Palermo’s Teatro Massimo summer season pays tribute to Santa Rosalia: event calendar unveiled

A long prayer dedicated to Saint Rosalia, the Teatro di Verdura and the monumental staircase like an amphitheater. The summer season of the Teatro Massimo, presented this morning (May 8), will be for all tastes: many themes will be addressed but a prominent place has been reserved for the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the remains of the Santuzza, which will be the common thread of other works and performances.

To inaugurate the season on June 27 at 9 pm in the Sala Grande will be 4 Canti per Rosalia, an oratorio in four parts for soprano, mezzo-soprano, narrating voice and orchestra which, already in the title, highlights the deep connection with the city. Four composers, Valentina Casesa, Maria Mannone, Giulia Tagliavia and Corinne Latteur, who have brought the music to life in the show thanks to the historical research of Consuelo Giglio and the dramaturgy of Fabrizio Lupo, will try to fill one of the gaps in the history of music in Palermo. “It will be a summer mainly dedicated to celebrations in honor of Saint Rosalia – explains the superintendent Marco Betta – which will begin with a dedication to four composers. It will be a choral song from June 27 to August 3 in the theater venues, from the Sala Grande to the Sala Stemmi, to the Monumental Staircase to the Teatro di Verdura, to once again tell the paths of music”.

Two other events will characterize the tribute to Saint Rosalia: the first on Sunday 30 June For the love of Rosalia, conceived by Elisa Parrinello. On the second and third of August, it will be the turn of Santa Rusulia, at the church of Maria Santissima delle Grazie di Roccella-Sperone. Cinema will also be part of the program: on July 12, the appointment with Absolutely Ennio Morricone, dedicated to the great composer and two-time Oscar winner.

There will also be spaces for young formations, which will be the protagonists not only of the Festino but also of other events scheduled on the Monumental Staircase. But what will ignite the hearts is the return of Carmen: on July 27, 28, 30, and 31 at 9 pm, the choreography of Leo Music returns, with the ballet corps of the Teatro Massimo directed by Jean-Sebastien Colau and the orchestra directed by Mikhail Sinkevich.

(In the video, the Culture Councilor of the Municipality of Palermo Giampiero Cannella and the artistic director Marco Betta)