dante template.pmd

OCTOBER 2005 LA DANTE A Newsletter of Italian and Italian American Culture Published by The Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts F non foste a viver come bruti, ma per seguir virtute e conoscenza Inferno xxvi, 119-120 atti Volume X Issue 1 www.dantealighieri.net/cambridge La Dante PAGE 1 1265 - 1321 October 2005 From the President . . . Welcome back from vacation everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful summer and that you are energized to begin the busy fall season. We have many interesting events planned for the remainder of this year. On September 25th Aprutium, in collaboration with the Dante Alighieri Society and the Consul General’s Office of Boston will present Professor Fabio Pierangeli from the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”. The professor’s lecture is entitled “Una Avventura Senza Pari” from the most recent works of Dacia Maraini who is one of the most interesting modern Italian female writers. October is Italian Heritage Month and once again we have a wonderful calendar of events. This marks the 7th year that we are celebrating Italian Heritage Month and we are proud of all the accomplishments and participation from various Italian-American organizations. The Dante will open the month on October 2nd with a special guest from Italy Dr. Antonio Corvisiero, editor of “Il Grappolo” and will present the lecture entitled “Emigratio” which will be on the topic of immigration. On October 9th, we have the opening of an art exhibit by an Italian painter, Raffaele Continued on page 2 OCTOBER IS ITALIAN HERITAGE MONTH A TIME TO CELEBRATE! by Peter W. Agnes, Jr., Chairman For the seventh straight year, the Italian American Heritage Committee along with the Dante Alighieri Society and every other major Italian-American organization in Massachusetts will celebrate October as Italian Heritage Month. This year, as in the past, we will begin our formal observance of the month-long celebration with a kick-off event at the Massachusetts State House on Monday, October 3rd at 10:30 a.m. There will be a reading of the Governor’s Proclamation which is expected to pay special tribute to the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the births of two of the giants of the nineteenth century–Constantino Brumidi and Giuseppe Mazzini. The full calendar of events will be published on the Dante’s web site and copies may be obtained at the Dante Alighieri office. (Continued on page 3) PRESIDENT CIAMPI SENDS SOLIDARITY MESSAGE TO G.W. BUSH Rome, Italy, - “It is for days that I followed the developments of the terrible hurricane which struck the southern coast of the United States. I am grieved by the loss of so many human lives, the suffering of the people, the serious material damage in areas of the United States which are renowned for their beauty and their inhabitants’ creativity,” Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi wrote in his message sent to US President George W. Bush. “The shocking pictures of devastation shown by the media displayed the composure and dignity with which the Americans faced, this natural disaster, among the most serious in US history. I offer you the Italian people’s solidarity and the best of luck for a positive and rapid outcome”. “Dear George, I feel very close to you and the American people, at this painful time. I send you a heartfelt hug.” This message was sent by Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi to US President, George W. Bush, to express condolences for the dead and solidarity after damage caused by Hurricane Katrina (AGI) Inside this issue ........ ARCO at the Dante October ... Time to Celebrate Mazzini by Spencer DiScala Carlo Maria Giulini Abruzzo, A Special Feature Italian Politics, Euro Fight Diario Di Una Emigrante Brumidi 200th Anniversary Biennale Di Venezia Maccheroni Alla Chitarra Calendar of Events 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 ADULT ITALIAN CLASSES AT THE DANTE Last June students and instructors of the Italian School for Adults celebrated the end of another academic year. The next session will start October 11. Classes will be held every Tuesday, from 7pm to 9:30pm for ten weeks. We offer classes of different levels, from the very elementary to the advanced. For additional information, please visit our website www.dantealighieri.net/cambridge or call 617-876-5160 from 1pm to 6pm. PAGE 2 Presidents Message (Continued from page one) Ariante of Assisi. He will discuss his works entitled “Journey from Hell” which are depictions of Dante’s Inferno. On October 14th, we have the “Science of Communication” a lecture on Antonio Meucci, inventor of the telephone, and Guglielmo Marconi, the father of wireless communication given by Orazio Buttafuoco and Adolfo Caso. On October 21st, Lorraine Di Gregorio and Maria Pia Antonelli will present the program entitled “Italian Folksongs from the Alps to Sicily”. On October 23rd, we will feature an Italian female artist from Rome, Francesca Tulli, who will discuss her art exhibit entitled “Punti di Vista”. On October 27th, we have a men’s choral group from Verona, Italy Voci Del Baldo. I invite our membership, friends of the Dante as well as other members from Italian-American organizations to participate and to help organize activities and events throughout the year. The fall season also marks the beginning of the Saturday Morning Children’s School and the Tuesday Evening Adult School. The Children’s School, run by Bill Hart, begins on September 17th. The Adult Evening School, run by Giacomo Rapa, begins on October 11th. For more details please reference our website. (www.dantealighieri.net/cambridge) Anna Quadri La Dante OCTOBER 2005 Arco . . . From Marsala with Love By Anna & Michael Quadri the audience during their performances. It was particularly wonderful to see the connection they made with the people they met, in many instances for the first time. The group developed a special bond with the families who hosted them during their two week stay. One could see that the group members were genuinely warm and friendly and eager to immerse themselves into our culture and to participate in activities during their stay. The farewell group gathering was filled with lots of emotion and was truly heart warming. Based on our observations, this is going to be the beginning of a future relationship between the ARCO group members and the families that hosted them. They also made a connection with the Italian-American community here in Massachusetts. A special thanks to Ed and Lena Russo, who are affectionately known as “La Mamma e Papa del gruppo”. They spent countless hours preparing ARCO’s US tour schedule, lodging and transportation, as well as arranging logistical details for the performances. In addition, we would like to thank all the other host families, key contributors, and members of the Italian American Community who gave their time and effort to ensure the success of this tour. The Dante Alighieri Society is particularly proud to have sponsored such a fine group of young men and women who are a tribute to Italy and an asset to the Italian culture. They are an international voice who transcend cultural barriers and effectively communicate with all people. In light of this special gift, the Dante Alighieri Society awarded them a Certificate of Achievement for their outstanding efforts in promoting culture. Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusett, Inc. President: Anna Quadri Chairman: Salvatore Bramante Editor: Francesco (Frank) Romagnoli Contributors to this issue: Spencer Di Scala, Judge Peter Agnes, Michael Quadri Salvatore Bramante, Anna Quadri, Adria Cohen, Rosetta Romagnoli La Dante is published bimonthly by the Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts, Inc. in October, December, February, April and Summer. All communications or items for publication should be sent to the address below and must be received no later than the 15th of the month preceding the publication. Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts, Inc. Att: Editor, La Dante 41 Hampshire Street Cambridge, MA 02130 Tel (617) 876-5160 Fax (617) 661-3797 www.dantealighieri.net/cambridge E-mail: Cambridge@dantealighieri.net The cultural group ARCO made a wonderful return visit to Boston. During their performances they were highly energized and very enthusiastic. Twenty–four members of the group participated in this tour. For many of these young artists, this was their first visit to the United States. The highlight of their performances was held at Watertown High School on Saturday, August 13th where they performed their new show “Tu Vu Fa L’Americano”. They proceeded to give an animated performance and their true skills as artists and performers were clearly evident. The group leader Giacomo Frazzitti, an attorney by profession, is the mobilizing force behind the success of the group. He not only manages the group’s tours, schedules their performances and rehearsals, but he also performs himself. He and the other group members sing and dance their way into people’s hearts. The youngest performer is Giuseppe Frazzitti, the cute three year old mascot who never misses a performance. ARCO is a cultural association which was founded in 1991in Marsala, Italy and established its first Youth Center. It started as a dream of several young people under the age of thirty who wanted to do something for their city and the young people of their city. They use various forms of expression, such as; music, song, theatre, mime, radio, television and newspaper, to reach out to all levels of society. The word ARCO is not an acronym. Anciently ARCO was a weapon of war or an instrument of survival. The group transformed the meaning of this word to be an instrument of peace and harmony. They wish not to espouse one particular ideology but be the proponents of many ideas and viewpoints. Their message of piece and love comes through their camaraderie, genuine love of singing and dancing, and their ability to weave a story into their performance. The group has an amazing ability to touch Welcome New Members Carlo Cipollone, Medford Santina Grassi, Winchester Alexandra Lagos, Wellesley Nancy Nicosia, Boston Giovanni and Maria Oliva, Cambridge Marie Pacini, Somerville Melinda Russo-Penta, Malden Deborah Saparoff, Franklin OCTOBER 2005 La Dante PAGE 3 OCTOBER IS ITALIAN HERITAGE MONTH . . A TIME TO CELEBRATE! Constantino Brumidi Constantino Brumidi is best remembered for the extraordinary murals he created at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. between 1855 and 1880. In addition to what may be his most famous work, “The Apotheosis of George Washington,” which was created as the Civil War raged around Washington, D.C. and occupies a commanding presence in the Capitol dome in the Rotunda, Brumidi’s murals adorn the House of Representatives Chamber, many committee rooms, the President’s Room, the Senate Reception Room, and throughout the corridors of the Capitol. Researchers believe that Brumidi’s Capitol frescoes are the first true frescoes to be painted in this country. Brumidi was so proud of the values that form the moral bedrock of our democracy and of his full membership in that democracy as a citizen of the United States that he signed the monumental Washington mural “C. Brumidi Artist Citizen of the U.S.” Brumidi’s work has been re-discovered in recent years as a result of the work of conservationists and his reputation restored as a result of dedicated biographers such as Myrtle Cheney Murdock, the wife of an Arizona congressman. In 1966 the U.S. Congress authorized the creation of a portrait bust honoring him that is on display at the Capitol in what are known as the “Brumidi Corridors.” The plaster model was created by Jimilu Mason of Alexandria, Virginia based on photographs of Brumidi and translated into Carrara marble in Pietrasanta, Italy. It was unveiled in 1968 at a special event attended by members of Congress as well as the Ambassadors from Greece and Italy. More recently, Brumidi’s genius has been celebrated in an acclaimed book, “Constantino Brumidi: Artist of the Capitol,” by Dr. Barbara Wolanin, Curator of the United States Capitol who was a speaker during Italian Heritage Month several years ago thanks to the efforts of Dante Chairman Sal Bramante. The book is available on the internet: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/ senate/ brumidi/index.html . In a fitting tribute to this modern Italian-American genius, Dr. Wolanin assesses Brumidi’s depiction of our nation’s first President in “The Apotheosis of George Washington” in the following words: “Brumidi’s crowning achievement remains the focal point of the Rotunda and the apex of the interior of the Capitol. Brumidi’s canopy rivals the grand illusionist ceilings and domes of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, such as Correggio’s Assumption of the Virgin in the dome of Parma cathedral, Luca Giordano’s Apotheosis of the Medici Dynasty in Florence, or Rubens’s Apotheosis of James II. In these by Peter W. Agnes, Jr., Chairman works, figures at the perimeter appear anchored to the ground while the saint or person being glorified rises on clouds to heaven. Similarly, Brumidi created the illusion that George Washington is rising through the clouds and the golden sky, as if the Rotunda were open to the heavens. In combining allusions to classical mythology and Renaissance and Baroque effects with references to American history and the technical achievements of his day, he had created a unique synthesis.” Dr. Barbara Wolanin, “Constantino Brumidi: Artist of the Capitol,” chapter 9 (1997). Giuseppe Mazzini The second person whose life will be the subject of a special commemoration this year is Giusseppe Mazzini (1805-1872). Mazzini was an Italian intellectual and statesman whose devoted his life to the cause of an independent nation state of Italy under a republican form of government. Although he spent most of his life in exile and was sentenced to death in abstensia, he returned to Italy on a regular basis to participate personally in revolutionary activities. Mazzini’s influence, however, extended far beyond Italy or even Europe. His ideas about nationalism have influenced political leaders around the world and he has been quoted often by European as well as American politicians. Mazzini described his Italy of 1844 as no country at all. For example, while in exile in London he wrote, “[w]e have no flag of our own, no name in politics, no voice among the nations of Europe: we have no common centre, no common agreement, no common market. We are broken up into eight states that are independent of one another, without a united aim, without alliances and without regular reciprocal contact.” He risked his life in the decades that followed to promote and realize Italian unification. In the words of one of his leading biographers, Professor Roland Sarti, Distinguished Professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and author of “Mazzini: A Life for the Religion of Politics,” who will be a panelist this month along with Professor Spencer DiScala at a forum at U. Mass. Boston on October 20th:” “Giuseppe Mazzini’s life is part of the history of the Risorgimento, the movement that led Italy to national independence and unity. Born in 1805 when the ideals of independence and unity were shared by few Italians, Mazzini took the lead in propagating the national idea and helped it to succeed. He lived long enough to see Rome become the national capital in 1870, an event that brought down the curtain on the Risorgimento and concluded Mazzini’s political mission; he died eighteen months later, in March of 1872. His disappointment that Italy was unified as a monarchy rather than as the republic of his dreams does not change the objective reality that he was on history’s winning side as a ‘prophet of nationalism.’” Placing Mazzini within a distinct political tradition or current is, according to Professor Sarti, a great challenge and one that will inevitably provoke disagreement: “There was room for disagreement, because Mazzini’s mind had embraced and tried to synthesize dichotomous principles. It was possible to arrive at radically different interpretations of the Mazzinian legacy depending on whether one chose to stress rights or duties, liberty or solidarity, patriotism or cosmopolitanism, principle or politics, all of which were embedded in the message of his life. Mazzini was not aware of the contradictions because he lived his creed from the inside out as an organic whole, but others could only perceive that same creed as a set of distinct propositions that required analysis and explanation.” What seems settled about Mazzini’s beliefs, however, as reflected in this statement published in 1833, is that he rejected any form of dictatorship: “Because, until the day arrives when a truly national government, the issue of free and universal suffrage, shall be formed, an element of distrust will always exist among a people striving for emancipation; and the concentration of all the revolutionary forces in the hands of one man would render every description of guarantee illusory.” Conclusion In this short article it is not possible to convey the richness and variety of the programs that are planned throughout the month of October, 2005. Here at the Dante, the celebration begins on October 2 when Luisa Marino will present “Emigratio: Poets and Writers of the New World,” a series of lectures and theatrical productions commencing at 5:00 p.m. There will follow an art exhibit of paintings inspired by Dante’s Inferno by Raffaele Ariante on Sunday evening October 9th. Distinguished lecturers Orazio Buttafuoco (Meucci) and Adolfo Caso (Marconi) will offer their insights to us on Friday evening, October 14 th . The Dante’s own Lorraine diGregorio accompanied by Maria Pia Antonelli will perform an evening of authentic Italian Folk Songs On Friday, October 21st. Finally, there will be another art exhibit on Sunday, October 23rd by Francesca Tulli entitled “Punta di Vista.” And on Thursday, October 27th at 7:30 p.m., a men’s chorus from Verona will be performing “Canti della Gente.” This is only a sample of the evens taking place throughout the month. Please review the entire calendar and join us. Together, let us celebrate our Italian Heritage. PAGE 4 La Dante OCTOBER 2005 Comeback: Will the Twenty-First be Mazzini’s Century? By Spencer M. Di Scala It is ironic that Giuseppe Mazzini, one of the great harbingers of modernity, should be shunted aside and ignored in his native land. But that is exactly what happened to the great nineteenth century thinker in Italy. His disputes with Karl Marx and the subsequent triumph of Marxism in Italy caused him to be the victim of historical, and historiographical, assassination. Italian Marxists set the tone in labeling him a superficial thinker, or worse, ignoring him. Marxism has been frequently compared to a religion and if Roland Sarti’s characterization of Mazzini’s story as “a life for the religion of politics” is accurate, then we might have a basis for understanding Mazzini’s historical defeat. While Mazzini’s “religion of politics” may be seen as being imbued with fervor, committed to humanitarianism and inspired by tolerance, Marxism may be compared to fundamentalism where fanaticism, schism, and intolerance reigned. In the short run, the latter usually defeats the former—but not in the long run. History: A Novel The origins of the dispute between Mazzini and Marxism goes back before Marx to Mazzini’s dispute with Filippo Buonarroti (whose techniques resembled Marx’s) over how Italy should be unified. Buonarroti, influenced by the French Jacobin experience, argued that the 1790s demonstrated that revolutions generate class warfare, and that the French Revolution of 1830 confirmed this principle. Revolutions therefore were necessarily social revolutions and the poor must organize themselves militarily to fight in them. The leadership of these revolutions conceived as class warfare consequently devolved to an elite, a concept that introduced a dictatorial principle into class action. Buonarroti applied the same concept to the international plane, arguing that the more ideologically advanced countries must lead the less advanced. Buonarroti assigned the role of international revolutionary leader to France, and later Marxists assigned the same role to the Soviet Union. Mazzini’s disagreements with Buonarroti emerged clearly on considerations having to do with the purely military plane, but the disparity had a philosophical basis. Though he acknowledged that insurrections had to be prepared in secret by a few leaders, to avoid dictatorship and terror, Mazzini emphasized the people’s role, unlike Buonarroti and later Lenin. Do not, he wrote, “condemn the yearning masses to inertia; do not delude yourselves into thinking that you operate for them; do not entrust to only one class the great work of national regeneration.” This idea led to Mazzini’s espousing the idea of a revolutionary war of the people by means of bands, a technique he picked up from Carlo Bianco, who had fought in Spain. Although it may have failed at the time, the war by bands resembled modern “wars of national liberation.” Mazzini’s challenge to Buonarroti—and later to Marx—fed the charge of leftist commentators that he neglected the “social question.” This accusation, however, was superficial and a diversion because Mazzini aimed to exorcise the specter that the elitism of the leaders, even if leftist, inexorably produced a dictatorship against the workers. In contrast to Buonarroti’s (and later Marx’s and Lenin’s) belief, the people as a whole, not one class, must be associated in a pact that promises equality of conditions and progressive development if popular revolutions were to avoid degenerating into dictatorships. In his arguments against one class as the repository of revolution, Mazzini insisted on a republic as the only form of government within whose context the people could implement a truly democratic society while avoiding the transformation of national revolutions into civil wars among different classes. In seeking to avoid this development, Mazzini merged the idea of “nation” and “people.” In 1832, he defined “nation” as “the universality of citizens speaking the same tongue, enjoying equality of civil and patriotic rights, and associated in the common endeavor of developing and perfecting the social right forces and activities of those same citizens.” According to Mazzini, equal rights, realized through universal suffrage and the development of “social forces” that liberate labor, “permit people to become the People.” From the nation-people emerges Mazzini’s idea of a democratic popular nation. In exile, particularly in London, Mazzini internationalized his ideas. In fact, unlike Marx, he advocated associations of nations, not an alliance among the working classes of different countries. He concretized his ideas by creating associations in exile. He founded Young Italy, Young Europe, Young America, and similar organizations, and, to appeal to workers, the Union of Italian workers and a newspaper, the Apostolato Popolare. This activity gave him more practical experience and placed a greater emphasis on social problems. Mazzini’s founding of the Union of Italian Workers stimulated him to highlight workers’ issues in a direction that can be described as social democratic. His efforts crucially affected the development of mutualaid societies and the progress of social legislation. Mazzini threw himself into the various debates then occurring on the future of European society, the issue of repressed nationalities, and on the nature of democracy. In his Mazzini Against Marx: Thoughts Upon Democracy in Europe, Salvo Mastellone has rediscovered for us this “European” Mazzini who participated in the lively intellectual debates of the period, including the one with Marx. Mastellone emphasized a series of fundamental articles, the “Thoughts Upon Democracy,” published in the British weekly The People’s Journal between August 1846 and April 1847. In these essays, Mazzini argued that the increasingly insistent demand of the masses to participate in governments and to remove control of the decision making apparatus from the hands of the privileged minority could be defined as the democratic tendency of the times. Mazzini defined democracy not as the liberty of all “but as a government freely consented to by all.” The people did not wish that “others” guide them, but that government be in the hands of the best individuals of wisdom and virtue, as determined by the people. These considerations showed up the flaws of Communist ideas. “Clearly,” he wrote, “a system of absolute equality in the distribution of products and labor is unjust, practically impossible, and ultimately leads to the evil which we wish to eradicate. It negates all value to talent, virtue, energy, sacrifice, and to the importance and quality of work.” In a prescient prediction, he added: “With Communism you must have an arbitrary domination of chiefs having the entire disposition of the common property; masters of the mind by an exclusive education; of the body by the power of deciding upon work, the capacity, the wants of each.” According to Mazzini, with a Communist regime instead of the government of the proletariat the result would be the dictatorship of the Communist political class. This result would be embodied in what Mazzini viewed as the Communist republic—authoritarian, based on the concept of absolute equality. Tyrannical tendencies that produced the violation of individual right characterized this republic. Most interested in the “needs” of the people, the Communist republic addressed the economic side of life, imposed “duties” on its citizens, and ended up with a government that owned and possessed everything and distributed “everything which existed—land, capital, means of work, products, with every individual forced to work for a certain number of hours and receiving in return what his individual needs demand.” To find a better description of Soviet-style communism would be nearly impossible. Believing it essential to refute Mazzini’s criticisms, the German Communist League and the English Fraternal Democrats, invited Marx to London and he responded in the second section of his Manifesto. Editor’s note: We will continue the publication of this paper in its entirety in the next issues of La Dante) This article has appeared in Critica Sociale (Milan), N. 8, “Democrazia come cività OCTOBER 2005 La Dante PAGE 5 Grace Restuccia May She Rest In Peace Conductor Giulini dies in Italy Grace Restuccia passed away this past July. Grace was a long time active member of the Dante Alighieri Society. She was also along time member of the board of the Circolo Letterario and of the Pirandello Lyceum, the Renaissance Lodge of the Sons of Italy. Grace was committed to the Italian-American community; she was an active participant in the many charitable institution around Boston, such as The Italian Home for Children, the Home for Little Wonderers, the Perkins School for the Blind. The Italian American community of greater Boston will miss Grace and her smile. Grace may you rest in peace. His time with La Scala in Milan is considered a golden age Conductor Carlo Maria Giulini, one of the most distinguished musicians of the 20th Century, has died at the age of 91 in Brescia, Italy. Giulini started out as a viola player, playing under such legendary conductors as Wilhelm Furtwangler, Otto Klemperer and German composer Richard Strauss. He made his conducting debut in Rome in 1944, becoming musical director of the La Scala opera house in Milan in 1953. From 1967, however, he abandoned opera to concentrate on orchestral works. Giulini was regarded as a gentle, considerate man who enjoyed the affection of all the orchestras he led. On the rostrum, though, he could appear frightening, his eyes staring wildly about him and his arms making great scything movements through the air. Born in southern Italy in 1914, he was enchanted by the wandering fiddle players who roamed the countryside after World War I. As a five-year-old he asked his father to buy him a similar instrument. He went on to study viola at St Cecilia’s Academy in Rome and, on what he would later call the proudest day of his life, join the city’s Augusteo Orchestra.. Giulini served in the Italian army in Croatia in the early years of World War II but later deserted. Although recently married, he went into hiding and only narrowly eluded the Gestapo. He emerged when Rome was liberated by the Allies in June 1944 and agreed to make his public debut as a conductor. The performance featured Brahms’ Fourth Symphony, which occupied a special place in his career - in 1969 he made what was regarded as a definitive recording of the work with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Triumphs Although Guilini’s early passions were chamber music and the symphonic repertoire, his three-year reign at La Scala was considered a golden age for the opera house. Working with Maria Callas and directors Luchino Visconti and Franco Zeffirelli, he was responsible for some of the great operatic triumphs of the post - war era, including La Traviata and The Barber of Seville. Now firmly established as one of the world’s great conductors of opera, Giulini made his first appearance in Britain at the Edinburgh Festival, leading the Glyndebourne Opera in Verdi’s Falstaff. In 1958 he conducted the celebrated Visconti production of Verdi’s Don Carlos at Covent Garden, marking the centenary of the Royal Opera House. During the 1960s he began a long and fruitful relationship with the New Philharmonia Orchestra, recording an outstanding performance of Verdi’s Requiem. But Giulini tired of the rough and tumble of opera house life and devoted more time to concerts, taking regular engagements with the Israel, Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics. He became chief conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1978 and worked with several other orchestras in the United States. Throughout his life he remained under the spell of the great composers. Placido Domingo said it was almost shocking to see someone so good demonstrate such power. One soloist said Giulini’s immersion in music was so deep it was almost too beautiful to endure. KATRINA RELIEF FUND Bush-Clinton appeal We are calling on all Americans to help the people of the Gulf Coast region by making as generous of a contribution as you can to the Katrina Fund. Thousands of our fellow Americans have suffered tremendous losses due to Hurricane Katrina. They desperately need your help to begin to rebuild their lives and their communities. That’s why President Bush has asked us to lead the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. This fund will serve as an umbrella organization for the three special funds established by Governors of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi and will focus on collecting donations to assist in the long-term recovery plan for the states affected by this terrible tragedy. Throughout our history, Americans have always responded to adversity with courage and compassion. We hope that we can count on you to help Hurricane Katrina survivors by making your donation today. www.bushclintonkatrinafund.org Other recommended agencies: www.katrina.salvationarmy.org www.unicefusa.org www.national.unitedway.org PAGE 6 La Dante OCTOBER 2005 SPECIAL FEATURE: REGIONS OF ITALY ABRUZZO, Forte e gentile Shaded areas are National Parks Rocky Mountains, vast forests, soft hilly landscapes and magnificent sandy beaches characterize Abruzzo, located in the southern-central part of Italy. Here you will find the highest peaks of the Apennines, the Gran Sasso (Monte Corno 9,560 feet), deep canyons and valleys, national and regional parks, wide sandy beaches, and a wealth of artistic and natural beauty. Citadels and castles appear in the middle of woods and pastures, in the national parks you will find brown bears, wolves, chamois, on the highest peaks also find eagles and hawks. Abruzzo is connected to Italy’s other regions and to the rest of Europe through a network of roads, by trains and buses. The international airport of Pescara, Aereporto Liberi, connects Abruzzo by air to overseas countries and the rest of the world. The economy depends both on the commerce of agricultural products and on the growing craft sector such as copper and wrought iron, lace, fabrics, wooden articles. In the past decades there has been a dynamic growth in the industrial sector, due in part to the extensive network of viability. In general the economic profile of the region is still in development. The agricultural sector is organized in cooperatives and produces a remarkable variety of crops. It is important to note the production of olives, and olive oil, grapes and wine, and a variety of other fruits. Pasta, cheeses, olive oil, wine and floricultural products are prominent products in the international market place.In the growing industrial sectors there is engineering in Sulmona, Vasto and Chieti and electronics in L’Aquila. Chemical industries are located in Chieti. Paper production is found in Avezzano, while textile and clothing industries are in Teramo, Pescara and Lanciano. The building material industries are found in Pescara and Teramo, glass industries are in San Salvo, and tanning is done in Giulianova. Foodstuff processing in Avezzano, Chieti, Pescara, Sulmona, and Fara San Martino. Finally,Telespazio located in Avezzano, is a world-renowned high tech center for telecommunication and Satellite monitoring. An international research laboratory is located under the Gran Sasso Mountain, where research on nuclear physics is conducted in affiliation with CERN laboratories of Geneva. An unprecedented experiment has been underway here for some time now; the scientists are tracking a group of neutrinos sent from the CERN laboratories. The Tourism industry also has also been growing and is offering a range of attractions to suit the demands of its visitors: Wide sandy shores characterize the many resorts located along the Adriatic coast. Alba Adriatica, Giulianova, Roseto degli Abruzzi, Pineto, Silvi Marina and Montesilvano, Francavilla a Mare, Ortona and Marina di Vasto offer some of the best resorts and beaches. Vacation resorts and skiing are found in Scanno, Pescocostanzo, Rivisondoli, Roccaraso, Pescasseroli Ovindoli, Rocca di Cambio, Campo Felice, Campo di Giove, Pietracamela, Prati di Tivo. There are many small town with picturesque ancient appearances including Atri e Campli, Tagliacozzo, Celano, Sulmona, Aldfedena, Bominaco, Citta’ Sant’Angelo, Penne, Loreto Aprutino, Popoli, Guardiagrele and Lanciano. A special attraction in Abruzzo are the isolated silent churches, dotted here and there in a green peaceful countryside and mainly Romanesque style: San Giovanni al Mavone, Santa Maria di Propezzano, San Clemente al Vomano, Santa Maria di Ronzano, San Paolo di Peltuino, Santa Maria Del Lago, San Clemente a Casauria and the Gothic-Cistercian Abbey of San Giovanni in Venere; There are several important settlements of archeological interest; they include Alba Fucense, Aminterum, Iuvanum, and Peltuinum. The National Museum of Abruzzi in L’Aquila has sections for paleontology, archaeology and medieval art consisting of painting, sculpture, jewelry, ceramics, lace, and sacred ornaments, glass windows. Pescara has the Museum of the Folk Traditions of Abruzzo. The Pinacoteca Civica in Teramo displays beautiful majolica. Chieti’s National Museum of Antiquities houses important relics of the ancient Italics, Greeks and Romans, including some remarkable pieces such as the Warrior of Capestrano, of the fourth century B.C. Editors note: Portions of the material for this article has been submitted by Rosetta Romagnoli from official publications Exhibit tables at Festa Della Republica June 2005 OCTOBER 2005 La Dante PAGE 7 ITALY’S HEAVYWEIGHT SET FOR EURO FIGHT By Benedetto Cataldi BBC Monitoring Italy analyst It already seems to be election season in Italy, even though no poll is scheduled until next spring. A bitter row broke out this week over the single European currency, which many see as a sign of dark political maneuvering. It all started when two ministers from the antiEurope Northern League - a tub-thumping coalition party - called for Italy to return to its old currency, the lira, as a way to solve the country’s economic difficulties. These statements have been met with scorn by European Union officials, and have apparently not found much support in Italy either. “Italy’s currency is the euro,” Italy’s Finance Minister, Domenico Siniscalco, bluntly insisted on Tuesday. But such a controversial proposal - just days after French and Dutch voters rejected the EU Constitution - is indicating very clearly the lines along which the next general election will be fought: the state of the Italian economy and who is to blame for it. Last month, Italy officially entered recession - a far cry from the promises of greater prosperity made by Silvio Berlusconi, the country’s billionaire prime minister, when he took office in 2001. Looking for culprits So, what is to blame? A poor performance by the Italian government, as many say, or, as many others suggest, was it rather the introduction of the euro and the considerable rise in prices which followed? More importantly, who is to blame? Is it Mr. Berlusconi, who ended up presiding over a shrinking economy, or is it rather Italy’s left-wing opposition leader, Romano Prodi, who was heavily involved in the introduction of the euro as Italian Prime Minister first and EU Commission President later? Mr. Prodi is clearly conscious of the political importance of the euro debate. Recently, he defended his role and that of the current Italian president, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, in introducing the single currency. “I must tell you I am proud of having taken Italy into the euro, along with the then treasury minister Carlo Azeglio Ciampi”, Mr. Prodi said. “The euro has given new energy to the country and allowed young people to get a mortgage for their house by lowering interest rates and inflation and putting Italy back in line. Then, if all this wealth was later wasted, this is certainly not the euro’s fault. There are countries with the euro which are growing rapidly. The problem is not the euro, the problem is Italy.” Poisoned chalice Mr. Prodi needs to defend himself stoutly: the issue could make or break his political ambitions. The euro is not something most Italian politicians are keen to be associated with. Many blame the euro for the weak economy, and insist the currency has hiked prices. There seems to be a grudging acceptance of the euro and in the most recent EU poll only 50% of Italians said that adopting the currency had helped their economy. When asked if the euro had achieved an international status like the US dollar or Japanese yen, Italians were the least positive out of the 12 euro-zone nations. Of those questioned, 63% said it was on a par with the dollar and yen, compared with an approval rating of 90% in Ireland. Despite its regular devaluations, the old lira obviously still holds a place in the nation’s affections with 47% of those surveyed admitting they still counted in the defunct currency when buying goods in shops. Mr. Berlusconi is lagging behind in opinion polls, and it seems that his main chance of survival is for someone else to be blamed for the state of the economy. So far, the prime minister has kept out of the debate. But the Northern League - which made the calls - has often proved to be Mr. Berlusconi’s closest ally in his often fractious coalition, and Mr. Berlusconi has not contradicted his ministers. The fact that the EU is launching procedures against Italy for not respecting euro zone budget deficit limits can only add fuel to the fire. After France and the Netherlands rejected the EU Constitution, Italy could soon become the third EU founding member to shake the Union’s foundations. Italy bans donor sperm and eggs (BBC news) Italy’s Senate has overwhelmingly approved a law which bans the use of donor sperm, eggs or surrogate mothers. It also limits the right to artificial fertilization to “heterosexual couples in stable relationships”, excluding gay couples and single women. The bill, one of the most restrictive in Europe, has drawn support and criticism from across the party lines. BBC Rome correspondent Frances Kennedy says that the bill has pitted Catholics against liberals and men against women. The legislation, passed in the Senate by 169 votes to 90 on Thursday, will now be sent back to the lower house of the parliament for minor adjustments. Officials say it will remain essentially unchanged. Under the law, only infertile couples can apply for artificial insemination, and only to government-approved centers. They have to prove that they are married or in a stable relationship. Doctors can create up to three embryos for each attempt, and these cannot be frozen or used for research. Indeed, the freezing of any embryo or sperm is outlawed, as is screening for abnormalities, even in couples who suffer from genetic disorders. Women are also not allowed to use the sperm of a deceased partner. Bitter splits - Senator Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, from the governing Forza Italia party, argued that the rights of the embryo will now be protected. “This law says ‘enough’ to the abuses. It recognizes that an embryo is a person and as such must be protected from the point of conception,” she said. The bill’s opponents say the Senate has bowed to pressure from the Roman Catholic Church and created one of the most backward laws in Europe. Critics have called it medieval and say it could lead to a ban on abortion. Deputy Foreign Minister Margherita Boniver - also of Forza Italia - said the law had aspects which resembled a horror film. There were, however, calls for the Italian legislators to go even further and outlaw abortion altogether. Seven-time Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, now a senator for life, pointed out that the law recognizes an embryo’s legal rights. “I don’t understand, therefore, why it can be killed for up to four months,” he said. Wines of Abruzzo . . . Abruzzo produces one DOCG, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colline Teramane and three DOC wines, Contro Guerra, Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. The regional wines used to be little known abroad and misjudged as cheap, generic, supermarket varieties. As with many other Italian wine producing regions of the South, this is changing and the region is undergoing a gradual transition from bulk-wine production to boutique wines. Notable natives of Abruzzo (Partial list) • • • • • • • • Gaius Sallustius Crispus Ovid Gabriele D’Annunzio Benedetto Croce Ennio Flaiano Ignazio Silone Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows Francesco Paolo Tosti PAGE 8 La Dante OCTOBER 2005 Book Review. . . . . Diario di una emigrante Published in English as A Bench on Which to Rest Author Elena Maccaferri - Published by Herodias Press in 1999/ISBN1-928746-02-0 This past summer, a librarian in my Connecticut hometown handed me a book that she thought my mother, who immigrated to the United States in 1929, would enjoy. My mother was absorbed in a mystery book at the time, so I settled down with Elena Maccaferri’s hauntingly realistic story of Climene, a young woman who journeys to Canada from Italy in the 1930s. The 117 pages hold the reader’s attention as the author draws us into the world of the young Italian woman of the twenties and thirties. The Italy of that era was swirling into another conflict as Mussolini solidified his power and looked toward the conquest of Ethiopia while Climene grew up in a small village in the Apennines with her two brothers and a sister, all the while helping her parents as they worked the land. As she grew older and no prospective husband appeared, salvation arrived in the persona of Adelmo, a native of her village who had gone off to make his fortune in Canada. He has asked his parents to find him a wife and Climene is the choice. They meet and he then quickly leaves again for Canada, fearing that he will be forced to fight in the Abyssinia War. Climene is to follow him. When her paperwork finally allows her to leave and travel by boat to Canada, she finds that he has married someone else. She discovers that he married because the young woman was pregnant, but Climene is also expecting Adelmo’s baby. Her life takes unexpected turns, including an unexpected encounter with Adelmo years later. She returns to Italy to visit after twenty-three years, again to bury her husband in his village, and finally to the village of her birth, living out her days on the hill and finding a bench on which to rest, as her children have done in Canada .In this short novel, Elena has effectively and profoundly represented the life of the immigrant during the time before and during the second world war; the book won prizes in both Canada and Italy after its initial publication in 1976. The author’s granddaughter, Maria Phillips, translated the book into English in 1999. I recommend the book as one to enjoy and then ponder; how have we changed as Italian Americans over the last decades? Can one ever go home again? What can we pass on to our children to continue the traditions of our parents and grandparents, even as the ethnic homeland changes and transforms itself far beyond the villages of Climene? (Reviewed by Adria Cohen) CENTURIES OF SUCCESS: Lessons from the World’s Most Enduring Family Businesses (November 4, 2003; $24.95 Hardcover; 352 pages; ISBN: 1-58062-937-7) by William T. O’Hara, is the first book to ever chronicle success stories and timeless lessons of twenty of the world’s oldest family businesses (including several in North America). Readers will find comprehensive historical retrospectives from every conceivable angle — including how these businesses came into being and the obstacles they overcame, in addition to the business tactics and values that have been passed from one generation to another. Italy PM prints books of insults Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi has published a book of insults thrown at him by the left-wing opposition. Berlusconi Ti Odio “Tiranno, folle, bandito, mafioso, rambo di periferia, anlfabeta della democrazia, piazzista e menagramo.” Berlusconi ti odio (I hate you Berlusconi) is an apparent attempt by the PM to show his critics in a bad light, correspondents say. The 500 entries include megalomaniac, extremist, bandit and drunken hooligan. He has also been nicknamed “Premier Pinocchio” after the wooden puppet character whose nose grows longer each time he tells a lie. “The idea was inspired by Berlusconi himself, who has lamented personal attacks against him,” said author Luca d’Alessandro, head of press for Mr. Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party. Election strategy Mr. Berlusconi has been described as “mad and anthropologically different from the rest of the human race” by opposition lawmaker Giuseppe Giulietti. Another left-wing politician, Antonio Di Pietro, said “Berlusconi is like Aids: If you know him, you avoid him”. Yet, according to political analyst Franco Pavoncello of Rome’s John Cabot university, the book merely marks another twist in the prime minister’s election campaign. “He has been the most insulted prime minister since Mussolini,” he told the BBC. “It is simply the latest attempt to show he has been demonised - to show they are out to get him.” Correspondents say Mr. Berlusconi is famed for his own gaffes and inappropriate remarks, often brushed off as banter. Mr. Pavoncello says that although the book will probably not be widely read by the general public, it will generate media interest. “It won’t change anyone’s mind,” he said, “But one thing you can’t accuse him of is not being a sophisticated media manager”. The book has been published by part of Mr. Berlusconi’s media empire. Profiled Businesses in Centuries of Success Kongo Gumi Hoshi Ryokan Marchesi Antinori SRL Fabbrica D’Armi Pietro Berretta John Brooke & Sons Holdings, Ltd Freiherr Von Poschinger Glasmanufaktur R. Durntell & Sons, Ltd. Mellerio dits Meller Avedis Zildjian Co. Shirley Plantation Hugel & Fils Van Eeghen International BV C. Hoare & Company William Clark & Sons Boplaas Bachman Funeral Home Confetti Mario Pelino Bixler’s Jewelers Molson, Inc. George R. Ruhl & Son founded 578, Japan founded 718, Japan founded 1385, Italy founded 1526, Italy founded 1541, England founded 1568, Germany founded 1591, England founded 1613, France founded 1623, Turkey founded 1638, USA founded 1639, France founded 1662, Netherlands founded 1672, England founded 1739, Northern Ireland founded 1743, South Africa founded 1769, USA founded 1783, Italy(Sulmona) founded 1785, USARetail founded 1786, Canada founded 1789, U.S. Temple Builders Innkeepers Winemaker Firearms Textiles/Business Development Handcrafted Glass Construction Jewelers Cymbal Makers Agriculture HistoricTourism Winemaker Shipping Banking Linens Agriculture Funeral Director Candy Maker Jewelry Brewery Bakery OCTOBER 2005 La Dante PAGE 9 The 200th Anniversary of the Birth of Constantino Brumidi By Salvatore Bramante, Chairman Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts Three years ago, during the month of October, 2002, I traveled to Washington, DC with members of the Dante Alighieri Society, Pirandello Lyceum, Fieri Boston, and October Italian Heritage Month Committee to tour the Capitol Building and view the artistic work of Constantino Brumidi. The tour was arranged by the office of Congressman Michael Capuano who graciously provided two of his staff members to accompany us on our tour, and who also arranged to provide as our tour guide, Dr. Barbara Wolanin, Curator to the Capitol Architect and author of Constantino Brumidi, Artist of the Capitol. Suffice it to say that our tour group was impressed with and very proud of this great American artist of Italian birth, who was relatively unknown to most of us prior to our Capitol visit. July 26, 2005 marked the 200th anniversary of Brumidi’s birth, and once again I traveled to Washington, DC as one of over 500 guests invited to Brumidi’s birthday celebration that was held in the Capitol Rotunda. During the prelude to the celebration, patriotic music was provided by the United States Air Force Ceremonial Brass, then followed shortly thereafter with the presentation of the colors by the United States Capitol Police Ceremonial Unit, and Mr. Michael Amante singing the National Anthem. Distinguished speakers included the Honorable J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Minority Leader, House of Representatives, the Honorable Bill Frist, Majority Leader of the Senate, the Honorable Harry Reid, Minority Leader of the Senate, and the Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator from New York. All of the speakers recited a litany of praise for Brumidi, who spent more than 25 years of his life painting murals in the United States Capitol and who in his own words stated, “My one ambition and daily prayer is that I may live long enough to make beautiful the Capitol of the one country on earth in which there is liberty.” If you plan to travel to Washington, DC sometime in the near future, I highly recommend a visit to the United States Capitol to view what is called the Brumidi Corridors, which are ornately decorated hallways located on the first floor of the Senate wing of the Capitol Building, and also view Brumidi’s work on the dome of the Capitol Rotunda, the Apotheosis of Washington which is considered to be his best work. Within the Senate hallways and Capitol Rotunda you will see and experience the true brilliance of Brumidi’s artistry, and I am sure you will leave Washington, DC as I did, very proud of Brumidi and my Italian heritage. From the Chairman Sal Bramante ,,, It has been five months since I took the oath of office as Chairman of the Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts, and I believe it would be appropriate at this time to introduce myself to the Dante membership. However before I begin the introduction, I would like to state to the Dante membership that I along with President Anna Quadri and her administration are deeply indebted to all of the preceding Dante administrations who have worked very hard and diligently to enhance the image and influence of the Dante Alighieri Society within the Italian community of Massachusetts and beyond, and that it is our intent to continue this process with your help and support. I am the son of Italian immigrants who had emigrated to the United States from Augusta, a city in the Province of Siracusa on the island of Sicily. My parents initially resided in the West End of Boston until they were financially able to purchase a home in Medford for themselves and their six children. I attended Medford schools and I am graduate of Medford High School. I served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam era as a Section Leader, Post Finance and Accounting Office, Fort Riley, Kansas. During my tour of duty, I was awarded the Commanding General’s Certificate of Achievement for my role and contribution to the success of the Department of the Army Pay Test conducted at Fort Riley. The Army Pay Test called for the implementation of a new concept of consolidating payroll processing from Army field offices to a central accounting office. I attended Boston University where I earned a Bachelor of Liberal Studies in American History and Civilization, and I have graduate credit hours earned at Boston State College (now merged with UMassBoston) in Public Affairs and Education. Currently I am employed at Rando Consulting, an information technology staff augmentation company located in Wilmington, as Manager of Contract Consulting Resources. In addition to my membership in the Dante Alighieri, where I have served on the Board of Governors during the Rullo/Agnes and Castellano/Ciano administrations, I am also a member and supporter of Italian Heritage Month Committee of Massachusetts, where I serve as Vice-President, O.S.I.A. – Lodge 2614, Pirandello Lyceum, Freedoms Foundation and the American Legion. I continue to reside in Medford and at my vacation home in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. California vs. Italian Wines . . . the differences between them By Sam Sebastiani of Viansa Winery Americans visiting Italy are often surprised when they sample Italian wines. Not only are they unfamiliar with the array of different varietals, but many Americans are also shocked to discover that Italian wines actually taste different. Wines in Italy are often lighter, less oaky and more crisp and acidic than the California wines many of us are used to. A lot of this difference has to do with climate and soil. California has more moderate weather and younger, richer soils than Italy, so our grapevines grow vigorously, producing abundant foliage and full-flavored fruit with higher sugar levels. As a result, California wines tend to be full and fruity, with bold flavors and higher alcohol content. In Italy, grapes grow more slowly since the weather is cooler and soils are often rocky and low in nutrients. Consequently, Italian varietals, reds in particular, are more understated and subtle than their California cousins, with earthy flavors and lower alcohol levels. Switching to a more Italian style of grape growing and winemaking takes time, and the challenges we face are tremendous. Due to California’s rich soils and warm weather, we are constantly battling the vigor of our vines. However, as our vines mature and their roots spread, we are finding that desirable earthy flavors are increasing. We have traveled extensively in Italy to learn old world winemaking techniques, yet there’s no simple recipe to follow to duplicate what the Italians have been doing for centuries. We are fortunate, however, to have a heritage of Italian winemaking in our blood. For more than 500 years, Sebastianis have been crafting Italian wines in the tiny Tuscan village of Farneta. Now, the California branch of the family is doing the very same thing right here in Sonoma. ABOUT THE AUTHOR A third-generation Sonoma Valley winemaker, Sam Sebastiani was born and raised in the heart of Sonoma. He spent his early years learning viticulture and enology from his father, August Sebastiani (1913-1980), a renowned California winemaker. Founded in 1989 by Sam and Vicki Sebastiani, Viansa is their vehicle to share their love of good food, wine and their Italian heritage with visitors from around the world. PAGE 10 La Dante OCTOBER 2005 THE VENICE BIENNALE Art Architecture Cinema Dance Music Theatre ... since 1895...... The Venice Biennale has been for over a century one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world. Ever since its foundation in 1895, it has been in the avantgarde, promoting new artistic trends and organizing international events in the contemporary arts in accordance with a multidisciplinary model which characterizes its unique nature. It is world-beating for the International Film Festival, 61 editions. The International Art Exhibition, 50 editions, and for the International Architecture Exhibition, 9 editions., It continues the great tradition of the Festival of Contemporary Music, 48 editions and Theatre,36 editions, now flanked by the Festival of Contemporary Dance with 2 editions. The Biennale promotes numerous publishing initiatives in the same sectors. Through ASAC, Historic Archives of Contemporary Arts, the Biennale also maintains and preserves all the documentation of its history. The Foundation’s venues, which receive an increasingly vast international public, 320,000 visitors per annum, are not owned by the Foundation but are made available by law by the Venice City Council. These venues are: the Giardini di Castello for visual arts and architecture, Palazzo del Cinema and the Palazzo del Casinò on the Lido for cinema. Other venues are made available through long term agreements with the Italian Navy and the Inland Revenue: the Arsenale for visual arts and architecture, the Teatro alle Tese and the Teatro Piccolo Arsenale for dance, music, theatre. The legislative reform decree of January 2004 has transformed the Biennale into a Foundation, with a new board of directors chaired by Davide Croff. The challenge of the new Foundation lies in reviving the potential of the Biennale and its unique nature as a centre of attraction of outstanding excellence not only during the major exhibitions, but also for artistic production in every sector, throughout the year. For this, prestigious private partners are being sought to set up a permanent ‘home’, its own venue which reinforces and establishes the identity of the Biennale, and which can at the same time become a permanent exhibition centre, a laboratory of culture, the arts, and ideas which reach the whole world from Venice. The reform has been backed by the Minister of Culture, Giuliano Urbani, with the aim of achieving greater managerial efficiency, but above all a smoother integration and the ingress of private partners, with the intention of increasing the Foundation’s assets. For this reason, the financial model to which the new Foundation aspires is that of the US cultural sector, in which 30% of the budget comes from private sponsorships and payments, 30% from its own earnings, 30% from public contributions and 10% from receipts from the increase in assets. Italian Lesson THE ORIGIN OF “Ciao” Nowadays in Italy you say hello and goodbye to people you know (especially among friends) using ciao. In the past, mind you, ciao, meant schiavo vostro (your slave) and therefore was not at all a friendly way to relate to friends. THE USE OF “Voi” In spoken Italian, voi is used to speak to any group of people, that is to say voi normally is a collective pronoun. However there are a few cases when it used in a singular sense. Nowadays singular voi has little use, but in 1938 Mussolini tried to make Italians use voi instead of lei. As a matter of fact regarded the use of lei of spanish origin; actually he was wrong, since lei comes from the latin. In any case, this fascist voi was in use for a while, although today you can still hear some old Italians use it. Buongiorno, Buona sera or Buona notte? Buongiorno is used for good morning until lunch time (1 p.m.). Good afternoon is Buona sera which you use until 10 p.m. Don’t try and be smart and use Buon Pomeriggio for the early afternoon because people will look at you in surprise. Say buona notte only to friends when you know they are just about to go to bed. If you find this all too complicated just use Salve all the time ! Italian Proverbs: Proverbi Italiani A confessore, medico e avvocato non tener il ver celato. English translation: To confessor, doctor, and lawyer do not hide the truth. A mali estremi, estremi rimedi. English translation: Desperate times call for desperate measures. A nemico che fugge, ponti d’oro. English translation: For the enemy who escapes, golden bridges. A ogni uccello il suo nido è bello. English translation: To every bird, his own nest is beautiful. A rubar poco si va in galera, a rubar tanto si fa cariera. English translation: Steal a little, go to jail; steal a lot, make a career of STEFANIA SANDRELLI Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement was presented to Stefania Sandrelli during the awards ceremony held on the evening of Saturday September 10. The Board of Directors of the Biennale di Venezia, presided by Davide Croff, accepted the proposal of Director Marco Müller to award Italian actress Stefania Sandrelli the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 62nd Venice International Film Festival (August 31 – September 10, 2005), the second to be assigned in this edition, after the one already announced to Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki. As Marco Müller states: “Forty-five years in film, and it doesn’t show at all. Stefania Sandrelli has gone through all the phases of Italian film-making: she emerged after working with two of the most original authors of the postwar period, Pietro Germi and Antonio Pietrangeli; she accompanied the dynamic phase of New Cinema (one title for all: The Conformist by Bernardo Bertolucci); she was the muse for intellectual sexy film-making; and she continues to be the center of gravity for debuts and important films by young film-makers (from Valia Santella, a student of Moretti, to L’ultimo bacio by Muccino). A modern but never modernist actress, Stefania represents the best of what Italian contemporary film has been able to offer.” Stefania Sandrelli, over the course of an almost forty-five year career (she made her debut in 1961 in Il federale by Luciano Salce) that is one of the most prestigious in Italian and international film, became a muse for the greatest directors, incarnating a feminine ideal that was both traditional and modern. Her unforgettable range of characters confirmed her to be, season after season, one of the most versatile, instinctive and complete actresses in Italian film. OCTOBER 2005 La Dante PAGE 11 THIS MONTH’S RECIPIE Maccheroni “alla Chitarra” Maccheroni alla chitarra are a specialty from the Abruzzo region, and are made by rolling a sheet of pasta slightly thicker than normal (dime-and-a-half thick) and forcing it through the chitarra, a set of closely strung strings that looks very much like the strings of a guitar; The pasta is made with an ‘instrument’ that is easy to find in any market in Abruzzo. The end result is spaghetti-like pasta that is square in cross section. Serves 6 people The Sauce: 200 gr. lamb (1/2 pound) 200 gr. lean pork 1 cup of oil 50 gr. butter 3 cans of peeled tomatoes 1 small onion 1 carrot Salt, seasoning. Plenty of Pecorino cheese (or Parmesan) Gifts and Bequests Pasta Chitarra A traditional instrument for cutting fresh pasta sheets, the chitarra (KEY-tarra) has ancient origins in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Master handcrafters from Pretoro handstring two sets of zinc-coated steel wires on the varnished ashwood box. One side yields a square cut pasta, and the opposite side different narrower or wider cuts. The Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts is a not for profit 501(c)(3) educational and charitable organization under Massachusetts law. Gifts and bequests to the society are deductible under federal income, estate, and gift taxes. In order to include the Dante Alighieri Society in your will, the following language is recommended: Preparation: Begin by preparing the sauce: Slice the onion and sauté it in the oil, and when it has become translucent add the meat. Cook, stirring, until the meat has browned, then add the tomatoes and carrot, and simmer for at least 1 hour (to three hours), checking seasoning towards the end of the cooking time Preparation of the pasta: 7 cups flour 6 whole eggs (one egg per person) Pour the flour onto the baking board, combine the flour and the eggs (yolks and whites), Kneed the pasta dough for 30 minutes, letting it sit for a half hour or more. Roll out the dough into a sheet, which isn’t too thin, roll it out slightly more than 1/16th of an inch (1.5 mm), cut the sheet into 60cmx20cm rectangles. Lay each rectangle length-wise over the “chitarra” and push down on each one with the rolling pin to make the macaroni. If you want, (or do not have a “chitarra”) you can make tagliatelle. “I give and bequeath to the Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts, Inc., 41 Hampshire Street, Cambridge, MA 02139-1547 for the Dante Alighieri Society’s general purposes” Cooking the pasta: Bring abundant salted water to a boil and cook the pasta, stirring it with a fork to keep the strands from tangling boil until they float to the top of the pot, this will take a few minutes, (about 3 minutes). Interrupt the cooking of the pasta with cold water. Add sauce to the pasta immediately and add cheese. Serve hot. Before serving, you can add a few drops of oil in which a little finely chopped hot pepper has been sautéed. If you wish to make a bequest for a specific purpose, it is requested that you add the following language to any restriction you wish to impose on your bequest. Facts About Abruzzo , , , Parks: Imagine driving out of New York City at 10 am and being in Yellowstone Park by noon. If that idea appeals to you, take the A24 autostrada from Rome for about 50 miles to Parco Nazionale d’Abruzzo National parks 1. The National Park of Abruzzo 2. The National Park of Gran Sasso-Laga 3. The National Park of Majella-Morrone Regional parks 4. Sirente-Velino National and regional parks cover 30% of Abruzzo territory. If the entire 35 plus Reservations are included, the protected territory represents 45% of the territory. Castles: Abruzzo has practically as many castles as sheep, mainly due to its strategic location between the Tyrrhennian and Adriatic seas. The ancient Romans built myriad roads here, and after their empire fell, the network of highways and byways served as excellent inroads for foreign invaders, whose ranks included Lombards, Saracens, Hungarians, Normans, German Hohenstaufens, French Angevins and Spanish Aragonese. Abruzzo’s wealth of castles and medieval towns, especially near the town of L’Aquila has earned it in some quarters the nickname of “Abruzzoshire”, “If at some future time it is no longer practicable, in the judgment of the Board of Governors of the Dante Alighieri Society, to use the income or principal of this bequest for the purpose intended, the said Board shall have the right to use the income or principal for whatever purpose they deem necessary and reasonable in accord with the intent described therein.” If you would like to discuss a gift or bequest with a representative of the Society, please contact the President: Anna Quadri or the Chairman of the Board: Salvatore Bramante. ▲ PAGE 12 La Dante OCTOBER 2005 Upcoming Events at the Dante OCTOBER 2005 ITALIAN HERITAGE MONTH Sunday, October 2 - 4pm “Emigratio” Poets and Writers of the New World Lecture and Theatrical Presentation Dr. Antonio Corbisiero Editor of “Mercato di San Severino”, Salerno Italy. Dr. Elvira Di Fabio, PHD. Harvard University, Italian-American Studies Performers: Cat Wallek, Luisa Marino, Osiel Gonzales, Baritone Clemente Franciosi, and Pianist Sara S. Gende. Immediately following a light fare buffet will be served Admission fee $15 October 8-15 “Journey to hell exhibit” L’Inferno sulle Stampe di Dore The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri by Artist Raffaele Ariante Sunday, October 9 - 4pm Reception to meet the artist Raffaele Ariante, join him in a discussion about his works . Free and open to the public OCTOBER 2005 ITALIAN HERITAGE MONTH Friday, October 14 - 7pm “Science of Communication” Lecture on Antonio Meucci, inventor of the telephone, and Guglielmo Marconi, the father of wireless communication. Presented by: Orazio Z. Buttafuoco & Adolfo Caso Free and open to the public Friday, October 21 - 8pm “Italian Folk Songs from the Alps to Sicily” Performed by Soprano, Lorraine Di Gregorio Pianist Maria Pia Antonelli - Free and open to the public Sunday, October 23 - 8pm “Punti di Vista” Art Exhibit Presented by Francesca Tulli. An Italian painter and sculptor from Rome, Italy The exhibit will close October 31 Free and open to the public Thursday, October 27 - 7pm “Voci Del Baldo” A men’s choral group from Verona, Italy Free and open to the public Friday, October 28, Lecture by Prof. Antonio Varrasso, Curator of the Historical Archives of Regione Abruzzo Sunday October 30, Afternoon Film Event Call Dante for Details FOR MORE INFORMATION TELEPHONE 617.876.5160 www.dantealighieri.net/cambridge Membership Application & Renewal Fill out and Mail with Check to Email: cambridge@dantealighieri.net Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts 41 Hampsire Street Cambridge MA 02139 Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts 41 Hampshire Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 Name ______________________________________ Address _____________________________________ City _____________ State _____ Zip ____________ Tel (H) ______________________________________ Tel (W) _____________________________________ Email _______________________________________ Check all that apply ( ) $60 Individual membership ( ) $100 Family membership ( ) Donation $ __________________ Please send a membership info packet