Archive 1998

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Events 1998

January	Monday 19 January 7.00 pm Opera Opening Talk by Paul Daniel (Music Director, English National Opera)
	Tuesday 20 January 6.30pm BOOK PRESENTATION (in English) The New History of the Italian South Edited by Robert Lumley and Jonathan Morris Christopher Duggan (Univ. of Reading), Robert Leonardi (LSE) and Vincenzo Ruggiero (Middlesex Univ) present the work of a new generation of historians who shed a different light on the history of Southern Italy.
	Monday 26 January 7.00 pm Cipher and Reality by John Bright (Costume Designer, Royal Opera House) Different approaches to costume design in opera.
February	Monday 2 February 7.00 pm Italian Opera in Britain in 19th Century by Roderick Swanston (Principal Lecturer and Head of Academic Studies at the Royal College of Music)
	Friday 6 February 6.30pm BOOK PRESENTATION (in English - with slides) Bernini: a Sculptor of Genius by Charles Avery Terence Mullaly, art historian and critic, presents the new essay on the baroque genius by Charles Avery, published by Thames and Hudson on the occasion of the 1998 Bernini celebrations.
	Monday 9 February 7.00 pm The Auteur in Opera: Future or Futile by Stuart Maunder (Stage Director, Royal Opera House) The role of the opera director today: Traditional v. Modern.
	Wednesday 11 February 6.30pm LECTURE (in English) The changing Italian corporate world by Letizia Moratti
	Thursday 12 February 6.30pm BOOK PRESENTATION (in English and Italian) Gabriele D'Annunzio:Defiant Archangel by J.R.Woodhouse John Dickie (UCL), Denis Mack Smith and Pietro Antonelli discuss Woodhouse's new D'Annunzio biography (Oxford University Press ) with the author.
	Monday 16 February 7.00 pm Life on the High C's by Valerie Masterson (Soprano)
	19 February 5.30pm Italy , Europe and immigration: between rigour and social integration by On.Livia Turco, Minister for Social Solidarity
	Friday 20 February 7.00pm HARPSICHORD and VIOLA DA GAMBA RECITAL by Massimo Redaelli Italy and Europe across three centuries A recital of music from 1520 to 1730 including works by Frescobaldi, J.S.Bach, Telemann, Antico, Dalla Casa, Trabaci, Bonizzi, Kerll. Massimo Redaelli Born in 1969, Massimo studied the piano at the Bergamo Conservatory and at the same time gra-duated in Classics at the University of Milan. His interest in early music resulted in a two-year postgraduate course at the Trinity College of Music London, where he studied the harpsichord under John Henry and the viola da gamba under Alison Crum. Massimo also conducts the early music ensemble Gl'Intrepidi specialising in 17th century Italian music. Tickets: £6 (Members: £3) at the door or bookable in advance on 020 7235 1461
	23 February 5.30pm The Liberalisation of the European energy market: the case of Italy by Chicco Testa, Chairman, National Electricity Board. For further information please phone 0171 955 6824
	Monday 23 February 7.00 pm (Title to be announced) by William Mival (Composer, lecturer and broadcaster, Royal College of Music)
	Tuesday 24 February 6.30pm Life into words: Claudio Magris's literary biography Claudio Magris in conversation with Dennis Marks (broadcaster and filmmaker) Claudio Magris was born in Trieste, where he still lives and lectures at the University. He has written on the culture of Austro-Hungary and Mitteleuropa, on Joseph Roth and the Hebraic-oriental tradition. His essay Danubio has been immensely successful and has been translated in many languages, including English (Collins Harvill, 1989). English translations also include Inferences from a Sabre(Polygon 1989) and A different Sea (Collins Harvill 1991).
March	Monday 2 March 7.00 pm The Path to Performance: Vocal Preparations for the Stage by Martin Merry (Chorus Master, Teatro Real, Madrid)
	Tuesday 3 March 6.30pm LECTURE (in English - with slides) The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art by Alexandra Noble A new museum of modern art has opened in London. Northampton Lodge, a handsome building in Canonbury Square, Islington, houses the Eric and Salome Estorick Foundation and its outstanding art collection. Eric Estorick (1913-1993), an American sociologist of Russian origin, started his collection buying drawings in 1946. Soon after he met Salome Dessau (1920-1989), an art student daughter of a Nottingham textile manufacturer, who became his wife and helped him buy on a larger scale. Their collection of Italian art, including the best Futurist paintings outside Italy, was shown in 1956 at the Tate Gallery. Alexandra Noble, Museum Curator, gives an illustrated talk introducing the new museum and its unique collection.
	Friday 6 March 6.30pm LECTURE (in English) Mazzini: a Democrat in London 1837-1847 by Salvo Mastellone (University of Florence). Former president of the International Commission for the History of Representative and Parliamentary Institutions, Salvo Mastellone is also editor of "Il Pensiero Politico". His works include Storia ideologica dell'Europa dal XV al XX secolo, Storia della democrazia in Europa and Storia del pensiero politico europeo.
	Monday 9 March 7.00 pm Creating the Tradition: a Conductor's Role in New Opera by Richard Bernas (Conductor)
	Tuesday 10 March 6.30pm Classics Ancient and Modern Maurizio Bettini in conversation with Nicholas Mann Maurizio Bettini is Professor of Greek and Latin Philology at the University of Siena. Secretary of the Association for Anthropology and the Ancient World, he is also founder and director of the Centre for the Study of Anthropology and Ancient Culture in Siena. A regular contributor to La Repubblica, Bettini's works include Studi e note su Ennio, Anthropology and Roman Culture, Il ritratto dell'amante (the English version will be shortly published by University College Press ), I classici nell'età' dell'indiscrezione and many others. Nicholas Mann is the Director of the Warburg Institute.
	Thursday 19 March 6.30pm LECTURE (in Italian with simultaneous translation) A Life in Journalism: the Power and the Press by Eugenio Scalfari
	Thursday 26 March 6.30pm LECTURE (in English - with slides) The Piero Manzoni Exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery by Suzanne Cotter To coincide with this important Italian retrospective exhibition (28 February - 26 April) at the reopened Serpentine Gallery, Suzanne Cotter (Exhibition Organiser) gives an illustrated talk on Piero Manzoni, one of Italy's leading artists in the 1950s and early 1960s, who anticipated subsequent artistic movements such as conceptual art, performance art and arte povera.
	Monday 30 March 7.00pm PIANO RECITAL by Maurizio Baglini Programme: Chopin, Etudes Opus 10, Etudes Opus 25, Trois Nouvelles Etudes. Maurizio Baglini Born in 1975, Maurizio graduated at the La Spezia Conservatory and then continued his musical studies with Piero Rattalino at the Accademia Pianistica of Imola. Winner of many piano competitions, Maurizio was also a finalist at the 13th Chopin Competition in Warsaw. Maurizio has recorded for the Italian radio corporation "Radiotre"and is currently recording a CD dedicated to Chopin's Etudes which he has extensively performed in Italy (including the Rossini Pesaro Festival) and abroad. Tickets: £6 (Members: £3) an the door or bookable in advance on 020 7235 1461
April	Monday 20 April 6.30pm LECTURE (in English, with slides) Italy in the Age of Turner by Desmond Shawe-Taylor, Director of the Dulwich Picture Gallery A joint event with the British-Italian Society
	Wednesday 22 April 6.30pm Genus Italicum. L'identità letteraria italiana nel corso del tempo (in Italian) Alberto Asor Rosa in conversation with Patrick Boyde Alberto Asor Rosa is Professor of Italian Literature at the University of Rome "La Sapienza". His publications include Scrittori e popolo (1965), Il caso Verga (1968), Intellettuali e classe operaia (1982), L'ultimo paradosso (1985), Storia della Letteratura Italiana (1985), Fuori dall'Occidente. Ovvero ragionamento sull'Apocalisse (1992). He is editor-in-chief of the Storia della Letteratura Italiana published by Einaudi. Patrick Boyde is Serena Professor of Italian Literature at the University of Cambridge.
May	Thursday 7 May 7.00pm CONCERT Lama di luce nel buio (A Shaft of Light in the Darkness) Music by Federico Bonetti Amendola. Francesca Flore, soprano Federico Bonetti Amendola, piano On the occasion of Federico Bonetti Amendola's participation in this year's ""Brighton Festival " (see Italian Events Elsewhere), the Italian Cultural Institute will present a recital focusing on his compositions. Programme will include: Green Planet (premiered at the Spoleto Festival in 1991), 2 arias from Apparso il mare (recorded for EMI Classics), excerpts from the opera I giganti della montagna (from Pirandello), two Songs of Peace (the cycle presented in 1996 in the Basilica of S. Francesco in Assisi). The premiere of Shaft of Light in the Darkness will round off the recital. Exploring Galileo's last years, this work stems from his memories, dealing with and taking inspiration from themes such as the solar energy, the universe, Milton's visit and others. Federico Bonetti Amendola was born in Rome in 1950. In the early 80s he composed the suite for 2 choirs Edipo Re/Edipo a Colono as well as the music for the Zeffirelli production of Pirandello's Cosí è (se vi pare). Other works expressly composed for the stage include the suites for Pirandello's I Giganti della Montagna (Raiuno, with Irene Papas, dir. Mauro Bolognini), for Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream (dir. M. Bolognini) and Victor Hugo's Lucrezia Borgia (Raidue). In 1985 he composed the opera Pulsar 0833-45 on the occasion of the Marcel Grossman Astrophysics Meeting. The success of this opera caught Giancarlo Menotti's attention and resulted in a series of engagements at the Festival of the Two Worlds in Spoleto. Bonetti Amendola has composed three operas: Apparso il mare (inspired by Goethe's Italian Journey; recorded for EMI Classics 1992); I Giganti della Montagna (adapted from Pirandello and premiered at "Musica nel Chiostro" in Batignano in 1995, production by Adam Pollock and Dominic Wheeler, dir. Robert Delamere); and finally The Shadow, from Andersen (premiered at Musica nel Chiostro in 1997). Bonetti Amendola is founder and conductor of both "Ensemble Tellus" and "Aer Opera Ensemble". As a musicologist, he is currently working on the first unabridged recording of Benedetto Marcello's L'Estro Poetico-Armonico.
	Monday 11 May 6.30pm BOOK PRESENTATION (in English and Italian) Politica e affetti familiari. Lettere dei Rosselli ai Ferrero (1917-1943) by Marina Calloni and Lorella Cedroni The authors present the recently published collection of letters of two Italian families in exile and discuss their political and cultural implications with Richard Lamb, Laura Lepschy and Emmanuela Tandello.
	Tuesday 12 May 6.30pm Gian Francesco D'Asola and the Tipografia Aldina (in English) Aldo Manuzio, founder of the Venice-based "Tipografia Aldina" (1495-1514), is famous for his editions in Greek, Latin and Italian, which were characterized by a new format (in octavo), a new font (italico) and the famous logo with a dolphin winding round an anchor. But little is known about Gian Francesco D'Asola, who succeeded Aldo Manuzio to the head of the Tipografia Aldina from 1517 to 1529. Annaclara Cataldi Palau in conversation with Martin Lowry and Nigel Wilson Annaclara Palau studied Classics in Genoa and Greek Paleography at the Sorbonne. In 1994 she was commissioned to catalogue the Greek manuscripts in the Bodleian Library. Gian Francesco D'Asola e la Tipo-grafia Aldina (Sagep, 1998) is her latest publication. Martin Lowry teaches at the University of Warwick. Nigel Wilson is the Vice President of Lincoln College, Oxford.
	Tuesday 19 May 7.00pm Gl'Ingannati at the Italian Cultural Institute Jet Theatre presents a rehearsed reading (script-in-hand performance) of a new English version of the great Italian comedy classic Gl'Ingannati (The Deceived). Kenneth Rea has adapted this from a specially commissioned literal translation by Professor Christopher Cairns, Head of Italian Drama at the University of Westminster. Gl'Ingannati is the source play for Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and it will be given a full production by Jet Theatre in November at Riverside Studios. The play concerns a young woman, Lelia, who disguises herself as a boy in order to be near the man she loves. But he loves another, Isabella, and sends Lelia to deliver his declaration of love. Isabella, however, falls madly in love with the disguised Lelia causing romantic chaos. Jet Theatre has been set up by Kenneth Rea. Through his production and teaching at one of Britain's top drama schools - Guildhall School of Music and Drama, in the Barbican - he has helped mould a new generation of exciting actors. The new translation and the rehearsed reading of Gl'Ingannati have been supported by the Italian Cultural Institute.
	Thursday 21 May 6.30pm LECTURE (in Italian with simultaneous translation) L'Italia, una società che cresce dal basso by Giuseppe De Rita
	Tuesday 26 May 6.30pm LECTURE (in English, with video screenings) Dario Fo in the 90s: The Nobel Prize for Theatre by Christopher Cairns, University of Westminster
	Wednesday 27 May 6.30pm Lecture (in Italian) La lingua italiana: istruzioni per l'uso by Arturo Barone
June	Thursday 4 June 7.00pm Homage t o the Piccolo Teatro of Milan FILM AND RECITAL A double bill to commemorate Giorgio Strehler, the celebrated Italian theatre director who died suddenly last December, and also to celebrate the 50 years of activity of the Piccolo Teatro of Milan. Maria Grazia Gregori will introduce the film by Chiara Boeri Viaggio nella Storia del Piccolo Teatro, a unique occasion to view excerpts from famous Strehler theatre and opera productions and to see the Italian director in rehearsal. After the screening, Rosalina Neri, accompanied on the piano by Roberto Negri, will give a recital entitled Homage to Fiorenzo Carpi, the composer who dedicated his life to the collaboration with Strehler and the Piccolo Teatro. Rosalina Neri will perform some of Carpi's most famous songs, set to lyrics by well known artists and authors such as Alberto Moravia, Franca Valeri, Fabio Mauri, Dario Fo, Alberto Arbasino, Vittorio Gassman and many others. Don't miss this recital which will enable you to savour the bittersweet flavour of these songs from the 60s. Rosalina Neri Considered one of the major post-war theatre directors, Giorgio Strehler was the founder of The Piccolo Teatro of Milan. Based in via Rovello, it had 500 seats and a modest stage. In 1947 Strehler with the publisher Paolo Grassi had transformed this former cinema into one of Europe's leading theatres. Strehler was noted for many outstanding productions, but it was particularly his stagings of Goldoni and Brecht which have left a lasting impression. The former's Harlequin Servant of Two Masters dominated the repertoire for 40 years and made Ferruccio Soleri's Arlecchino worldwide famous (the show was brought to Edinburgh in 1956 and London in 1958 and 1967). Another most characteristic production was Brecht's The Threepenny Opera. Strehler had a special relationship with the German playwright, who had invited his company to the famous Berliner Ensemble to perform Gorky's Lower Depths. In his last days Strehler was working on a new production of Mozart's Cosí Fan Tutte, which was meant to inaugurate the Piccolo Teatro's new venue.
	Tuesday 30 June 6.30pm LECTURE (in English) Living with the Euro. Do we need a political Europe? by Giuliano Amato
July	10 July - 21 August Curzio Malaparte: a Dandy in Hell A photographic exhibition Thursday 9 July 5.30pm opening On the occasion of the centenary of Curzio Malaparte's birth, the Italian Cultural Institute in collaboration with the Municipality of Prato is pleased to present an exhibition of his photographic work. Followed at 6.30pm by a talk by Renato Barilli (University of Bologna) and William Hope (Queen's University, Belfast) who will present and discuss the controversial figure of Curzio Malaparte. The exhibition will include 70 works selected by curators Renato Barilli and Fabiano Fabbri. Most photographs were shot by Curzio Malaparte while working as a special correspondent in Africa (1939), Belgrade (1941), China (1957). This event will offer the opportunity to explore the world of this many-sided and controversial figure who could be compared with similarly complex personalities such as D'Annunzio, Marinetti and Bontempelli. Curzio Malaparte is the pseudonym of Curzio Suckert (Prato, 1898 - Roma 1957). Expelled from the Fascist Party, he became a journalist, working for important newspapers such as "Corriere della Sera", "La Stampa" and "Fiera Letteraria". During his life he was both attracted and repelled by the different ideologies of this century, eager to experience them but unable to join them. Author of many political essays, Curzio Malaparte is best known for his novels such as Kaputt (1945) and La Pelle (The Skin, 1949; film adaptation by Liliana Cavani 1980-81), which depicted post-war Italy in an unconventional and biting manner.
October	1st to 9 October Giovan Battista Piranesi Views of Rome A joint event with Henry Sotheran Limited. Opening: Thursday 1 October, 6.00 - 8.00pm Opening times: Monday to Friday, 10am - 1pm, 2 - 5pm Illustrated talk by Professor John Wilton-Ely. From 1748 Piranesi spent the next 30 years perfecting a series of 135 imposing views of Rome. The juxtaposition of the classical and the baroque in his etchings explores Rome's lasting appeal.
	Monday 5 October, 6.30pm BOOK PRESENTATION (in English) Cool Britannia - Gli inglesi (e gli italiani) visti da Londra by Antonio Polito (London correspondent of La Repubblica) The new Londoner, Antonio Polito, offers an unbiased and humorous view of the political and social mores of cool Britannia. Lord Dahrendorf, Eric Hobsbawm, Donald Sassoon and Antonio Armellini will discuss the book with the author.
	Tuesday 13 October, 7.00pm The Mirror and the Mask. The Commedia dell'Arte LECTURE-RECITAL by Giovanni Pampiglione (in Italian and English). Giovanni Pampiglione has directed and taught extensively in Italy, Europe (notably in Poland) and the USA and is particularly rooted in the Commedia dell'Arte tradition. On the occasion of his British debut in conjunction with the Strehler celebrations at the Mountview Theatre School, the Roman director and teacher will offer an insight into the tradition of the Commedia dell'Arte.
	15 to 30 October Maurizio Galimberti:Live for the moment... Opening: Thursday 15 October, 6.00 - 8.00pm (in the presence of the artist). Opening times: Monday to Friday 10am - 1pm, 2- 5pm. Initially fascinated by the Cubist and Futurist movements, Maurizio Galimberti started his work with a Widelux camera. He moved on subsequently to Polaroid, which has been for the past ten years not only his technical medium but also a source of endless artistic inspiration. He was the founder of the "Polaroid pro arte" movement and is the inventor of the photographic mosaic, a technique he has particularly used to portray the world of the glitterati. Maurizio Galimberti is the recipient of the "Gran Prix Kodak Pubblicità Italia". Sponsored by Polaroid.
	Tuesday 20 October, 6.30pm BOOK PRESENTATION (in English) Ri-Scritture by Piero Boitani Sir Frank Kermode and Gabriel Josipovici will discuss Boitani's last work on the world of the Bible and its literary echoes and repercussions through the centuries. Boitani's fascinating and erudite work is due to be published shortly by Oxford University Press (Re-Scriptures. The Bible and its Rewritings). Piero Boitani is Professor of English Literature at "La Sapienza" University of Rome. His interests range from medieval England to Afro-American authors. His publications include Il Tragico e il Sublime nella Letteratura Medievale and L'Ombra di Ulisse. Figure di un mito, both translated into English.
	Tuesday 27 October, 7.00pm PIANO RECITAL Concerto by Ivo Varbanov Programme: Mozart, Sonata in C Minor K457; Schubert, Sonata in A Major Op.120; Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition. Ivo Varbanov studied the piano in Milan under Ylonka Deckers. He is currently attending a postgraduate course at the Royal Academy of Music in London under Frank Wibaut thanks to a Rotary Foundation scholarship. Ivo Varbanov has performed extensively in Italy and abroad. His CD of piano music by Mussorgsky (1997) has been enthusiastically reviewed by BBC Music Magazine.
November	Monday 2 November, 6.30pm LECTURE (in Italian) Traduzioni, mutazioni by Valerio Magrelli A talk by Valerio Magrelli on the occasion of his presence in London for the International Poetry Festival at South Bank. Valerio Magrelli is considered one of the best poets of his generation. He is an academic as well as a literary critic and a translator. Poesie (1980-1992) e altre poesie (Einaudi,1996) is the title of his collected works. His poems have been translated into many languages, including English. Valerio Magrelli has won the Viareggio Poetry Prize. In Octavio Paz's view, Valerio Magrelli's poetry is like "a soliloquy written with a pencil and a small notebook during the latest and most silent hours of the night ".
	12 to 27 November Mimmo Jodice: Napoli Opening: Thursday 12 November, 6.00 - 8.00pm (in the presence of the artist). Opening times: Monday to Friday 10am - 1pm, 2 - 5pm Mimmo Jodice, one of the most famous Italian photographers, has worked with many avant-garde artists such as Warhol, Rauschenberg, Beuys and Kounellis and has exhibited widely in Europe, the United States, Canada and China. This exhibition offers a panorama of his photographs of his home town through the years.
	Thursday 19 November, 6.30pm LECONFIELD LECTURE (in English) Thinking Forward on Europe by Lord Hurd of Westwell An event of the British-Italian Society in conjunction with the Italian Cultural Institute. Lord Hurd of Westwell, former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 1989 to 1995, is currently Deputy Chairman, NatWest Markets. The seats availability for this event is restricted. Those who wish to attend the Leconfield Lecture are kindly requested to contact the British-Italian Society by post (21/22 Grosvenor Street, London W1X 9FE).
	Wednesday 25 November, 6.30pm BOOK PRESENTATION (in English) The letters of Giacomo Leopardi 1817-1837 (Northern Universities Press) Selected and translated by Prue Shaw. Sir Frank Kermode, Paola Colaiacomo (University of Rome), Franco D'Intino (University of Birmingham), and Enrico Palandri (University College London) discuss with the editor this new translation of Leopardi's letters, not previously totally available in English. Prue Shaw is the editor of Dante's Monarchia in the Cambridge Medieval Classics series. She is at present teaching at University College London.
December	Thursday 3 December, 7.00pm Concert by Cromata Per la Santissima Natività Music by Mazzocchi, Ferrari, Kapsberger and Cazzati. Cromata was founded in 1996 and specializes in the performance of Italian songs from the 17th and early 18th centuries. The performers in Cromata trained at the Royal College of Music, London. The ensemble has been awarded prizes for its performances in the UK and abroad and is supported by the National Lottery through the Arts Council of England.
	10 December 1998 to 15 January 1999 1934: The Dream of a New Town. Sabaudia and Rationalistic Architecture A joint event with the Municipality of Sabaudia. Opening: Thursday 10 December, 6.00 - 8.00pm. Admission free but booking essential. The exhibition will be open until 15 January 1999 Monday to Friday, 10am - 1pm, 2 - 5pm. Sabaudia has become an icon of modernist architecture and town planning. Built in only 253 days between 1933 and 1934 after the reclaiming of the Pontine marshes, south of Rome, it was intended at the time as a showcase for the achievements of the Fascist regime. As a "new" town it was planned in every detail - from parks and markets to doorknobs to lamp-posts - by a team of brilliant architects who had won a national competition. The exhibition on Sabaudia will trace the history of the construction of the town through the original plans with the support of models, photographs and films.

Events 1998

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