Opera Totale

A married couple is going to the Royal Palace of Caserta for a historical reenactment.

Montalto, 2021. On the occasion of the historic 500th anniversary of the birth of Pope Sixtus V, the mayor of the birthplace of the famous pontiff, hires an author of religious musicals from the Marches, Angelo Santini, to create a show inspired by the famous papal events. Among these Angelo readapts one, under the cumbersome supervision of the village parish priest, and entitles it "Acqua alle corda", inspired by the well-known story of the obelisk in St. Peter's Square.The mayor is very pressing on the fact that this show must have an important resonance, and urges Angelo to find a theater company worthy of attracting the attention of the media. Angelo therefore involves a very high-level musical company which, thanks to its autonomy, completely upsets the religious spirit of the work,bringing it to a demented dimension, and consequently triggering unpredictable tensions within the country.

Against the fascinating backdrop of an ever marvellous Havana, Vittorio Arditi De Bellis, an aging Italian orchestra conductor once celebrated for specialising in Rossini's compositions, has fallen on hard times. However, some remember he delivered some of the best renditions of the Rossini-Kyrie, and he soon finds himself reluctantly on the way to Havana, Cuba, to conduct the Children's Cuban National Choir. Starting on the wrong foot he quickly finds himself on the verge of losing everything. Rossini's Cuban style and the choir's children are also protagonists in this heart-warming and nostalgic tale of living, loving, growing old and being unexpectedly surprised when he meets the Son he never knew he fathered years ago - Vittorio's past adds new purpose to his present, allowing an otherwise quirky old man to feel his passion and taste the 'spice of life' once again.