Jubilee, Franco Ricordi recites Dante at St Peter's
Three evenings dedicated to Purgatory by the philosopher, actor and director, known for his interpretations of the Divine Comedy, which he has brought around the world
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Key points
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New Dante Summer at St Peter's. The appointment is for 17, 18 and 19 June at St. Peter's with 'Dante's Comedy for St. Peter's', a project within the initiatives for the Jubilee, which will take place in Piazza Pio XII, produced by the Department for Major Events, Sport, Tourism and Fashion of the Municipality of Rome, with the patronage of the Dicastery for Evangelisation of the Holy See. It all began in 2024 with Inferno, while in the Jubilee year in June it is the turn of Purgatory, in September - on the 16th, 17th and 18th - of Paradise. Three evenings for each cantica interpreted by Franco Ricordi, Italian philosopher, actor, director, artistic director and essayist, known for his interpretations of Dante Alighieri's Commedia that he has taken to Italy and abroad. The latest stop in Indonesia. "I did not think I would get this far," Ricordi emphasises, "to four continents, 24 countries, 40 cities. Dante's is a work that reaches people because of its strong theatricality and musicality'.
Dante sublimated the Christian message
."To be in front of St. Peter's Square, after having spread and recited the Divine Comedy in Italy and all over the world, is a great emotion, a point of arrival and also a consecration of one's art," Franco Ricordi emphasises. 'Dante is in fact the greatest Italian poet and, at the same time, the greatest poet of Christianity. Nobody like Dante was able to poetically sublimate the height of the Christian message, even though he strongly criticised so many aspects and characters of his own time'. Ricordi emphasises that 'the Divine Comedy belongs to all Italians, however they think politically or religiously, and consequently, to all citizens of the world. Dante's poem is truly universal'.
The Three Evenings in Purgatory
Tuesday 17th June the evening is dedicated to the first canto of Purgatory, the vision of being; Dante and Virgil towards the East, the enchanted mountain, Cato, Casella, Manfredi, Belacqua, Sordello and the invective against Italy. Wednesday 18 June evening dedicated to the Antipurgatory and entry into the circles of pride and envy with sapia; Marco Lombardo and the corruption of the world; Hadrian V, the meeting with Stazio, then among the gluttonous and the lustful. Thursday 19 June, the earthly paradise, on top of the mountain of Purgatory. Metelda, Virgil's abandonment and Beatrice's entrance; Dante's shame, his repentance, the final purification, "lo fren de l'arte" and the disposition to ascend to the stars.
Atheists and believers, agnostics and thinkers invited
"It is the most important, and always rather unheard of, canticles that will find their most natural and immediate universal theatre in front of St Peter's Square," explains Ricordi. Who specifies that "atheists and believers, agnostics and thinkers are invited. This is first and foremost an artistic event that seeks to bring back the extraordinary message of an artist, a poet who accompanies us in the difficult situation we are living".
