Septenote

Great sacred music in St. Mark's with the voices of the Cappella Marciana

In Naples, 'La Cantata dei Pastori', a glorious and tasty mess of religious sentiment and comic theatre. Enrico Brignano brings the Kings of Rome to life

13 December 2024

3' min read

This holiday season sees the return of 'La Cantata dei Pastori', a glorious and tasty mess of religious sentiment and comic theatre, originating in 17th-century Naples, with the language, music and history of the Neapolitan capital at its centre, the only place in the world where it has been possible to create, and preserve for so long, a spectacle of indefinable genre, a theatrical unicum, the fruit of centuries of devotion and irreverence. Also from the 17th century comes the great sacred music heard in Venice's St Mark's Basilica with the voices of the Cappella Marciana. A change of atmosphere in Padua, where Enrico Brignano's tour continues with the musical comedy 'The Seven Kings of Rome'.

Venice

On the 18th at St. Mark's Basilica, the Teatro La Fenice Christmas Concert will take place as per tradition, entrusted to the Cappella Marciana, which descends directly from the ancient formation of the Serenissima and was the Doge's Chapel for five centuries. Considered to be among the oldest professional music groups still active, it will perform the Christmas Mass by seventeenth-century Francesco Cavalli, a great opera composer and himself director of the vocal ensemble.

Naples

From 20 December to 6 January at the Trianon Viviani Theatre "La Cantata dei Pastori", with Peppe Barra and Lalla Esposito. At the end of the 17th century, the Jesuits commissioned Abbot Perrucci to write a theatrical text that was meant to contrast all the blasphemous shows of the time. It was a sensual and irreverent Naples, where people deserted midnight mass on Christmas Eve to go to see freak shows. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the people turned it into a glorious and tasty mess of religious sentiment and comic theatre. Later, however, the cantata remained the prerogative of the clergy and was only performed in sacristies. In 1974, the great talent of Roberto De Simone unearthed it and staged it with the famous Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare, then rewrote it in 1988. Peppe Barra has kept this tradition alive for more than forty years.

Two poor Neapolitans are on the scene: Razzullo, a scribe, has ended up in Palestine for the census ordered by the Roman Emperor; and Sarchiapone, his fellow countryman, on the run for his crimes. They cross paths with Mary and Joseph, who are in search of a safe haven in Bethlehem, where they will give birth to Jesus. The journey is hindered by Belfagor, the demon.

The play was staged at midnight on 24 December. After the Christmas Eve dinner, people had to make a choice: to Mass or to the theatre? A show that focuses on the language, music, and history of the city of Naples, the only place in the world where it has been possible to create, and preserve for so long, a show of indefinable genre, a theatrical unicum, the fruit of centuries of devotion. A show in the old Italian style, where, on shabby boards, the actors impersonated several roles, in a whirlwind of disguises that amused the audience and frightened the two hungry protagonists.

Padova

From the 18th to the 22nd at the Geox Theatre the great musical comedy by Garinei & Giovannini: I Sette Re di Roma (The Seven Kings of Rome), with Enrico Brignano and a large company; written by Luigi Magni, music by Oscar winner Nicola Piovani, Gigi Proietti the main performer. "This show, which I consider the most challenging of my career playing eleven different characters and keeping the original direction by Garinei, is a tribute to Proietti, to Magni, to Piovani, to Garinei, to the Capital", comments the actor.