Sacro Sud — Ernst Reijseger concert at Sant'Anna dei Lombardi

A cello beneath the Vasari frescoes

On Monday, December 22, 2025, the Vasari Sacristy, located within the monumental complex of Sant'Anna dei Lombardi at Piazza Monteoliveto, hosted one of the most intimate moments of Sacro Sud: a solo cello concert by Ernst Reijseger. The Dutch musician, also known for his film scores, brings a classical instrument into territories that border on improvisation, folk singing, and early music. A musical language that finds its ideal setting in this hall: the walls and vault are entirely covered by the frescoes that Giorgio Vasari created in 1544 for the Olivetan monks, one of the most surprising Renaissance cycles in Naples.

Sacro Sud, the festival directed by Enzo Avitabile

The evening is part of Sacro Sud, the festival conceived and directed by Enzo Avitabile, which transforms several churches in Naples into concert halls every winter. The 2025-2026 edition, the sixth, took place from December 13, 2025, to January 5, 2026, with six free-entry events. The festival is promoted and funded by the City of Naples as part of the city's Christmas program and the Naples City of Music project; it is produced by Andrea Aragosa and Mario Aragosa for Black Tarantella.

The common thread is a sonic itinerary that starts from Naples and crosses the Mediterranean, Spain, Eastern Europe, and ancient Persia, in search of the common roots of sacred, devotional, and folk music. An idea of the "South" that is not just geography but a sense of belonging—the same one Avitabile has pursued for decades through his saxophone, brass, and Neapolitan singing.

Sant'Anna dei Lombardi, a church-museum in Monteoliveto

The church, founded in 1411 as Santa Maria di Monteoliveto and now known as Sant'Anna dei Lombardi, overlooks Piazza Monteoliveto, a stone's throw from Via Toledo, on the border between the San Giuseppe and Montecalvario districts. It is one of the treasures of the Neapolitan Renaissance: frescoed chapels, sculptures, marble, and the aforementioned Old Sacristy decorated by Vasari. Hosting a concert here means returning a space to music that is already a story in stone, with intimate acoustics.

The program of the sixth edition

The six Sacro Sud 2025-2026 concerts were distributed across four churches, from the historic center to the eastern suburbs:

• Saturday, December 13, 2025, 8:00 PM — Santa Maria Donnaregina Nuova: "Sacred Flamenco" with Carlos Piñana (guitar), Curro Piñana (vocals), Miguel Ángel Orengo (percussion), and Daniel Valera (dance).
• Monday, December 15, 2025, 7:00 PM — Church of San Giovanni Battista, San Giovanni a Teduccio: Enzo Avitabile with the "Sacro Sud" project.
• Friday, December 19, 2025, 8:00 PM — Santa Maria Donnaregina Nuova: Balanescu Quartet.
• Monday, December 22, 2025, 8:00 PM — Sant'Anna dei Lombardi, Vasari Sacristy: Ernst Reijseger, solo cello.
• Saturday, December 27, 2025, 8:00 PM — Basilica of San Pietro ad Aram: Enzo Avitabile, "Holy Revolution", with Gianluigi Di Fenza (guitar), Emidio Ausiello (percussion), and Christian Di Fiore (zampogna bagpipes).
• Monday, January 5, 2026, 8:00 PM — Santa Maria Donnaregina Nuova: duo Ramin Bahrami (piano) and Massimo Mercelli (flute), featuring works by Bach and Nyman.

A public meeting, "The Musics of Music," was added to the concert calendar on December 20, 2025, at Palazzo Cavalcanti with Enzo Avitabile and Andrea Aragosa.

Free admission, but booking required

All events are free to attend, with mandatory booking on the City of Naples' Eventbrite platform until all available spots are filled. Reservations usually open a few days before each concert and are limited to a few tickets per user: given the limited capacity of the churches, and particularly the Vasari Sacristy, it is advisable to act as soon as the concert is posted online.

Naples and sacred music in winter

In the Campania region, the period between the Immaculate Conception and Epiphany has always been a time for music: novenas, pastorals, bagpipes, and choirs in the basilicas. Sacro Sud fits into this tradition but opens it up to the world, putting the Neapolitan devotional repertoire in dialogue with Andalusian flamenco, the strings of Eastern Europe, and the improvisations of a Northern European cellist. For those visiting Naples and the province of Naples during the holidays, it is also a different way to enter churches that are visited as museums by day and, for a few hours in the evening, return to being places of collective listening.