The words of Chandra Livia Candiani, the music of Franco Battiato and the voice of Ambra Angiolini accompanied the return of light to the Ancient Theater of Taormina. Thus, on the morning of Saturday 1st August, the theater section of the Taormina Arte 2026 International Festival, directed by Simona Celi Zanetti, opened.
The national premiere of “Svegliare il giorno”, a production of the Taormina Arte Sicilia Foundation, transformed dawn into a collective experience of listening, presence and rebirth, conquering the audience present in the extraordinary setting of the Ancient Theatre.
The protagonist is Ambra Angiolini, who also wrote the dramaturgy of the show, giving voice to the texts of the poet Chandra Livia Candiani, granted by Einaudi. Accompanying her is the City of Taormina Plectrum Orchestra, conducted by Antonio Pellitteri, with music by Franco Battiato with arrangements by Pellitteri himself.
Word, music and landscape dialogued in the silence of the morning, while the light slowly returned to illuminate the Ancient Theatre. A show constructed not as a simple representation, but as a shared time in which the public was asked only to be present, listen and let itself be permeated by poetry and music.
With “Svegliare il giorno” a new original and exclusive production of the Taormina Arte International Festival came to life, which restored centrality to the word, to the relationship with the public and to the valorisation of Sicilian artists and excellence.
The show also marked the return of a story born in Taormina. The artistic sunrises at the Teatro Antico were created by Taormina Arte in 2019, transforming the rising of the sun into a scenic space and an opportunity for a meeting between art, public and landscape for the first time.
An experience continued in 2020, during the most difficult period of the pandemic, when Taormina Arte, thanks to commissioner Bernardo Campo, chose to give continuity to that path that won over the public, helping to consolidate this format on an international level. Furthermore, with the extraordinary setting of the Ancient Theater, over time it has taken on an evocative strength and charm unique in the world.
Today that story has come to life again through a new artistic vision. “Waking up the day” has maintained a strong link with the origins of the dawns of Taormina, renewing its language and confirming the Ancient Theater as a privileged place in which the beauty of the landscape becomes an integral part of artistic creation.
Because dawn, in Taormina, is not just a moment of the day. It is a place of art, imagined and created by Taormina Arte, which continues to write its history today.