Two more concerts followed as part of our San Cassiano festival.. The opening concert, which I described in an earlier post, was a heartfelt tribute to the legendary jazz trumpeter Chet Baker.
The second was an astonishing organ recital by the 23-year-old organist Francesco Paina from Vicenza. Organ recitals can, indeed, be truly exciting, and this gifted young musician proved exactly that. His programme ranged from little-known but fascinating works of the Renaissance through to the nineteenth century, before culminating in the world premiere of his own composition, inspired by the medieval lauda Sia Laudato San Francesco. It was a work of remarkable maturity and imagination. Francesco Paina is now preparing to record his first CD, and, judging by this performance, even greater things surely lie ahead. Thanks are due to the local parish priest Don Franco for giving permission for his beautiful church to be used for these brilliant occasions.

The festival concluded with La cetra di Francesco, an enchanting recital by Patrizia Bovi, who combined her expressive singing with the harp, and Crawford Young, one of today’s leading interpreters of medieval music, performing on the lute and the medieval cetra. Together they transported the audience on a captivating musical journey through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, exploring the songs and laude associated with St Francis of Assisi whose 800th death anniversary is celebrated this year.

Both performers reminded us that St Francis is often misunderstood. He is frequently portrayed simply as an ascetic who rejected wealth and worldly pleasures, living a life of absolute poverty and deprivation. Yet there was another, equally important side to his character. His very name, Francesco, reflects the French Provençal connections of his family, and throughout his life he possessed a profound love of music. Towards the end of his life he is said to have returned to playing a simple stringed instrument, rediscovering a pleasure that had accompanied him in his youth.
The programme itself was immaculate: a musical journey through beautiful medieval and Renaissance songs and ballads. Along the way we discovered something fascinating. Many well-known popular melodies were later given sacred texts—not out of irreverence, but as a means of bringing spiritual ideas closer to ordinary people through familiar music. It was a wonderful reminder that faith and culture have often developed hand in hand.
The audience, though warmly appreciative, was disappointingly small. I would estimate that the beautiful Romanesque church was less than one-fifth full. That was a great pity, for concerts of this quality deserve far larger audiences. I have often wondered whether festivals such as this also provide musicians with an opportunity to refine programmes that later appear on the major concert circuit. If so, they could hardly wish for a more inspiring setting. Our churches are places of extraordinary beauty, and the acoustics are simply perfect for this repertoire.
It is sad that so many visitors to Italy during the summer, and indeed many local residents, miss occasions like these. The concerts were well publicised, and it was encouraging to meet a few local friends among the audience, but events of this quality deserve to be heard by many more people.
Yet if the audience was small, its enthusiasm more than compensated. The warmth and sincerity of the applause left no doubt that the performers knew how deeply their artistry had been appreciated.
And so the festival came to an end: another memorable celebration marking the eight-hundredth anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi. Over the course of its concerts, exhibitions and encounters, the festival demonstrated that great music, thoughtful scholarship and magnificent surroundings can combine to create something truly unforgettable. It was a fitting tribute to one of history’s most endearing—and at times most misunderstood—saints, and a reminder that even in the quietest corners of Tuscany, artistic excellence continues to flourish.

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