THE VOICES OF DANTE IN THE MODENA CATHEDRAL WITH TONI SERVILLO

A journey by Toni Servillo in the sign of Dante and that unique cultural heritage in the world that is the Divine Comedy, in an ideal dialogue with the Modena Cathedral, a world heritage site, a splendid example of Romanesque art that astonished its contemporaries and continues to astonish today for its extraordinary beauty.

This is "Le voci di Dante", the show scheduled in Modena Cathedral on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 October, for which ticket pre-sales begin on Saturday 13 July. It is one of the main events of "Modena patrimonio mondiale in festa", the annual event dedicated to the Unesco site that includes the Cathedral, the Ghirlandina and Piazza Grande. The show will be accessible not only inside the Cathedral but also from the parvis, via wireless headphones.

Now in its seventh edition, this year's event proposes the theme "Eternal Return - Infinite Past, Infinite Future" to evoke the idea of a past, that of Roman Mutina, which lives on in the Romanesque monuments and through the centuries up to us, but also to remind us how much history and the voices of the people who changed it, live on and persist in our present and our future. The programme, from Thursday 3 to Sunday 6 October, will be full of opportunities, from guided tours and workshops for children, to get to know the monumental complex and explore the theme of the relationship with antiquity, the buried Roman city and what has been reused of it in the construction of the monuments recognised by Unesco as World Heritage Sites, and with the key figure of St Geminianus.

The highlight of the event is the show, starring Toni Servillo, promoted by the Municipality of Modena and produced by Emilia Romagna Teatro ERT / Teatro Nazionale, in collaboration with the Metropolitan Basilica of Modena. The event was presented this morning, Friday 12 July, with a press conference attended by Andrea Bortolamasi, councillor for Culture, Cultural and Creative Industries, City Promotion and Tourism; Monsignor Giuliano Gazzetti, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Modena and Nonantola; Giuliano Barbolini and Valter Malosti, president and director of Emilia Romagna Teatro ERT / Teatro Nazionale, while Toni Servillo, who is travelling, sent a video message. Also present were Giovanni Bertugli, director of the city promotion and tourism service of the Municipality of Modena, and Francesca Piccinini, director of the Civic Museum and head of the Unesco Coordination.

"Le voci di Dante" tackles Dante's work through the original key of interpretation offered by the dramaturgical elaboration of Giuseppe Montesano who, as he explained, wanted to "liberate the Comedy from celebrations to bring it here with us, in our electric and disturbing contemporaneity. The great classics only make sense if they are relived through our needs and emotions, and only become ours if we allow ourselves to be enchanted and grasped by them as if by a magic mirror'.

The performance includes two different ways of participating: in addition to the 'classic' one, with the audience immersed in the setting of the Cathedral, which for the occasion will be further enhanced by the lighting design of light designer Cesare Accetta, it will be possible to enjoy it outside the Cathedral, in the heart of the Unesco site of Modena, listening to the performance with wireless headphones, as in a sort of itinerant sound installation.

Tickets for the stalls inside the Cathedral cost 40 euro (for the under 25s, reduced to 30 euro) for the central sectors 1 and 2; 30 euro (20 euro for the reduced under 25s) for sector 3; for the side aisles, with viewing through the monitors, tickets cost 15 euro; wireless headphones for use outside cost 8 euro. All information can be found at visitmodena.itbookings are open from 13 July on the platform www.vivaticket.com and at the box office of the Teatro Storchi (in largo Garibaldi 15, Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 am to 2 pm; Tuesday and Saturday also from 4.30 pm to 7 pm).

The event "Modena World Heritage in Celebration" is planned and promoted by the Civic Museum of Modena - Coordination of the World Heritage Site and the City Promotion and Tourism Service of the Municipality of Modena in collaboration with Emilia Romagna Teatro ERT /Teatro Nazionale. The 2024 edition is made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Museums of Modena Cathedral, the Metropolitan Chapter of Modena and the Archdiocese of Modena and Nonantola, as well as the Focal Point Creative Cities and Urban History - Department of Culture of Modena.

The initiative is part of the project 'Enhancement and promotion of the Unesco heritage and Media Arts for the enhancement of the city's tourist attractiveness', financed by the Ministry of Tourism within the framework of the Fund in favour of municipalities with a cultural, historical, artistic and landscape vocation, in whose territories are located sites recognised by Unesco as World Heritage Sites, and is part of the two-year programme for the tourist promotion of the Unesco site of Modena and Modena as Unesco creative city for Media arts.