As part of the 26th Week of Italian Language in the World, The Brilliant Language: Italian Makes Music celebrates the extraordinary and enduring bond between the Italian language and opera. The concert with words, taking place on Tuesday 20 October 2026 at 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.) at St Cecilia’s Hall – Concert Room, invites audiences to immerse themselves in the richness of Italian music and poetry.
Through a refined selection of celebrated arias from the great Italian operatic tradition, Pier Luigi Dilengite and Marco Francesco Schirru take audiences on a fascinating musical journey, exploring a language which, through song, reveals all its beauty, musicality and expressive power. It is a journey in which words and music come together, highlighting the extraordinary ability of Italian to transform itself into sound, rhythm and emotion.
Programme
- Caccini: Amarilli
- Monteverdi: Rosa del ciel da “L’Orfeo”
- Aria barocca Alessandro Scarlatti: “L’honestà negli amori” Già il sole dal Gange
- Mozart: Aprite un po’ quegli occhi da “Le Nozze di Figaro”
- Mozart: Serenata dal “Don Giovanni”
- Donizetti: Poliuto “Di tua beltade immagine”
- Verdi: Credo in un Dio crudele (Otello)
- Respighi: Stornellatrice (su testo di Ada Negri)
- Respighi: Notte (su testo di Ada Negri)
- Tosti: ‘A vucchella (su testo di D’Annunzio)
- Tosti: L’alba separa dalla luce l’ombra (su testo di D’Annunzio)
The Week of Italian Language in the World takes place every year during the third week of October. Organised by the diplomatic-consular network and the Italian Cultural Institutes, in collaboration with Italy’s leading partners in the promotion of the Italian language—including the Ministry of Culture (MiC), the Ministry of Education and Merit (MIM), the Ministry of University and Research (MUR), CePeLL, the Government of the Swiss Confederation, the Accademia della Crusca, CGIE, the Italophone Radio and Television Community, the Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, RAI Italia and the Società Dante Alighieri—the Week has become the world’s most important international showcase dedicated to the Italian language. Since its establishment in 2001, the event has received the High Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic every year. Each edition focuses on a different theme, providing a common thread for a rich programme of conferences, exhibitions and events.
The title of the 26th edition (19–25 October 2026) is “Lingua geniale: ideare, progettare, creare con l’italiano” — “A Brilliant Language: Conceiving, Designing and Creating in Italian.”. This theme aims to highlight the strategic relationship between Italy’s cultural heritage and economic growth, with the Italian language and the Italian-speaking world serving as privileged vehicles for this connection. Italian, a “brilliant” language shaped by a long and rich history and tradition, brings the best of Italian creativity and expertise to the world—from technology, science, engineering and design to fashion, gastronomy, literature, art and history—thereby contributing to a dynamic and forward-looking image of Italy.
Pier Luigi Dilengite, baritone, has performed in major productions in Italy and abroad. His career includes the opening of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma with Verdi’s Falstaff, directed and designed by Franco Zeffirelli; La Bohème at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples with Maria J. Siri; La Bohème with Luciano Pavarotti at the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento; La Traviata in Seoul with Mariella Devia; La Traviata at the Teatro Politeama in Lecce in a production by Lindsay Kemp; La cena delle beffe, directed by Liliana Cavani with sets by Oscar-winning production designer Dante Ferretti, at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna; Martin Scorsese’s docufilm Oratorio on Lorenzo da Ponte in New York; and I Pagliacci in the production conceived and directed by Franco Zeffirelli at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma. Throughout his career, he has worked with leading figures from the world of music, theatre and cinema, including Arnoldo Foà, Paola Gassman, Angela Gheorghiu, Ugo Gregoretti, Paolo Poli, Martin Scorsese, Luciano Pavarotti, Renato Bruson, Liliana Cavani, José Carreras, Katia Ricciarelli, Lindsay Kemp, Gérard Depardieu, Isabella Rossellini, Mirella Freni and Piera Degli Esposti.
Marco Francesco Schirru, born in 1994, graduated in Piano with highest honours, distinction and special mention from the G.P. da Palestrina Conservatory in Cagliari, under the guidance of Professor Aurora Cogliandro. At the same institution, he obtained a second-level academic diploma in Piano with a mark of 110/110, honours and special mention. He subsequently pursued advanced studies with Pietro De Maria at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole and with Enrico Pace at the Accademia di Pinerolo. He also successfully completed the two-year programme for répétiteurs and collaborative pianists at the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala. As a soloist and chamber musician, he has performed at some of Italy’s most prestigious theatres, including Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania and Teatro alla Scala in Milan, as well as at major festivals in Italy and abroad. He has won numerous national and international competitions. For several years, he performed alongside the renowned violinist Anna Tifu, appearing in hundreds of concerts at prestigious festivals. He has also collaborated with internationally acclaimed artists including Fabio Furia, Barbara Frittoli, Ernesto Palacio, Ottavio Dantone, Sesto Quatrini, the Virtuosi of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Marc Coppey, Sonia Prina and Luciana D’Intino. He is currently a lecturer in Piano Accompaniment and Collaborative Piano at the Conservatory of Cagliari, as well as a preparatory coach and accompanist at the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala in Milan.
The event will be held in Italian with English surtitles.
Admission is free; booking is required. To reserve a place, please email rsvp.iicedimburgo@esteri.it.
Please also note that photographs will be taken and video recordings made during the event. These images and recordings may be used for marketing, promotional and other communications, including on our website and social media channels. If you do not wish your image to be used, please inform the event organisers or contact eventi.iicedimburgo@esteri.it before the event.