From our archives

The Cantata in onore del Sommo Pontefice Pio IX was performed in Rome on 1 January 1847. The Cantata for solo choir and orchestra, based on a poem by Giovanni Marchetti, was written by the composer to celebrate the elevation of Cardinal Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti to the papal throne, and was first performed in the Senate House on the Capitoline Hill in Rome. Among the performers at the Roman performance were Pietro Cadani, Luigia Finetti, Benedetto Laura and Fortunato Silvestri.

The cantata, a very rare performance, was premiered last summer in Pesaro in the Fondazione Rossini's critical edition edited by Mauro Bucarelli. Christopher Franklin conducted the Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini and the Ventidio Basso Theatre Choir. The cast included Pietro Adaíni (L'Amor pubblico), Marina Monzó (La Speranza), Michael Mofidian (Il Genio cristiano), Antonio Garés (Corifeo).