The "Concert with the Poor" returns with a renewed celebration of beauty and charity. Guests for the first time include the Orchestra Director Speranza Scappucci with the Orchestra and Coro del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.
As tradition dictates, Aula Paolo VI in the Vatican will host the fourth edition of the "Concert with and for the Poor," an initiative dedicated to the most disadvantaged people, to offer them an experience of Beauty through music combined with a concrete gesture of charity. The event, scheduled for Friday, December 15th , 2023, at 5:30 PM, will secure 3000 seats for the less fortunate, including the homeless, migrants, and those facing social distress. They will be the "honored guests" of the event, invited to participate through the Dicastery for the Service of Charity and other numerous volunteer associations that assist them daily, and they will subsequently be provided with a packed dinner and other acts of generosity.
Originated in 2015 from an idea by Dr. Riccardo Rossi and Attorney Gualtiero Ventura and organized by Nova Opera with the Artistic Direction of Maestro Mons. Marco Frisina, this extraordinary concert has received the Blessing of Pope Francis, who granted the authorization to perform it in Aula Paolo VI.
The previous three editions saw the participation of some of the finest performers from the international music landscape, including conductor Daniel Oren and composers Ennio Morricone and Nicola Piovani, as well as prestigious orchestras such as the Teatro Verdi di Salerno, Roma Sinfonietta, Orchestra Italiana del Cinema, and Coro dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
For 2023, the orchestra is untrusted to the direction of Maestro Speranza Scappucci, who will alternate on the podium with Maestro Mons. Marco Frisina to lead the Orchestra and Coro del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Also present on stage, as from the very first edition, count the 200 members of Coro della Diocese di Roma.
Precious for this edition of the "Concert with and for the Poor" is the presence of two exceptional soloists: soprano Maria Grazia Schiavo, among the most important voices of her generation in the baroque, traditional, and Bel Canto repertoire, and tenor Levy Segkapane, an appreciated South African talent and winner of the "Montserrat Caballé International Singing Competition" and the prestigious "Operalia" competition.
The program includes a selection of masterpieces by Mozart, Rossini, and Tchaikovsky, enriched by other famous national and international Christmas songs such as Joy to the World, Quanno nascette Ninno, Tu scendi dalle stelle, and Stille Nacht, in innovative versions specifically orchestrated by Maestro Frisina.
