"Making History at Abu Gosh: Ensemble PHOENIX brought Il Diluvio Universale.

A piece of history in the history of baroque concerts in Israel: "Il Diluvio Universale",  the wonderful Sicilian baroque oratorio by Michelangelo Falvetti, on the story of Noah and the Flood, composed at Messina in the end of the 17th century (perhaps due to an earthquake and tsunami), appeared for the first time in a public concert in Israel.

The precedent was signed by five of the finest Israeli singers and the musicians of Ensemble PHOENIX conducted by Myrna Herzog (who also occasionally played the cello), who presented an interesting Israeli premiere of the Sicilian baroque oratorio". Hagai Hitron, HaAretz.

"A major event of the 2015 October Abu Gosh Vocal Music Festival was the Israeli premiere of Michelangelo Falvetti’s “Il Diluvio Universale” (The Great Flood), to a libretto of Vincenzo Giattini, a work of exceptionally fine quality, its originality and inventiveness fired with fine melodic, harmonic and polyphonic writing. Performing the work were singers and instrumentalists of Ensemble PHOENIX conducted by the ensemble’s founder and musical director Myrna Herzog, who has once again thrilled festival audiences, introducing them to a rare Baroque treasure that recounts a well-known Bible story with freshness and magic." Pamela Hickman

"I really like it, it's a performance musicologically cared for and yet full of passion and emotion with (rare thing) an excellent Italian pronunciation!” Fabrizio Longo, editor of Il Diluvio Universale