Silvia Colasanti's Requiem for Earthquake Victims Premieres at Spoleto Festival

The 60th Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto commissioned composer Silvia Colasanti to write a Requiem dedicated to the victims of the Central Italy earthquakes. The work, titled 'Stringeranno nei pugni una cometa (Oratorio per Soli, Coro e Orchestra),' premiered on July 2, 2017, at 20:30 in Piazza Duomo, broadcast live by Rai Radio3. The project involved poet Mariangela Gualtieri, mezzo-soprano Monica Bacelli, bandoneonist Richard Galliano, and Roman artist Vincenzo Scolamiero, who created original paintings for the graphic design. Colasanti, born in Rome and trained at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, is a Cavaliere and Ufficiale della Repubblica. She described the work as a secular ritual, avoiding direct citations of Mozart or Verdi but referencing early polyphony. The bandoneon, chosen for its nostalgic and sacred sound, plays a role of hope and melancholy in the Lux Aeterna. Scolamiero, born in 1956 and teaching at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, created a series of works on paper inspired by the music and Gualtieri's texts, often painting directly on Colasanti's scores. His paintings evoke natural forms and tremors, likened to seismographs. The collaboration also included the International Opera Choir directed by Gea Garatti, the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana conducted by Maxime Pascal. Future projects include an artist's book with Eos Edizioni by Piero Varroni.