Celebrity Selfie Alert! Well, sort of. While in Catania in January, I took the opportunity to take a photo with the composer Bellini at the (You guessed it.) Giardino Bellini. Catania and Sicily are very proud of their “son,” the opera composer, Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835). Bellini was born into a family of musicians in Catania…
Tag: opera
Elements Of Agrigento And Selinunte In Palermo
Teatro Massimo, Palermo’s opera house that opened in 1897, is a master work of Greek and Roman inspired architecture designed by Giovan Battista Filippo Basile (1825-1891). The construction was completed by his son Ernesto in 1897. The elder Basile incorporated decorative details from the ancient temples at Agrigento and Selinunte into the theater’s design.
Bellini is Tops
Catania and Sicily are very proud of their “son,” the opera composer, Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) featured here in Catania’s center. Bellini was born into a family of musicians in Catania and left Sicily at 18 years old to study at the conservatory in Naples. He lived abroad for the rest of his virtuosic life, dying…
Enchanting Sicily, Day 13: Monumental Massimo
LIVE from Sicily! | We spent today touring the neighborhoods of Palermo, starting here at Teatro Massimo the largest opera house in Italy and the third largest in Europe after Paris and Vienna. I want to tell you more about our excursion through the city’s lively markets, but after ending today with a private concert…
Inspired by the Ancients
Architectural detail of Palermo’s Teatro Massimo, the largest opera house in Italy. Teatro Massimo was designed by Giovan Battista Basile in 1875. The construction was completed by his son Ernesto in 1897. The elder Basile incorporated decorative details from the ancient temples at Agrigento and Selinunte into the theater’s design.
A Virtuosic Son
You may know “Pasta alla Norma,” which is a pasta dish with eggplant, salted ricotta, and tomato sauce from the Sicilian province of Catania. What you may not know, is that it’s named for the opera “Norma” by Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) who was born in Catania. Bellini left Sicily at 18 to study at the…