented material, with Pollution (1972) and Sulle Corde Di Aries (On the Ropes of Aries, 1973) standing out most prominently. Unlike groups such as Area and PFM, Battiato and his musicians remained cult favorites whose appeal proved stronger internationally; they supported Brian Eno and Nico in France and Germany, where audiences embraced them. At the time, Battiato’s frequently flamboyant stage presence led some observers to compare him to an Italian Peter Gabriel, while his lyrics avoided prevailing Maoist or terrorist themes in favor of a witty synthesis of Asian philosophies and literary contemplation.

After moving to EMI’s Italian division, his commercial prospects brightened—much like Gabriel’s trajectory—with the 1981 release La Voce del Padrone (The Voice of the Master). Shifting toward a more straightforward synth-pop approach, which aligned with his longstanding focus on keyboards, Battiato achieved a major Italian hit that elevated his profile throughout Europe. Thereafter he refrained from fully repeating that exact style yet continued exploring numerous musical avenues up to the present. His debut opera, Genisi, appeared in 1987. Subsequent projects included orchestral collaborations and multimedia tours, among them a 1993 engagement with Virtuosi Italiani in Baghdad alongside Iraq’s national orchestra, plus commissions from Sicily honoring the island’s heritage. His second opera, Gilgamesh, arrived in 1992 and was quickly followed by Messa Arcaica. Beginning in 1994 he partnered with Sicilian philosopher Manlio Sgalambro, who supplied nearly all subsequent lyrics. Following the exploratory L'ombrello e la Macchina da Cucire in 1995, the pair delivered what many view as their crowning achievement, L'imboscata (1996), which featured the romantic single “La Cura” (The Care) that earned recognition as Italy’s best song of the year. Gommalacca (1998) surprised listeners with its emphasis on hard rock and metal, after which the gentler, more concentrated Fleurs became a chart-topping success. Entering the new millennium, Battiato released Ferro Battuto (2000) and the opera Campi Magnetici, then the rock-oriented Dieci Stratagemmi in 2004. Each of these works employed familiar pop and rock structures as springboards for occasional bold experimentation.

In 2003 he issued his first feature film, Perduto Amor, under the Süphan Barzani pseudonym while composing the soundtrack under his own name; the picture earned the Silver Ribbon for best new director. His next cinematic effort, Musikanten—an experimental examination of Beethoven’s final four years—met harsher critical reception, partly because of the casting of Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky in the principal role and partly because of the narrative’s unusual rhythm. The subsequent pair of films, Niente è Come Sembra (2007) and the polarizing Auguri Don Gesualdo (2010), both garnered praise and performed solidly in art-house theaters. Between those releases, Fleurs 2 appeared in 2008 and reached triple-platinum certification in Italy. The following year Inneres Auge: Il Tutto è Più Della Somma Delle Sue Parti, another experimental pop album, reached the top of the charts and attained platinum status. In 2011 Battiato presented the opera Telesio, drawn from the writings of sixteenth-century Cosenza philosopher and naturalist Bernardino Telesio; the work had been commissioned by the city of Cosenza for the 500th anniversary of the thinker’s birth, received its premiere at Teatro Rendano in early May 2011, and was issued on record later that year.

During November 2012, newly elected Sicilian regional president Rosario Crocetta appointed Battiato Regional Minister for Tourism and Culture, a post he accepted without compensation. He was removed from the role shortly afterward after making contentious remarks concerning Parliament. Telesis Sesamo was issued while he held office. The next year he collaborated with Antony Hegarty (now Anohni) on Del Suo Veloce Volo. Another joint project, Joe Patti's Experimental Group, recorded with Italian sound engineer Pinaxa (Pino Pischetola), followed in 2014. In 2016 he recorded a live album with longtime friend and occasional collaborator Alice (Carla Bissi) together with Tuscany’s Ensemble Symphony Orchestra, released by Universal.

During his final years Battiato supervised an extensive remastering and reissue campaign of his catalogue. After issuing Torneremo ancora with the Royal Philharmonic in 2019, he declared his retirement from music on health grounds. Battiato passed away at his home in Milo, Catania, on May 18, 2021, at the age of 76.