Il Ritorno di Berlusconi (or The Robber Baron Returns) [English follows after Italian intro]

Una delle mie letture preferite, anzi la preferita in assoluto, è il periodico satirico Private Eye, un piccolo (non più tanto) segreto britannico che ogni due settimane delizia i lettori con un mix di vignette esilaranti, rubriche demenziali e serissimo giornalismo investigativo fonte di rivelazioni eclatanti sugli arroganti e potenti che nella sua storia di 47 anni gli ha prodotto innumerevoli querele. con la rielezione in Italia di Berlusconi, l'Eye ha ripreso il tormentone sull'italica testa asfaltata, in chiave di operetta.

Il Ritorno di Berlusconi (or The Robber Baron Returns)

THE HIGHLIGHT of the Gnomington Summer season will be the premiere of this little-known Italian masterpiece, based on an Italian folk tale. The robber baron, Silvio, returns from two years' exile, after the kingdom has been usurped by another robber baron, Roman di Prodi. The chorus of villagers sing despairingly "Mama Mia", as the hated and corrupt tyrant steals back the throne. Another highlight is the "Alitalia Chorus", to celebrate the villain's seizure of the State airline.

Radio Three, Live from the Met - Berlusconi's "The Robber Baron and the Gypsies"

Having returned from exile to his throne in Italy, Silvio, the robber baron, finds an encampment of gypsies outside his palazzo. The gypsies dance and sing, "Grazie, grazie a Brussels", a chorus of praise to the EU for allowing them to come from their homes in Romania to earn their livings as window cleaners, olive pickers and workers in the crime and sex industries. The baron is enraged and sings the famous aria, "Sono solo ladrone" ("I do the robbing around here"). He incites the townsfolk, with the support of the carabinieri, to attack the gypsy camp and burn it to the ground. As they do so, they sing the joyful closing chorus, "Arrivederci Roma" ("Immigrants go home").