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Tuscany – The Orchestra Giovanile Italiana

The Orchestra Giovanile Italiana (founded by Riccardo Muti in 1984 and direct by Nicola Paszkowski) performed last month at Florence’s Teatro Comunale as part of the Maggio Musicale Festival, with guest conductor Gianandrea Noseda.
The musicians (all between 18 and 27) received hearty bis! and bravi! For their performances of Smetana’s Hakon Jarl,, Stravinsky’s Le Baiser de la Fée and Dvorak’s Symphony N. 8 in G major op. 88
The Orchestra Giovanile consists mainly of Italian performers, although there are eight foreigners ( from Poland, Ecuador, Japan, Romania, Macedonia, Mexico and Russia).
The musicians know that in Italy they must accept ludicrously low pay, but even so they aspire to this joyously, expecting to supplement their earnings with teaching and solo performances, but above all to pursue a career they love.
Three of the musicians ( all 25 years old) discussed their ambitions over coffee before the concert.
Percussionist Dario Varuni, a Florentine of Neapolitan extraction, although attracted to the progressive cosmopolitan capital Berlin, said he could imagine no better life than performing in his adepte city. Already he has a busy career that includes teaching and performing in the past as far away as Paris, Heidelberg, and Milan.
Cellist Anna Stasevich, on the other hand, who comes from Caluga (200 km from Moscow), said she would be thrilled toh ave a permanent position with any major Italian orchestra.
Stasevich studied at the Conservatory of Caluga and completed her studies at the Moscow State Music Academy with Alla Vassilieva. What she likes about being in the OGI is being able to devote all her time to practing and performing Harpist Anna-Livia Walker (from Lucca), who has recently played for Live Music Now in the UK and at the Lisbon Opera House, says she would be very happy to continue working both in orchestras and as a soloist.
Sureley the world needs more of this kind of music, but sadly Noseda, conductor of Torino’s Teatro Regio, told the audience that the Giovanile (OGI), widely recognized as one of Europe’s most distinguished youth orchestras, has had its funds cut in half this year. Noseda, who rehearsed with the musicians in the period leading up to the concert without accepting any payment, said that “ our future dreams” represented by these young artists, are under threat.

Tuscany – Puccini Museum of Celle

The Puccini Museum of Celle is situated in the little village where Iacopo di Antonio Puccini, the great-grandfather of the famous Lucca-born coposer, was born on 26 january 1712.
Iacopo was the founding father of the dynasty of musicians that reached the apex of its glory in the figure of the maestro Giacomo Puccini.
Giacomo who was born in Lucca in 1858, like all his family maintained very close links with the last time on 26 october 1924, just a few days before his departure for brussels, where he died on 29 november of the same year. On the occasiono f this visit the village offered him a triumphal welcome, with 12 arches of laurel and other vegetation set along the street, one for each of his operas. The maestro then attended a ceremony of inauguration, during which the commemorative plaque that we can still see today was set upon the facade of the house of his ancestors.
In this veru house, ehere the members of the Puccini family were born and reared probably from as far back as the sixteenth century, the Museo Pucciniano of Celle has been set up, displaying num erous mementoes of the family.
The museum is arranged on two floors: on the ground floor, in the entrance hall, we can see the crown offered to Giacomo following the success of the premiere of Le Villi, which he bore to the bedside of his dying mother, the piano on which Puccini composed part of Madam Butterfly, and the gramophone donated to the composer by Thomas Edison.
The room is furnished with the original pieces that were previuosly in the composer’s birthplace in Lucca, and the bed in which Giacomo Puccini was born.
The kitchen is a magnificent example of the old country kitchens of the time.
Displayed on the upper floor is the christening robe of the Puccini family, which was also used by Giacomo, in addition to numerous relics of his forbears and an extensive collection of autograph letters, original sheet music and autograph scores records and photos that retrace the life and successes of Giacomo Puccini.
The museum, set up in 1973 by the Lucchesi nel Mondo association, which owns it and has been managing it uninterruptedly since its opening, was subjected to a meticulous renovation in 2004.
This has made it possible to set off to their best advantage the precious and fascinating collection of mementoes that was donated to the association in the early 1970s by the daughters of Ramelde Puccini, Giacomo’s favourite sister, Alba Del Panta Franceschini and Nelda Giaccai Franceschini.
In the summer season the Lucchesi nel Mondo association organises free operatic concert in the small square in front of the Museum, as well as offering guided tours all year round.

Museo di Casa Puccini
Celle dei Puccini, Pescaglia Lucca

Associazione Lucchesi nel Mondo
Castello Porta S. Pietro Mura Urbane 6 Lucca
Tel. /Fax +39 0583 467855

Open by appointment

Tuscany – Sunday 16th august – Palio horse race in Siena

The Palio di Siena (known locally simply as Il Palio) is a horse race held twice each year on July 2 and August 16 in Siena, Italy, in which ten horses and riders, dressed in the appropriate colours, represent ten of the seventeen Contrade, or city wards.
The seventeen Contrade are:
Aquila (Eagle)
Bruco (Caterpillar)
Chiocciola (Snail)
Civetta (Little Owl)
Drago (Dragon)
Giraffa (Giraffe)
Istrice (Crested porcupine)
Leocorno (Unicorn)
Lupa (Female Wolf)
Nicchio (Seashell)
Oca (Goose)
Onda (Wave)
Pantera (Black Panther)
Selva (Forest)
Tartuca (Tortoise)
Torre (Tower)
Valdimontone (literally, “Valley of the Ram” – often shortened to Montone).

The race itself, in which the jockeys ride bareback, involves circling the Piazza del Campo, on which a thick layer of dirt has been laid, three times and usually last no more than 90 seconds. It is not uncommon for a few of the jockeys to be thrown off their horses while making the treacherous turns in the piazza and indeed it is not unusual to see unmounted horses finishing the race without their jockeys.
A magnificent pageant, the Corteo Storico, precedes the race, which attracts visitors and spectators from around the world.

For more information: Palio di Siena

Tuscany – Summer: Oh No! Mosquitoes!

One of the less wonderful elements o fan italian summer is bug life. Even if you are staying high abd dry little creatures will find you. One summer night around midnight in a pitch-black country house i awoke to what appare to be the light of a cigarette slowly approaching mu bed. Shuddering in fear, i turned off his. What a relief to see that the silent intruder was a firefly and not a man! The next day i had my bed enveloped in a “zanzariera” gauzy white mosquito netting. Ever since, i’ve enjoyed the safety and beauty of sleeping under netting. Mosquito nets are sold in town at Texnova, Lunata.
People often ask me what to do about mosquitoes (zanzare), so i took a survey and here are some othe solutions:
Windows screens: while not 100% effective they to help. On the other hand, they collect dirt and obscure one’s view of the world outside.
Wind: mosquitoes don’t like fly against the wind, so a fan blowing across one’s bed on a hot night i san effective deterrent.
Smoke: my father, an inveterate smoker, swore that leaving a cigarette burning during barbecues would keep insects at bay.
he learned this during his years in the Navy and Coast Guard, many of them spent in the South pacific.
Citronella candles are also effective. Green chimica spirals (zampirone) work even better but should only be used outdoors.
Organic: alloro or waxy laurel rubbed on the skin in the chosen solution of my contadina neighbor, but years ago when her husband raised vegetables in the paludi he rubbed down vith winebar. Eating garlic or pesto also helps, in my opinion.
Animal friends: geco make welcome house-guests since they dine on mosquitoes and othe insects. Bats eat insects, as do sswallows.
Prevention: standing water attracts mosquitoes! So doeas the organic garbage which the city, inexplicably, only picks up two or three times a week. To avoid both odors and insects, you can freeze your organic trash if it won’t be collected for a few days.
Skin products such as Autan come in spray and stick form, but they contain chemicals. Special doseges are made for babies and small children. Wash hands after application. Anti mosquito wipes ( salviette antipuntura) containing eucalyptus and citronella are available in grocery stores. Easy to carry when you travel.
Electrical devices: with containers for chemicals work well. These diffuse low doses of poison into the atmosphere..In the old days entire towns were sprayed with DDT, but unless we are inveded by zanzare tigri probably that won’t happen here.
Electronic zappers attract bugs and suck the minto their deadly trap. Good for industrial-level usage,outdoor picnic areas, etc.
If mosquitoes become unbearble, you can head for the beach, plunge into the waves..and watch out for the medusa! But that’s another problem…

Tuscany – Orbetello, a thin strip of land located on the coastal lagoon.

Orbetello is a town and commune in the province of Grosseto, is located on the eponymous lagoon, which is home to an important Natural Reserve.
Orbetello was an ancient Etruscan settlement, which in 280 BC passed under the control of the Romans, who had founded their colony of Cosa (near the modern Ansedonia).
The small island where it stands is surrounded by the Levante and Pontente Lagoons, known respectively as Tombolo della Feniglia and Tombolo della Giannella. These offer the visitor many kilometers of charming beaches.

For more informations visit: www.turismo.intoscana.it