This evening, we will explore the paths suggested by the poets who made travel a literary genre. Words will dialogue with music, immersing us in the transparent, aquatic atmospheres of Debussy, the delicacy of John Field's nocturnes, and the raging wind of some of Chopin's preludes. We will encounter Baudelaire, for whom departure is a relentless search for another dimension; Whitman, who sees it as a chance for knowledge and love; and, of course, Stevenson, the quintessential poet of travel; then Cendras and Dickinson, finally arriving at the archetypal journey described in the Odyssey, where the shipwrecked hero, after much wandering, reconnects with himself only upon returning home. Dante's Ulysses also finds ultimate meaning in returning, but unlike Homer's poem, his return to Ithaca doesn't fully satisfy him: he sets sail again late in life with his companions, pushing beyond the Pillars of Hercules, toward the mountain of Purgatory, toward boundaries no one had ever dared to cross, not to escape reality but for the love of knowledge... "to pursue virtue and knowledge." PROGRAM: Philipp Glass, Opening Homer, Odyssey Walt Whitman, From the Mass of the Rolling Ocean Luciano Berio, Wasserklavier Walt Whitman, Once I Passed Through a Populous City Frédéric Chopin, Prelude, Op. 28, No. 11 Guillaume Apollinaire, Elegy of the Wounded-Footed Traveler Robert Schumann, Papillons, Op. 2 Giuseppe Ungaretti, Agglutinated to Today Emily Dickinson, I Saw a Paradise Like a Tent Sergei Vasilević Rachmaninoff, Musical Moment, Op. 16, No. 5 Edgar Allan Poe, Dreamland Robert Louise Stevenson, Dreamland Ottorino Respighi, Nocturne Robert Louise Stevenson, Foreign Lands Blaise Cendras, Towards Dakar Frédéric Chopin, Prelude Op. 28 No. 14 Federico Mompou, Song and Dance VI Dino Campana, Journey to Montevideo Claude Debussy, Clair de Lune George Gordon Byron, Italy Frédéric Chopin, Prelude Op. 28 No. 3 Dante, Inferno, Canto XXVI Philipp Glass, Opening

Performers: Giovanni Antonini, flutes Michele Pasotti, theorbo Liana Mosca, violin Angelica Antonini, soprano PROGRAM: Anonymous 14th-century Italian composer Isabella Tarquinio Merula Song "La Cattarina" Song "La Strada" for two flutes and basso continuo Barbara Strozzi "What Can Be Done?" from Arias, Op. VIII, for soprano and basso continuo Isang Yun The Shepherd's Flute The Actor with the Monkey, for solo flute William Cornish Ah Robin Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger Song 1 Bela Bartók Four Duets for Two Flutes (from the Duets for Two Violins) Jacques-Martin Hotteterre from the Suite in B minor for Two Flutes, Op. 4, No. 1: Gravement-Gay, Rondeau, Gigue, Passacaille Georg Philipp Telemann Mein Heiland, from the Brockes Passion for soprano, flute, violin, and basso continuo Fantasy No. 10 in E minor, No. 8 in G minor, No. 3 in D minor for solo flute Marco Uccellini Bergamasca for two flutes and basso continuo Born in Milan, Giovanni Antonini studied at the Civica Scuola di Musica and the Centre de Musique Ancienne in Geneva. He has collaborated with numerous prestigious artists, including Cecilia Bartoli, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Giuliano Carmignola, Isabelle Faust, Sol Gabetta, Sumi Jo, Viktoria Mullova, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Emmanuel Pahud, and Giovanni Sollima. Renowned for his refined and innovative interpretation of classical and baroque repertoire, Giovanni Antonini is a regular guest of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Tonhalle Orchestra, the Mozarteum Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. His operatic productions have included Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto and Bellini's Norma with Cecilia Bartoli at the Salzburg Festival. In 2018, he conducted Orlando at the Theater an der Wien and returned to the Opernhaus Zürich for Idomeneo that same year. In 2019, he conducted Giulio Cesare at La Scala, where he returned in 2021 for Così fan tutte and in 2024 for L'Orontea. Also at the Theater an der Wien, he conducted Cavalieri's Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo in 2021. In the 2025/26 season, he will conduct Le Nozze di Figaro at the Liceu in Barcelona and Pugnani's Werther with the Mozarteum Orchestra. He also collaborates with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and will return with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and for two projects with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the Czech Youth Philharmonic Orchestra.

"Sing to Me of Love" is the first show by Edoardo Prati, born in 2004, a student who translates life through his passion: the great literary classics. After captivating generations on social media and on television alongside Fabio Fazio, Edoardo brings the naturalness of his storytelling to the stage and embarks on a journey through literature and music, through the words of great poets. Exclusively for our festival, Edoardo has chosen to draw inspiration from three moments from Claudio Monteverdi's "The Coronation of Poppea" to reflect on the themes of love, power, and philosophy as they resonate with our classical and ancient literature. An unmissable event for all lovers of poetry, writing, and music. PROGRAM: Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) Excerpts from The Coronation of Poppea SV 308 Act I, Scene 9 "I Am Resolved to the End" (Nero, Seneca) Act II, Scene 3 "Friends, Friends, the Hour Has Come" (Seneca and Family) Act II, Scene 5 "I Feel a Certain I Know Not What" (Valletto, Damigella)

"Sing to Me of Love" is the first show by Edoardo Prati, born in 2004, a student who translates life through his passion: the great literary classics. After captivating generations on social media and on television alongside Fabio Fazio, Edoardo brings the naturalness of his storytelling to the stage and embarks on a journey through literature and music, through the words of great poets. Exclusively for our festival, Edoardo has chosen to draw inspiration from three moments from Claudio Monteverdi's "The Coronation of Poppea" to reflect on the themes of love, power, and philosophy as they resonate with our classical and ancient literature. An unmissable event for all lovers of poetry, writing, and music.

Winner of the "Best Newcomer" award at the prestigious International Oper! Awards 2025, Licht is recognized as one of the most exciting emerging voices in the Baroque scene. In addition to his stage career, he has become a social media phenomenon, with hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram and TikTok and millions of views worldwide, bringing classical singing to new audiences around the world. Known as "the Farinelli of today," Licht is celebrated for his roles that combine extraordinary vocal virtuosity with emotional depth. In this musical conversation, Maayan will tell the festival audience his story amidst chatter, music, and... whistles!

On the occasion of the National Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Raffaele Pe & La Lira di Orfeo will offer a special event where music, thought, and reflection will address the crucial questions of our time regarding gender equality and the ways in which affections are represented and narrated, both in the past and today. To discuss this topic in depth, we have invited Gino Cecchettin to engage with our festival on the themes of sentimental education, with the guidance of Chiara Granata, a member of our orchestra and author of the book "Sapere è un verbo all'infinito" (Knowing is an Infinitive Verb). The representation of affections has always been a theme dear to Baroque composers, who made this belief a veritable code for attuning the listener to specific sensations. How are love, desire, and rejection represented in Baroque musical poetry? And how are they represented in the songs enjoyed by generations of adolescents? Is it possible to live within a musical and narrative culture and simultaneously critically interpret its limits? PROGRAM: Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) The Music Lesson H 547 Raffaele Pe & Orpheus' Lyre Raffaele Pe, countertenor Marcello Scandelli, cello Nicolò Pellizzari, harpsichord Followed by a conversation with Gino Cecchettin

Alessandro Baricco is one of Italy's most versatile contemporary writers. Known for his bestselling novels "Castelli di rabbia" (winner of the Selezione Campiello Prize and the Prix Médicis Étranger in 1991), "Oceano Mare" (winner of the Viareggio Prize in 1993), and "Seta" (1996, translated into 16 languages), Baricco has also had a prolific career as a television host of cultural programs, a playwright, and an essayist. His fourth essay, "I Barbari" (2006), explored the relationship between writing and the digital cultural revolution. In his latest essay, "The Game" (2018), Baricco returned to this theme, broadening his reflection to include the impact of the digital revolution on humanistic thought and culture in general. The book serves as an intellectual preface to the principles Baricco has applied to the Academy program at the Scuola Holden, which he founded in 1994 in Turin. In 2023, Abel, his latest novel, was published by Feltrinelli. His latest essay, also published by Feltrinelli, A Brief Heretical History of Classical Music, is due out in September 2025.

Francesco Gasparini's Hamlet (1705) is the first operatic setting of the story of succession to the Danish throne, which inspired William Shakespeare's famous play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Although the story for both poems is based on Saxo Grammaticus's Gesta Danorum, a work written by the Danish cleric in 1208 under the title "Vita Amlethi," the author of the Venetian libretto, Apostolo Zeno, does not refer to Shakespeare's work, which predates it by more than a century (1600-1602). Instead, with the help of Pietro Pariati, he weaves his own version of the story directly from Saxo Grammaticus, from which emerge the typical values that animate his dramas, such as virtue, the sense of justice, and the hero's sacrifice for the weakest. This is a new production of La Lira di Orfeo, directed by Ilaria Lanzino. Francesco Gasparini (1669-1727) Ambleto Drama for music Libretto by Apostolo Zeno and Pietro Pariati Texts by Ilaria Lanzino based on William Shakespeare Directed by Ilaria Lanzino AIVOX Set Lighting Design by Ilaria Lanzino Costumes by Sara Marcucci Characters and Performers Amleto Raffaele Pe / Ilaria Geneatiempo* Ofelia Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli / Chiara Sarcona* Laerte Maayan Licht / Rosy Bonfiglio* Gertrude Valentina Mastrangelo / Carlotta Viscovo* Claudio Giovanni Accardi / Giulia Valenti* Polonio David Costa Garcia / Vincenza Pastore* *actresses Elisa Citterio, conductor of The Lyre of Orpheus