The history of “Romagna mia”
“Romagna mia” is a famous Italian song written by Secondo Casadei in Gatteo Mare and recorded in Milan in 1954. The rhythm is that of the waltz and the lyrics tell of a man’s nostalgia for his homeland, Romagna.
Having become a true anthem of Romagna and its inhabitants around the world, more than 70 years later it is still one of the most danced and sung songs by Italians.
The original title of the song was “Casetta mia”: Casadei had written it, dedicating it to his home in Gatteo Mare, but had never proposed it for recording, keeping it aside “just in case”. The opportunity arose in 1954, when, being in Milan for one of the two annual recordings, he had to replace a soloist who suddenly fell ill. He proposed the song to Dino Olivieri, artistic director of the record label ‘La Voce del Padrone’. The latter, listening to the song, suggested the change the title in “Romagna mia”, knowing how great the maestro’s love for his land was.
The song, with the new title and new lyrics, was sung for the first time by Fred Mariani and Arte Tamburini and quickly became a success.
The song began to spread rapidly, enjoying great popularity and affection from all the people, crossing the borders of Romagna thanks to the Second Casadei Orchestra and other orchestras who included it in their repertoire, to the broadcasts of the very popular Radio Capodistria, to the advent of juke boxes and tourists of the Riviera Romagnola who bought the album as a souvenir.
According to Casadei, shortly after the song’s release, he said he realized the song’s popularity by hearing it sung by the milkman, the bricklayer on the scaffolding, and the students taking the train. People spontaneously loved it right from the start, taking it around the world and making it their own, each dedicating it to their land of origin.
The success of “Romagna mia”
“Romagna mia” was sung and recorded by great performers of the time, including Oscar Carboni, Claudio Villa, Nilla Pizzi, Giorgio Consolini, and later Orietta Berti, Rosanna Fratello, Raffaella Carrà and after Secondo’s death in 1971, it will be his grandson Raoul Casadei who will make it the pride of his orchestra, bringing it to even greater success.
Later it was translated into curious versions: Russian, Japanese, English, German, Spanish, Chinese.
Francesco Guccini, Gigi Proietti, Fiorello, Iva Zanicchi, Ivana Spagna, Jovanotti, Biagio Antonacci, Renzo Arbore, Gianna Nannini and the Nomadi have also sung it in their concerts; the disco star Gloria Gaynor gave an exceptional interpretation of it, as did Deep Purple, and even extraordinary Luciano Pavarotti sang it with friends during dinners.
Pope Giovanni Paolo II also loved this song and not only he join the choir of the Romagna groups at the audiences in St. Peter’s, but as he declared in some of his interviews in the newspapers, he also “hummed” it alone in less demanding moments.
In 2012 “Romagna mia” was exceptionally played at the Sanremo Festival by Samuele Bersani with Goran Bregovic.
In 2013 it was presented at the prestigious “Ravenna Festival” with a particular symphonic arrangement performed by Maestro Riccardo Muti’s Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra.
In May 2023, following the flood that hit Emilia-Romagna in that period, “Romagna mia” became the spontaneous anthem of the young volunteers who came in their hundreds to help the population in difficulty. Following this event, it was also interpreted by Laura Pausini, Vasco Rossi, Gigi D’Alessio, Gianni Morandi, Andrea Bocelli and other artists in their concerts.
On 31 December 2023 it was mentioned in the New Year’s speech to Italians by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella.
In 2024 “Romagna mia” will be sung at the Sanremo Festival by the Santa Balera Orchestra accompanied by Mirko Casadei and some couples of young dancers.
The relationship with Gatteo
In Gatteo many places remember the Maestro Secondo and his best-known work.
The words of Romagna mia shine in the bright installations positioned in viale Giulio Cesare in Gatteo Mare, on the facade of the house in via I Maggio, where the song was composed and in the original Roundabout ‘Secondo Casadei’ positioned in Sant’Angelo di Gatteo which greets tourists arriving and departing from Gatteo Mare and has become over the years one of the most photographed points in Romagna.
Since 2012 a bust of Secondo Casadei has been placed in the square of Gatteo Mare, renamed Piazza Romagna mia, a stone’s throw from the beach where, in 1928, the orchestra of the then twenty-two-year-old maestro made its debut in what at the time was called dancing ‘Rubicone ‘, in shore of sea.
The events linked to “Romagna mia”
Gatteo is universally known as the Capital of Liscio.
From the ‘Notte del Liscio’ to the ‘Settimane del Liscio’ organized by Gatteo Mare Summer Village, from ‘Festival di Sanliscio’ to ‘Birichina’ to the party in honor of Raoul Casadei celebrated by his son Mirko in Piazza Romagna Mia, there are many initiatives that Gatteo dedicates to this musical genre. All opportunities to listen to “Romagna mia” in the countless performances and adaptations of established artists or young performers of generation Z of Liscio.
Romagna mia is the song that started the “liscio” phenomenon, recently proposed by the Emilia-Romagna Region as a candidate for UNESCO Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
