On November 30, 1786, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany inserted a new penal code in which, for the first time in the world, the abolition of the death penalty was decreed. The Festa della Toscana remembers that extraordinary event every year to affirm the commitment to the promotion of human rights, peace and justice.

The Lucca Music Association has joined the initiative with "Abbracciatevi moltitudini!", a project by Sandro Cappelletto and the pianist Simone Soldati: an evocative journey between music and words. The concert is available from Friday 30 April on RAI Cultura and at 9:00 pm online on YT /channel/AML.

Music by: Franz Schubert, melologist Abschied von der Erde (Farewell to the earth) on the words of the Leopoldian code announcing the abolition of the death penalty in the Grand Duchy; L. van Beethoven, Symphony n. 3 in E flat major op. 55 "Eroica", Piano Sonata n. 30 in E major op. 109, Symphony n. 9 in D minor, Op.125 "Choral" on the words of Cesare Beccaria, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Friedrich von Schiller, Nelson Mandela, Anna Achmatova.