Soprano Salome Jicia in Martin Scorsese's new opera documentary

Georgian soprano Salome Jicia is on the big screen at the ongoing Santa Barbara International Film Festival through the world premiere of director Martin Scorsese's new feature documentary The Oratorio.

The internationally acclaimed stage singer is cast in the work that tells the story of a historic opera staging in New York in 1826 which introduced the famed world of Italian opera to the American megacity.

This watershed event was lost to history for almost 200 years, but it was recently rediscovered and restaged by an Italian opera company at the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral", a summary for the festival says.

Scorsese's work also aims to capture a wider theme of "the richness of the immigrant experience" through its historical subject and "explores the beginning of a cultural awakening in America". The United States-Italian co-production screened in the Cinesonic Sidebar Films section of the festival that opened on Wednesday.

Jicia was among the guest soloists performing through the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari troupe for the documentary filmed in New York and offering a reenactment of the historical premiere.

The Georgian singer graduated from the Tbilisi State Conservatoire in 2010 before continuing her vocal training at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Rossini Opera Academy.

The soprano has been distinguished with prizes including the Grand Prix of the Istanbul International Music Festival as well as the First Prize and the Maria Foltyn Prize at the International Stanislaw Moniuszko Vocal Competition.

Her recent appearances include a premiere of La Donna del lago at the Opera Royal de Wallonie and Guillaume Tell at Italy’s famed Teatro Massimo.

The Oratorio is set to have its general release later this month.