An overwhelming wave of emotion, participation and pure energy transformed the Argimusco plateau into an open-air stage of rare and entrancing beauty. Yesterday evening, 10 August, in the magical night par excellence on the natural altar dedicated to the observation of the stars and the solstices, the thousand-year-old scenario of the megaliths welcomed thousands of people who came from all over the island for “BATTIATO TRIBUTE – The dawn inside the Eternal”.
The concert has established itself as one of the flagship events of the VIII edition of the Opera Festival of the Teatri di Pietra, fully embodying the spirit of the season contained in the famous motto “caressing eternity”. An unprecedented collective ritual, made possible by the virtuous institutional synergy between the governance of the Festival, the Municipality of Montalbano Elicona and the owner company managed by Gaetano Santoro, whose agreement has allowed the valorisation and impeccable use of one of the most evocative archaeoastronomical sites in the world.
In this place of inestimable symbolic value – chosen in the past by Franco Battiato himself to film his latest visual work – the baton of great live music among the megaliths was taken up, exclusively, by the Sicilian Lyrical Choir. In the wake of the impressive and acclaimed success of the monumental performances of Nabucco in the ancient theaters of the region, the event recorded an astonishing turnout.
Under the solid and inspired direction of maestro Francesco Costa, supported by the Resident Orchestral Formation of the Teatri di Pietra Lyric Festival, the production saw the solo voices of Alberto Munafò, Emanuele Collufio and Pietro di Paola shine, capable of giving new and vibrant life to the most mystical and visionary compositions of the genius from Catania. The performance was marked by a continuous crescendo of ovations and open-stage applause, culminating in a memorable finale: to the notes of the most pressing songs, the solemnity of the concert dissolved into an overwhelming collective celebration, with thousands of spectators united in a liberating dance under the celestial vault of the Argimusco.
The impressive artistic itinerary of the Festival will continue without stopping through the main archaeological parks and monumental complexes of Sicily. Already tomorrow, 12 August, the great musical journey will stop at the Greek Theater of Tindari with the homage to the Oscar-winning soundtracks of the Hans Zimmer Tribute, an event which will then repeat on 18 August in the prestigious setting of the Ancient Theater of Taormina. The Taormina auditorium will also be the scene of the great choral symphonic homage to Ennio Morricone on 19 August and the evocative atmospheres of Elements of Light (dedicated to the minimalism of Ludovico Einaudi) on 20 August. The great sacred and authorial music will then take shape with Mozart’s Requiem – The Opera of Fire, on stage on 21 August at the Tempio di Hera in Selinunte and on 23 August at the Teatro Giardino Efebo in Agrigento, before reaching the great lyrical epilogue on 18 September with Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni at the Teatro Greco Romano in Catania.