The “Roads of Friendship”, in less than two decades, have gone very far away, in lands scarred by suffering, war or old misunderstandings, in order to bring a sign of “brotherhood” and sharing through music. In the year dedicated to “popular sentiment”, in the same spirit we chose a very close city and land: Mirandola and the Emilia district, destroyed by the 2012 earthquake. A destination with tremendous value thanks to Giuseppe Verdi music, once again a symbol of identity able to reinforce cultural, social and historical values. On the stage, built in the middle of scaffolding and barriers, between the bell tower of the gutted Cathedral and the cracked Loggia dei Pico, Riccardo Muti hugs, thanks to music, the hard moved people of Emilia, but already came back to life, despite everything. “Tonight - he said – we brings hope to those seeking peace, and those seeking the beauty that Mirandola preserves intact under the ruins.” That’s the reason why the “Va pensiero” by Verdi will end the concert, performed not in full voice, but serious and slow like a prayer.