It’s not too big a leap to expect that Roger Waters may also be making a return visit – he’s played before, his tour is promoted by the festival organisers, and he’s playing in Milan in July. Watch this space.

*** Update. 12th January ***

The official site has been updated, confirming Elton John and adding one other act – Arcade Fire on the 9th of July. More dates to follow.

*** Update. 24th January ***

Other names being mentioned are Amy Winehouse, Joe Cocker and B.B. King

*** Update. 31st January ***

Confirmed for 15th July, B.B. King and Joe Cocker. American Blues at 9.00 in the evening followed by Sheffield Blues right after B.B and Lucille.

*** Update. 2nd February ***

Amy Winehouse confirmed on the 16th of July, with James Blunt being mentioned as a possibility.

*** Update. 4th February ***

James Blunt confirmed for 21st July

*** Update, 4th march ***

Ben Harper, 18th July

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*** Update, 14th March ***

It’s a return visit for Ferrari loving Jamiroquai, confirmed for July 24th.

*** Update, 3rd April ***

Pretty much all conformed now. New dates are Zucchero on the 8th of July, Italian ‘cantautore’ Francesco Guccini on the 1st of July and, back again, Burt Bacharach on the 10th of July.

Neatly dismissing claims that she wouldn’t be strong enough for the task, she pointed out that giving birth was more difficult.

“Boscolo says she inherited her passion for navigating Venice’s canals from her gondolier father, Dante, when she was seven. ”I’ve always loved gondolas and, unlike my three sisters, I preferred to punt with my father instead of going out with my friends,” she said after passing her entrance exam.”

And, with tongue-firmly-in-cheek, I suppose we should be thankful that official regulations insist on all gondolas being black, otherwise this would be just around the corner.

Original press story

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The Gallarate Museum of Modern Art (MAGA, Varese, to the north west of Milan, Italy) has just reopened to the public in its striking new home. The opening exhibition is dedicated to Modigliani and features 20 paintings, over 50 drawings and a large collection of photographs and documents pertaining to his ‘early years’ in Italy and France. To quote from the news release:

“The exhibition opens with a painting created in 1898, when the artist was just 14 years old. Produced in his hometown of Livorno, it is one of only three landscapes to survive by Modigliani, who had a lifelong passion for figurative art. As well as this very early work, the exhibition offers a number of masterpieces from the height of his career. Among these are a handful of portraits, including ones of Paul Guillaume from 1916 and Moise Kisling from 1915, as well as several of his famous nudes.”

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Links: (Italian only, unfortunately)
Exhibition web page (MAGA – Museo Galleria Gallarate)
PDF, exhibition brochure

To quote from the press release:

“Milan is paying tribute to the art of Spanish master Francisco Goya, with a wide-ranging exhibition of over 180 works exploring his impact on future generations. The event at Palazzo Reale brings together paintings, etchings and drawings from across Europe, mostly by Goya (1746-1828).

But the show also looks at the Spaniard’s influence on key artists after his death, including works by Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Paul Klee, Jackson Pollock, Francis Bacon, Willem De Kooning, Oskar Kokoschka and Eugene Delacriox among others.”

Click here for a Flash-only, frankly awful, pop-up hell official site for the venue.
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In the form of two exhibitions – a ‘real’ and a ‘virtual’ one, visitors have the chance to get unusually close to a restoration project of this type.
In the Saint Nicola Chapel in the lower Basilica a series of works – the Franciscan frescoes – by Giotto are being painstakingly restored, and you, the visitor, will be able to mount the scaffolding and see up close just what is involved in such a delicate operation.

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I Colori di Giotto – official site (although nothing there at time of writing)

For the first time in 10 years, and only the fifth during the last 100 years, the Turin Shroud will once more go on show to the public, more than 2 million of whom are expected to seize the opportunity.

Reservation is free of charge and you will be sent a confirmation code of your booking via email.

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Link to make reservation for viewing the Turin Shroud

The 12th edition runs from the 16th to the 25th of April 2010 (spot the flexibility on what constitutes a week), and sees free admissions to all Italian State museums, hand in hand with various special events.

The very subdued announcement is here, and you can view the official release (PDF) here.

The above document is very bullish in wanting to increase attendance, and invites (well, demands) submissions from all participants (before March 16th) with details of at least two ‘excellent events’. Once all that is done we can expect the shouting from the rooftops to commence. Anyway, a good time to be getting your culture fix in Italy. Note that although admittance is free, any and all of the online reservation services, such as tickitaly.com will still be charging a service fee for actually making the reservations.

If you can time your visit accordingly, particularly for families, there are savings to be had for your outings to the likes of the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the Brera Gallery in Milan and the Borghese Gallery in Rome.

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A couple of other teasers have been mentioned in the local paper – Pearl Jam and Black Eyed Peas – and it’s claimed that there will be some more announcements before too long – when the promoter returns from America, to be precise.

The local council have confirmed that they are still firmly behind the event, and will be offering financial support once more – although just how much is not yet known.

Update, 23rd February – hot off the press is the news that Paolo Nutini, honourable son of Lucca (well, Barga) is likely to be confirmed for either the 19th or 20th of July.

Update, 5th March – the official site has now been updated, but there’s not a great deal there as yet. Paolo Nutini is confirmed for the 20th, Jeff Beck will now need a beard as his billing now reads ‘Jeff Beck + ZZ Top’, and the old trooper of the festival, Mick Hucknall, is back – Simply Red on the 23rd of July.

Update, 1st April – confirmed recently, and present on the official site – Crosby, Stills and Nash on the 18th July. Confirmed yesterday, but not yet on the official site, Tokyo Hotel on the 27th of July and Placebo on the 28th. There are still some slots to be confirmed, and the organiser dropped some names into the pot once more – Paco de Lucia (looks likely to be confirmed), Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens), Brian Adams and Stevie Wonder.

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* The Duomo. Cathedrals in Italy are called ‘il duomo’ (the dome) by default … even if they don’t have a dome, which most of them, of course, do. The duomo in Florence is a work of rare architectural splendour, and was indeed a groundbreaking construction in its day. So look for a Florence hotel near to Brunelleschi’s masterpiece.

* The Uffizi Gallery. The world’s most remarkable collection of Italian Renaissance paintings, and occupying what were once the government offices of Cosimo I (one of the ruling Medici clan). Uffizi means offices you see. 45 rooms with works by Giotto, Cimabue, Filippo Lippi, Piero della Francesca, Bronzino, Leonardo (of course), Botticelli and a host of other Tuscan and Italian geniuses. Unmissable, so make sure your Florence hotel is within reach of the Uffizi.

* The Bargello. After the paintings, the sculptures. The Museo Nazionale del Bargello has pieces by Michelangelo, Ammannati, Giambologna, Cellini, Luca della Robbia, a superb bronze David, and a room of marvellous Renaissance portrait busts. Don’t leave Florence without a visit, and make sure that your Florence hotel allows for a visit to the marvellous Bargello.

* The Accademia. Because it has Michelangelo’s David of course. But tourist box-ticking aside, there are a half dozen other masterpieces by the Tuscan maestro, as well as some perfectly viewable paintings by Bottichello, Pontormo and others. The Accademia was so called because it was Florence’s first drawing academy by the way, a fascinating historical footnote in this city of great draughtsman artists. Need we say that your Florence hotel should be within easy reach of the Accademia del Disegno.

* Piazza Santa Croce. One of Florence’s largest squares and a hub for much that happens in the Tuscan city. This was one of Florence’s most populous districts before the floods in 1966. It is home to many of the city’s festivals and other ceremonial events and has the huge Franciscan hulk of the Church of Santa Croce. The church’s chapels have fresco cycles by Giotto and others. There are bars, restaurants, cafes, the Sant’Ambrogio market, the Museo Horne and the Casa Buonarroti, dedicated to favourite son Michelangelo. Try and find a Florence hotel near Piazza Santa Croce.

ahotelinitaly’s Florence hotel listings

Tickets for Florence attractions, includin the Uffizi – tickitaly.com

It’s an ancient city. Excavated cemeteries in the town point to Greek occupation from around the sixth century BC, but the natural harbour here was probably in use far earlier. An important trading base for skins, honey and wood, the power of Genoa was to grow until the early Middle Ages, and by the thirteenth century the city was a major seapower. The Genoese were players in the Crusades and from then on were some of the most traders around the Mediterranean and the ports of north Africa, Greece and Turkey. And seafaring nations don’t just bring home goods and money, of course, they bring home ideas, new ways of doing things. Genoa’s builders were using the Arab pointed arch a full century before the rest of Italy. And Genoa has an eclectic cuisine that draws far more on the southern Mediterranean than you would expect, given its northerly position.

Other Italians mock the Ligurians and Genovese for meanness. It’s unfair, but this is a kitchen where nothing is wasted, so you will encounter offal-based dishes. The keynote ingredient is pesto however, the delicious paste of basil, garlic, pine nuts and parmesan (or pecorino), mashed in olive oil. Seafood is predictably to the fore in this bustling port: anchovies, mussels, octopus, clams and squid, and pastas served in seafood sauces. Salt cod (baccala) is popular, and local dishes include cuttlefish stew (burrida di seppie) and vinegar-marinaded fish (in carpione). Frugality is again a theme here, the Genoese have become experts at preserving excess fish stocks. Genoa has its grand buildings too. There is a fine Duomo in the Cattedrale di San Lorenzo.

It also has one of the oldest universities, founded in 1481 (in medieval Italy, learning tended to accompany trade), and the oldest football club in Italy. That’s football as in soccer (or calcio to give it the Italian name), though Genoa are actually (and delightfully) named Genoa Football and Cricket Club, being set up by expat Englishmen.

The city has its dark side too. The 2001 G8 summit in the town was overshadowed by riots and a brutal over-reaction by the local police, who shot one man dead and beat and arrested numerous protestors. An inglorious approach saw carabinieri raiding union buildings and media centres during the protests. And never forget this was the city that refused to bankroll local boy Christopher Columbus … a woeful lack of foresight that saw Genoa head into centuries of decline.

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