«Florilegio agostiniano»

Wednesday, September 16, at 8:00 p.m., at the Church of Santa Maria Veterana in Triggiano, the 17th edition of «Organova – International Season of Santa Maria del Passo» continues with the concert «Augustinian Florilegium», a journey through music and words devoted to the thought of Saint Augustine. The performers will be flutist Ubaldo Rosso, organist Margherita Sciddurlo (the festival’s artistic director), and actress Elena Zegna as the speaker.

Love, friendship, truth, time, prayer, death, and the search for God are some of the great themes explored in this special event. A philosopher, theologian, mystic, poet, and pastor, Augustine of Hippo was one of the figures who most profoundly shaped Western culture. His reflections often begin with individual experience in order to question universal issues: human restlessness, desire, memory, the fragility of existence, and the striving toward the absolute.

The concert builds a journey around these words in which music does not serve merely as accompaniment, but becomes a second voice. The Augustinian texts, recited by Elena Zegna, enter into dialogue with a repertoire for flute and organ extending principally from the Romantic period to the early twentieth century. The aim, therefore, is not to establish a historical correspondence—which is impossible in any case because of the very scant musical documentation that has survived from the fourth and fifth centuries—but rather to create an ideal encounter between different eras, founded on the emotional and spiritual affinities suggested by words and sound.

Ubaldo Rosso and Margherita Sciddurlo will give musical form to this journey, interweaving the intimate, songlike character of the flute with the organ’s rich palette of timbres. The programme will open with «Sans paroles», Op. 85, by Alexandre Guilmant, paired with Saint Augustine’s reflections on beauty and contemplation. This will be followed by Gabriel Fauré’s «Berceuse», Op. 16, and Johannes Donjon’s «Offertoire», the latter placed in dialogue with one of the most celebrated statements from the Confessions: “You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

The dimension of the voice without words will become particularly evident in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s celebrated «Vocalise», a piece originally conceived precisely through the renunciation of text and the ability of the melodic line to express what words cannot say. Within the framework of «Augustinian Florilegium», it will be associated with the theme of the encounter with God, making the flute’s lyricism the vehicle for a meditation that moves beyond verbal language.

With Johannes Donjon’s «Adagio nobile», the journey will turn to Augustine’s reflections on love—“Whether you are silent, be silent out of love…”—while contemplation will become the dominant quality in Noël-Gallon’s piece, presented in connection with a letter by the saint. Cécile Chaminade’s «Méditation» will then introduce a reflection on separation and the enduring nature of affection, before Franz Schubert’s «Ständchen», one of the Viennese composer’s best-known melodies.

The programme will conclude with Max Bruch’s «Kol Nidrei», an intensely meditative piece based on melodies from the Jewish tradition and distinguished by its broad lyrical sweep.

Admission is free, while places last. OrgaNova is promoted and organized by the cultural association «Arte & Musica», with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Apulia Region, and the Municipality of Mola di Bari, in collaboration with the Pasquale Battista Foundation and with the support of the main sponsor “Levigas Luce e Gas”, as well as other local sponsors. For information: 340.376.15.50.

Elena Zegna, who graduated with honors in Theatre History from the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Turin, completed her training in acting, diction, and voice-over work. She has produced theatrical performances and readings in collaboration with theatre companies and cultural associations, appearing, among other venues, at the Teatro Carignano, Teatro Nuovo, Teatro Gobetti, and Piccolo Regio in Turin, as well as for the Unione Musicale. She has also worked as a radio and commercial voice-over artist and as a dubbing actress, combining her artistic career with teaching courses in diction, acting, and expressive reading.

Ubaldo Rosso has devoted himself since the 1980s to researching and studying early music on historical instruments. A recipient of a British Council scholarship, he earned a Diploma of Merit from London’s Guildhall School of Music, studying with Simon Preston. A guest of national and international institutions and festivals, he has performed concerts throughout Italy and in numerous European countries, as well as in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Asia. His discography includes works for flute by Mozart and recordings devoted, among others, to Antonio Vivaldi, Felice Giardini, and Tomaso Giordani. For more than forty years, he held the chair of Flute at the “Giuseppe Verdi” Conservatory in Turin.

Margherita Sciddurlo, who graduated with highest honors in Organ and Organ Composition and in Harpsichord from the “Niccolò Piccinni” Conservatory in Bari, is distinguished by her deep passion for the art of organ building and her commitment to preserving and promoting the organ heritage.

She is actively involved in the restoration of historic instruments and is frequently invited to inaugurate historic organs following their restoration. Since 2010, she has been Artistic Director of the International Organ Festival of Santa Maria del Passo in Mola di Bari, and in 2017 she founded the National Competition for Young Organists. She is also the titular organist of the Francesco Zanin organ (2018) at the Church of the Most Holy Rosary in Mola di Bari, for which she oversaw the artistic design. An eclectic artist, she combines the traditional repertoire with ongoing research into timbre and has released three albums in duo with saxophonist Pietro Tagliaferri on the Stradivarius label. For Tactus, she recorded the CD La tradizione organistica pugliese-napoletana dal Rinascimento al Barocco, which was enthusiastically received by the international critics.

A professor of Organ and Organ Composition at the “Nino Rota” Conservatory in Monopoli, she maintains an intense concert schedule, performing regularly at major festivals in Italy and abroad.
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