Cagliari, the ancient organ of the church of Sant'Antonio has been restored
After 6 years, the instrument created in 1887 in Pistoia returns to its placePer restare aggiornato entra nel nostro canale Whatsapp
The ancient Agati-Tronci organ, a piece of the musical and religious history of Cagliari, returns home, to the church of Sant'Antonio Abate, in via Manno, in the Marina district of Cagliari.
The restoration operations of the ancient instrument, built in 1887, began in 2018 and were completed.
The organ had previously been unused for over half a century. The instrument has returned to the ancient Cagliari church, formerly the chapel of the city's first hospital, and the delicate assembly operations have begun, which must be carried out with the necessary caution and precision. The restoration of the organ was strongly supported by the Archconfraternity of the Santissima Vergine d'Itria, owner of the ancient church of Sant'Antonio Abate since 1881.
«The final project was carefully selected among those drawn up by artisan companies accredited in the restoration of organs according to rigorous historical criteria - explained Gianni Melis, president of the Archconfraternity - Finally it was decided to bring it in February 2019 to Pistoia, where it started in 1887, in the workshop of the organ builders Samuele Maffucci, Enrico Barsanti and Andrea Michelozzi".
Considered among the best existing instruments in Sardinia, the "Agati-Tronci" organ was used for decades to solemnize liturgical celebrations in the church of Sant'Antonio Abate. After the Second World War, interest in the instrument began to wane.
In 1971 it underwent restoration but in the following decades the lack of regular maintenance led to the instrument becoming completely unusable. Once the reassembly operations are finished (by the summer), the tuning and intonation operations will be carried out, for which it will be necessary to wait until the autumn. The cost of the entire restoration operation is approximately 130 thousand euros financed with funds from the Archconfraternity with its own proceeds and with those coming from CEI funds, from offers and donations from the Rotary Club Cagliari Est in the years 2016 and 2017.
(Unioneonline)