At the end of 1920 Antonio Cocozza leaves Filignano, his hometown in the province of Isernia, to emigrate to the United States of America. Here, on 31th January 1921, was born his son Alfredo, who will go to records with the name of Mario Lanza.
Filignano has always been very connected to the famous tenor, and to honor him, who in this land has its own origins, the town has created an International Festival and an International Opera Competition, both dedicated to Mario Lanza.
This year, the festival comes at the XV edition. The event had the opportunity to host some of the most famous figures of the international music scene, who paid tribute to Mario Lanza in the beautiful surroundings of Piazza Municipio.
Among the guests of the past editions, there were: Cecilia Gasdia, Katia Ricciarelli, Chiara Taigi, Francesca Patanè (soprano); Nicola Martinucci, Gianluca Terranova (tenori); Marco Chingari, Carmine Monaco (baritoni); Antonella Ruggiero etc…The festival has hosted some famous orchestras such as the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Udmurtia and the Lyric Choir of Radio Television of Craiova, the Philharmonic Orchetra of Dnepropetrovsk, and it also hosted some renowned conductors such as M° Fernando Raucci and M° Leonardo Quadrini. For the fifth year, the art direction of the festival is assigned to M° Susanna Capocci. Usually, the festival takes place in several days and it offers some music programs that rely primarily on the lyrical and symphonic repertoire, but there are also other musical genres.
This year, the International Opera Competition “Mario Lanza” will be offered again and its art direction will be assigned to M° Fernando Raucci. For 12 consecutive years, in fact, Filignano dedicated to Mario Lanza an International Opera Competition attended by international famous artists as members of the jury.
Each year, the competition attracted a large number of competitors from many nations who have demonstrated a high artistic level, for example Gianluca Terranova, Giordano Lucà etc. In addition to the usual top three winners of the awards, a Special Prize “Mario Lanza” has been established for those who, thanks to their repertoire and their voice quality, seem to recall the great voice of Mario Lanza. Furthermore, Filignano is trying to establish a cooperation and a cultural exchange between Italy and the United States, in particular with the “Mario Lanza Foundation” in Philadelphia (the tenor’s birthplace).