With 1,734 CDs and 72 vinyl records, Pope Francis’ discotheque, revealed to Télam by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, offers a wide and varied panorama of the pontiff’s musical tastes, such as his passion for tango -with the almost complete work of Astor Piazzolla – but also for other rhythms, and among the artists the American Elvis Presley, the Argentine Daniel Barenboim and the German Richard Wagner stand out.
In mid-January, Jorge Bergoglio was discovered at the exit of a record store in Rome, which once again put his musical tastes in the spotlight, which are treasured in a room on the third floor of Via della Conciliazione 5, the building that, a few meters from Saint Peter’s Square, houses, among other Vatican offices, the Pontifical Council for Culture.
“The pope’s little disco actually started about three years ago, when he sent me some records,” said Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, to explain the “treasure” that he guards with the records that the pontiff himself sends him. on regular basis.
“Later, I told him that I had thought of creating an audio library, and then he sent me a whole box of records telling me that he had already listened to them,” he added.
In the dialogue with Télam, Ravasi reviewed the numbers of the collection: “a catalog updated to today’s date that includes 1,734 CDs and 72 vinyls”.
On a qualitative level, the Italian cardinal stated that “many of them are gifts that composers, conductors or record companies send him, knowing of his love of music.”
Others, meanwhile, “these are albums that he had for a long time and that he listened to”.
In that case, for the Vatican “minister of culture”, “it shows because they are more worn and are like a musical X-ray of the Pope”.
Thus, when the Pope was discovered in mid-January at the exit of a record store in the historic center of the Italian capital that was reopening after the pandemic and whose owners are his friends, “these shipments have only increased,” Ravasi assured.
The “Pope Records” Collection at the moment it is not open to the publicalthough it is a plan that is not ruled out for the future when there are more materials.
Faced with the million dollar question, Ravasi broke down some of the genres present among the records and CDs. “Classical music takes up the lion’s share, as you can imagine.”
Classics and not so much coexist there: “one of the last albums he sent was a series of vinyls by the well-known Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki”.
“However, as a person of good taste, he does not limit himself to just one genre. Among the albums there is a lot of tango, almost all the work of Astor Piazzolla. Also a collection of 25 gospel songs by Elvis Presley, and pop and folk music” , reeled the cardinal.
In the classical universe, the Pope’s preferences are headed by “Italian opera, which he had learned to love when as a child he listened, guided by his mother, to a well-known musical program on Argentine radio on Saturday afternoons.”
“Surprisingly, Wagner, an author I personally find difficult, in the execution of his compatriot Daniel Barenboim” is another of Bergoglio’s favourites.
But the cardinal added: “Naturally he knows and loves the great emblematic figures, Mozart, whose complete collection he sent me, 200 Deutsche Gramophon CDs. And especially Bach: the passions according to Saint Matthew and Saint John, and the Goldberg Variations , in the Richter execution, which is his favourite”.
His tastes, however, do not end in the classical: “I think he also really likes Edith Piaf and popular music. And I have the impression that lately he is becoming interested in contemporary music. He has sent us a collection of vinyl by Caterina Caselli and another of lesser-known works by Ennio Morricone”, he defined.
In fact, the latest album the pontiff sent Ravasi to add to the archive is a Piaf greatest hits collection. “As usually happens, Francisco accompanied him with a note of considerations: he pointed out to me the suggestive and evocative of the Parisian world, the human charge of his voice,” Ravasi recalled.
But in addition, Jorge Bergoglio, 85 years old, is fond of tango. In a 2010 interview about the classic River Plate rhythm, he had said: “I like it a lot. It’s something that comes from inside me.”
This week, interviewed by Italian TV, the pontiff recalled his origins and humorously added that “A porteño who does not dance the tango is not a porteño”.
