06-23-2008, 11:50 AM
All the latest news from Italy: art, culture, folklore, music, opera, sport, transport and much more!
MUSICAL EVENTS
ARENA DI VERONA OPERA FESTIVAL 2008
Verona June 20th – August 31st 2008
Since 1913 the Arena di Verona is the backdrop for the most famous open air opera season starting from June 20th and ending August 31st. This year’s program composed of five operas and forty-nine performances begins with Aida a new production inspired the very first stage design in 1913. An event longed-for by the passionate with a program which blends to the music old and new stands and makes the event and the Arena an event not to miss.
FESTIVAL OF TERME DI CARACALLA
Rome. Terme di Caracalla – July 10th to August 14th 2008
From July 10th to August 14th the Teatro dell’Opera will transfer its stage between the walls of Terme di Caracalla, one of the best kept archeological building in Rome. This magnificent site of Roman remains bestow on this event that have been repeated since 1937, a unique character, not only to the Romans. The 2008 season officially opens on July 10th with Aida, the most awaited appointment in the whole event because of its extraordinary effectiveness with whose setting, sceneries and music melt them selves together.
UMBRIA JAZZ 08
Perugia – July 11th to 20th 2008
The city of Perugia will once again renew its summer appointment for the jazz festival, an event which over time has been brought together thanks to the consent of the public and most importantly not only the presence of international stars but allowing to compose enthusiastic billboard signs. This year the festival will celebrate 35 years, presented once again in some of the most beautiful settings of the street of Perugia, from spontaneous sessions to free concerts in the town squares and concerts in the Arena of Saint Giuliana, Morlacchi and Pavone Theaters and the hall of Cannoniera della Rocca Paolina. This year’s festival features music for all but as well more popular forms of music that have a more immediate appeal for young people and families .
FOLKLORE AND OTHER EVENTS
LA NOTTE ROSA
Emilia Romagna Coast – different locations – July 5th/6th 2008
The Emilia Romagna Riviera celebrates an event comparable to New Year’s Eve, the “Notte Rosa†with restaurants, stores, and nightclubs open till dawn with concerts, performances and events.
This year’s third edition expects the presence of a million and a half of people that will crowd all along the 110 km of coast between Cattolica and Comacchio, more than 1500 streetlights will be illuminated in pink.
Many of the events are organized ad hoc for this occasion.
THE FEAST OF THE REDEEMER
Venice – July 19th/20th 2008
The Redentore (Redeemer) is one of the Venetians' most treasured festivities, and is a tourist attraction thanks to the spectacular firework display in the evening. It falls on the third Sunday in July, when Holy Mass is held in the presence of the Patriarch, followed by a religious procession.
The celebration has ancient roots dating back in the three years between 1575 and 1577 when the city was tormented by a plague. In 1576, the Senate decided that the Doge should announce the vow to erect a church dedicated to the Redentore (Redeemer), in return for help in ending the plague. In 1577 the plague was declared definitively over and it was decided that the city's liberation from the terrible disease should be celebrated on the third Sunday in July and it’s honoured still today. But the special moment of the festivity takes place on Saturday evening prior to the religious event with the magnificent firework display at the lagoon in front of Saint Mark’s Square.
EXHIBITIONS
GOD & GOODS
Passariano (UD) - Villa Manin Center for Contemporary Art
Until September 28th
God & Goods is the exhibition that opens the summer season at the Villa Manin Center for Contemporary Art.
The show aims to present the idea of the sacred and the spiritual through the interpretation of thirty artists, they play with the senses and perception of reality and challenge in some cases the mechanisms of beliefs of the observers.
God and Goods aims to open a dialogue with the topic of religion being it an immense, controversial and unresolved debate but also a concept open to new and various forms of interpretation.
The works deal with the concept of religion from a series of indirect point of views: they can confront its dictates with irreverence, analyze its systems and dynamics or propose, ironically or not, alternative models. An event that brings down the stereotypes, wanting to surpass all imposed limitations.
GOOD VIBRATIONS – VISUAL ARTS AND ROCK MUSIC
Palazzo delle Papesse – Siena – from May 26th to September 24th
Visual arts and Rock music have always represented a winning binominal name starting from the Sixties to today.
This event explores the complex network of relations and reciprocal influences between visual arts and rock music that has characterized much of the artistic research and practice since the Sixties, giving birth to unusual collaborations and an intense phase of experimentation that resounds in the arts of today.
Portraits of Mapplethorpe, clips by David Bowie and Cunningham and operas by Warhol are a few plugs of the beautiful â€mosaics†offered by the event that welcomes a considerable quantity of material divided between posters, documentaries, covers, photographs and frames and much more.
GIUSEPPE SANTOMASO AND THE ABSTRACT OPTION
Fondazione Cini – Venice
Through July 19, 2008
To mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Venetian master Giuseppe Santomaso, the Giorgio Cini Foundation organized a retrospective exhibition of his works.
The exhibition, which represents the most complete showcase of Santomaso's works, also features works by other XX century Italian and European artists such as Afro, Birilli, De Luigi and Minassian.
A large selection of the exhibition centers on the Venetian artist’s graphic works as well as lithographs and rare art editions that Santomaso created or on which he acted as curator.
QUEEN ARSINOE
Musei Capitolini – Rome
Through July 6, 2008
For the first time since the beginning of the XIX century the magnificent bronze head of the Ptolemaic Queen Arsinoe III, leaves the Palazzo Te Municipal Museum in Mantua and moves to the Palazzo dei Conservatori site of the Capitoline Museums for a Roman sojourn.
The head was a gift to Alexander of Egypt by Giuseppe Acerbi, Consul General of Austria, and reached Rome thanks to a cultural exchange between the Roman Municipal Museums and Palazzo Te Municipal Museum in Mantua.
The bronze is particularly important because it represents one of very few original bronze images found in Egypt to have survived since ancient Greek times. The head dates back to the III century and it is preserved in magnificent conditions. Queen Arsinoe III reigned in Egypt between 220 and 204 B.C. and appears to have been a highly energetic and courageous ruler. She and her husband Ptolemy IV are credited for the development and expansion of the library in Alexandria.
CAR TRILOGY. SPEED
Torino
Through August 17, 2008
The “Carlo Biscaretti Di Ruffia†National Car Museum hosts three exhibitions through December 2008, a great event on the history and evolution of the automobile. The most representative cars chosen among the 170 available as well as others on loan from private collections make up the event. The exhibition titled “Velocit�*-Speed†centers on old and contemporary fast cars, record-breaking machines, which raced on the world’s most famous tracks and take visitors on a journey through man’s fascinating attraction to speed.
THE EMBRACE OF VIENNA, KLIMT, SCHIELE AND BELVEDERE MASTERPIECES
Como – Villa Olmo
Through July 20, 2008
Villa Olmo hosts masterpieces from the Belvedere Museum in Vienna in an exhibition that showcases the genesis of XX century art, starting from Baroque, through the Belle Époque and Biedermeier, to end with the Secessionism and early Expressionism.
The exhibit centers on works by artists of Viennese Secessionism and Expressionism, such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka.
Among the 80 works on display are 6 oil paintings by Klimt, including “After the rainâ€, “The Schloss Kammer on the Attersee†and the splendid “Portrait of Johanna Staudeâ€.
The 6 works by Schiele on display are characterized by the physicality and intensity of the human body. The main theme found in the artist’s work is the tragic and melancholic representation of the existential dimension that exudes an air of latent suffering.
continued below
MUSICAL EVENTS
ARENA DI VERONA OPERA FESTIVAL 2008
Verona June 20th – August 31st 2008
Since 1913 the Arena di Verona is the backdrop for the most famous open air opera season starting from June 20th and ending August 31st. This year’s program composed of five operas and forty-nine performances begins with Aida a new production inspired the very first stage design in 1913. An event longed-for by the passionate with a program which blends to the music old and new stands and makes the event and the Arena an event not to miss.
FESTIVAL OF TERME DI CARACALLA
Rome. Terme di Caracalla – July 10th to August 14th 2008
From July 10th to August 14th the Teatro dell’Opera will transfer its stage between the walls of Terme di Caracalla, one of the best kept archeological building in Rome. This magnificent site of Roman remains bestow on this event that have been repeated since 1937, a unique character, not only to the Romans. The 2008 season officially opens on July 10th with Aida, the most awaited appointment in the whole event because of its extraordinary effectiveness with whose setting, sceneries and music melt them selves together.
UMBRIA JAZZ 08
Perugia – July 11th to 20th 2008
The city of Perugia will once again renew its summer appointment for the jazz festival, an event which over time has been brought together thanks to the consent of the public and most importantly not only the presence of international stars but allowing to compose enthusiastic billboard signs. This year the festival will celebrate 35 years, presented once again in some of the most beautiful settings of the street of Perugia, from spontaneous sessions to free concerts in the town squares and concerts in the Arena of Saint Giuliana, Morlacchi and Pavone Theaters and the hall of Cannoniera della Rocca Paolina. This year’s festival features music for all but as well more popular forms of music that have a more immediate appeal for young people and families .
FOLKLORE AND OTHER EVENTS
LA NOTTE ROSA
Emilia Romagna Coast – different locations – July 5th/6th 2008
The Emilia Romagna Riviera celebrates an event comparable to New Year’s Eve, the “Notte Rosa†with restaurants, stores, and nightclubs open till dawn with concerts, performances and events.
This year’s third edition expects the presence of a million and a half of people that will crowd all along the 110 km of coast between Cattolica and Comacchio, more than 1500 streetlights will be illuminated in pink.
Many of the events are organized ad hoc for this occasion.
THE FEAST OF THE REDEEMER
Venice – July 19th/20th 2008
The Redentore (Redeemer) is one of the Venetians' most treasured festivities, and is a tourist attraction thanks to the spectacular firework display in the evening. It falls on the third Sunday in July, when Holy Mass is held in the presence of the Patriarch, followed by a religious procession.
The celebration has ancient roots dating back in the three years between 1575 and 1577 when the city was tormented by a plague. In 1576, the Senate decided that the Doge should announce the vow to erect a church dedicated to the Redentore (Redeemer), in return for help in ending the plague. In 1577 the plague was declared definitively over and it was decided that the city's liberation from the terrible disease should be celebrated on the third Sunday in July and it’s honoured still today. But the special moment of the festivity takes place on Saturday evening prior to the religious event with the magnificent firework display at the lagoon in front of Saint Mark’s Square.
EXHIBITIONS
GOD & GOODS
Passariano (UD) - Villa Manin Center for Contemporary Art
Until September 28th
God & Goods is the exhibition that opens the summer season at the Villa Manin Center for Contemporary Art.
The show aims to present the idea of the sacred and the spiritual through the interpretation of thirty artists, they play with the senses and perception of reality and challenge in some cases the mechanisms of beliefs of the observers.
God and Goods aims to open a dialogue with the topic of religion being it an immense, controversial and unresolved debate but also a concept open to new and various forms of interpretation.
The works deal with the concept of religion from a series of indirect point of views: they can confront its dictates with irreverence, analyze its systems and dynamics or propose, ironically or not, alternative models. An event that brings down the stereotypes, wanting to surpass all imposed limitations.
GOOD VIBRATIONS – VISUAL ARTS AND ROCK MUSIC
Palazzo delle Papesse – Siena – from May 26th to September 24th
Visual arts and Rock music have always represented a winning binominal name starting from the Sixties to today.
This event explores the complex network of relations and reciprocal influences between visual arts and rock music that has characterized much of the artistic research and practice since the Sixties, giving birth to unusual collaborations and an intense phase of experimentation that resounds in the arts of today.
Portraits of Mapplethorpe, clips by David Bowie and Cunningham and operas by Warhol are a few plugs of the beautiful â€mosaics†offered by the event that welcomes a considerable quantity of material divided between posters, documentaries, covers, photographs and frames and much more.
GIUSEPPE SANTOMASO AND THE ABSTRACT OPTION
Fondazione Cini – Venice
Through July 19, 2008
To mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Venetian master Giuseppe Santomaso, the Giorgio Cini Foundation organized a retrospective exhibition of his works.
The exhibition, which represents the most complete showcase of Santomaso's works, also features works by other XX century Italian and European artists such as Afro, Birilli, De Luigi and Minassian.
A large selection of the exhibition centers on the Venetian artist’s graphic works as well as lithographs and rare art editions that Santomaso created or on which he acted as curator.
QUEEN ARSINOE
Musei Capitolini – Rome
Through July 6, 2008
For the first time since the beginning of the XIX century the magnificent bronze head of the Ptolemaic Queen Arsinoe III, leaves the Palazzo Te Municipal Museum in Mantua and moves to the Palazzo dei Conservatori site of the Capitoline Museums for a Roman sojourn.
The head was a gift to Alexander of Egypt by Giuseppe Acerbi, Consul General of Austria, and reached Rome thanks to a cultural exchange between the Roman Municipal Museums and Palazzo Te Municipal Museum in Mantua.
The bronze is particularly important because it represents one of very few original bronze images found in Egypt to have survived since ancient Greek times. The head dates back to the III century and it is preserved in magnificent conditions. Queen Arsinoe III reigned in Egypt between 220 and 204 B.C. and appears to have been a highly energetic and courageous ruler. She and her husband Ptolemy IV are credited for the development and expansion of the library in Alexandria.
CAR TRILOGY. SPEED
Torino
Through August 17, 2008
The “Carlo Biscaretti Di Ruffia†National Car Museum hosts three exhibitions through December 2008, a great event on the history and evolution of the automobile. The most representative cars chosen among the 170 available as well as others on loan from private collections make up the event. The exhibition titled “Velocit�*-Speed†centers on old and contemporary fast cars, record-breaking machines, which raced on the world’s most famous tracks and take visitors on a journey through man’s fascinating attraction to speed.
THE EMBRACE OF VIENNA, KLIMT, SCHIELE AND BELVEDERE MASTERPIECES
Como – Villa Olmo
Through July 20, 2008
Villa Olmo hosts masterpieces from the Belvedere Museum in Vienna in an exhibition that showcases the genesis of XX century art, starting from Baroque, through the Belle Époque and Biedermeier, to end with the Secessionism and early Expressionism.
The exhibit centers on works by artists of Viennese Secessionism and Expressionism, such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka.
Among the 80 works on display are 6 oil paintings by Klimt, including “After the rainâ€, “The Schloss Kammer on the Attersee†and the splendid “Portrait of Johanna Staudeâ€.
The 6 works by Schiele on display are characterized by the physicality and intensity of the human body. The main theme found in the artist’s work is the tragic and melancholic representation of the existential dimension that exudes an air of latent suffering.
continued below