Special Projects

“La Gattomachia” (“Battle of the cats”)

A musical fairy tale for narrator, violin and strings

This composition by Orazio Sciortino is about love and jealousy and has cats as protagonists. The text is also written by Orazio Sciortino and is inspired by the Spanish poet Lope de Vega. The score is like a Wunderkammer where the sounds are similar to precious objects to be discovered.

The Nightmare of War – “La paura”

Opera in one act

Composed by Orazio Sciortino in 2015 for the Teatro Coccia in Novara, La Paura is an opera about the First World War, inspired by a short story by Federico De Roberto.

The story unfolds over a few hours in an Italian trench on the Austrian border during World War I. A seemingly quiet truce is abruptly broken by an enemy bombardment, triggering a massacre: Italian soldiers are sent, one after another, to man a lookout post fully exposed to enemy fire, and they fall one by one. Lieutenant Alfani, the protagonist, is torn between obeying orders and the absurdity of the sacrifice being demanded. The soldiers, resigned to death, express their terror in their regional dialects. The last one, Morana—the bravest among them—refuses to go and takes his own life, unable to face a fate already written.

About eros and literature – “Maxima Immoralia”

Chamber opera for voices and instruments

A theatrical action commissioned by Festival Aperto in Reggio Emilia and co-produced with the Cantiere Internazionale di Montepulciano, inspired by the baroque intermezzo and madrigals.

Eros and irony: these key words sum up this opera by Orazio Sciortino that speaks about eros and sexuality with no hypocrisy. This work is presented as an absolute premiere in the program of the 50th Cantiere Internazionale di Montepulciano.