28 March

NEW - Premiere of Andrea Chénier

Giordano’s masterpiece is still stirring emotions

Andrea Chénier, the greatest and most enduring opera to be written by the composer Umberto Giordano, was performed for the first time on this day in 1896 in Milan.  It was immediately acknowledged as a triumph and many members of the audience at Teatro La Scala on the first night were moved by the emotional intensity of Giordano’s music.  The four act opera was based on the life story of the French poet Andrea Chénier who was executed by guillotine in Paris in 1794, during the French revolution, at the age of just 31. He was accused of being a counter revolutionary in the final days of the so called ‘reign of terror.’  Ironically, just three days after Chénier’s horrific death, France’s radical Jacobin leader, Robespierre, one of the main architects of ‘the terror’, was himself arrested and sent to the guillotine.  Giordano’s music, in particular the arias he wrote for the tenor who sings the title role, captured the turmoil and poignancy of this dangerous time in France’s history.  Read more...

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Alberto Grimaldi - film producer

Spaghetti Western trilogy gave Naples producer his big break

Film producer Alberto Grimaldi, who boasts an extraordinary list of credits that includes Last Tango in Paris, The Canterbury Tales, Man of La Mancha, Fellini's Casanova, 1900, Ginger and Fred and Gangs of New York, was born in Naples on this day in 1925. Grimaldi trained as a lawyer and it was in that capacity that he initially found work in the cinema industry in the 1950s.  However, he could see the money-making potential in production and in the early 1960s set up his own company, Produzioni Europee Associate (PEA).  His first three productions, cashing in on the popularity in Italy of westerns, enjoyed some success but it was a meeting with Sergio Leone, the Italian director, that earned him his big break. Leone’s first venture into the western genre, A Fistful of Dollars, had been an unexpected hit both for him and the young American actor, Clint Eastwood. Read more…

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Anselmo Colzani - opera star

Baritone who had 16 seasons at the New York Met

Anselmo Colzani, an operatic baritone who was a fixture at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as La Scala in his home country, was born on this day in 1918 in Budrio, a town not far from Bologna.  His stage career continued until 1980, when he made his final stage appearance in one of his signature roles as Scarpia in Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca.  Although his repertoire was much wider, his reputation became strongly associated with the works of Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi, with Jack Rance in Puccini's Fanciulla del West and the title role of Verdi's Falstaff, as well as Amonasro in Aida and Iago in Otello among his most famous roles.  Colzani’s association with the Met began in March 1960 after he was approached by Rudolf Bing, the opera house’s general manager. Read more…

Vincenzo Capone - prohibition agent

'War hero'-turned-lawman hid his family identity

Vincenzo Capone, older brother of the notorious mobster Al Capone, was born on this day in 1892 in Angri, a town in Campania located between Salerno and Naples.  While Al drifted into crime as a teenager, Vincenzo wanted a different life. After running away to join a circus, he changed his name and invented a new background to conceal his true identity. He acquired a reputation as a war hero before forging a career in law enforcement, notably pitting himself against the criminal gangs of his brother’s world as an agent for the Bureau of Prohibition.  The first in a family of nine children, Vincenzo had just one sibling, his brother Ralph, when his father, Gabriele, a barber, and his mother, Teresa, emigrated to the United States in 1895. His father continued to work as a hairdresser, while Teresa’s skills as a seamstress enabled her to find a job. Read more…

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Fra Bartolommeo - Renaissance great

Friar rated equal of Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo

Fra Bartolommeo, the Renaissance artist recognised as one of the greatest religious painters, was born on this day in 1472 in Savignano di Vaiano, in Tuscany.  Also known as Baccio della Porta, a nickname he acquired because when he lived in Florence his lodgings were near what is now the Porta Romana, Bartolommeo created works that chart the development of artistic styles and fashion in Florence, from the earthly realism of the 15th century to the grandeur of High Renaissance in the 16th century.  His most famous works include Annunciation, Vision of St Bernard, Madonna and Child with Saints, The Holy Family, The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine, God the Father with SS Catherine of Siena and Mary Magdalene and Madonna della Misericordia.  Bartolommeo always prepared for any painting by making sketches, more than 1,000 in total over the years he was active.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Once Upon a Time in the Italian West: The Filmgoers' Guide to Spaghetti Westerns, by Howard Hughes

The ideal popular guide to the key Spaghetti Westerns - mainly the good but also the bad and the ugly - this is an authoritative, entertaining and comprehensive companion to the films that created the mythical Spaghetti West in the most improbable circumstances. Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy is covered, with many more major and minor Spaghetti Westerns, including Sergio Corbucci's Navajo Joe, Carlo Lizzani's The Hills Run Red and Duccio Tessari's A Pistol for Ringo. This popular guide explores the films through the biographies and filmographies of key personnel, stories of the films' making, their locations and sets, sources, musical scores, detailed cast information, box office fortunes internationally, with many illustrations, including original posters and stills. Once Upon a Time in the Italian West is a well-researched, detailed, no-nonsense and above all enthusiastic guide to 20 of the best Italian Westerns.

Howard Hughes is a UK-based film writer and researcher. He is the author of the IBTauris Filmgoers' Guides and Aim for the Heart: The Films of Clint Eastwood.

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Premiere of Andrea Chénier

Giordano’s masterpiece is still stirring emotions

The poster advertising the opening
night of the Giordano masterpiece

Andrea Chénier, the greatest and most enduring opera to be written by the composer Umberto Giordano, was performed for the first time on this day in 1896 in Milan.

It was immediately acknowledged as a triumph and many members of the audience at Teatro alla Scala on the first night were moved by the emotional intensity of Giordano’s music.

The four-act opera was based on the life story of the French poet Andrea Chénier who was executed by guillotine in Paris in 1794, during the French revolution, at the age of just 31. He was accused of being a counter revolutionary in the final days of the so called ‘reign of terror.’ 

Ironically, just three days after Chénier’s horrific death, France’s radical Jacobin leader, Maximilien Robespierre, one of the main architects of ‘the terror’, was himself arrested and sent to the guillotine.

Giordano’s music, in particular the arias he wrote for the tenor who sings the title role, captured the turmoil and poignancy of this dangerous time in France’s history. The quality of the music has enabled the opera to remain popular over the centuries.

Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras are three of the great tenors to have sung Giordano’s emotional arias to great acclaim during the 20th century, often featuring the haunting Un dì all'azzurro spazio from the final act in their concert repertoire. The music remains a favourite with singers today because it provides an opportunity for a talented tenor to demonstrate his skills and the quality of his voice.

Giordano worked with the tenor Alfonso Garulli to create the role of Andrea Chénier, but Garulli became ill at the eleventh hour and his place on the first night in 1896 had to be taken by the young tenor Giuseppe Borgatti.

On the night of the premiere in Milan, Borgatti’s triumph in the role escalated him to the top tier of Italian opera singers and he went on to become acknowledged as Italy’s greatest Wagnerian tenor.

The tenors Giovanni Martinelli and Beniamino Gigli were also famous for their portrayals of the role of Andrea Chénier, and Enrico Caruso sang the part at performances of the opera in London in 1907.

Giuseppe Borgatti was a late
substitute in the title role

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Italian tenors Franco Corelli, Mario del Monaco and Carlo Bergonzi were also acclaimed for their interpretations of the title role.

The libretto for the verismo opera was written by Luigi Illica and on the night of the premiere in 1896 the orchestra was conducted by Rodolfo Ferrari. 

Singing opposite Borgatti, in the role of Chenier’s lover, Maddalena, was the soprano Avelina Carrera, and the part of the servant, Carlo Gérard, was sung by the baritone Mario Sammarco.

As well as the famous arias sung by the tenor playing the title role, Andrea Chénier also contains a beautiful aria for Maddalena, La Mamma Morta. This featured in the 1993 film Philadelphia, when a recording of the aria by Maria Callas was used in the soundtrack.

The final haunting duet, Vicino a te, which is sung by Chénier and Maddalena as they prepare to climb the scaffolding to go to the guillotine together, has also stood the test of time and is regularly performed. Corelli and the Italian soprano Renata Tebaldi were famed for performing this duet.

Teatro alla Scala is among a wealth of theatres
in Milan staging entertainments of many kinds

Travel tip:

Milan has come to be regarded as the opera capital of Italy because it is home to Teatro alla Scala, the theatre where many singers have made their debuts and operas have been premiered. La Scala was built after fire destroyed the Teatro Regio Ducale, previously the home of opera in the city, and a new theatre was built on the site of the former Church of Santa Maria alla Scala. The cost was funded by the owners of the boxes at the former Teatro Regio Ducale and it was designed by neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini, opening on 3 August 1778. Milan went on to have a wealth of theatres staging a variety of entertainment, such as Teatro Dal Verme in San Giovanni sul Muro, which opened in 1872. The Piccolo Teatro in Via Rivoli opened in 1947 and Teatro dell’Arte in Viale Alemagna was redesigned and reopened in 1960. Teatro Litta next to Palazzo Litta in Corso Magenta dates back about 370 years and is believed to be the oldest theatre in the city. La Scala’s museum displays costumes and memorabilia from the history of the theatre and is open every day except the Italian Bank Holidays and a few days in December. 

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Leonardo Da Vinci's wall painting of The Last 
Supper is kept in a climate-controlled conditions

Travel tip:

Milan is also famous as the home of the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece, The Last Supper, on the wall of the refectory at the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Commissioned by Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, Leonardo began work on The Last Supper (known as Il Cenacolo in Italian) in 1495 and completed it four years later. He felt traditional fresco painting techniques would not capture the intensity he wanted so he experimented by painting on to dry plaster on the wall of the refectory. But his new method was not as durable as the traditional one and the painting soon deteriorated. By 1556, the painting was described by one commentator as ‘ruined’. Over the years it suffered from poor restoration techniques, vandalism by French soldiers, having a doorway cut into it to provide a shortcut for monks coming and going for their meals, and wartime bomb damage. By 1978 only a small part of Leonardo’s original work remained. A restoration project was organised to reverse the damage and the refectory was sealed and converted to provide a climate-controlled environment. Using modern techniques, the restoration team slowly removed everything that had been added after Leonardo completed the painting in 1498. The areas that couldn’t be repaired were repainted in subdued colours so they could be distinguished from the original painting. After more than 20 years’ work, longer than it took Leonardo to paint it, The Last Supper was once more revealed in 1999. The refectory has since remained a protected environment and visitor numbers inside at any one time are carefully restricted.

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More reading:

Why Giovanni Martinelli was seen by Americans as the successor to Caruso

How a football World Cup took Luciano Pavarotti's fame to a new level

Umberto Giordano's place among the greats of Italian opera

Also on this day:

1472: The birth of Renaissance painter Fra Bartolommeo 

1892: The birth of prohibition agent Vincenzo Capone

1918: The birth of star baritone Anselmo Colzani

1925: The birth of film producer Alberto Grimaldi

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27 March

Luca Zaia - politician

Popular president of Veneto tipped as future PM

The politician Luca Zaia, who has been spoken of as a possible candidate to be Italy’s prime minister, was born on this day in 1968 in Conegliano, in the Veneto.  Zaia was president of the Veneto region for 15 years, the maximum term allowed. When he was re-elected for the second time in 2020, he received 76.8% of the vote, the biggest share won by a regional president in Italian history.  A member of the Lega party, formerly Lega Nord (Northern League), he was regularly suggested by some commentators as a contender for the position of President of the Council of Ministers - the official title of Italy’s prime minister.  After being obliged to stand down as Veneto's president before the November 2025 regional elections, Zaia would not be drawn on his future political ambitions, saying only that he remained committed to serving the interests of Italy's north.  Read more… 

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Gianluigi Lentini - transfer record breaker

AC Milan outbid Juventus for Torino star

Gianluigi Lentini, who was for four years the world's most expensive footballer, was born on this day in 1969.  A winger with Torino known for outstanding dribbling skills, crossing accuracy and lightning pace, Lentini was the subject of a fierce bidding war between Torino's city neighbours, Juventus, and defending Serie A champions AC Milan in the summer of 1992 which ended with Milan paying a fee of around £13 million for the 23-year-old star.  It was the second time in the space of a few weeks that Milan had paid a world record sum for a player, having signed the French striker Jean-Pierre Papin from Marseille for £10 million.  At a time when the Italian league was awash with cash,the Papin record itself had been eclipsed a short while before the Lentini deal was agreed when Juventus paid Sampdoria £12 million for striker Gianluca Vialli.  Read more…

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Alessandro La Marmora - military general

Founder of Italy's famed Bersaglieri corps

The general who founded the Italian army's famous Bersaglieri corps was born on this day in 1799 in Turin.  Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora was one of 16 children born to the Marquis Celestino Ferrero della Marmora and his wife Raffaella.  The family had a strong military tradition. Alessandro was one of four of the male children who grew up to serve as generals.  La Marmora was a captain when he came up with the idea for the Bersaglieri in 1836.  He had spent much time in France, England, Bavaria, Saxony, Switzerland, and the Austrian county of Tyrol studying armies and tactics and he approached King Carlo Alberto of Piedmont-Sardinia with the idea of creating a new corps of light infantry.  He envisaged a mobile elite corps similar to the French chasseurs and Austrian jägers, trained to a high physical level and all crack marksmen.  Read more…

Sara Gama - footballer 

Role model who captained Italy Women to first World Cup quarter-final

The footballer Sara Gama, a pioneer for women’s professional football in Italy who as captain led Italy’s national team to their best performance at a FIFA Women’s World Cup, was born on this day in 1989 in Trieste.  Central defender Gama, who retired from international football in 2024 with 140 caps but still captains Juventus in the Women’s Serie A, is one of only eight female players in the Italian football Hall of Fame. She has become a role model for young girls wishing to make a career in football.  Only three Italian women have won more international caps, the peak of Gama’s international career arriving in 2019 when Italy’s women qualified under her captaincy for the World Cup finals for the first time in 20 years. Italy's quarter-final appearance was their best performance in the history of the competition. Read more…

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Joe Sentieri - singer and actor

Career remembered for international hit song

The singer, songwriter and actor Joe Sentieri, who released seven albums and around 100 singles over the course of a career spanning more than a quarter of a century, died on this day in 2007 in the Adriatic coastal city of Pescara.  Although he enjoyed considerable success in his own right, he tends to be remembered most for his association with an Italian song that became an international hit after it was translated into English.  Sentieri’s 1961 song Uno dei tanti (One of the Many) was given English lyrics by the American producing partners Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and repackaged as I (Who Have Nothing).  A hit first for the American soul and R&B star Ben E King, it was covered with great success by the British artists Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey. The Jones version reached No 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while Bassey’s was No 6 in the UK singles chart in 1963. Read more…

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Book of the Day: The Rise of the Radical Right in Italy: A New Balance of Power in the Right-Wing Camp, by Valerio Alfonso Bruno, James F Downes and Alessio Scopelliti

The Rise of the Radical Right in Italy examines developments in Italian politics in the years 2018–2022. The authors set the rise of the radical right within the context of electoral volatility and fragmentation that has underpinned post-1945 Italian politics and examine right-wing party competition between the two main radical right parties, Lega and Fratelli d’Italia, alongside the important shifts that have transformed the traditional centre-right coalition (coalizione di centro-destra) in Italian politics. The volume concludes with implications for the global trajectory of the rise of different populist and radical right parties across Europe and the European Union, with many of these radical right parties now becoming significant political players across the world.

Valerio Alfonso Bruno, a specialist on the Italian far-right, is Research Fellow at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan; James F Downes is Assistant Professor I in Comparative Politics & International Relations at Hong Kong Metropolitan University; Alessio Scopelliti is a political scientist at the University of Milan.

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26 March

Lella Lombardi - racing driver

Only woman to win points in Formula One

Maria Grazia “Lella” Lombardi, the only female driver to finish in a points position in a Formula One world championship motor race, was born on this day in 1941 in Frugarolo, near Alessandria in Piedmont.  She finished out of the points in 11 of the 12 world championship rounds which she started between 1974 and 1976 but finished sixth in the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, a race marred by the tragic deaths of five spectators after the car being driven by the German driver Rolf Stommelen went out of control and somersaulted over a barrier into the crowd.  His was the eighth car to crash in the first 25 of the 75 laps and the race was halted four laps later when it became known there had been fatalities. At that moment, Lombardi’s March-Ford was in sixth position, albeit two laps behind race leader Jochen Mass.  Read more…

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Guccio Gucci – fashion designer

The man whose name inspired the interlocking G logo

The founder of the House of Gucci, Guccio Gucci, was born on this day in 1881 in Florence.  In the early 1900s Gucci worked as a lift boy at the Savoy Hotel in London, where he was inspired by the elegance of the wealthy people who stayed there and their smart luggage.  On his return to Florence he started making his own line of leather travel bags and accessories and in the 1920s he opened a small leather and equestrian shop in Via della Vigna Nuova.  Gucci later added handbags to his line and relocated to a bigger shop. He was fascinated with horses and his handbags featured clasps and fasteners resembling horse bits and stirrups. He gained a reputation for hiring the best craftsmen he could to work on his products.  In 1938 he expanded his business to Rome. When raw materials became scarce during the war he used materials such as hemp and linen to make his bags.  Read more…

Elio de Angelis - racing driver

The 'last gentleman racer' of Formula One

The Formula One motor racing driver Elio de Angelis was born on this day in 1958 in Rome.  His record of winning two Grands Prix from 108 career starts in F1 may not look impressive but he was regarded as a talented driver among his peers, holding down a place with Lotus for six consecutive seasons alongside such talents as Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna, both future world champions.  He had his best seasons in 1984 and 1985, which encompassed seven of his nine career podium finishes and in which he finished third and fifth respectively in the drivers' championship standings. Tragically, he was killed in testing the following year, having left Lotus for Brabham in frustration after perceiving that Senna was being given more favourable treatment.  De Angelis was seen by many in motor racing as "the last of the gentlemen racers."  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Lella Lombardi: The Fearless Woman Who Conquered Formula One, by Dora D Crabtree

In the male-dominated world of 1970s Formula One racing, where speeds exceeded 180 miles per hour and danger lurked at every corner, one woman refused to be intimidated. Lella Lombardi didn't just participate in the most exclusive motorsport on earth. She scored championship points, earned the respect of fellow drivers, and shattered every assumption about what women could achieve behind the wheel.  Born in a small Italian town where girls were expected to follow traditional paths, Lombardi discovered her passion for speed on the dusty roads of Piedmont. Against her family's wishes and society's expectations, she pursued racing with relentless determination. From her early days in Formula 850 to the gruelling endurance races at Le Mans, Lombardi proved her skill repeatedly. But Formula One represented the ultimate challenge, a circuit where only the fastest and bravest competed. Lella Lombardi: The Fearless Woman Who Conquered Formula One traces Lombardi's remarkable journey from her groundbreaking entry into Formula One in 1974 through her historic half-point finish at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix. That achievement made her the only woman in history to score points in a Formula One World Championship race, a record that stands decades later. Beyond the statistics and lap times, this is a story about courage, resilience, and the price of being first.

Author Dora Crabtree drew on archive material in Britain, Italy and elsewhere, on interviews with Lella Lombardi and on first-hand accounts by friends, family and acquaintances of  the driver to paint as accurate a portrait as she could of one of the few female drivers to make an impact in the world of Formula One.

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