Lucca’s longest-running festival continues throughout May with a series of fascinating concerts, hosted in highly picturesque places, with sacred music, choirs, organ and the Lucchese Masters who have contributed to the city’s history. All this is included the calendar of the fiftieth Sagra Musicale Lucchese, which will run until 11th June, in some of the most beautiful churches of Lucca and its province and is organized by the Archdiocese of Lucca, the Province of Lucca and the City of Lucca (founder members), supported by the Fondazione Cassa di Lucca and Oleificio Rocchi.
On Tuesday, May 3rd, in the Church of Santa Maria Corteorlandini, by courtesy of the Interior Ministry’s Fund for Religious Buildings, at 9 pm, there’s a Concerto dell’accoglienza “Miracula” Il libro delle Cantigas di Santa Maria (“Miracula” The Book of Cantigas of Santa Maria), organized by Concentus Lucensis conducted by Stefano Albarello. The concert presents ancient songs of Marian devotion, which were very important between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The Cantigas de Santa Maria are linked to a repertoire originating in Cluny in the literature of Miracula describing the miracles attributed to the founding of Notre-Dame. The Cantigas, commissioned by Alfonso the Wise of Castile, became a tangible symbol of the pilgrimage to St. James of Compostella cathedral. They reveal the strength of belief, helped by miracles, which drove thousands of pilgrims on their route to places of worship including Lucca.
The evening concludes with a seminar entitled “Cantigas de Santa Maria: giving voice to the manuscripts“, by the Concentus Lucensis musical association, on the occasion of the Jubilee, and as part of the “Project Peregrinari”, in collaboration with the Lucca Ospitale association, the Misericordia di Lucca Confraternity and the mixed choir of the musical High school involved in the project. Performers are Matteo Zenatti (vocals and Romanesque harp), Fabio Tricomi (drum and flute, oud, percussion), Linda Severi (flutes and shawm), Mirko Giuntini (medieval organ), Elisa Severi (vieille), Francesco Tognelli (vieille and hurdy-gurdy), and Niccolò Bellandi (percussion).
Free admission. For information: 340.30.42.039, www.Sagramusicalelucchese.com
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