Culturissima has the good fortune to be in Tuscany, partly lapping up the sun but also to prepare some copy on the Puccini Opera Festival, held every summer just a stone's throw from Lucca.
Giacomo Puccini was born in Lucca, “the most fly-in-amber little town in the world” according to Hilaire Belloc, in 1858. Our client - a British tour company - will be using mediaeval Lucca as the base for their visit to the 57th Puccini Opera Festival, held in the lakeside village of Torre del Lago, where Puccini composed, inter alia, Madame Butterfly, La Bohème and Tosca.
Even before the birth of Puccini, Lucca had enjoyed a vibrant musical history: the 18th century composers Francesco Geminiani and Luigi Boccherini were born within the famous city walls, and Puccini himself was descended from a family of musicians, with his father excelling as a composer and teacher. Puccini was a choirboy in Lucca’s cathedral, played the organ in the Church of San Michele and studied at the Pacini School of Music. Short of money, the young Puccini is thought to have played the piano in local taverns… and even in houses of ill repute.
"This is paradise!" exclaimed Puccini on his first visit to Torre del Lago, a quiet Tuscan hamlet sandwiched between the Apuan Alps and the Tyrrhenian Sea. Puccini settled in Torre in 1891 and bought a country estate there at the turn of the century - the Villa Museo Puccini, which now houses his mausoleum. Close by is Torre’s great open-air theatre, inaugurated in 2008, and the idyllic setting for the annual opera festival in homage to Puccini. It is here, on the banks of Lake Massaciuccoli, that we our clients will attend Tosca, Turandot and La Bohème.
In Lucca itself the relaxed pace of life will allow our clients to enjoy the town’s musical, architectural and atmospheric richness to the full. As well as following in the footsteps of Puccini we have gained special permission for them to enter the Palazzo Mansi with its fine frescoed ballroom and series of tapestries; the Villa Guinigi, a rare survivor among 14th century Gothic villas; and the tiny botanic garden just inside the city walls.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
The key to England
Culturissima has recently been commissioned to write and research a series of cultural and historical tours for English Heritage and one of their partners. It’s been a source of great joy to investigate parts of England that we haven’t travelled to in recent years – particularly the south-east.
The English Channel and the south-east coast of England have always played a pivotal role in the defence of our Great Britain. Dover Castle, site of a Roman pharos that dates back to the 1st century AD, was long known as “the key to England”, and both Napoleon and Hitler earmarked these southern shores for sea-borne invasion. And, of course, where they failed, William the Conqueror succeeded – the itinerary that we have devised for English Heritage will begin at the very spot where Harold met his end in 1066.
The Western Heights, rising to the west of Dover and surrounded by chalk meadows, form the largest Napoleonic defences ever constructed in Britain. The most substantial fortifications were erected in the early years of the 19th century as a bulwark against French attack, and the redoubt later sheltered a squad of commandos during World War II.
The castles at Rye, Bodiam, Walmer and Deal each have their own tale to tell, but it is Dover Castle, fortified by Henry II, that takes pride of place. It was from the citadel’s secret tunnels, originally hewn to counter the threat of Napoleonic France, that Churchill and vice-admiral Ramsay masterminded the evacuation from Dunkirk. By the end of World War II, this labyrinthine complex had been developed into a veritable underground city, housing not just a military headquarters but also a hospital and substantial barracks.
The English Channel and the south-east coast of England have always played a pivotal role in the defence of our Great Britain. Dover Castle, site of a Roman pharos that dates back to the 1st century AD, was long known as “the key to England”, and both Napoleon and Hitler earmarked these southern shores for sea-borne invasion. And, of course, where they failed, William the Conqueror succeeded – the itinerary that we have devised for English Heritage will begin at the very spot where Harold met his end in 1066.
The Western Heights, rising to the west of Dover and surrounded by chalk meadows, form the largest Napoleonic defences ever constructed in Britain. The most substantial fortifications were erected in the early years of the 19th century as a bulwark against French attack, and the redoubt later sheltered a squad of commandos during World War II.
The castles at Rye, Bodiam, Walmer and Deal each have their own tale to tell, but it is Dover Castle, fortified by Henry II, that takes pride of place. It was from the citadel’s secret tunnels, originally hewn to counter the threat of Napoleonic France, that Churchill and vice-admiral Ramsay masterminded the evacuation from Dunkirk. By the end of World War II, this labyrinthine complex had been developed into a veritable underground city, housing not just a military headquarters but also a hospital and substantial barracks.
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