Francesco Cirillo

Eliogabalo (Heliogabalus) is an opera by the Italian composer Francesco Cavalli based on the life of the Roman emperor Heliogabalus. The author of the original libretto is unknown but it was probably reworked by Aurelio Aureli [it]. The opera was composed in 1667 and was intended to be premiered during the Venetian Carnival season of 1668. In fact, it was never staged and was replaced by another opera of the same name by Giovanni Antonio Boretti, perhaps because Cavalli's style was considered too old-fashioned. Eliogabalo was first performed in 1999, in Crema, Italy.

After performing at Italy's finest venues for two years on the Work In Progress joint tour with Lucio Dalla, for his next outing, De Gregori decided to return to his humble beginnings. The Pubs and Clubs tour was exactly that, De Gregori and his band performing in the kind of small clubs where in the early '70s the singer/songwriter begun to build his reputation as one of Italy's greatest cantautori.

Francesco Maria Veracini (1690-1768) is today best known as an eccentric violin virtuoso and composer of instrumental music, but he has also successfully operated as an opera composer during his time in London. His first opera Adriano in Siria was created in 1735 for the London Opera of Nobility, the rival company to Handel's opera troupe. The company had only a few years earlier (including the soprano castrato Senesino and Francesca Cuzzoni) poached all singing stars from Handel. Even worse: since 1734, it could also score with the castrato legend Farinelli. Veracini's Adriano in Siria is, in every respect, a spectacular and fascinating opera. The recording of Fabio Biondi and an appropriate illustrious singers ensemble is based on a highly successful concert performance series of the work at the Vienna Konzerthaus in 2013, which made alive again the spectacular opera event of 1735.