“Just today I had to go and visit him at home, he called me two weeks ago and we made an agreement. We’ve been in touch for a while, but we haven’t seen each other for a long time – he told me – we have to make up. I’m surprised, he’s my best friend.”
It was 10am yesterday. Clutched in his coat, in the sunlight, the still dazed gaze of someone who didn’t expect Giorgio Donega, 88, now a retired manager of the nuclear industry in Italy, lined up patiently at the corner between Via Dante and Via Rovello, in front of the entrance of the Piccolo Teatro Grassi where, greeted with long applause, the coffin of Ornella Vanoni, who died on Friday evening at her home in Milan of a heart attack, had just arrived. A bare coffin, made of light wood, very simple, would be placed two stories below, directly in front of the small stage and in front of the audience; the flow of people destined to exceed 5 thousand people present for hours (but the funeral home will also be open this morning from 10 am to 1 pm, while at 3 pm there will be a funeral in Brera, in the church of San Marco) will take turns going inside, listening to the tune of “Tomorrow is another day, we’ll see” to give a final, calm and emotional farewell, a city to one of its most famous and beloved artists.
«I confess: when I learned of his death, I was very sad, I humbly apologized because I believed he was immortal – explained Antonella, 56 years old, from Milan, working in a chemical company – So, as if to make amends, I brought him beautiful yellow roses, I wanted to pay tribute to the great artist who will always be in our hearts, I wanted to say goodbye to my Ornella».
Precisely to welcome “their” Ornella, the Milanese yesterday morning patiently lined up one behind the other, forming a long snake that, in semi-religious silence (and despite the crowds on Sunday morning for the sales after Black Friday) started from Piazza Cordusio to Largo Cairoli almost reaching Castello Sforzesco. Many people, coming from out of town to tour Milan and not realizing that the Vanoni funeral home was right in the center of the city, welcomed the unscheduled event and queued up. Of course, there were also many VIP guests who took turns in front of the coffin, including those who were lifelong friends, including lawyer Anna Maria Bernardini De Pace, senators Liliana Segre, Cristiano Malgioglio, and Paolo Jannacci.
«We will continue his teaching even though we are not ready, we did not expect him to leave – explained Mayor Beppe Sala who announced the city’s mourning today -. Of course, Ornella often told me that she had her illness, but she was also blessed with a great spirit that I don’t think will ever go away. He, jokingly, stated that he did not want a street or anything named after him when he died, but he would like to have even just a flower bed bearing his name while he was alive. To be honest, as the Municipality of Milan we would like to do something more important to remember him, to ensure that he is always among us, but to find something pleasant we must also listen to his family and those closest to him in the last phase of his life.”
The commitment of Massimiliano Finazzer Flory who, with the death of Ornella Vanoni, helped organize her funeral home in a very short time is commendable. And yesterday the playwright stood before the coffin ready to greet those who came to visit, still unable to believe that he and Ornella had not been able to realize the many projects they had promised themselves. «As artistic director of the Statale this year I had the privilege to give him an honorary degree and as Piccolo’s advisor I promised him that this theater would always be his home: without suspicion I told him that he had left here and would return here – he told us -. We made a film together about Pasolini talking about love.
I hope we can create something in this city that remembers him and is dedicated to the young people who loved him so much because, as a teacher of life, he taught us something that remains very important for Milan: voices remain when bodies disappear, there are voices in this city that we must continue to listen to. In her old age, Ornella lived the happiest moments of her life, as a free woman, even with her last name, Ornella of all.”
