anti-racism novel and commissioned by the Philharmonie de Paris and the Paris Mozart Orchestra had been performed at the Philharmonie, Paris, on 18, 19, 20 September 2020, obligatory piece in the international competition La Maestra. The mock-heroic opera Jeanne Dark, from Voltaire's Pucelle d’Orléans, that will be staged at Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, 22–26 May 2021, reflects his rebellion against dogmatic thinking. Again in May 2021, the melologue Beethoven l’Africain. Lettres de Prison de Nelson Mandela, commissioned by PMO, will be performed at Philharmonie de Paris and then at Festival Internacional Cervantino, in Mexico Chamber works and soundtracks On a commission from Abbado, Vacchi composed Briefe Büchners, a Lieder cycle which was performed by the Berliner Philharmonie in 1998. For the Hilliard Ensemble and the Barrow River Art Festival, he composed Memoria italiana in 2013. Luoghi immaginari were composed between 1987 and 1992 for various instrumental formations - performed many times, conducted also by Daniel Harding in Salzburg Mozarteum or in the Festival of Italian Contemporary Music in Beijing - and was included, along with other works by Vacchi, in the soundtrack to Il Mestiere delle Armi (The Profession of Arms) by Ermanno Olmi. For this movie Vacchi was awarded the David di Donatello prize in 2002. 2005 saw him honoured again at The Albo D'Oro RDC Awards, for his music in Patrice Chéreau’s film Gabrielle. Also by Vacchi is the soundtrack to Olmi's latest works One Hundred Nails (2007), and Vedete, sono uno di voi (2017). The Quartetto di Cremona has performed his four String Quartets many times. The Third String Quartet (2002), written for the Tokyo String Quartet, was awarded the Annual Lully Award in 2003 for the best new work of the year performed in the United States, and the Fourth Quartet (2004), was commissioned by RAI Radio for the 80th anniversary of Italian radio) and asked him to write the sixth, which will be performed at Società del Quartetto di Milano, 9 February 2021. Other news Worthy of mention is the recent Voci di notte (2006), commissioned and performed by the Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, on occasion of the 70th birthday of their conductor Zubin Mehta. For Beethoven celebrations of 2020, Vacchi has written Beethoven e la primavera ritrovata for orchestra, commissioned from Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and conducted by Zubin Mehta. Poetics As Peter Korfmacher wrote in the Lepiziger Volkszeitung about his Tagebuch der Empörung