Q&A When did you start playing an instrument? I was five years old. Why did you start playing? Because I was given a little piano in my house. Which musician inspired you most when you were young? Lenny Bernstein. Which musicians (instrumentalists or singers) do you most admire? Joshua Bell and Placido Domingo. What’s your favourite piece to conduct? Every place … [Read more...] about Riccardo Frizza answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Conductors’ Edition
Leonardo da Vinci
Gregory Reinhart answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start singing? As a child in Upstate New York, every Sunday I was taken to Mass. I loved hearing the songs in Latin, and hearing the choir. I wanted so badly to sing along, but was told by the organist I’d have to wait until my voice changed! At school I was definitely noticed at an early age, and encouraged. This year, my home town of Pavilion … [Read more...] about Gregory Reinhart answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Franco Zeffirelli is named one of 35 living descendants of Leonardo da Vinci
35 living descendants of Leonardo Da Vinci’s family have been identified. Although Da Vinci didn’t have any children, a project – started in 1973 – sort to create his family tree starting from the children of his siblings. Art historians Alessandro Vezzosi and Agnese Sabato, from the Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci, have been putting the pieces together for the past 40 years. … [Read more...] about Franco Zeffirelli is named one of 35 living descendants of Leonardo da Vinci
Massimo Cavalletti answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Q&A in italiano When did you start singing? I began singing when I was six years old in the choir at Saint Anne’s church in Lucca, where I was born. I started singing opera when I was twenty-one. Why did you start singing? I began singing because as soon as I discovered my voice it immediately became a need and an overwhelming desire. I knew from the beginning that … [Read more...] about Massimo Cavalletti answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Barbara Frittoli answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Q&A in italiano When did you start singing? From what I remember I've always sung: when I was seven I had emergency surgery for peritonitis and I sang throughout the operation. Why did you start singing? When I was nine I was accepted at the Milan Conservatory to study piano; choral singing was, and is, one of the obligatory studies. Which singer inspired you most … [Read more...] about Barbara Frittoli answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Milan Expo 2015 – The Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the Palazzo Reale
The Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the Palazzo Reale in Milan – opening last week to coincide with the beginning of the Milan Expo on 1 May – is not to be missed, even if the show misses some opportunities itself. Unfortunately pipped to the post by London’s Leonardo exhibition just three years ago, which actually focused in his two-decade stay in Milan, the curators … [Read more...] about Milan Expo 2015 – The Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the Palazzo Reale
Jennifer Larmore answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Q&A When did you start singing? I always sang. My mother told me that I sang even before I talked. I also cannot remember a time when I didn’t sing. Why did you start singing? It has been the most natural thing in the world for me to sing. I always enjoyed it. I liked the sound of my own voice and I liked the way it made me feel. Which singer inspired you the most … [Read more...] about Jennifer Larmore answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Singers’ Edition
Nicoletta Manni answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Q&A in italiano When did you start dancing? I started when I was tiny. Why did you start dancing? It started as a game: my mother had a dancing school and I was always asking if I could go with her. Which dancer inspired you most as a child? Polina Semionova. Which dancer do you most admire? I admire many dancers... I couldn't choose just … [Read more...] about Nicoletta Manni answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dancers’ Edition
Three Leonardo da Vinci paintings on loan from the Louvre for the Milan Expo 2015
The Louvre in Paris has given the ok for three of its Leonardo da Vinci paintings to travel to Milan for the ambitious exhibition of the painter's works to coincide with the Milan Expo in 2015. Leonardo lived in Milan for 17 years and, of course, his The Last Supper is painted on the walls of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in the city. The Expo runs from the … [Read more...] about Three Leonardo da Vinci paintings on loan from the Louvre for the Milan Expo 2015
Closer to finding the Mona Lisa’s skeleton
Italian art experts and archeologists are getting close to identifying the skeleton of the presumed sitter for Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. It is generally believed that the model was Lisa Del Giocondo, wife of the Florentine merchant Francesco Del Giocondo, who died in Saint Ursula's convent in Florence in the mid-16th century. A skeleton exhumed in 2012 from the site of … [Read more...] about Closer to finding the Mona Lisa’s skeleton