Like a sweet for the soul

Sala Le Cisterne · Gioia Tauro, Costa Viola, Calabria

6 November 2026

On Friday 6 November 2026 at 6.45pm the Sala Le Cisterne in Gioia Tauro, on Via Roma, hosts «Come dolce all'alma – Il canto italiano dal salotto al teatro» (Italian song from the drawing room to the theatre), a recital for voice and piano with soprano Giulia Pollice and pianist Giuseppe D'Aloi. The concert is part of the 47th concert season of the Associazione Musicale Maurizio Quintieri, a Calabrian music society founded in 1979, and moves from Italian chamber song to opera. Neither the detailed programme nor the admission terms have been published yet, so it is worth contacting the organisers beforehand to check whether you need a ticket.

The concert: from salon song to opera

«Come dolce all'alma – Il canto italiano dal salotto al teatro» takes place on Friday 6 November 2026 at 6.45pm at the Sala Le Cisterne in Gioia Tauro. It is a recital for voice and piano devoted to the Italian vocal tradition: according to the official description, it moves through chamber song and the operatic repertoire, setting intimacy and lyricism alongside dramatic expression.

The subtitle names the two ends of the evening. The «salon» is the world of the romanza da camera, songs for voice and piano that were sung in private homes in the 19th and early 20th centuries; the «theatre» is opera. The title echoes the opening words of «Come dolce all'alma mia», an aria from Gioachino Rossini's Tancredi (1813). The full list of pieces has not yet been released.

The performers: Giulia Pollice and Giuseppe D'Aloi

Soprano Giulia Pollice, born in 1999, graduated with honours from the Fausto Torrefranca Conservatory in Vibo Valentia in opera singing, vocal chamber music and music teaching, and attended the opera academy of the Teatro Coccia in Novara under Tiziana Fabbricini. In 2023 she was the soloist in the first modern performance of «Quando mai, tiranne stelle» by Nicola Antonio Manfroce, a composer born in Palmi; that project led to her doctoral research on opera in Calabria and Sicily.

Pianist Giuseppe D'Aloi trained at the Vibo Valentia conservatory and at the Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań, Poland. On 22 October 2026 he gave a recital at the Auditorium Santa Chiara in Tropea for the 31st season of Tropea Musica, with music ranging from Scarlatti to Liszt, Chopin and Mendelssohn.

The Quintieri association's 47th season

The Associazione Musicale Maurizio Quintieri was founded in 1979 and is one of the oldest music societies in Calabria. Recognised by the Italian Ministry of Culture since 1984, its historic home is the Teatro Rendano in Cosenza and its offices are in nearby Rende. It is named after Maurizio Quintieri, a pianist and composer born in Paterno Calabro in 1884, who studied at the San Pietro a Majella Conservatory in Naples and wrote four operas; the first, «Julia», was staged in Cosenza in 1923.

The 2026 season, its 47th, is centred on Cosenza, with concerts also in Crotone and other towns, and the poster presents this concert as part of the season in Gioia Tauro. Giulia Pollice sings for the association again on Saturday 14 November in Rossano, with pianist Antonio Matarazzo, in a programme that includes the same Rossini aria, «Come dolce all'alma mia».

Sala Le Cisterne, a 19th-century olive oil store

The venue is one of Gioia Tauro's historic buildings. According to Italy's national heritage catalogue, it was built in the early 1800s, when the town was an important farming centre, and takes its name from the olive oil cisterns set into the ground inside it: underground tanks for storing oil, once common across the town, up to six metres deep and lined with glass, crystal or majolica tiles.

The single-storey building, with cross vaults and slender cast-iron columns, belonged to the local farmers' consortium (Consorzio Agrario) and was bought by the town council in 1995; it has been a protected heritage building since 2013. Today it is a municipal hall used for concerts, book presentations and public meetings.

Getting to Gioia Tauro and the venue

Sala Le Cisterne is on Via Roma (numbers 410/428 according to the regional event listing), in the centre of Gioia Tauro. By car, take the A2 Autostrada del Mediterraneo to the Gioia Tauro exit, or the SS18 coastal road, which runs through the town; from Reggio Calabria or Vibo Valentia the A2 is the most direct route.

By train, get off at Gioia Tauro station, on the Tyrrhenian line between Salerno and Reggio Calabria. The sources do not mention any parking reserved for the venue: with a 6.45pm start on a Friday, it is worth arriving a little early to find a space in the town centre.

Admission, tickets and contacts

The sources published so far, namely the regional event listing and the poster, mention neither a ticket price nor free admission, and the Gioia Tauro concert is not among the association's online ticket sales. At its usual venues the Quintieri association sells tickets and season passes (in Cosenza full-price tickets cost between 8 and 15 euros depending on the hall), but these prices do not necessarily apply in Gioia Tauro.

For information on admission and seating, write to the Associazione Musicale Maurizio Quintieri through the contact form on its official website, or keep an eye on the association's announcements in the days before the concert.

What to see in Gioia Tauro

Gioia Tauro stands on the site of the ancient Greek city of Metauros and gives its name to the surrounding plain, a land of olive and citrus groves where Clementine di Calabria IGP mandarins are grown; its port is the largest in Calabria. The medieval core sits on the hill of Piano delle Fosse, with the 16th-century church of Sant'Antonio, the cathedral of Sant'Ippolito Martire and Palazzo Baldari, an 18th-century building once used by the Bourbons as an armoury and now home to the Museo Archeologico Metauros.

The local signature dish is stroncatura, a dark durum wheat pasta served «ammollicata» with anchovies, breadcrumbs and sun-dried tomatoes, or with spicy 'nduja. For restaurants and shops see businesses in Gioia Tauro; for other events, the events calendar.

Frequently asked questions

When is «Come dolce all'alma» in Gioia Tauro?

On Friday 6 November 2026 at 6.45pm, at the Sala Le Cisterne on Via Roma.

Who are the performers?

Soprano Giulia Pollice and pianist Giuseppe D'Aloi, who both trained at the Torrefranca Conservatory in Vibo Valentia.

How much does it cost? Is admission free?

The published sources mention neither a price nor free admission. It is best to ask the Quintieri association, through the contact form on its website, before the concert.

What is on the programme?

The list of pieces has not been published. The evening moves through Italian song from chamber romanza to opera; the title echoes the aria «Come dolce all'alma mia» from Rossini's Tancredi.

Who organises the concert?

The Associazione Musicale Maurizio Quintieri, founded in 1979, as part of its 47th concert season.

What is the Sala Le Cisterne?

A former olive oil store from the early 1800s on Via Roma, with underground oil cisterns, owned by the town council since 1995 and now used for concerts and meetings.

How do I get to Gioia Tauro?

By car on the A2, Gioia Tauro exit, or the SS18; by train to Gioia Tauro station on the Tyrrhenian line. The sources do not mention dedicated parking.

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