An Italian orchestra has performed a haunting ballad that has been dubbed “a great love song” by its composer.
In the title track, a girl is told she has to kill herself and the only way she can do so is to strangle herself with her hands.
It’s the first time the “love song” has been performed in the region, where the Catholic Church says homosexuality is a sin.
In a press conference on Wednesday, the head of the opera company, Giuseppe Mora, said the new opera, which was performed at the Piazza San Marco on the city’s central square on Saturday, has “the feeling of a love song.”
“I think it’s a great piece of music and we’re really grateful to the composer, Giuliano Gattini, for putting it on the stage,” Mora said.
“The music has a wonderful energy, but it also has an interesting message: ‘Don, don’t touch me.'”
The Italian government has taken steps to ban the song from being played in public, while local authorities have begun the process of banning it from public places and workplaces.
“In recent years, the country has seen a rise in the number of cases of suicides and suicide attempts in Italy, particularly among gay men and lesbians,” Moravita said.
“We have an obligation to the people of Italy to stop this and protect the young people of the country.”
Gattini is the composer behind several other works that have been banned in the country.