F. Mendelssohn: Sinfonia n. 2 op. 52 "Lobgesang"

for soloists, choir, orchestra, and organ

Lucia Casagrande Raffi soprano

Francesca Bruni soprano

Žiga Čopi tenor

Solomeo’s Coro Canticum Novum choir

Città di Castello’s Marietta Alboni Chorale

Marcello Marini choir conductor

Tolentino Polyphonic Choir

Aldo Cicconofri choir conductor

Hermans Academy

Fabio Ciofini conductor

CONCERTO SOTTO LE STELLE

SYMPHONY - Maestoso con moto, Allegro

Allegretto un poco agitato

Adagio religioso

ALLES, ALLES - Allegro moderato maestoso, Allegro di molto

SAGET ES, DIE IHR ERL.ST SEID DURCH DEN HERRN - Recitativo

ER Z.HLET UNS'RE THR.NEN IN DER ZEIT DER NOT - Aria - Allegro moderato

SAGT ES, DIE IHR ERL.SET SEID - A tempo moderato

ICH HARRETE DES HERRN - Duetto - Andante

STRICKE DES TODES HATTEN UNS UMFANGEN - Allegro un poco agitato, Allegro assai agitato

DIE NACHT IST VERGANGEN - Allegro maestoso e molto vivace

NUN DANKET ALLE GOTT MIA HERZEN - Corale - Andante con moto

LOB, EHR'UND PREIS SEI GOTT - Un poco più animato

DRUM SING ICH MIT MEINEM LIEDE EWIG DEIN LOB - Duetto - Andante sostenuto assai

IHR V.LKER! BRINGET HER DEM HERRN EHRE UND MACHT! - Allegro non troppo

Lucia Casagrande Raffi

Lucia Casagrande Raffi is a soprano from Gubbio (Italy) active in the operatic, sacred, symphonic and oratorio repertoire. After she graduated in Singing from the F. Morlacchi Conservatoire in Perugia, she obtained the Diploma in Music Teaching and completed the two-year specialisation course in Singing with honours. She debuted at the age of 21 at the 24th Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte in Montepulciano. In 2010, she received the Beniamino Gigli award at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Casagrande Raffi has sang in numerous operas, concerts, and recitals in Italy and aboard, collaborating with famous Italian and international artists. She specialises in the baroque repertoire, where she is very active with Claudine Ansermet, Gloria Banditelli, and Roberta Invernizzi. She has also collaborated with Hermans Academy, Solisti Aquilani, Perugia Chamber Orchestra, Accademia degli Unisoni, Roma Barocca Ensemble, and the Instrumental Ensemble of the St Petronius Music Chapel. She has also performed in several festivals and events, such as Hermans Festival, Antigua Festival, Euro Mediterraneo, Filarmonica Umbra, Antichi Organi, Artem Festival, Camerino Festival, Villa Solomei Festival, Sagra Musicale Umbra, Perdonanza Celestiniana, Anghiari Festival, Barattelli Concerti, and Stagione dei Concerti ISA.Moreover, she has recorded forBottega Discantica, Bongiovanni, Da Vinci, Sheva, and Brilliant Classics.

Francesca Bruni

Francesca Bruni is a soprano. She was born in Perugia where she graduated in Singing from the F. Morlacchi Conservatoire with honours. She made her debut in 2006. Throughout her career, she has performed in over thirty operas, with a repertoire ranging from Baroque to the 1900s, in Italian and international theatres, including the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall and the DeLaMar Theatre in Amsterdam. She has also collaborated with various institutions, including As.Li.Co, the Chigiana Academy in Siena, the Opera de Massy, the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, the Philharmonic of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, under the conduction of great maestros, such as D. Renzetti, G. Gelmetti, H. Yoshida, F.M. Carminati, B. Venezi, and G. Fratta. Bruni has also won various awards in international competitions in Bitonto, Torrita di Siena, Sarzana, Pienza, and Chieti. She specialised under M. Freni, M. Devia, G. Raimondi, M. Pertusi, E. Dara and C. Desderi and participated in masterclasses in Shanghai.

Žiga Čopi

Ziga Čopi is a Slovenian tenor known for his elegant timbre and vocal expressiveness. In the 2023/24 season, he debuted as Eurimaco in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and the Spirit in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at Teatro Alighieri in Ravenna, collaborating with the Accademia Bizantina conducted by Ottavio Dantone and directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi. He also portrayed St John in Händel’s La Resurrezione (The Resurrection) in Finland. During the 2024/25 season, he has performed in Johannes-Passion by J.S. Bach and a concert of Mozart arias with Kymi Sinfonietta in Finland, conducted by Topi Lehtipuu. He will soon debut at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music with Accademia Bizantina. Čopi studied under Prof. Edita Garčević Koželj at the Ljubljana Conservatoire and is currently part of the Firenze Mascarade Opera’s Talent Pathway program (2024/25). He won the first prize at several national and international competitions and earned the prestigious Škerjanec Award. Žiga Čopi is also a composer. His works have been performed in Germany, Austria, Italy, and Slovenia by ensembles, including Airborne Extended and Ensemble Modern. He is currently completing his composition studies under Vito Žuraj at the Music Academy in Ljubljana. Moreover, Žiga Čopi has collaborated with Topi Lehtipuu, Delphine Galou, and James Platt, to name a few. He is involved with the ENOA network and continues to collaborate with the Operosa Opera Festival.

Canticum Novum - Marietta Alboni Chorale - Tolentino Polyphonic Choir

The Canticum Novum Choir has shaped its identity by deeply interpreting the musical text, exploring Mozart’s peaks and staging works that touch the soul. Its voices tell stories of hope, embracing art and emotions, while transcending time. The Marietta Alboni Chorale was formed in 1983 in Città di Castello, Umbria. In its numerous concerts in Italy and abroad, the Chorale has blended its voice with the timeless works of Beethoven, Mozart, and Puccini, spanning the centuries with performances that unite the sacred and the secular, tradition and modernity. Every performance is a journey across the world’s musical spirit conducted by maestros that have shaped the choir’s art in every note. Since 1980, the Tolentino Polyphonic Choir has taken its music beyond Italy’s borders, captivating audiences and juries at international competitions, while dedicating its work to the choral tradition through a blend of sacred and popular, classical and contemporary styles. These choirs are reuniting after their project dedicated to Dan Forrest to embody the power of music in expressing emotions, history, and culture. Their voices have crossed borders, sharing stories of devotion, art, and hope. Each one of them has left an indelible mark on choral musi driven by a song that knows no boundaries and is constantly exploring new nuances and horizons. Their music is poetry that turns into sound and emotions. It’s an invisible thread that embraces beauty while joining past and present, sacred and profane.

Marcello Marini

Marcello Marini studied at the F. Morlacchi Conservatoire in Perugia, specialising in Choir Conduction under maestro Boris Tevlin at the P. I. Chaikovsky Conservatoire in Moscow. He has performed as a soloist and in ensembles as a pianist, organist, and conductor in prestigious venues in Italy and abroad, including Algeria, France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Poland, Germany, Austria, Russia, the USA, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Israel, The UK, Sweden, and Spain. He has composed numerous choral and instrumental works. After winning the competition for the position of Piano Accompanist at Conservatoires, Marini collaborated with Alberto Zedda and Stefan Anton Reck in the production of the opera Le Donne Rivali by D. Cimarosa, as well as the first modern performance of Cimarosa’s I Turchi Amanti and the premiere of Claudio Ambrosini’s contemporary opera Il Giudizio Universale.He also founded the Marietta Alboni Chorale, a polyphonic choir he has been conducting since 1983. For twenty years, he has conducted the Gruppo Corale Santa Cecilia in Fabriano and the Polyphic choir of the Plinio il Giovane High School in Città di Castello. He has composed and conducted complex choral music in concerts across Europe, the USA, Canada, and Latin America. Currently, Marini is the art director of the E. Zangarelli Music Competition in Città di Castello and a board member of the Festival delle Nazioni in Città di Castello.

Aldo Cicconofri

Aldo Cicconofri, former teacher at the G. Rossini Conservatoire in Pesaro, graduated in Singing (teaching branch), Choral Music and Choir Conduction from the L. Cherubini Conservatoire in Florence. He has been Choir Conductor for many years, collaborating with various formations and giving concerts across Europe. He was the founder and president of A.R. CO.M. (the Marche Region’s Choir Association) and vice-president and member of the Artistic Commission of FENIARCO (the Italian Federation of Regional Choirs Associations). Cicconofri has worked in Italy and abroad as a choir conductor. He has also given courses, workshops and masterclasses (Choir of the University of Macerata, University of Reggio Calabria, Ente Lirico in Cagliari, University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Granada Conservatoire, and University of Astana in Kazakhstan). Moreover, he has been the art director of the Choral Academy O. Petrucci in Urbino for choir conductors and choir members. He runs choir conducting courses and music teaching workshops and he is frequently invited to serve as a jury member at national and international choral singing competitions. Currently, Aldo Cicconofri conducts the Children's Giardino delle Voci Choir and the Tolentino Polyphonic Choir, whose repertoires range from ancient music to jazz.

Hermans Academy

The Hermans Academy was founded in 2000 by its conductor Fabio Ciofini, who involved young instrumentalists and singers willing to delve deeper into ancient music with his enthusiasm and love for this repertoire. Since then, the Academy and its members, who studied at Europe’s best schools, have been acclaimed in the Italian and international concert scene. They have collaborated with famous singers and instrumentalists, such as Enrico Gatti, Marcello Gatti, Gloria Banditelli, Sergio Foresti, Roberta Invernizzi, Bart Van Oort, and Roberta Mameli. For the past few years, Hermans Academy has been promoting ancient music in Umbria, organising courses, recording CDs in historic venues (churches and palazzos) and overseeing the artistic direction of the Hermans Festival. This event takes place every summer in Valnerina and Collescipoli. The Hermans Academy has an extensive discography with Brilliant Classics, Bongiovanni, and La Bottega Discantica. Notably, their CD of Mozart's Concertos K.466 and K.467, recorded with Bart Van Oort, received outstanding acclaim, earning a five-star rating from specialist magazines. In October 2016, they released a CD featuring Roberta Invernizzi: “Queens - G.F. Händel” for the Glossa. The album was acclaimed by international critics and performed at the most prestigious music events in Europe, including the Sion Festival in Switzerland, Wigmore Hall in London, the Ekaterinburg Philharmonic in Russia, and the Novi Sad Festival in Serbia. The Academy has performed concerts for prestigious ancient music associations and festivals in Italy and in the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, the UK, Serbia, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and the USA.

Fabio Ciofini

Fabio Ciofini studied organ, piano and fortepiano at the Perugia Conservatoire, with W. Van de Pol, M.F. Spaventi and C. Veneri respectively, and harpsichord at the Fiesole School of Music with A. Fedi. He continued to study the organ in Amsterdam with J. Van Oortmerssen, obtaining a “Post-Graduate” diploma in baroque music in 1999.In 1995, he was appointed Head Organist at the Collegiata di S. Maria Maggiore Church in Collescipoli, where he plays a W. Hermans baroque organ (1678).He regularly gives concerts and masterclasses in Italy, Europe, the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Japan, and is often a guest at major ancient music festivals, such as the Lufthansa Festival, Oude Muziek in Utrecht, and the Vantaa Baroque Festival. He has recorded and performed on live radio for the most important national European stations (BBC, ZDF, YLE, RAI).His ancient and baroque music performances have been highly acclaimed. Fabio Ciofini is also an active director and conductor of the Hermans Academy. His latest album of Corelli’s opera no 4, featuring the Aurora Ensemble (Glossa) won the “Diapason d’or” and the “Deutschen Schallplattenkritik”.He also teaches Historical Keyboard at the G. Briccialdi Conservatoire in Terni.In 2010, he was appointed Art Director of the Brunello and Federica Cucinelli Foundation (Solomeo, Perugia).