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Tonight, Saturday 16 May, at 8.45 p.m., Lecce's Apollo Theatre hosts CGS – IL MITO, the sold-out concert by Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, presented as part of Armonie del Mediterraneo – Viaggi, Miti e Ritorni.
All available tickets were reserved in less than twenty-four hours, confirming the extraordinary anticipation surrounding one of the Festival's most eagerly awaited events.
Entitled Il Mito, the evening celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino (CGS), the ensemble founded in 1975 by Rina Durante and now internationally recognised as Italy's leading ambassador of world music rooted in the traditions of Southern Italy.
Il Mito is more than the title of tonight's concert and of the ensemble's twenty-first album—released in January to widespread international acclaim and quickly reaching the top of the world's leading world music charts. It also lends its name to the anniversary project launched in 2025 to celebrate fifty years of CGS through an international tour, an exhibition, a two-day cultural event in Melpignano, and a series of special performances.
The celebrations continue throughout 2026 with an international tour that has already travelled from Milan to Paris, Ljubljana, Rome and Ravenna, before heading to the United States for performances in Seattle (20 May) and Stanford (21 May), followed by concerts in Algiers (2–3 June) and, later this year, Berlin and Lisbon.
For this special concert in Lecce, the ensemble led by Mauro Durante, together with Giulio Bianco, Emanuele Licci, Massimiliano Morabito, Giancarlo Paglialunga, Alessia Tondo and Silvia Perrone, will be joined by the electronic music project Inude, alongside special guests Roberto Licci and Rossella Pinto, whose voices were part of the original CGS line-up together with the late Bucci Caldarulo, Luigi Chiriatti and Daniele Durante.
Il Mito invites audiences to become part of the extended CGS family through a musical journey where memory meets the present and tradition embraces new sounds, artistic languages and creative perspectives.
The programme brings together many of the works that have shaped the ensemble's artistic legacy, from much-loved classics such as Lu rusciu de lu mare, Pizzica Indiavolata, Rirollalla and Aremu, to songs born from the creative partnership between Rina and Daniele Durante, including Quistione Meridionale and Il Mito. More recent compositions such as Beddhu Stanotte, Dumenica Matina and A Mmera a Lecce will also feature, alongside audience favourites including Lu Giustacofane and Quannu Te Visciu.
The concert will also include Taranta, the celebrated composition by Mauro Durante and Ludovico Einaudi, a work that bridges tradition and innovation while celebrating music's enduring power to heal, unite and inspire. Also featured is Malencunia, the latest single by Inude, released in March by Factory Flaws in collaboration with Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino.
Over the past five decades, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino has established itself as one of the most influential ensembles on the international world music scene. Winner of the 2018 Songlines Music Award for Best Group, the ensemble has earned widespread acclaim from leading international publications including The Guardian, The New York Times, The New Yorker and Libération, while bringing the musical traditions of Salento to audiences across Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania.
Armonie del Mediterraneo – Viaggi, Miti e Ritorni is conceived and promoted by the Euromediterranean Cultural Heritage Agency, in partnership with the Municipality of Lecce, with the support of the Italian Ministry of Tourism through the National Tourism Fund (FUNT) – Current Expenditure Programme 2025 (CUP F89I25002020001).
Founded in February 1975 by writer Rina Durante, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino (CGS) has played a defining role in preserving, promoting and renewing the traditional music of Salento, helping to transform pizzica into an internationally recognised musical tradition.
From its earliest recordings—including Canti di Terra d'Otranto e della Grecìa Salentina, Concerto 1, Come farò a diventare un mito and Concerto 2—the ensemble established itself as one of the leading voices of Southern Italian folk music.
Since 2007, under the artistic direction of Mauro Durante, who succeeded his father Daniele Durante (1949–2021), CGS has achieved widespread international recognition while remaining deeply rooted in the cultural heritage of Salento. The ensemble has received outstanding reviews from leading international publications, including The Guardian, The New York Times, The New Yorker and Libération, and has performed extensively across Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania.
In 2018, CGS received the prestigious Songlines Music Award as Best Group, one of the highest international honours in world music.
Bringing together some of Puglia's finest musicians, Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino offers a contemporary interpretation of the ancient tradition of pizzica tarantata—the ritual music, dance and trance historically associated with healing the mythical bite of the taranta. Combining artistic innovation with a profound respect for tradition, the ensemble is widely regarded as Italy's foremost world music group.
The group's international reputation has continued to grow in recent years. Japanese music critic Shinya Matsuyama has described CGS as Italy's leading world music ensemble, while David Byrne—founder and frontman of Talking Heads, creator of Luaka Bop, and internationally acclaimed musician, producer and author—has included three CGS tracks in his personal selection of favourite Italian music.
The current line-up features Mauro Durante (vocals, frame drums and violin), Alessia Tondo (vocals and percussion), Giulio Bianco (bagpipes, harmonica, flutes, traditional wind instruments and bass), Silvia Perrone (dance), Massimiliano Morabito (diatonic accordion), Emanuele Licci (vocals, guitar and bouzouki), and Giancarlo Paglialunga (vocals and frame drums).
Further information
E-mail: cgsitaly@gmail.com
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