We greatly enjoyed the exceptional performance, and world premiere in modern times, of Alessandro Melani’s oratorio Santa Rosa di Viterbo (Viterbo, 1686) at the Chiesa Santa Maria Nuova in Viterbo on 30 August. 

Huge thanks and considerable applause go to Maestro Andrea De Carlo, music director of the festival. Andrea’s work in recovering the great legacy of the lost Italian opera and oratorio of the late seventeenth-century is something very close to our hearts and should be celebrated. Alessandro Melani (1639-1703) is just one of so many great Italian composers that our theatre will host thanks to the great work of musicians and musicologists like Andrea. Grazie Andrea!

Congratulations to the Ensemble Mare Nostrum and to the following wonderful singers:

Silvia Frigato: soprano, Santa Rosa

Dorota Szcepańska: soprano, Madre

Masashi Tomosugi: basso, Padre

Eleonora Filipponi: mezzosoprano, Maga

Click for full festival programme: FESTIVAL STRADELLA