ROME – Standing among the crowd attending Pope Francis’s audience at St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, was pop-singer Sting who in recent years has brought his musical talent to churches, cathedrals and even a show on the Sistine Chapel a stone’s throw from the Vatican.
After the brief meeting with the pope, the former lead singer for The Police and multiple Grammy winner had the opportunity to see the Vatican museums and the Sistine Chapel, which he helped bring to life in the show.
Sting was guided through the museums by no other but its director Barbara Jatta and was accompanied by his wife and children as well as his manager and the editor of the show.
The collaboration between Artainment Worldwide Shows and the Vatican Museums, led to the creation of the show “The Last Judgement. Michelangelo and the Secrets of the Sistine Chapel,” which debuted at the Auditorium of the Conciliazione near the Vatican on March 15.
Marco Balich, responsible for the Olympic ceremonies of Sochi 2014 and Rio 2014, created the show and directs it with the collaboration of Lulu Helbeck. Sting composed the music, including a Dies Irae in Latin which he sings accompanied by an eight-part choir.
“The kinds of songs he conceived for the show are so impressive and well-designed, so well-conceived for this specific show, that you can tell he’s a person of sensibility and he’s got something in his heart,” said Jatta in a phone interview with Crux.
“There’s something in his soul that allows him to conceive such wonderful and perfect music for the end of the show,” she added.
The show is available in nine languages and offers a 270° telling of the story of the creation of the Sistine Chapel. The 4k quality experience leads the spectator through the life of Michelangelo and his relationship with the popes Julius II and Clement VII and concludes with the telling of the conclave, the ceremony to elect a new pope, which takes place in the frescoed halls of the Sistine chapel.
While the spectacular show, which will be available until October 26, has already attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors, it cannot replace the original. Viewers at the event will have the opportunity to buy a ticket for a late-night viewing of the Sistine Chapel, away from the heat and crowds of the day.
“I’ve said this many times: The show is not a substitute for the view of the Sistine Chapel and the experience of being in the real Sistine Chapel, but it has to be taken as a show,” Jatta said.
“Sting and the sound he’s created, in my experience, was a great improvement on an already good show.”
