In Pisa Cathedral, heart of Square of Miracles – one of the most extraordinary places in Italy – the Christmas concert organized byWork of the Pisan Primaziale.
Arrived at the XVII edition, the Christmas concert will take place on Thursday December 15, 2022 (21 hours), presenting a program of great interest, in tribute to the Pisan composer Giovan Carlo Maria Clari.
Musician to rediscover, Giovan Carlo Maria Clari (Pisa 1677 – 1754), following in his father's footsteps, in his youth he was protected by the same Grand Prince Ferdinand of Tuscany who supported Alessandro Scarlatti and encouraged Georg Friedrich Händel's first steps. From 1724 until his death, the composer was at the head of the chapel of the Cathedral of Pisa, then almost abandoned, which he reorganized, restoring its artistic dignity.
In Pisa, Clari composed much of her sacred music, and many of her autographs are preserved in the Musical collection of the Archive of the Opera della Primaziale, a vast and precious collection of manuscripts and prints that tells the important musical and liturgical tradition of the Cathedral, from the seventeenth century to today. The rich and articulated musical corpus of a sacred nature, with its nearly 4,000 titles and over 1,000 composers, is one of the largest in Tuscany.
Some of Clari's autograph scores kept in the Primaziale Archive have been transcribed in modern notation by Richard Donati, its current successor as Kapellmeister of the Cathedral, which has chosen three for the 2022 Christmas Concert program.
The three compositions of Giovan Carlo Maria Clari – Magnificat, Ave Maris Star is Te Deum – will be performed by Musical Chapel of the Cathedral of Pisa and by the orchestra Bazzini Consort under its direction Richard Donati: a truly unique opportunity to listen to this splendid music – forgotten and rediscovered – in the place for which it was written, in the extraordinary setting of the Cathedral of Pisa.
To follow, the Children's Choir of the Archbishop's Institute of Santa Caterina, educated by Alessandra Cavallini, will close the concert with i traditional Christmas songs.
Christmas concert XVII edition
Giovan Carlo Maria Clari (1677-1754)
Magnificat for soloists, chorus and orchestra
Ave Maris Stella for choir and orchestra
Te Deum for choir and orchestra
Traditional Christmas carols
