Lyrical Charm: Great Music in Rome

About the Event

Immerse yourself in the ethereal beauty of timeless compositions at the 'Lyrical Charm: Great Music in Rome' event, hosted at the enchanting Museo Santa Francesca Romana.

This evocative concert featuring Marianna Ivashchenko, soprano, and Massimiliano Franchina, piano, offers a musical journey deeply connected with Rome and its artistic heritage, while also opening a window onto the broader world of lyric expression.

The evening begins with the graceful charm of Gaetano Donizetti’s Oh vieni al mare!, a work born during the composer’s Roman years, when his style absorbed the elegance and vitality of the city’s cultural life. The program then briefly crosses borders with two art songs by Mikhail Glinka — Alla cetra and Pur nel sonno.

A return to Rome’s musical lineage follows with the poetry and lyrical finesse of Giovanni Sgambati, one of the most influential Roman composers of the 19th century. His Fior di Siepe and Te solo embody the gentle nobility and expressive purity characteristic of the Roman school. This thread continues naturally with Francesco Paolo Tosti, who spent significant years in Rome and whose songs — Lasciali dir!, Primavera, Non t’amo più!, Ideale, Visione, Shall we forget— blend salon elegance with Italian melodic warmth.

A moment of atmospheric beauty arrives with Ottorino Respighi’s Crepuscolo, a piece in which the composer paints delicate impressionistic colors, evoking moods of twilight and introspection.

The concert concludes with a contemporary Roman voice: Aurelio Porfiri. His Tre Poemi Mistici, performed here in their evocative spiritual intensity, are composed on texts by the great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore, creating a compelling dialogue between Roman musical tradition and the universal language of mystic poetry.

A program rooted in the soul of Rome, yet open to the world — a musical evening of depth, elegance, and radiant expression.