The 44th edition of the Valle d’Itria Festival, with the evocative title “Eclissi d’amore” [Eclipse of Love], presented a programme that embraced more than four centuries of opera, with a focus on the Baroque and performances by international artists. Five operas (including one especially for children and one staged in a masseria of farmhouse), plus concerts at various time of day in the churches and cloisters of one of Puglia’s Baroque gems.

The inaugural opera was Giulietta e Romeo by Nicola Vaccai, in Ilaria Narici’s critical edition. This was followed by Handel‘s Rinaldo, in a first modern performance of the 1718 Neopolitan version, conducted by the festival’s musical director Fabio Luisi. At the Masseria Palesi was played Il trionfo dell’onore by Alessandro Scarlatti, a rare incursion into ‘commedia’ by the Sicilian composer. And to conclude, C’era una volta… Cenerentola!, a show organised in collaboration with local schoolchildren.