Italian culture
Italy has a great
deal to offer, across the cultural spectrum.
Football
In addition to their
other talents, the Italians are great footballers.
There is usually a worthwhile match to watch wherever
you are in Italy.
Fashion
The Italians are
image-conscious and stylish people. Think of a
designer label and the name is far more likely
than not to be Italian. And it is not just clothes
- their shoes are smart, their hair is well groomed,
they have all the right accessories. Elegance
abounds in Italy.
Opera
Italy is famous
for opera, of course. Many of the great composers
have been Italian and opera is staged all the
time in several Italian cities, such as Verona
and Milan.
Italian opera in
Italy takes on a whole new dimension that includes
the city, the setting, and the enthusiastic audience
as well as the performance itself. It is a wonderful
experience, especially in a city made famous by
a particular composer, such as Parma, where Verdi
worked.
The most famous
opera houses of Italy are:
- Teatro alla Scala, Milan
- Teatro San Carlo, Naples
- Teatro La Fenice, Venice
- Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
Outdoor performances are given
in the summer at:
- L'Arena di Verona
- Baths of Caracalla, Rome
Many provincial cities have
smaller opera houses, well worth visiting, for
example:
Parma, Mantova, Trieste, Bologna and Palermo.
Then there are the summer festivals to celebrate
two of the greatest composers:
- Rossini, at Pesaro
- Puccini, at Torre del Lago,
in Tuscany
Rock/pop music
If you have yet
to discover Italian rock/pop music, good places
to start are probably Eros Ramazzotti and Laura
Pausini. Both are already popular internationally,
including in the UK. If you are learning
Italian, it is very useful - as well as enjoyable
- to listen to some music sung in Italian.
Another character
it is handy to have heard of when you are in Italy
is Adriano Celentano. He has been a hugely popular
singer and actor for decades and is getting on
a bit now but he is still very much around. Celentano
is a passionate advocate of green politics and
is most active in that field these days.
Click on the links
to browse Amazon for music by
Eros
Ramazzotti
Laura
Pausini
Adriano
Celentano
You can listen to
samples of a lot of the songs.
Books
If you are interested
in reading some Italian
writers in translation, click on the link
for a list of books recommended by a language
school in Manchester.
Cinema
Italy has a thriving
film industry. The same language
school in Manchester has recommended some
Italian
films that are available in this country.
Roberto Benigni, star of the first on the list,
is a famous and well loved Italian actor who has
made a wide variety of movies, including a remake
of The Pink Panther.
Art
If you are
interested in art, Italy is the place for you!
There are all sorts of amazing museums and galleries,
full of art from Roman times to the present day.
Among the most obvious places to go are the Sistine
Chapel in Rome, the Uffizi Gallery in Firenze
(Florence) and the church of Santa Maria delle
Grazie in Milan, where you will find Leonardo
da Vinci's The
Last Supper.
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