In Milan, the Archaic Mass for soloists, choir and orchestra by Battiato
Three years after the death of Franco BattiatoThe singer-songwriter and composer who has profoundly influenced music, poetry and art in Italy, the Franco Battiato Foundationrecently established on the initiative of the president Grazia Cristina Battiatograndson of the famous artist, inaugurates its activities with a unique event. The May 16, 2024, in the Cathedral of Milan will be staged there Archaic Mass for soloists, choir and orchestrathirty years after his first record release.
This liturgical work, performed for the first time in 1993 in the Upper Basilica of Assisi and recorded the following year, it will be performed in its classical scores (“Kyrie”, “Gloria”, “credi”, “Sanctus” and “Agnus Dei”) faithful to legacy and spirituality of the Sicilian singer-songwriter.
The performance will be performed by: the Chamber Choir of Turin directed by Maestro Dario Tabbia el'Canova Chamber Orchestra under the guidance of Maestro Antonio BallistaBattiato's friends and collaborators Carlo Guaitoli on the piano And Angelo Privitera to keyboards and programming, the voices of Lorna Windsormezzo-soprano and Giovanni Caccamo in the role that belonged to Battiato himself.
The teacher Antonio Ballista This is how he tells Rockol the story of the “Archaic Mass”
When I knew the score of the “Archaic Mass” that Franco Battiato had given me in 1993 requesting me to conduct the first performance in Assisi, I was deeply struck by it, in particular by the “Kyrus”. I felt the same emotion in the replies, realizing that the “Kyrus” was the keystone of the entire composition.
An emotion that, well beyond the perception of aesthetic value, led to a profound state of self-awareness.
I later learned that Franco, before starting his meditations, actually listened to the Kyrus of his Archaic Mass
As Franco Battiato he described his work:
onArchaic Mass it is a constant search for beauty, harmony, the fluidity of solutions that move within each chosen language. To communicate certain feelings, certain emotions, certain options of the heart, it is necessary to follow well-defined paths. An extremely significant experience for me. It taught me how strange this musical world of ours is: where you happen to be at the center of a mega-rock concert cheering even when you play in a church, even when you perform a work that moves along a very tenuous horizontal thread
The concert is organized by IMARTS – International Music and Arts, with the support of the Franco Battiato ETS Foundation, with the collaboration of the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo and its Cappella Musicale.
