16 May 2022

16 May

Massimo Moratti - business tycoon

Billionaire chairman oversaw golden era at Internazionale

The billionaire tycoon and former chairman of Milan’s Internazionale football club, Massimo Moratti, was born on this day in 1945 in Bosco Chiesanuova, a small town in the Veneto about 20km (12 miles) north of Verona.  His primary business, the energy provider Saras, of which he is chief executive, owns about 15 per cent of Italy’s oil refining capacity, mainly through the Sarroch refinery on Sardinia, which has a capacity of about 300,000 barrels per day.  Moratti is estimated to have net wealth of about €1.28 billion ($1.4 billion) yet is said to have spent close to €1.5 billion of his personal fortune on buying players during his chairmanship of Inter, which lasted from 1995 until 2013 and encompassed a period of unprecedented success.  Between 2005 and 2011 Inter won the Serie A title five times, the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana four times each, the Champions League once and the FIFA World Club cup once.  The five Scudetti came in consecutive seasons from 2006 to 2010, equalling the league record.  The only comparable period was the 1960s, when Massimo's father, Angelo, was chairman and Inter won three scudetti and the European Cup, forerunner of the Champions League, twice, with the team known as Grande Inter – ‘the great Inter’.  Read more…

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Laura Pausini - singer-songwriter

Grammy Award-winner has sold more than 70 million records

One of Italy's best-selling recording artists of all time, pop singer-songwriter Laura Pausini, was born on this day in 1974 in Solarolo, in the province of Ravenna.  The first Italian female performer to win a Grammy Award, Pausini's records have sold more than 70 million copies worldwide, more than both Zucchero and Eros Ramazzotti, two giants of Italian popular music.  The figure is all the more remarkable for the fact that Pausini has only scratched the surface of the English-language market, which is by far the most lucrative.  She records mainly in Italian but has also enjoyed considerable success with recordings in Spanish and Catalan. She is the first non-Spanish artist to sell more than a million copies of a single album in Spain.  Pausini's background and upbringing always made it likely she would pursue a career in the music industry.  Her father, Fabrizio, is a pianist who played as a session musician for Abba's Anni-Frid Lyngstad and with a group from which was formed the best-selling Italian band Pooh. Later in his career, after he had established himself as a piano bar artist, he encouraged Laura to sing.  Read more…

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Mario Monicelli - film director

Life’s work put him among greats of Commedia all’italiana

Mario Monicelli, the director who became known as ‘the father of commedia all’italiana’ and was nominated for an Oscar six times, was born on this day in 1915 in Viareggio.  He made more than 70 films, working into his 90s.  He helped advance the careers of actors such as Vittorio Gassman, Marcello Mastroianni and Claudia Cardinale, and forged successful associations with the great comic actors Totò and Alberto Sordi.  Commedia all’italiana was notable for combining the traditional elements of comedy with social commentary, often addressing some of the most controversial issues of the times and making fun of any organisation, the Catholic Church in particular, perceived to have an earnest sense of self-importance.  The genre’s stories were often heavily laced with sadness and Monicelli’s work won praise for his particular sensitivity to the miseries and joys of Italian life and the foibles of ordinary Italians. He claimed the lack of a happy ending actually defined Italian humour and that themes drawn from poverty, hunger, misery, old age, sickness, and death were the ones that most appealed to the Italian love of tragi-comedy.  Read more…

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Maria Gaetana Agnesi – mathematician

Brilliant scholar gave her time and money to the poor

Maria Gaetana Agnesi, the first woman to write a mathematics handbook, was born on this day in 1718 in Milan.  Maria became a mathematician, philosopher, theologian and humanitarian and was also the first woman to be appointed as a mathematics professor at a university.  She was one of at least 21 children born to Pietro Agnese, a wealthy man whose family had made their money from silk production. Her mother was his first wife, Anna Fortunato Brivio, who was from a noble Milanese family.  Maria was soon recognised as a child prodigy, who could speak Italian and French by the time she was five and had learnt Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, German and Latin by the time she was 11.  When she became ill at the age of 12, it was thought to have been because of excessive studying and reading, but after she was prescribed vigorous dancing and horse riding to improve her health, she suffered convulsions and was then advised to moderate her activities.  By the time Maria was 14 she was studying ballistics and geometry. Her father regularly invited learned men to his house to listen to her read and to discuss philosophical questions with her.  Read more…


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15 May 2022

15 May

NEWSalvatore Fisichella - operatic tenor

Singer was called the most outstanding interpreter of Bellini of his day

Opera singer Salvatore Fisichella, who won international acclaim for his interpretations of the leading roles in Bellini’s operas, was born on this day in 1943 in Catania in Sicily.  Recognised for the ease and vocal brilliance of his singing, Fisichella has specialised in performing in bel canto operas, especially those of Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini.  He began singing when he was a small child at family parties. He was taught music at the local seminary and from the age of ten sang solos during church services.  After leaving the seminary, Fisichella attended a secondary school that had a science-based curriculum and then studied to become a surveyor.  Once he had qualified as a surveyor, he had little time for singing, but one day he was invited to the wedding of one of his clients. Fisichella had drawn up the plans for the couple’s new home, but on the day of the wedding he found himself filling in for the tenor, who had been scheduled to perform but whose arrival was delayed.  The bride, who had specifically requested Ave Maria, was so upset she threatened to postpone the wedding. Read more… 

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Anna Maria Alberghetti - singer and actress

Child prodigy who rejected Hollywood to become Broadway star

The actress and operatic singer Anna Maria Alberghetti was born on this day in 1936 in the Adriatic resort of Pesaro.  She moved with her family to the United States in her teens and became a Broadway star, winning a Tony Award in 1962 as best actress in a musical for her performance in Bob Merrill’s Carnival, directed by Gower Champion.  Alberghetti was a child prodigy with music in her blood. Her father was an accomplished musician, an opera singer and concertmaster of the Rome Opera Company, who also played the cello. Her mother was a pianist.  They influenced the direction in which her talent developed and by the age of six she was singing with symphony orchestras with her father as her vocal instructor.  After success touring Europe, Anna Maria was invited to perform in the United States and made her debut at Carnegie Hall in New York at the age of 14. Given the state of Italy after the Second World War, the idea of settling permanently in America became too attractive for the family to resist.   At that time, Anna Maria’s focus was on a career as an opera singer but the American cinema industry was obsessed with European actresses.  Read more…

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Pippo Barzizza - band leader

Musician was an Italian pioneer of jazz and swing

The musician and bandleader Giuseppe ‘Pippo’ Barzizza, who helped popularise jazz and swing music in Italy during a long and successful career, was born on this day in 1902 in Genoa.  Barzizza was active in music for eight decades but was probably at the peak of his popularity in the 1930s and 40s, when he led the Blue Star and Cetra orchestras.  He continued to be a major figure in popular music until the 1960s and thereafter regularly came out of retirement to show that his talents had not waned.  He died at his home in Sanremo in 1994, just a few weeks before his 93rd birthday.  As well as arranging the music of others, Barzizza wrote more than 200 songs of his own in his lifetime, and helped advance the careers of such singers as Alberto Rabagliati, Otello Boccaccini, Norma Bruni, Maria Jottini and Silvana Fioresi among others.  In addition to his skills as a writer, conductor and orchestra leader, Barzizza was an accomplished player of a range of instruments, including violin, piano, saxophone, banjo and accordion.  A child prodigy on the violin, Barzizza was able to play a Mozart symphony almost before he could read.  Read more…

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Claudio Monteverdi – composer

Baroque musician who gave us the first real opera

The composer and musician Claudio Monteverdi was baptised on this day in 1567 in Cremona in Lombardy.  Children were baptised soon after their birth in the 16th century so it is likely Monteverdi was born on 15 May or just before.  He was to become the most important developer of a new genre, the opera, and bring a more modern touch to church music.  Monteverdi studied under the maestro di cappella at the cathedral in Cremona and published several books of religious and secular music while still in his teens.  He managed to secure a position as a viola player at Vincenzo Gonzaga’s court in Mantua where he came into contact with some of the top musicians of the time. He went on to become master of music there in 1601.  It was his first opera, L’Orfeo, written for the Gonzaga court, that really established him as a composer.  In the early 17th century, the intermedio, the music played between the acts of a play, was evolving into the form of a complete musical drama, or opera. Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo was the first fully developed example of this and is the earliest opera still being regularly staged.  Read more…

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Salvatore Fisichella - operatic tenor

Singer was called the most outstanding interpreter of Bellini of his day

Salvatore Fisichella began singing as a small child
Salvatore Fisichella began
singing as a small child 
Opera singer Salvatore Fisichella, who won international acclaim for his interpretations of the leading roles in Bellini’s operas, was born on this day in 1943 in Catania in Sicily.

Recognised for the ease and vocal brilliance of his singing, Fisichella has specialised in performing in bel canto operas, especially those of Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini.

He began singing when he was a small child at family parties. He was taught music at the local seminary and from the age of ten sang solos during church services.

After leaving the seminary, Fisichella attended a secondary school that had a science-based curriculum and then studied to become a surveyor.

Once he had qualified as a surveyor, he had little time for singing, but one day he was invited to the wedding of one of his clients. Fisichella had drawn up the plans for the couple’s new home, but on the day of the wedding he found himself filling in for the tenor, who had been scheduled to perform but whose arrival was delayed. 

Fisichella's operatic  debut came in 1971
Fisichella's operatic 
debut came in 1971
The bride, who had specifically requested Ave Maria, was so upset she threatened to postpone the wedding, however Fisichella saved the day by offering to sing in his place. To everyone’s amazement, he sang the part of the tenor perfectly to great acclaim and was even praised by the tenor himself, who had arrived just in time to hear him.

His interest reawakened, Fisichella began working under Maria Gentile, a soprano from Catania who had become a singing teacher. He listened to the singing of Mario del Monaco, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Franco Corelli, Carlo Bergonzi and Gianni Raimondi and occasionally took part in small concerts. His breakthrough came when he won a prestigious singing competition in Spoleto.

In 1971, he was engaged by the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma for two performances of Rigoletto and seven performances of I puritani with Mirella Freni . A year later he  was back at the theatre again to appear with Mirella Freni in Gounoud’s Faust. In 1973 he made his debut at the Teatro Bellini in his home town of Catania in La bohème.

Fisichella subsequently performed all over the world in the top theatres and concert halls and enjoyed enthusiastic receptions and glowing reviews.

Fisichella once received a  22-minute standing ovation
Fisichella once received a 
22-minute standing ovation
In Pesaro in 1975 he became one of the few tenors to rise to the challenge of Rossini’s Messa di Gloria, a score avoided by many bel canto tenors. In 1985, Theatre magazine said he was ‘a tenor to rival Domingo and Pavarotti’. The following year he performed for the first time at the Met in New York alongside Joan Sutherland and was a resounding success.

In 1992 in Paris, he received a 22-minute standing ovation following his performance at the Concerto Belliniano at the Champs Élysées opera house. The French press declared him the most outstanding interpreter of Bellini of his day. In 1994 he was awarded the Bellini D’Oro prize by the Sicilian Tourist Authority. Fisichella continued to perform on the international stage well into this millennium and now passes on his technique and experience by giving masterclasses to up and coming young tenors.

Fisichella lives in Sant’ Agata li Battiati near Catania with his wife, Fiorella, He has a son, Filippo and daughter Lucia Martina (Lulu), who also enjoys singing.

Salvatore Fisichella celebrates his 79th birthday today.

Catania sits in the shadow of Mount Etna, the still-active volcano
Catania sits in the shadow of Mount Etna,
the still-active volcano
Travel tip:

Salvatore Fisichella’s home city of Catania is one of the ten biggest cities in Italy, and the seventh largest metropolitan area in the country, with a population including the environs of 1.12 million. Located on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, it has twice been destroyed by earthquakes, in 1169 and 1693. With Mount Etna looming in the background, it can be compared in some respects with Naples, which sits in the shadow of Vesuvius, in that it lives with the constant threat of a natural catastrophe and as such it has always been a city for living life to the full. In the Renaissance, it was one of Italy's most important cultural, artistic and political centres and enjoys a rich cultural legacy today, with numerous museums and churches, theatres and parks and many restaurants.  

The beautiful Basilica della Collegiata
The beautiful Basilica
della Collegiata
Travel tip:

Catania is notable for its Baroque city centre, which is a UNESCO heritage site, but also has some outstanding classical buildings, ancient remains buried over the centuries.  Greek and Roman cities built on the site of the present city disappeared under layers of lava from Etna's eruptions but parts of them have been unearthed, including an impressive Greek-Roman theatre.  Among the many fine examples of the Sicilian Baroque style, which is typical of the island, including the beautiful Basilica della Collegiata, with its six stone columns and the concave curve of its façade. A prominent architect was Vincenzo Sinatra, a pupil of Rosario Gagliardi, who had been influenced by Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s work in Rome. 

Also on this day:

1567: The baptism of composer Claudio Monteverdi

1902: The birth of band leader Pippo Barzizza

1936: The birth of actress Anna Maria Alberghetti


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14 May 2022

14 May

Aurelio Milani - footballer

Centre forward helped Inter win first European Cup

Aurelio Milani, who helped Inter-Milan become the second Italian football club to win the European Cup, was born on this day in 1934 in Desio, about 25km (15 miles) north of Lombardy’s regional capital.   Inter beat Real Madrid 3-1 in the final in Vienna in 1964 to emulate the achievement of city rivals AC Milan, who had become the first European champions from Italy the previous year.  Milani, a centre forward, scored the all-important second goal in the 61st minute after his fellow attacker Sandro Mazzola had given Inter the lead in the first half, receiving a pass from Mazzola before beating Real goalkeeper Vicente Train with a shot from outside the penalty area.  Madrid, whose forward line was still led by the mighty Alfredo di Stefano with Ferenc Puskas playing at inside-left, pulled a goal back but Mazzola added a third for Inter.  But this was the so-called Grande Inter side managed by the Argentinian master-tactician Helenio Herrera, who coached them to three Serie A titles in four years and retained the European Cup by defeating Eusebio’s Benfica 12 months later, when the final was played in their home stadium at San Siro in Milan.  Read more…

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Ludovico Manin - the last Doge of Venice

Surrender to Napoleon ended La Serenissima’s independence 

The man who would become the last of Venice’s 120 Doges, Ludovico Giovanni Manin, was born on this day in 1725. The Doge was the highest political office in Venice, its history going back to the seventh century, when the Venetian Lagoon was a province of the Byzantine (Eastern) Roman Empire and, in common with other provinces, was governed by a Dux (leader).  By the 11th century, when Venice had become an independent republic, the Doge was more of a figurehead, the head of a ruling council, and the title tended to be given to one of the oldest and most respected members of Venetian nobility.  Manin was 64 by the time he was elected but his eight years in post were significant in that they ended with the fall of La Serenissima - as the Venetian Republic was grandly known - its 1,100 years of independence ending with surrender to the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte, who subsequently handed control of the city to Austria.  The eldest of five sons of Lodovico III Alvise and Lucrezia Maria Basadonna, the great-granddaughter of cardinal Pietro Basadonna, Ludovico went straight into public life after completing his studies at the University of Bologna.  At 26 he was elected captain of Vicenza, then of Verona and finally Brescia, before being appointed procurator de ultra of Saint Mark's Basilica in 1764.  Read more…

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Marco Zanuso - architect and designer

Innovative ideas put Italy at the forefront of contemporary style

Marco Zanuso, the architect and industrial designer whose innovative ideas helped revolutionise furniture and appliance design in Italy after the Second World War, was born in Milan on this day in 1916.  Influenced by the Rationalist movement that emerged in the 1920s, he was one of the pioneers of the Modern movement, which brought contemporary styling to mass-produced consumer products.  His use of sculptured shapes, bright colours, and modern synthetic materials helped make Italy a leader in furniture fashion.  Italy had for many years been something of a trendsetter in interior design but during the post-War years, with the fall of Fascism and the rise of Socialism, there was a sense of liberation among Italian creative talents.  With the recovery of the Italian economy there was a substantial growth in industrial production and mass-produced furniture. By the 1960s and 1970s, Italian interior design reached its pinnacle of stylishness.  Zanuso was at the forefront, producing designs that used tubular steel, acrylics, latex foam, fibreglass, foam rubber, and injection-moulded plastics.   Read more…

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Battle of Agnadello

The day Venice lost most of its mainland territory

Venetian forces were defeated by troops fighting on behalf of France, Spain and the Pope on this day in 1509 at Agnadello in Lombardy.   As a result, the Republic of Venice was forced to withdraw from much of its territory on the mainland of Italy. The writer Niccolò Machiavelli later wrote in his book, The Prince, that in one day the Venetians had ‘lost what it had taken them 800 years of exertion to conquer.’  Louis XII of France, the Emperor Maximilian, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Pope Julius II had formed the League of Cambrai with the aim of dismantling the mainland empire of Venice as they all had their own claims to areas held by the Venetians.  The French army left Milan on April 15 and invaded Venetian territory. Venice had organised a mercenary army near Bergamo commanded by the Orsini cousins, Bartolomeo d’Alviano and Niccolò di Pitigliano, who had been ordered to avoid direct confrontation with the advancing French but just to engage them in light skirmishes.  By May 9 Louis had crossed the Adda river at Cassano d’Adda and the Orsini cousins decided to move south towards the River Po in search of better positions.  Read more…

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