In the evocative setting of the Abbey of San Pietro di Sorres in Borutta, last night, Thursday 21 August, the new edition of Ammajare Festival (21–24 August 2025) opened with the preview dedicated to the Concert for Julia – Early music between memory and resistance.
The stars of the opening event were contralto Stefania Cocco and organist Lorenzo Antinori – who brought their early-music show to Sardinia for the first time – leading the audience on a musical journey spanning 120 years, from the very early 1600s up to Vivaldi. The guiding thread of the concert sprang from the biographical events of Julia Carta, from which deep suffering emerges. Considering the close link between that suffering and the Church, represented by the Holy Inquisition, the two musicians chose pieces able to offer an image of the woman’s pain from different angles and through a weave of metaphors.
Thus, in Giovanni Felice Sances’ “Lament of the Madonna” the Virgin’s suffering was explored; in Barbara Strozzi’s “Che si può fare” the pain of love took center stage; with Pirro Capacelli Albergati’s “Man’s age compared to the flower” a reflection on life’s transience emerged. The final piece on the program, Antonio Vivaldi’s “Longe mala, umbrae, terrores”, wove metaphors of striking relevance today, tied to natural elements evoked both as calamities and as heavenly gifts. At the end of this inner journey, the human soul finally reaches peace.
An elegant, austere concert, in which the two musicians managed to recreate an atmosphere from another time, giving the music the right space and the right importance. A tribute of strong value paid to an art today often belittled and reduced to a mere consumer product.
The evocative power of early music thus paid homage to an emblematic female figure such as Julia Carta.
The concert was symbolically dedicated to Marah Abu Zuhri, the 20-year-old Palestinian girl who arrived in Italy from the Gaza Strip and died at Pisa hospital due to malnutrition.
Today, Friday 22 August, the Festival officially kicks off in Siligo with a rich calendar of events that will accompany the public until 24 August:
5:00 pm – Official opening with a medieval parade through the village streets to “Su Runaghe” and a show by the flag throwers of the Castello district of Iglesias.
6:30 pm – Herbariae Lunae, a theatrical performance between witchcraft, set design and magic.
7:00 pm – My mother: Julia, a theatrical monologue by Giampaolo Cassitta curated by the Clip Collective, with musical accompaniment of harp, violin and voice.
7:30 pm – Meeting with essayist Rita Nappi, author of Guaritrici sarde tra medicina, magia e inquisizione, in conversation with Daria Martinez.
8:30 pm – Presentation of the book Aria Mossa by Giampaolo Cassitta and Pier Luigi Piredda (Ed. Il Maestrale), with a musical interlude by Mauro Cossiga.
9:30 pm – Medieval Dinner curated by the Pro Loco of Siligo.
All festival events are free of charge.
The Ammajare festival is organized by the Municipality of Siligo together with Intrecci Culturali, Fondazione Banco di Sardegna, the Sardinia Region and the Chamber of Commerce of Sassari, with the collaboration of the cultural association CLIP - Collettivo Letterario Informale Performativo. Artistic direction is entrusted to Giampaolo Cassitta.
The full festival program is available on the website www.intrecciculturalisardegna.it and on the official social pages.
