The Song of Divine Claudius

PLAN

10:15 – Institutional greetings

Andrea Cigni, Superintendent of the Ponchielli Theatre and Artistic Director of the Monteverdi Festival

Elena Sinibaldi, UNESCO Focal Point , Service II, MIC

Andrea Virgilio, Mayor of Cremona

Federico DE Sacchi, President of the Committee for the Safeguarding of the Art of Italian Opera Singing

11:00 – Session I: The Practice of Operatic Singing between Tradition and Innovation

Rosanna Savoia – The Manifestation of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage in "The Practice of Opera Singing in Italy"

Dr. Elia Pivetta – The National Edition of Alessandro Scarlatti's Works

11:40 – Session II: Recitar Cantando and Expressive Urgency

Antonio Greco – The path to the second practice : what revolution sounds like

Carmelo Di Gennaro – The First Orpheus: Francesco Rasi

Paolo Fabbri – Talking while singing and singing while singing

Francesco Bellotto – “With my words pass him through the heart”: declaiming the song, an example from Orpheus

1:00 PM – Light Lunch

2:00 PM – Interactive Workshop: Sing with Monteverdi!

Discovering your own vocality through singing recitation

Theoretical introduction to the basics of singing, practical exercises and collective singing of a short extract from a madrigal or fragment of Monteverdi's recitar cantando

Moderators: Antonio Greco, Roberto Abbondanza

3:30 PM – Closing and Final Performance

Monteverdi Lives Again: The Tradition Continues

Scientific Coordination:

Francesco Bellotto

Carmelo Di Gennaro

Introductory note

The study day " The Song of the Divine Claudio: Ancient Roots and New Inspirations ," part of the Monteverdi Festival, was conceived with the aim of exploring the multiple connections between the tradition of Italian opera singing and the cultural context of seventeenth-century Cremona, taking inspiration from the figure of Claudio Monteverdi. This reflection will be guided by a linguistic and conceptual starting point: the word "practice." Present in the name of the Element recently inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List— The Practice of Opera Singing in Italy —it evokes an anthropological, historical, and social meaning, consistent with the definition of intangible cultural heritage established by the 2003 UNESCO Convention. In the Monteverdi context, however, the term (rendered in its historical spelling "prattica") refers to musical practice, to the "way of singing," and is charged with artistic and theoretical implications fundamental to the birth of musical modernity.

The conference aims to explore the role of words in operatic singing: not as a simple phonetic vehicle, but as the result of a long and layered semantic journey, capable of connecting eras, meanings, andcommunities. Operatic singing embodies this tension: words are sublimated in music, which from an aesthetic object becomes an emotional instrument, capable of activating a profound, intuitive, and archaic receptivity in the listener. The voice, supported by musical language, amplifies the expressive power of the verb, revealing otherwise unexplored interior landscapes . In an age when the languages of communication risk losing their depth and evocative power, the challenge we face is to regenerate melodrama, starting precisely from Monteverdi's vision: an art made of "words and music" capable of creating authentic emotional connections between individuals. From this perspective, Monteverdi's legacy can offer a precious resource for a renewed contemporary sensibility, capable of listening, engagement, and emotional resonance.

For this reason, the conference will conclude with an interactive workshop, during which the audience will be able to directly experience the communicative power of recitar cantando, rediscovering the roots and future potential of the art of Italian opera singing through the living practice of the voice.

Federico DE Sacchi

President of the Committee for the Safeguarding of Italian Opera Singing

The event is organized in collaboration with the Monteverdi Festival.

Tickets : Free admission until seats are filled

For more information: https://www.monteverdifestivalcremona.it/evento/il-canto-del-divin-claudio/