Frati e Sacerdoti, concerto lirico

Promoted by the Associazione Teatrale fra i Comuni del Lazio (ATCL) and the Claudia Biadi Music Academy ETS. The event begins at 5:00 p.m. at the Church of San Francesco.

Saint Francis of Assisi will be recounted and celebrated in his church in Anguillara Sabazia through a unique musical event exploring the role of friars and priests in Italian opera. With this aim, on November 22, 2026, at 5:00 p.m., the Associazione Teatrale fra i Comuni del Lazio (ATCL) and the Claudia Biadi Music Academy ETS will present an opera concert featuring prominent friar and priest characters.

The event is inspired above all by Francis’s participation in the Fifth Crusade during the pontificate of Pope Honorius III, and especially by his meeting in the summer of 1219 at Damietta—a city on the Mediterranean in the Nile Delta—with the Sultan of Egypt, al-Malik al-Kamil. Francis went there to preach peace, armed only with his habit and his faith. This documented episode has led many to recognize the saint as a pacifist avant la lettre.

Opera has always celebrated and honored sacred and mystical figures. In this spirit, Giuseppe Verdi’s *La Forza del Destino* and *Il Trovatore*, Vincenzo Bellini’s *Norma*, and Pietro Mascagni’s *Cavalleria Rusticana* become central symbols of this sacred dimension.

Among the works performed will be excerpts from Verdi’s *Il Trovatore*, Gioachino Rossini’s *Tancredi*, Christoph Willibald Gluck’s *Armida*, as well as music by Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Friedrich Händel, and others. The evening—also taking place around the feast of Saint Cecilia, patron saint of music—will feature five outstanding sopranos and one mezzo-soprano, in a celebration of mysticism.

Admission to the concert is free. The singers will be accompanied on piano by Maestro Massimiliano Tisano: sopranos Annarita Terrazzano, Francesca Romana Tiddi, Donatella Iaia, Alessandra Testa, and Lisadora Valenza, together with mezzo-soprano Serena Caporuscio. The evening will also include readings of texts inspired by Saint Francis, performed by actress Carla Maglione. The concert will be hosted by Paola Giovani.

“Claudia Biadi Music Academy,” says artistic director Amarilli Nizza, “did not want to miss the opportunity to celebrate Saint Francis, who, despite the fact that 800 years have passed since his death, remains a figure firmly connected to modernity, capable of attracting today’s young people with his ecumenical and pacifist message. We thank the leadership of ATCL and the Lazio Region for sharing our project, through which we are turning the spotlight not so much on the traditional love stories of opera, but rather on musical works that evoke profound spirituality and devotion. We are certain,” Nizza concludes, “that the performances by the participating artists will convey to the audience deeply moving emotions marked by introspection and sacredness.”

For information and reservations:
https://www.eventbrite.it/e/frati-e-sacerdoti-concerto-lirico-tickets-2004580345776