The concert, which provided an overture to the Year of Russian Culture and Language in Italy and the Year of Italian Culture and Language in Russia (2011), featured revived religious music by Giuseppe Verdi. The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour’s Patriarchal Choir and the Russian-Italian Symphony Orchestra Academia delle opere, led by Milan conductor Diego Montrone, performed four of Verdi’s religious compositions (Ave Maria, Stabat Mater, Le laudi alla Vergine Maria, Те Deum).
The four pieces, which the composer wrote at the end of his life, are almost unknown to the general public. The concert’s organisers – the Social and Cultural Initiatives Foundation, which is chaired by Ms Medvedeva, the Department for International Programmes, and Syncre Company (Milan) – set the objective of reviving forgotten Christian religious compositions and having them performed at religious sites throughout the Christian world.
The efforts to revive Verdi’s masterpieces began last year, when the four pieces were performed on the roof of the renowned Milan Cathedral.
The performance of the choral works at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, one of Orthodoxy’s main centres, is a key stage in an international musical tour that will end in Bethlehem.
The Golden Domes concert was held in coordination with the art exhibition Holy Sites in Italy and Russia, which features the works of young Russian artists taking part in the Mobile Academy of the Arts, a long-term educational programme run by the Social and Cultural Initiatives Foundation.