Ennio Morricone has always been the tutelary god of the lyrical festival of the theaters of stone. To him the prestigious event dedicates every summer always renewed and enriched formats, focusing on the famous soundtracks, but not only, to enhance the wise versatility of the Roman composer. Perspective that is even wider in this 2025, fifth anniversary of his disappearance, which will be celebrated by the Festival in numerous stages. After the triumph of last July 12 at the Greek theater in Syracuse, with over 6000 spectators, followed on August 2 from that at the Antico Theater of Taormina, the tribute to Ennio Morricone arrives on Saturday at the Greek Theater in Tindari (9 pm), one of the most anticipated appointments of a tribute destined to travel the whole of Sicily, crossing archaeological sites and natural scenarios among the most suggestive of the Mediterranean.
The project, supported by a high-profile organization and by an imposing technical-productive system, is part of a sound map that still touches the archaeological area of Morgantina, the Temple of Hera in Selinunte, the Valley of the Temples, the Madonie, Marina di Modica and Trapani. A journey that unites sound and territory, architecture and poetic inspection. Master Francesco Costa, artistic director of the Festival, a careful philologist and superb guide of the Sicilian opera choir, has been giving shape and soul to the extraordinary cult of Morriconian cult, who thus tells the profound meaning of this tribute: «It is truly relevant that the ancient theaters have returned to be nodal centers for creation and not only memory witnesses. Morricone resonates you as a new classic: his music enters tune with the ancient energy of the stone and makes it present, accessible, shareable. “
So between heaven and sea, in the suspended enchantment of ancient Tyndaris, Ennio Morricone’s music will return to embrace stone and myth in a specific more intimate and chamber format. Francesco Costa himself, musician and cultural operator of Chiara Fama, will go up to the podium to direct the chamber ensembles of the Sicilian lyrical choir and the orchestra in residence, a soloist guest the renowned Lyric Pop tenor Lorenzo Licitra.
The chosen repertoire will range among the most famous and beloved film music music: from New Cinema Paradiso to Mission, from once there was in America to the legend of the pianist on the ocean. But also among the songs that still excite us today. In general, the performance provides songs that have marked the collective imagination and relive in a renewed guise thanks to the original arrangements of Corrado Neri, which Costa defines “a respectful and inspired job: we wanted to avoid any sterile imitation. These versions keep the Morriconian poetics intact, but they enhance the symphonic and choral possibilities, making it alive for a listener today. “
The Sicilian opera chorus – excellence recognized in the international lyrical panorama – is confirmed as a central pivot of the artistic operation. The audience of Syracuse and Taormina was able to appreciate its interpretative intensity and dynamic wealth, and also in Tindari a new proof of expressive strength is announced. “Singing Morricone is never just noticing notes – explains Costa – it is evoking moods, building emotional landscapes. The chorus must be able to be an orchestra of the soul, move from epic to transparency, from the collective cry to the inner whisper “.