This film contains scenes of emotional intensity.

Il pianto di Maria is English Touring Opera’s newest film by designer Rebecca van Beeck, which juxtaposes a performance of Giovanni Battista Ferrandini’s cantata with archive footage of mothers and sons. It is sung by mezzo-soprano Catherine Carby, accompanied by the Old Street Band, and conducted by Jonathan Peter Kenny.

ETO Artistic Director James Conway says: “Il pianto di Maria is unlike anything ETO has made before, and a culmination of the work ETO has been doing throughout the pandemic to bring a different approach to digital output. It is certainly ‘opera that moves’ and will speak to anyone who has known mothers or sons, to lovers of this impassioned baroque music (long attributed to Handel), and anyone interested in the possibilities of presenting music in film.”