5 April

NEW - Anna Antonacci – soprano

Acclaimed performer has perfected her portrayal of Rossini heroines

Italian opera singer Anna Caterina Antonacci, who is considered one of the finest sopranos of her generation, was born on this day in 1961 in Ferrara in Emilia-Romagna.   Particularly known for her roles in Rossini’s operas, Antonacci has been awarded many prizes and honours during her career. In 2021, she was elected as one of the ‘Accademici Effettivi’, by the panellists of the General Assembly of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, one of the oldest, and most prestigious, musical institutions in the world. After studying in Bologna, Antonacci entered the chorus at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in 1981. She made her solo debut in 1984 in Pistoia as the Contessa di Ceprano, in Rigoletto, by Giuseppe Verdi. In 1986, in Arezzo in Tuscany, she sang the role of Rosina, the heroine of Gioachino Rossini’s comic opera The Barber of Seville.  Eight years later, she made her debut at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in London as Elcia in Mosè in Egitto, another opera by Rossini. In 2006, Antonacci appeared at the Royal Opera House again, this time singing with the German-Austrian tenor, Jonas Kaufman.  Read more…

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Vincenzo Viviani – mathematician and scientist

Galileo follower's name lives on as moon crater

Forward-thinking scientist Vincenzo Viviani was born on this day in 1622 in Florence.  Viviani worked as an assistant to Galileo Galilei and after his mentor's death continued his experimental work in the field of mathematics and physics. This work was considered so important that Viviani has had a small crater on the moon named after him.  While at school in Florence, Viviani was given a scholarship to buy mathematical books by the Grand Duke Ferdinando II de' Medici. He later became a pupil of Evangelista Torricelli and worked with him on physics and geometry.  By the time he was 17 he was working as an assistant to Galileo Galilei. After Galileo’s death in 1642, Viviani edited the first edition of his teacher’s collected works.  Viviani was appointed to fill Torricelli’s position at the Accademia dell’Arte del Disegno in Florence after his death in 1647.  In 1660 Viviani conducted an experiment with another scientist, Giovanni Borelli, to determine the speed of sound by timing the difference between seeing the flash and hearing the noise of a cannon being fired from a distance.  As his reputation as a mathematician grew, Viviani started to receive job offers from abroad.  Read more…

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Francesco Laparelli - architect and military engineer

Italian who designed Valletta, the fortified capital of Malta

The architect Francesco Laparelli da Cortona, who worked as assistant to Michelangelo Buonarroti at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome but is chiefly renowned for the design of Valletta, the fortified capital city of Malta, was born on this day in 1521 in the hilltop city of Cortona in what is now Tuscany.  Laparelli designed the bell tower for Cortona’s cathedral but turned his talents towards military engineering after serving as an officer under Cosimo de’ Medici during the battle for control of the Republic of Siena in the 1550s. He went on to serve on Cortona’s city council and worked with other engineers on the Fortezza del Girifalco above the city. The cost of the fortress and other work on the city walls eventually bankrupted the city but Laparelli’s reputation was established.  He was summoned to Rome by Pope Pius IV in 1560  on the recommendation of Gabrio Serbelloni, the pope’s cousin and a condottiero with whom Laparelli had worked in Cortona.  Pius IV commissioned him to restore the fortifications at Civitavecchia, Rome’s main port, to build defences for the mouth of the Tiber river and to direct the strengthening of fortifications around the Vatican and the new suburb of Borgo Pio.  Read more…

Giovanni dalle Bande Nere - condottiero

Medici soldier who fathered Cosimo I de' Medici

Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, the military leader regarded as the last of the great Italian condottieri, was born on this day in 1498 in Forlì, in what is now the Emilia-Romagna region.  The condottieri were professional soldiers, mercenaries who hired themselves out to lead the armies of the Italian city-states and the Papacy in the frequent wars that ensued from the Middle Ages through to the Renaissance.  Giovanni spent the greater part of his military career in the service of Pope Leo X, the Medici pope. Indeed, he was a Medici himself, albeit from a then secondary branch of the family. Baptised Ludovico, he was the son of Giovanni de’ Medici, also known as Il Popolano and a great-nephew of Cosimo the Elder, the founder of the dynasty.  It was his mother, Caterina Sforza, the powerful daughter of the Duke of Milan, who renamed him Giovanni in memory of his father, her fourth husband, who died when the boy was just five months old. He became Giovanni dalle Bande Nere much later, in 1521, when he added black stripes to his military insignia in a show of mourning for Pope Leo X.  His upbringing brought out the worst aspects of his character.  Read more…

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Vincenzo Gioberti - philosopher and politician

Writings helped bring about unification of Italy

Vincenzo Gioberti, a philosopher regarded as one of the key figures in the Italian unification, was born on this day in 1801 in Turin.  He became prime minister of Sardinia-Piedmont in December 1848, albeit for only two months.  Although he was an associate of the republican revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini - and was arrested and then exiled as a result - he did not agree with Mazzini’s opposition to the monarchy and was not an advocate of violence.  However, he was staunchly in favour of a united Italy, particularly because of his conviction that Italians represented a superior race, intellectually and morally, and that by pulling together as one nation they could assert a profound influence on civilisation that would benefit the world.  Gioberti’s book Del Primato civile e morale degli Italiani (The civic and moral primacy of the Italians), which detailed examples from history to underline his theories about Italian supremacy, is said to have helped give momentum to the unification campaign.  Born into a family of modest means, Gioberti studied diligently, obtained the baccalaureate in theology and in 1825 was ordained a priest.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: The Cambridge Companion to Rossini, edited by Emanuele Senici

The Cambridge Companion to Rossini is a collection of specially commissioned essays on one of the most influential opera composers in the repertoire. The volume is divided into four parts, each exploring an important element of Rossini's life, his world, and his works: biography and reception; words and music; representative operas; and performance. Within these sections accessible chapters, written by a team of specialists, examine Rossini's life and career; the reception of his music in the nineteenth century and today; the librettos and their authors; the dramaturgy of the operas; and Rossini's non-operatic works. Additional chapters centre on key individual operas chosen for their historical importance or position in the present repertoire, and include Tancredi, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Semiramide, and Guillaume Tell. The last section focuses on the history of Rossini's operas from the viewpoint of singing and staging, as well as the influence of editorial work on contemporary performance practice.

Emanuele Senici is Professor of Music History at the University of Rome La Sapienza. He is a specialist on Italian opera of the 19th century.

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Anna Caterina Antonacci – soprano

Acclaimed performer has perfected her portrayal of Rossini heroines

Anna Caterina Antonacci's vocal 
skills were largely self-taught

Italian opera singer Anna Caterina Antonacci, who is considered one of the finest sopranos of her generation, was born on this day in 1961 in Ferrara in Emilia-Romagna.

Particularly known for her roles in Rossini’s operas, Antonacci has been awarded many prizes and honours during her career. In 2021, she was elected as one of the ‘Accademici Effettivi’, by the panellists of the General Assembly of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, one of the oldest, and most prestigious, musical institutions in the world.

After studying in Bologna, Antonacci entered the chorus at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in 1981. She made her solo debut in 1984 in Pistoia as the Contessa di Ceprano, in Rigoletto, by Giuseppe Verdi. In 1986, in Arezzo in Tuscany, she sang the role of Rosina, the heroine of Gioachino Rossini’s comic opera The Barber of Seville.

Eight years later, she made her debut at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in London as Elcia in Mosè in Egitto, another opera by Rossini. In 2006, Antonacci appeared at the Royal Opera House again, this time singing with the German-Austrian tenor, Jonas Kaufman.

Among her many operatic performances, the majority have been as a mezzo-soprano playing Rossini heroines, such as Dorliska in Torvaldo e Dorliska, Ninetta in La gazza ladra, Semiramide in Semiramide, Ermione in Ermione, Elisabetta in Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra, Elena in La donna del lago, Zelmira in Zelmira, Elcia in Mosè in Egitto, Anaï in Moïse and Angelina in La Cenerentola.  

She has also appeared in La Voix Humaine, a one act opera for a soprano and orchestra, composed by Francis Poulenc, at the Opera-Comique in Paris in 2013.

Anna Caterina Antonacci (right, foot on stool) in
a scene from Bizet's Carmen on stage in Paris

The soprano was married to the Italian water polo player, Luca Giustolisi, who won a bronze medal in the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta in the USA, and they had a son, Gillo.

Sadly, Antonacci was widowed in 2023 after Luca Giustolisi died of cancer at the age of 53, and she went to live in Paris. She has been recognised by the French Government with the award of the Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Legion d’honneur, the highest national distinction anyone can receive in France.

She has won many prizes and awards during her career and has produced some acclaimed recordings of her operatic roles.

This summer (2025), Antonacci will be performing at Teatro Fenice in Venice, in the role of Madame de Croissy in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites. 

She is now based at Verbier in Switzerland. 

The Castello Estense in Ferrara sits at
the heart of the historic city

Travel tip:

Ferrara, where Anna Caterina Antonacci was born, is a city in Emilia-Romagna, about 50 kilometres to the north east of Bologna. It was ruled by the Este family between 1240 and 1598 and they built an enormous castle for themselves to live in and to impress their guests. Building work on the magnificent, moated castle, which is in the centre of the city, began in 1385 and it was added to and improved by successive rulers of Ferrara until the end of the Este line. Parts of Ferrara have remained untouched in modern times and you can still see the narrow, mediæval streets to the west and south of the city centre, between the main thoroughfares of Via Ripa Grande and Via Garibaldi, which were part of the original core of the city in the middle ages. The impressive Este Castle was eventually purchased for 70,000 lire by the province of Ferrara in 1874, to be used as the headquarters of the Prefecture. Today, it is still  the highlight of the city for tourists to visit.

Pistoia's duomo, originally built in the
10th century, has a Romanesque facade

 

Travel tip:

Pistoia, where Anna Antonacci made her solo debut, is a pretty, mediæval walled city in Tuscany to the north west of Florence. The city developed a reputation for intrigue in the 13th century and assassinations in the narrow alleyways were common, using a tiny dagger called the pistole, which was made by the city’s ironworkers, who also specialised in manufacturing surgical instruments. The Cathedral of Saint Zeno, or the Duomo of Pistoia, is in the Piazza del Duomo in the centre of the city. Originally built in the 10th century, the cathedral has a façade in Romanesque style. Set around the Piazza del Duomo are the octagonal Battistero di San Giovanni in Corte, and the Palazzo dei Vescovi, an 11th-century palace. The palace was bought and restored by the Cassa di Risparmio di Pistoia, a regional bank, in the late 20th century and it now houses a museum complex. 

Also on this day:

1498: The birth of condottiero Giovanni dalle Bande Nere

1521: The birth of architect Francesco Laparelli

1622: The birth of mathematician and scientist Vincenzo Viviani

1801: The birth of philosopher and politician Vincenzo Gioberti 

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4 April

Daniela Riccardi - businesswoman

Head of upmarket stationery company trained as a ballet dancer

Born on this day in 1960, Daniela Riccardi in 2013 became chief executive of Baccarat, the luxury glass and crystal manufacturer that originated in the town of the same name in the Lorraine region of France in the 18th century, taking up the same position with the upmarket stationery company Moleskine in 2020.  Formerly CEO of the Italian clothing company Diesel, she is one of Italy's most successful businesswomen, yet might easily have forged alternative careers as a dancer or a diplomat.  Born in Rome, she began dancing when she was five and studied ballet for 12 years at the National Dance Academy in Rome, with the aim of becoming a professional dancer.  When it became clear that she would not quite be good enough to grace the world's great stages, she remained determined to have a career that would satisfy her desire to experience many countries and cultures and went to Rome University to study political science and international studies, with the aim of working in diplomacy.  However, during a postgraduate year in the United States, she spent a period as an intern at Pepsi, where she was impressed by the energy and leadership of the company's management. Read more…

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Francesco De Gregori - singer-songwriter

Performer inspired by songs of hero Bob Dylan

The singer-songwriter Francesco De Gregori - popularly known as "Il Principe dei cantautori" (the prince of the singer-songwriters) – was born on this day in 1951.  Born in Rome, De Gregori has released around 40 albums in a career spanning 45 years, selling more than five million records.  Famous for the elegant and often poetic nature of his lyrics, De Gregori was once described by Bob Dylan as an “Italian folk hero”.  De Gregori acknowledges Dylan as one of his biggest inspirations and influences, along with Leonard Cohen and the Italian singer Fabrizio de André.  Covers of Dylan songs have regularly featured in his stage performances. He made an album in 2015 entitled Love and Theft: De Gregori Sings Bob Dylan.  Born into a middle class family – his father was a librarian, his mother a teacher - De Gregori spent his youth living in Rome or on the Adriatic coast at Pescara. He began to develop his musical career at the Folkstudio in Rome’s Trastevere district, where Dylan had performed in 1962.   He became friends with fellow singer-songwriters Antonello Venditti, Mimmo Locasciulli and Giorgio Lo Cascio.  Read more…

Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli - composer

Neapolitan who snubbed Napoleon wrote 37 operas

The composer Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli, who wrote 37 mainly comic operas and more than 500 pieces of sacred music, was born on this day in 1752 in Naples.  His success made him one of the principal composers of opera and religious music of his time. At various points in his career, he was maestro di cappella - music director - at Milan Cathedral, choir master at the Sistine Chapel and director of the Naples Conservatory.  Many of Zingarelli’s operas were written for Teatro alla Scala in Milan. Early in his career he worked in Paris, which held him in good stead later when he was arrested after refusing to conduct a hymn for the newly-born son of the Emperor Napoleon, who at the time was the self-proclaimed King of Italy.  Sometimes known as Nicola, the young Zingarelli studied from the age of seven at the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto, which was the original conservatory of Naples, dating back to 1537. He was tutored by Fedele Fenaroli, whose pupils also included Domenico Cimarosa and, later, Giuseppe Verdi, and also by Alessandro Speranza.  As a young man, Zingarelli earned a living as a violinist, while also composing.  Read more…

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Irene Pivetti – journalist and politician

From top political office to TV presenter

Irene Pivetti, who was only the second woman to become president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, was born on this day in 1963 in Milan.  Once a key figure in Italy’s Lega Nord party, Pivetti quit politics for a career as a television presenter.  Pivetti obtained an honours degree in Italian literature from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan and afterwards worked in publishing, editing books on the Italian language. In this she was following in the footsteps of her maternal grandfather, Aldo, a renowned linguist.  While working as a journalist, she became involved with the Lega Lombardia (Lombard League), which later became the Lega Nord (Northern League) and in 1992 was elected as a deputy, the Italian equivalent of a Member of Parliament.  Two years later, after the vote had gone to a fourth ballot, Pivetti was elected President of the Chamber of Deputies. At the age of 31, she was the youngest president in the Chamber’s history. She occupied the role from 1994 to 1996.  Pivetti was re-elected as a deputy in the 1996 election but later that year was expelled from the Lega Nord because of her opposition to some of their ideas.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Her Story! A Tribute to Italian Women: From earliest times to the present, by Peter Loyson

This unique book is a must read for everyone who loves Italian culture and those who appreciate talented women. Extensively researched with hundreds of references, it is a comprehensive encyclopedic analysis highlighting the length and breadth of Italy’s most incredibly talented women, including 114 writers, 56 opera singers, 63 other singers, 55 musicians, 52 film icons, 39 fashion designers, 59 medical women, 40 chefs, 47 artists, 23 academics and 114 sportswomen, amongst others, totalling more than 900 individuals. Her Story! discusses their achievements in chronological order in each of their fields with many interesting stories, including a chapter on the emigration of impressive female Italian talent.

Peter Loyson is a retired Professor of Chemistry at the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, where his wife founded an Italian Culture Club. Her Story! evolved from Loyson's research into the first three women in the world who obtained a doctorate at recognised universities, which introduced him to the brilliant Italian women of the Renaissance and later times.

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3 April

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco – composer

Versatile musician wrote for stringed instruments and for films

One of the most admired composers of the 20th century, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, was born on this day in 1895 in Florence.  He composed more than 100 pieces of music for the guitar, many of them written for the Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia.  Because of anti-semitism in Europe, Mario emigrated to the United States in 1939 where he went to work for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, composing music for about 200 films.  Mario was descended from a family of bankers that had lived in Siena since the Jews were expelled from Spain in the 16th century.  He was introduced to the piano by his mother and was composing music by the time he was nine years old. His mother recognised his musical talent and encouraged him to study the piano and composition under well-regarded musicians.  Mario came to the attention of the composer and pianist Alfredo Casella, who included some of his work in his repertoire and promoted him throughout Europe as an up-and-coming young composer.  In 1926, Mario’s first opera, La mandragola, was premiered. Based on a play by Niccolò Machiavelli, it was the first of his many works inspired by great literature.  Read more…

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Maria de’ Medici – the tragic daughter of Cosimo I

Grand Duke grief stricken after death of clever child

Maria de’ Medici, the beautiful, eldest child of Cosimo I de’ Medici was born on this day in 1540 in Florence. The apple of her father’s eye, she was one of the brightest of the Grand Duke of Tuscany’s children, but she was destined to lead a very short life.  Maria was the daughter of Cosimo I and Eleonora di Toledo and was Cosimo’s first legitimate child. He had fathered an illegitimate daughter, Bia de’ Medici before his marriage to Eleonora but she had died young.   Maria was educated with her brothers and was reputed to have been so clever that when her brother, Francesco, didn’t understand his Greek lesson, his tutors would ask Maria to explain it to him.  She grew up to be an elegant, highly educated, and decorous young woman according to contemporary accounts and a marriage was arranged for her with Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara. However, Maria died unexpectedly in November 1557 at the age of 17.  Maria’s death occurred while she was staying in Livorno and the most likely cause is thought to have been that she contracted malaria.  However, another cause for her death is suggested in a book called The Tragedies of the Medici by Edgcumbe Staley.  Read more… 

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Alcide De Gasperi - prime minister who rebuilt Italy

Christian Democrat founder was jailed by Mussolini

Born on this day in 1881, Alcide De Gasperi was the Italian prime minister who founded the Christian Democrat party and led the rebuilding of the country after World War II.  An opponent of Benito Mussolini who survived being locked up by the Fascist dictator, he was the head of eight consecutive governments between 1945 and 1953, a record for longevity in post-War Italian politics.  Although Silvio Berlusconi has spent more time in office - nine years and 53 days compared with De Gasperi's seven years and 238 days - the media tycoon's time in power was fragmented, whereas De Gasperi served continuously until his resignation in 1953.  As prime minister, De Gasperi was largely responsible for Italy's post-War economic salvation and for helping to hold the line between East and West as the Soviet Union established its border on Italy's doorstep.  During his premiership, Italy became a republic, signed a peace treaty with the Allies, joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and became an ally of the United States, who in turn provided considerable help in reviving the shattered Italian economy.  Read more…

Alessandro Stradella – violinist and composer

Talented musician lived for romance and adventure

Baroque composer Alessandro Stradella, who led a colourful life courting danger while producing more than 300 highly regarded musical works, was born on this day in 1639 at Nepi in the province of Viterbo, north of Rome in the Lazio region.  After an affair with the mistress of a Venetian nobleman he was attacked in the street and left for dead by two hired assassins, but he lived on for another few years to compose more music.  Five years later he was stabbed to death in Genoa, but the identity of his killers was never confirmed.  Stradella was born into an aristocratic family and by the age of 20 was making a name for himself as a composer.  He moved to Rome where he composed sacred music for Queen Christina of Sweden, who had abdicated her throne to go and live there.  It is believed he tried to embezzle money from the Roman Catholic Church and his numerous reckless affairs with women also made him enemies among powerful people in the city.  In 1637 he moved to Venice where he was hired by a nobleman, Alvise Contarini, as a music tutor to his mistress.  Stradella began an affair with her and they attempted to elope together to Turin in 1677.  Read more…

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Maria Redaelli - supercentenarian

Inter fan who was the oldest living person in Europe

Maria Angela Redaelli, a supercentenarian who for 10 months was the oldest living person in Europe and for 14 months the oldest living person in Italy, was born on this day in 1899 in Inzago in Lombardy.  She died in 2013 on the eve of what would have been her 114th birthday, at which point she was the fourth oldest living person in the world, behind the Japanese supercentenarians Jiroemon Kimura and Misao Okawa, and the American Gertrude Weaver.  Kimura died two months later at the age of 116 years and 54 days, which is the most advanced age reached by any male in the history of the human race, according to verifiable records.  Okawa and Weaver survived for another two years, Okawa reaching 117 years and 27 days, which made her the fifth oldest woman in history at the time, although she was later overtaken by the Italian Emma Morano, who lived in Pallanza on Lake Maggiore until she was 117 years and 137 days.  At the time of her death, Maria was living in Novate Milanese, a suburb of Milan, being looked after by her 88-year-old daughter Carla and her grandson, Lamberto.  Read more…

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Book of the Day: Italian Film Music, 1950s-1970s: Between Tradition, Innovation, and Internationalisation, by Franco Sciannameo

The music heard in Italian cinema along the arch of the three decades highlighted in this book, has not only made history but has become an unspoken patrimony of humanity. This book provides a platform to build a lasting tribute to those composers who were, indeed, the "sounding" protagonists of hundreds of films - from Fellini's La dolce vita to Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso to a myriad of cultural documentaries and productions made for cinema and television. The book is divided into three parts comprising essays on the music of Nino Rota, lesser-known composers yet important on the national circuit like Carpi, Gervasio, Vlad, and Chailly, and four essays dedicated to the towering figure of Ennio Morricone whose legacy will continue to hover over Italian cinema of the 50s-70s for many decades to come. Italian Film Music, 1950s-1970s includes and introductory essay, 17 chapters annotated and provided with musical examples, tables, and iconographic material written by internationally known academics specialising in Italian film music; bibliographies and abstracts following each essay; biographies of the contributing authors; and an index organized by names and subjects, make this volume an indispensable research tool free of geopolitical barriers and ideological constraints in the burgeoning field of film music.

Born in Puglia, violinist, musicologist, and cultural historian Franco Sciannameo is Professor of Musicology in the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University and Visiting Professor of Applied Musicology in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.

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