A new musical project was launched this month at the Mercato Centrale, as the popular space will now also host musical performances and DJ sets.
Artistic director Alessio Bertallot hopes the scheme will broaden the cultural appeal of the market, while enriching the current experience. The broad repertoire of Italian music—from historical to modern pop—will complement the ‘social sounds’ of eating and chatting indigenous to the market.
These musical events and background sounds are broadcast via the new Radio Mercato Centrale, available online and on the market’s app, everyday from 10am to midnight. Short segments of commentary by artists, intellectuals and historical figures intersperse the performances.
The project was inaugurated by three generations of Italian musicians—lyricist Mogol, singer-songwriter Ron and rapper Ghemon—who each performed exclusive DJ sets in their own individual styles. Mogol explained his excitement about the scheme: ‘The emotion of Italian music should be cultivated, like a vegetable garden. The radio, broadcasting from this beautiful marketplace, can do that’.
Just as this new project for Florence’s Mercato Centrale is being launched, the market’s director Umberto Montano has announced that another Mercato Centrale will open in September at the Roma Termini railway station in Rome. Building work is already underway to prepare the Cappa Mazzoniana, an impressive architectural space in one of the wings of the station. Montano hopes to transfer the same successful format—founded on ‘high quality, strong cultural identity and dynamism’—to the capital, where specifically Roman products will join Florentine favourites.
