A beautiful opening ceremony recently took place in L’Aquila (the capital of Abruzzo) marking the year 2026 in which L’Aquila was named “Italian Capital of Culture.”
The opening ceremony was attended by our President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and all the mayors of the province of L’Aquila.
Gianluca Ginoble, a true Abruzzese, contributed to the event by singing the beautiful and sad Abruzzese song “AMARA TERRA MIA” on stage. During his performance, a beautiful video of the Abruzzo region was shown.
Here’s the entire moment of Gianluca’s speech. (translation captions can be activated)
Beautiful lyrics in this sad but truthful song.
The landscapes that pass by in the video are stunning, and what can I say about Gianluca’s voice and emotion?
Fantastic! He sang a single verse in the Abruzzese dialect. Bravo, Gianluca!
Did you notice Maestro Leonardo De Amicis, who conducted the orchestra? He’s also from Abruzzo and a longtime friend.
Gianluca’s speech at the end of the song was absolutely sweet, extending greetings to President Mattarella, also on behalf of his companions, Ignazio and Piero.
Gianluca also wrote a beautiful article for the newspaper IL CENTRO that I’m translating for you.
Gianluca Ginoble: “L’Aquila, the city that accepts the responsibility of flying.”
The singer writes for Il Centro: “Destiny in the name has never abdicated the upward striving.” Quotes from Jung, Battiato, and San Giovanni: “This is a land to be proud of.”
GIANLUCA GINOBLE
Myths are not a thing of the past. They still influence human affairs, dramatize our internal struggles, disrupt our character, and inhabit our lives even when we’re unaware of it. Carl Gustav Jung said that “the gods have not disappeared, they have transformed into illnesses”: into inner forces, tensions, desires, and ambitions that we simply cannot control or eliminate. Myths, in fact, represent archetypal ways of existence: symbolic forces from which we can neither escape nor fully recover. In cultures founded on myth, the gods were inhuman and eternal: the Immortals, as the Greeks called them. Forces that, precisely because they were eternal, made certain traits of the human soul indelible. If there is a mythical figure capable of embodying the tension of ambition, of impetus, of the desire to rise, it is the Eagle. The Eagle carries with it a name and a symbolic destiny. Ancient texts describe it as an animal with a hot, dry temperament and a voracious appetite, always associated with sacred contexts. It’s no coincidence that John, the most spiritual of the evangelists, is traditionally represented by an eagle: a creature that flies higher than all others, that gazes far ahead, that approaches the light without fear. The eagle is the bearer of the spirit in its highest form. It is ambition at its fullest extent: an instant bathed in the shining light and immediately ready to be reborn, to take flight again with the future still ahead. Even in Egyptian hieroglyphics, the letter A is represented by an eagle. Not a simple coincidence, but a sign. This is the symbolic power of a city that bears such a meaningful name.
This symbolism is almost inevitably accompanied by the thought of Franco Battiato (Italian singer), for whom the eagle has never been merely an image, but a key to access. Eagles, in his work, certainly recall a hit song, but above all a symbolic constellation deeply dear to him: that of birds, of the play of wingspans, of secrets revealed only to those who accept the risk of heights. Eagles are destined for unpredictable flights, sudden ascents, imperceptible trajectories that trace a sort of existential geometry. They are called to change their perspective on the world, to use his words. Walking, for an eagle, is an unnatural gesture: its vocation is flight, approaching the sky to intuit its secrets. L’Aquila is the city that rises, that observes from above, that accepts the responsibility of flight. A city that knows the risk of getting too close to the sun, of getting burned, but that never abandons its striving for the sky. Like the eagle, precisely. And Abruzzo is a strong and gentle land, reflecting this same archetype, as Flaiano described it: a harsh, severe, silent land. A region that seeks not to please, but to remain true to itself.
A simple, archaic place, unprone to rhetoric, where the landscape and its people share the same sobriety. A land that has given voice, art, thought, and resistance. A land to be proud of. Because L’Aquila is a city that has learned to rise again, to rebuild itself, to take flight again, always with wings stretched toward the sky. Despite its wounds, despite its difficulties, it has proven itself to be a people capable of strength and vision. Just like its founding myth: the eagle. Always in flight. Always alive. Always with its head held high.
And this is the beautiful moment when Gianluca shakes hands with the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella!
This article about the event published by IMUSICFUN is also very nice.
Gianluca Ginoble enchants L’Aquila: a solemn and distinctive inauguration for the Italian Capital of Culture 2026.
L’Aquila inaugurates 2026 as the Italian Capital of Culture in the presence of President Mattarella; emotion and identity with Gianluca Ginoble and “Amara Terra Mia”
L’Aquila officially opened its year as Italian Capital of Culture 2026 with an intense, solemn ceremony deeply rooted in the region. On Saturday, January 17, at the Auditorium of the Guardia di Finanza, the Abruzzo city began a journey that looks to the future, starting from memory. The ceremony was attended by President Sergio Mattarella, Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli, Mayor Pierluigi Biondi, and President of the Abruzzo Region Marco Marsilio.
But more than a celebration, the event felt like a foundational act, a choral narrative intertwining music, words, and images. And among the most moving moments of the morning, Gianluca Ginoble, the singer of Il Volo, undoubtedly stood out, giving the audience a powerful and meaningful reading of “Amara Terra Mia.”
Gianluca Ginoble and “Amara Terra Mia”: The Voice of Emigration and Roots
Conducted by Maestro Leonardo De Amicis, Gianluca Ginoble—a native of Roseto degli Abruzzi—brought to the stage a song that symbolizes Abruzzo’s identity. “Amara terra mia” (Bitter Land of My Love) is more than just a song: it’s a chant of emigration, toil, and nostalgia, born in the early 1900s as a work song for olive pickers in the Maiella area.
Also known as “Nebbia alla valle” (Nebbia in the Valley), “Addije, addije amore” (Addije, Addije Amore), or “Casca l’oliva” (Let the Olive Fall), the song has been passed down through various choral harmonizations and made famous thanks to Giovanna Marini’s work in the 1960s. Ginoble’s interpretation captured the full emotional power of this oral heritage, transforming it into a moment of great civic and musical intensity.
It is no coincidence that the artist wanted to symbolically remember all his “fraternal colleagues”, underlining the collective value of music and shared memory.
Well, Gianluca, we’re here to congratulate you once again.
The event dedicated to your hometown was certainly welcomed with affection and enthusiasm by you, you who always sing the praises of your homeland.
You are a sensitive man who never forgets where he comes from.
We admire you greatly for all this and also for remembering your friends and brothers Ignazio and Piero in your greetings!!
Daniela 🤗
Credit to owners of all photos and videos.