Living History in Italy

Sala di Giove, Palazzo Farnese  Caprarola  

The regular schedule  of blog posts  was interrupted this week due to some unusual  events.  

 In Rome pageantry, pilgrim crowds and  piles of garbage were generated by  the canonization of two former  popes presided over by  two  living ones. 

 It was a scenario  that no novelist  could have invented  and yet it was   just another chapter in the long, amazing  history of Italy. 

Backed by Renaissance fireplace: Hugo, MJ  and Giorgia

  Here in Tuscia/Etruria, far from the confusion of the Roman canonization,  history came alive when English biographer Hugo Vickers told  the story of Gladys Deacon and her mother Florence Baldwin to a spellbound audience in one of  the magnificent frescoed rooms  of Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola . 

the spiral staircase of Palazzo Farnese 

Hugo signs  a book he wrote, in my library 

discovering Vetralla's English connections 

Henry VIII's monument in Vetralla  (foto G. Zelli )

   Hugo  flew in from London to share his research with us and to delve deeper into the lifestyle of  the eccentric expats who inhabited the palazzo  in the last century. 

at Villa Lante 

 Our morning visit to Villa Lante in nearby Bagnaia was  intriguing   for its fountains and palazzine  were a model  for those of Caprarola.  

Luciano, Hugo, MJ and Giorgia  (foto Sig.ra DiFusco)

At Caprarola we were escorted to see some of the secret corners of the palazzo by  Luciano Passini our host and head of the Caprarola Research  and History Society.  

presentation with a figure from the palazzo's past 

   

bathroom ceiling  at Palazzo Farnese 

In a tiny  anteroom which once served as bathroom to the Baldwin-Deacon  women, we  discovered the  phrase “Forse che si, forse che no” which Gabriele D’Annunzio  used as  title  for his novel  published in 1910. D'Annunzio  "borrowed" the phrase from a ceiling he saw in Mantova's Palazzo Ducale. 

ceiling of Mantova's Palazzo Ducale 

original  bathroom fixtures dating from  1920s 

During the presentation  we even had a surprise visit from “Gladys” herself, impersonated by Finnish soprano Susanna Ohtonen dressed in perfect  1920s  style. 

Gladys interpreted by soprano Susanna Ohtonen

 She  invited the audience to the opera La Traviata  which is being  held on Wednesday April 30^th in  Tuscania’s Rivellino theatre.  

Susanna Ohtonen and Giulia admiring the frescoed ceiling   (foto Chiara Porcari)

 Opera Extravaganza's  opera evenings  are another aspect of the living history of Italy which should not be missed. 

  

Info e prevendita OperaExtravaganza  tel. 0761-485247/346-7474907 susanna@operaextravaganza.com

Info Teatro Il  Rivellino P.zza Basile tel. 0761.4454250 0761-4454217

                                                                          LA TRAVIATA

Opera lirica in tre atti di GIUSEPPE VERDI

TEATRO “IL RIVELLINO” – TUSCANIA

Mercoledì 30 APRILE 2014 ORE 21.00

Biglietti prezzo unico 15 euro

Coming up next Saturday, Soriano nel Cimino 

  

 For another special evening  in one of Etruria's wonderful historic palazzi,  you are cordially invited  to  my next illustrated  presentation on May 3rd in Soriano nel Cimino.

 Please  share with friends on Facebook, Twitter, by email by using the icons below. 

Your  feedback, questions  are very welcome. See you in Soriano! 

Winter weekend in Italy: music, protests, conferences and commemorations

This winter weekend  is grinding to a close and a busy one it was. 
 I will let the photos tell the story, with a " No comment"  on my part. 

Your comments instead  are  very welcome. How many of these happenings  did you  attend?  

The weekend  began with a full house and attentive audience for the conference "Artisti e Archeologi Stranieri in Etruria"  sponsored by Archeotuscia  at the Prefecture of Viterbo. 

 Thanks to all who partecipated. 

Saturday morning the cold north wind did not keep hundreds  from protesting in front of the Town Hall in the main piazza. 

 Problems include the prolonged closure of public schools,  arsenic and  chlorine in the water and many others, as one can imagine in  a town where the administration  was voted in  by  only 36% of the citizens.

Sunday morning:  a bright sunny day,  no wind but  total confusion due to the unexpected  parade of gigantic  tractors  followed by a few horsemen, that invaded the historic center. 

Drums frightened the horses while flag throwers tried to enliven  

 Piazza della Rocca, known for a non-functioning, ugly fountain.

The local priest gave a sermon to those gathered  in the piazza  between the Duomo and the town hall.

camping gear of a scout troop  on church steps 

no comment

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At 11:30 the Day of Memory commemoration was held, as it was in most Italian towns, to remember the deportation of the Jews in 1943.   

telling  true stories of the Shoah 

Prof. Stefano Grego's   personal memories of 1943 

 
 The afternoon saw a large gathering at Opera Extravaganza's  house concert  featuring violinists newly arrived in Vetralla. They performed music by Mozart and Tartini.  
The audience included  music lovers living in the area but of  many different nationalities: Irish, Italian, Finnish, Australian, Indian, English, American, German and Rumanian.

Monica Sanfilippo and Luigi De Filippi   

Susanna Ohtonen   and  costumes 

Monica Sanfilippo explains  Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770) 

DeFilippis' violin  from Pesaro,  dated 1680,

Christmas concert Giardino Segreto, Vetralla

Susanna presents Arcadia  Clarinet Ensemble 

Living in a small town in central Italy  has some unexpected  advantages. Where else could you hear world class music  just a few steps away from your home?

 Instead of  standing in line to purchase  expensive tickets to a concert in a big city auditorium  we are able to  celebrate  the holidays by participating  in an old style Salotto Musicale  offered by the Opera Extravaganza  group.

Yesterday evening we were delighted to be  part of  the  end of the year  Salotto Musicale in the Giardino Segreto here in Vetralla for a  concert offered by OperaExtravaganza  to celebrate the holiday season.

Riccardo Bigini   presents the  program

The concert, organized  by Opera Extravaganza’s founder, Finnish soprano  Susanna Ohtonen, was given by  the Arcadia Clarinet Ensemble,  a group of   five bravissimi  Italian musicians presented  by  Riccardo Bigini with  Giampiero Allegro, Daniele Fabbrini, Silvia Cerquaglia  and Giacomo Poggiani. 

These  gifted  musicians enthralled the select  international audience  with their  rich repertoire of clarinet  music by Strauss, Rossini, Mozart, Gounod, Brahms and Shostakovich.

Martti Wallen and wife applaud the clarinet ensemble 

The evening   was full of surprises including  an  unexpected   rendition in the true spirit of  the Musical Salon when bass singer  Martti Wallén of the Stockholm Opera  and Finnish National Opera came out of the audience to  sing a couple of Christmas songs.   
 Wallén  happened  to be  staying in nearby Castel Cellesi, a tiny village populated  by foreigners, many of whom were present at the concert. 

Riccardo Bigini and Giacomo Poggiani of Arcadia Clarinet Ensemble 

The musicians were happy to participate in this  Musical Salon, since  their usual stage performances  lack  the  intimate contact with the public they were able to  enjoy here. 

singing along with Susanna, Morena, Ruud 

getting close to the musicians  at Salotto Musicale