Showing posts with label Savona. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Savona. Show all posts

24 February 2022

Renata Scotto - soprano and opera director

Singer who stood in for Callas became an international star

After making her debut in 1952, Scotto had established herself as a star within five years
After making her debut in 1952, Scotto had
established herself as a star within five years
Opera singer Renata Scotto, who was one of the leading sopranos in the world at the height of her career, was born on this day in 1934 in Savona in Liguria.

Admired for her musicality and acting ability, Scotto was one of the most popular singers during the bel canto revival of the 1960s, performing throughout Italy, and in the UK, America, Russia, Japan, Spain, France and Germany.

She sang opposite great tenors such as Mario del Monaco, Alfredo Kraus and Luciano Pavarotti.

Scotto made her stage debut on Christmas Eve 1952 at the age of 18 as Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi’s La traviata, singing to a sold-out house in Savona, her home town. The next day she made her official debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan as Violetta. Shortly afterwards, she performed in Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly in Savona.

In 1953 she appeared at Teatro alla Scala in Milan as Walter in Alfredo Catalani's La Wally alongside Renata Tebaldi and Mario del Monaco and, on the opening night, was called back for 15 curtain calls.

At the Edinburgh Festival in 1957 she stood in for Maria Callas, who had refused to appear saying she was ill, as Amina in La Scala’s production of Vincenzo Bellini’s La sonnambula. The performance was a great success and Scotto, at the age of 23, had become an international opera star.

Scotto also achieved much success as a director
Scotto also achieved much
success as a director 
In 1961 she performed the role of Amina again ,appearing with the tenor Alfredo Kraus at La Fenice in Venice.

For more than 40 years, Scotto performed more than 45 different roles in operas written by Donizetti, Meyerbeer, Verdi, Puccini, Bellini, Ponchielli and many more composers.

In 1960, she married Lorenzo Anselmi, who was the first violinist at La Scala. They had two children and eventually the family made their home in America,  where Scotto had great success at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.  Lorenzo died in 2021 at the age of 87, by which time they had moved back to Italy, returning to Savona.

Since the 1990s, Scotto has been a stage director with many credits to her name. She won an Emmy Award for her telecast of La traviata at New York City Opera in 1995. In 2009, she won an Anton Coppola Award for Excellence in the Arts.

Renata Scotto celebrates her 88th birthday today.

Savona, a centre for shipbuilding, used to have many iron works and foundaries
Savona, a centre for shipbuilding, used to have
many iron works and foundaries
Travel tip:

Liguria’s third largest city after Genoa and La Spezia, Savona used to be one of the biggest centres of the Italian iron industry, the iron works and foundries providing materials for shipbuilding and railways among other things. It also has a busy port but as well as industrial areas the city has a charming medieval centre containing architectural gems such as the Baroque Cattedrale di Nostra Signora Assunta - behind which is Italy’s other Sistine Chapel, like the Rome version erected by Pope Sixtus IV - and the Fortezza del Priamar, built by the Genoese in 1542 after their conquest of the city and later used a prison. The popes Sixtus IV and Julius II were born in the city and it was there in 1830 that the revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini was imprisoned.   Food specialities include gnocchi with nettles, bardenulla (white polenta flavoured with leek and mushrooms) and tagliatelle with mushrooms.

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The Teatro Nuovo in Milan is part of a modern shopping complex
The Teatro Nuovo in Milan is part
of a modern shopping complex
Travel tip:

The Teatro Nuovo theatre in Milan, where Scotto made her official debut in Verdi’s La traviata in 1952, is located on the Piazza San Babila in the lower level of the Palazzo del Toro. It was designed by architect Emilio Lancia and was the project of the impresario Remigio Paone. It was inaugurated in December 1938 with a performance of Eduardo De Filippo's comedy Ditegli sempre di sì. Piazza San Babila is characterised by the presence of a fountain built in 1997 by the architect Luigi Caccia Dominioni in conjunction with the Ente Fiera Milano.

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More reading:

Powerful voice made Mario del Monaco the perfect Otello

A star who prospered despite Madama Butterfly debut flop

The tragedy of Alfredo Catalani's early death

Also on this day:

1607: The debut of Monteverdi’s first opera, L’Orfeo

1896: The birth of restaurateur Cesare ‘Caesar’ Cardini

1934: The birth of politician Bettino Craxi

1990: The death of former president Sandro Pertini

(Picture credits: Savona by Andrea Ridács via Pixabay)



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8 March 2021

Gianni Baget Bozzo – priest and politician

Theologian moved from party to party

Gianni Baget Bozzo during a session of the European Parliament, where he spent 10 years
Gianni Baget Bozzo during a session of the
European Parliament, where he spent 10 years
Prolific writer, ordained Catholic priest, political activist and one-time MEP Gianni Baget Bozzo - often referred to as Don Gianni - was born on this day in 1925 in Savona in the northern Italian region of Liguria.  He took the name Baget from his mother, who was of Catalan origin but died when he was five, and Bozzo from the two uncles who raised him.

Baget Bozzo was known for supporting parties from both ends of the political spectrum at different times. At one time a Christian Democrat activist, Baget Bozzo was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the Italian Socialist party in 1984, which led to him being suspended from the priesthood. He was a member of Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia party from 1994.

He wrote many books about Christianity and as a theologian was a follower of the theories of Joseph Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.

Baget Bozzo grew up in Genoa where he graduated in law. He studied at the Pontificia Universita Gregoriana in Rome, which was established by Ignatius Loyola in 1551 as a school of grammar, humanity and Christian doctrine. It was more generally referred to as the Roman College. After graduating Baget Bozzo was ordained as a priest in 1949.

Over the years he contributed to many newspapers, in particular La Repubblica and he wrote dozens of books.

Baget Bozzo made regular appearances as a guest in televised political debates
Baget Bozzo made regular appearances as a
guest in televised political debates
Among them was one about the Christian Democrats, The Christian Party in Power: the DC of De Gasperi and Dossetti, 1945-1954. He also wrote Catholics and Berlinguer’s letter (Enrico Berlinguer was the leader of the Italian Communist party from 1972 until 1984).

In 1983 with Giovanni Tanassini, he co-authored Aldo Moro: A politician in Crisis 1962-1973. Moro, who was twice elected as Prime Minister of Italy, was kidnapped by the Red Brigades in 1978 and killed after 55 days in captivity.

During the early 1970s Baget Bozzo had been moving closer to the Socialist Party (PSI) and he eventually became a strong supporter of Bettino Craxi.

In 1993 he transferred his allegiance to Berlusconi and became one of his advisers and speech writers.  He had been suspended from the priesthood after becoming an MEP but was readmitted after leaving the European Parliament in 1994. He continued to write about religion and politics until 2006, by which time his output exceeded 70 titles.

Baget Bozzo died in Genoa in 2009 at the age of 84. 

A view of the harbour area in Savona, the third largest city in maritime Liguria
A view of the harbour area in Savona, the third
largest city in maritime Liguria
Travel tip:

The third largest city in Liguria after Genoa and La Spezia, Savona used to be one of the biggest centres of the Italian iron industry, the iron works and foundries providing materials for shipbuilding and railways among other things. It also has a busy port but as well as industrial areas the city has a charming medieval centre containing architectural gems such as the Baroque Cattedrale di Nostra Signora Assunta - behind which is Italy’s other Sistine Chapel, like the Rome version erected by Pope Sixtus IV - and the Fortezza del Priamar, built by the Genoese in 1542 after their conquest of the city and later used a prison. The popes Sixtus IV and Julius II were born in the city and it was there in 1830 that the revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini was imprisoned.   Food specialities include gnocchi with nettles, bardenulla (white polenta flavored with leek and mushrooms) and tagliatelle with mushrooms.

Savona hotels from Booking.com

Il Bigo, the sculpture by Renzo Piano which is a centrepiece of his old harbour development
Il Bigo, the sculpture by Renzo Piano which is a
centrepiece of his old harbour development
Travel tip:

Genoa, wedged between the Ligurian Sea and the Apennine mountains, is a colourful port city with a vibrant character and the home of many outstanding buildings, such as the Romanesque Cathedral of San Lorenzo, with its black-and-white-striped façade and frescoed interior, the Doge's Palace and the 16th century Royal Palace.  The area around the restored harbour area offers a maze of fascinating alleys and squares, enhanced recently by the work of Genoa architect Renzo Piano, and a landmark aquarium, the largest in Italy.  The city’s Piazza de Ferrari, as well as being renowned for its bronze fountain, is surrounded by the headquarters of a number of banks, reflecting the status the city enjoyed at the end of the 19th century as Italy's financial centre, alongside Milan.  

Also on this day:

La Festa della Donna - Women’s Day

1566: The birth of controversial composer Carlo Gesualdo

1949: The birth of singer-songwriter Antonello Venditti

(Picture of Savona by Mariangela Calabria via Wikimedia Commons; Il Bigo by Mirko Bozzato from Pixabay)


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20 February 2019

Francesco Maria II della Rovere - the last Duke of Urbino

Last male in famous family line


Francesco II della Rovere, as depicted by the Italian painter Federico Barocci in 1572 (Uffizi Gallery)
Francesco Maria II della Rovere, as depicted by Italian
painter Federico Barocci in 1572 (Uffizi Gallery)
Francesco Maria II della Rovere, the last holder of the title Duke of Urbino and the last surviving male from a famous noble family, was born on this day in 1549 in Pesaro in Le Marche.

Descended from the 15th century Pope Sixtus IV, Francesco Maria II’s only male heir, Federico Ubaldo della Rovere, died without fathering a son, which meant the Duchy reverted to Francesco Maria II, who in turn was convinced he should give it to Pope Urban VIII, of the Barberini family.

Federico’s daughter, Vittoria della Rovere, had been convinced she would be made Duchess of Urbino but had to be content with the Duchies of Rovere and Montefeltro, as well as an art collection that became the property of Florence after she had married Ferdinando II de’ Medici.

Pope Sixtus IV, best known for building the Sistine Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official papal residence in Vatican City, had come from a poor family in Savona in Liguria, but once elected pope became wealthy and powerful and set about ensuring that his personal prosperity was used to the betterment of his family.

He soon made his nephews Giuliano della Rovere (the future Pope Julius II) and Pietro Riario both cardinals and bishops, while appointing four other nephews as cardinals.

Vittoria della Rovere, granddaughter of Francesco Maria II, was the last to carry the family name
Vittoria della Rovere, granddaughter of Francesco
Maria II, was the last to carry the family name 
He made Giovanni Della Rovere - Giuliano’s brother - prefect of Rome, and arranged for him to marry into the da Montefeltro family, dukes of Urbino.

Guidobaldo da Montefeltro adopted Francesco Maria I della Rovere, his sister's child and nephew of Pope Julius II, and named him as heir of the Duchy of Urbino in 1504.

Francesco Maria I inherited the duchy in 1508 thereby starting the line of Rovere Dukes of Urbino. Francesco Maria II della Rovere was his grandson after the third Rovere to hold the title.

As a young man, Francesco Maria II was raised at the court of Philip II of Spain. He would have married a Spanish girl but his father, Guidobaldo II della Rovere, forbade it and demanded he return to Urbino.

Instead, he married Lucrezia d'Este, a daughter of Ercole II d'Este and became Duke of Urbino in 1574, when his father died.

Francesco Maria II inherited considerable debts, however, and was forced to sell the Duchy of Sora and the family’s historic seat in Arce in Lazio.

The Ducal Palace at Pesaro, where Francesco Maria II was born
The Ducal Palace at Pesaro, where
Francesco Maria II was born
His marriage to Lucrezia  remained childless, which was bad news because without an heir his family's would lapse on his death and his entire estate would be acquired, by default, by the Papal States.

It was fortunate, then, that the death of Lucrezia in 1599 allowed him to marry his teenage cousin, Livia della Rovere, who had a male child, Federico Ubaldo, in 1605. He became Duke of Urbino on being married in 1621 but died only two years later, from epilepsy, leaving only a daughter, the aforementioned Vittoria Della Rovere.

The aging Francesco Maria II took up the title of Duke again, but as there was no more hopes of there being a male heir he arranged for his Duchy to be annexed to the Papal States after his death in 1631.

Vittoria inherited the Duke's art collection but after marrying into the Medici family and had it transferred to Florence to the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, where it remains today.

The Fortezza del Priamar was built by the Genoese to protect the city of Savona in the 16th century
The Fortezza del Priamar was built by the Genoese to
protect the city of Savona in the 16th century
Travel tip:

The third largest city in Liguria after Genoa and La Spezia, Savona, where the Della Rovere family originated, used to be one of the biggest centres of the Italian iron industry, the iron-works and foundries providing materials for shipbuilding and railways among other things. It also has a busy port but as well as industrial areas the city has a charming medieval centre containing architectural gems such as the baroque Cattedrale di Nostra Signora Assunta - behind which is Italy’s other Sistine Chapel, like the Rome version erected by Pope Sixtus IV - and the Fortezza del Priamar, built by the Genoese in 1542 after their conquest of the city and later used a prison. It was there in 1830 that the revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini was imprisoned. There is a Palazzo Della Rovere built by Cardinal Giulio della Rovere and designed by Giuliano da Sangallo.

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The resort city of Pesaro has a long stretch of sandy  beach that is free for public use
The resort city of Pesaro has a long stretch of sandy
 beach that is free for public use
Travel tip:

Pesaro, where Francesco Maria II was born, is a coastal city and resort in Le Marche about 35km (22 miles) from Urbino. It has a 15th century Ducal Palace, commissioned by Alessandro Sforza. The city has become well known for being the home of the opera composer Gioachino Rossini, who was born there in 1792. There is a Rossini Opera Festival every summer and Pesaro is home to the Conservatorio Statale di Musica Gioachino Rossini, which was founded from a legacy left by the composer. Look out also for the Rocca Costanza, a massive castle built by Costanzo I Sforza. Of the 17th century Mura Roveresche - the Della Rovere Walls - demolished in the early 20th century, only the Porta del Ponte and Porta Rimini gates remain.


1778: The death of Laura Bassi, physics professor who broke new ground for female academics

1816: Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville premieres in Rome

1993: The death of car marker Ferruccio Lamborghini

(Picture credits: Ducal Palace by Italtrucker; Savona fortress by Diani Stefano; Pesaro beach by Whiskerdisco; all via Wikimedia Commons)