"Malocchio del Amore"

The animosity between the church and civic leaders on the one side and Culpa and the New Sybarites on the other reached its climax with the premiere performance of Felix’s Magnum Opus, “Malocchio di Amore.” This long Music Drama/Pageant was Culpa’s last attempt to stem the tide of censorship and the imposition of asceticism on his people. It was a call to the people to remember their luxurious and licentious past.

We know from Maxine and some who now admit they were there, that one section was literally a litany of the sins of prominent people in the area. Since Maxine was the bishop’s mistress, and Mia his daughter, the litany was no doubt long and painfully accurate. Maxine choreographed several of the dances, which she performed with Mia and other priestesses of Sybian. This public display proved to be the final provocation for the Neo-Fascists and Church who were attempting to maintain control of area villages. Towards the finale, “Triumph of the Moon,” the Poliza di Stato moved into the piazza to disperse the audience by force.

None of the music of “Malocchio di Amore” survives,(although it’s possible “Act II, Scenes 1 and 3” might be early sketches.) It was burned by the Carabinieri after the performance, along with many of the instruments, including some valuable string instruments. The musicians, actors and dancers escaped severe punishment only by signing an “agreement of cooperative silence,” and members of the audience quickly evaluated the political climate and denied ever being there. Those people whose children and animals were part of the “Peaceable Kingdom” section were excommunicated and their lands seized.

Mia and Maxine escaped and hid at Gioia del Colle, in the very grotto where, years before, St. Sybian sang her songs to a young Felix, initiating him into the world of heavenly pleasures and voluptuous music.

Since it was Felix’s position that the hand of God could be moved by sensuous ritual, and that this was taught to him directly by St. Sybian, the Catholic Church further condemned him. He lived the next few months on the run, hidden by the women of the mountain villages, until his arrest outside the village of Rosarno.