Mantua kept a lot of its old looks. There are cobblestone streets, narrow alleys, old taverns, and foggy waters (in winter). Francesco Maria Piave was Giuseppe Verdi’s librettist, and when Verdi asked him to work on Rigoletto, they had to find a suitable city for the story. For Piave, a Venetian, Mantova was just the […]
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Rigoletto I just went to see Rigoletto, one of the most famous Italian operas and one of my favorites, one of the reasons—besides the beautiful arias—is that the plot is almost credible. There are a couple of operas by Giuseppe Verdi where the plot is really hard to take, while others are not dramatic enough, which […]
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Actually the first two have absolutely nothing in common! Gonzaga, Chagall, and Rigoletto The exhibition by Chagall (From September 5, 2018 to February 3, 2019, at Palazzo Della Ragione), provided a good excuse to travel to Mantova. We were blessed with a crisp—if cold—day with no fog! Mantova is a tricky city to visit because […]
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Life in Italy 