SEPTEMBER 2010

HISTORIC CENTRE

09012010 The film, Into Paradiso, of Italian film director Paola Randi, reflects a story of friendship: the strong bonds which have gradually developed between the Neapolitan society and the Sri Lankan community living in the city, and which have further strengthened the process of integration of the Sri Lankan expatriate workers in Naples. Italian film on the Sri Lankan community in Naples selected at the 67th Venice Film Festival | Asian Tribune
09022010 When I’m talking about Naples, I don’t feel like I’m talking about a city. It’s more like an organism or a human being. She’s like a fantastically beautiful lover who has severe mental health issues.The love affair started in 2000, when I was invited out by an Italian gallery and pitched up there with a suitcase and my camera. It’s a city that can drive you mad. I think you need to get a way from it but then it has a strange draw. It’s like a drug addiction. You come back from there and almost immediately get an itch to go back again. Johnnie Shand Kydd in Naples: Siren City | Telegraph
09032010 But the most stunning house on show 'The Surreal House' is seen in clips from Jean-Luc Goddard’s 1963 film Le Mepris. High over a sundrenched Capri bay, Brigitte Bardot tempts and teases around the Casa Malaparte, a great bunker where an entire side is a staircase. Its designer, the writer Cuzio Malaparte, was inspired by a de Chirico painting, The Evil Genius of a King (1915), one of several classical surrealist masterpieces that the Barbican has managed to borrow. 'The Surreal House' | Run Riot
09042010 The huge cattle with sweeping horns which once roamed the forests of Europe have not been seen for nearly 400 years. "We were able to analyse auroch DNA from preserved bone material and create a rough map of its genome that should allow us to breed animals nearly identical to aurochs," said team leader Donato Matassino, head of the Consortium for Experimental Biotechnology in Benevento, in the southern Campania region. Giant cattle to be bred back from extinction | Telegraph
09052010 Fresh vegetables of the season + pasta = a fabulous bowl of Italy. Regardless of the shape or size, the pasta keeps its integrity, with a flavor that combines the taste of the wheat with the salty, dry breezes that blew through to dry it. Even commercial pasta tastes wonderful. In Campania, in fact, there is a town whose residents' expertise in pasta-making accounts for its name: Gragnano, named for its grains of wheat. Marrying pasta and veggies in southern Italy | SFGate
09062010 The Amalfi Coast is one of my favorite parts of Italy because of its unique beauty and serenity. There are Positano's confetti-colored facades, Capri's sapphire seas, fabulous beaches, quaint fishing villages, and hearty local cuisine. Note that in the height of summer, destinations such as Sorrento, Capri, and Positano are quite busy, so you may want to visit during the shoulder season. Peter Greenberg: Italy's Amalfi Coast, Sicily and Milan | AARP
09072010 Like the Mona Lisa, "Antea" is enigmatic and unattainable. And similarly, she has the potential to elicit an unlawful reaction: "Antea" is the type of painting you want to take home and be alone with. You want to steal her from the collection. I can actually attest to feeling jealous when I had to share her with my editor the other day, on a second visit. As mentioned in The Economist last week, "Antea", in postcard form, sells out on a regular basis at her home, the Museo di Capodimonte. It seems everyone wants to send her to a loved one, or display her face on the frigorifero with a magnet. Parmigianino has created a moment so intimate that nothing dare interrupt. Parmigianino' "Antea" | Intelligent Life
09082010 The village is nestled on the Amalfi Coast in southern Italy, on the edge of a mountain overlooking the water. The bougainvillea framed against the white walls, the fresco domes, the scent of jasmine gently traveling through narrow pathways and the reflection of the entire village in the sea all conspire to create the ultimate enchantment. I have a love affair with the Mediterranean Sea in general. It has a certain magic that has been of tremendous inspiration to my music. Jordanian pianist Zade Dirani finds Positano enchanting | Chicago Tribune
09092010 This year marks the 200th anniversary of the design of the first wrist-worn watch, ordered from Breguet by Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples. The anniversary offers Breguet the opportunity to add the first Grande Complication design to the Reine de Naples collection for ladies only: automatic strike. Breguet Reine de Naples 8978 | Worldtempus
09102010 Situated about 50 miles south of Naples, near the famous Greek ruins of Paestum, Seliano is a working farm and inn run by Baronessa Cecilia Bellelli Baratta and her two sons, Ettore and Massimino. The baronessa’s claims to fame include her prize herd of water buffalo and a portrait of the Bellelli clan circa 1860 painted by Degas. While the painting hangs in the Musée d’Orsay, the buffalo live right across the road, and as a result, Seliano’s guests are privy to some of the freshest, tastiest ricotta and mozzarella in all of Italy. Culinary Tours Italy | Shermans Travel
09112010 Salvator Rosa is another of those ill-used by fame. Born in Naples, he began his career as a landscape painter, making spontaneous works based on plein-air oil sketches on paper. Rosa became engrossed in magic, alchemy and witchcraft, and he began to produce landscapes and genre pictures featuring witches and bandits in macabre settings. These works were a great success commercially. Dulwich Picture Gallery > Salvator Rosa (1615-73) Bandits,Wilderness and Magic | The Art Newspaper
09122010 It is the mud that emanates from the rich volcanic soils of Ischia, an island in the Gulf of Naples that has drawn health-conscious disciples since Roman times. The spa at L'Albergo della Regina Isabella is looking for a new spring and five have been tested. This is no simple matter. Temperatures and mineral content must all be assessed, Dr Magrassi explained with classic Italian pathos. His patients require the best care and, of course, there are those who turn up for beauty treatments, "to look younger" he added, attempting not to sound too disdainful. The island of Ischia: Glorious mud | The Indipendent
09132010 Try the espresso in Naples. There's a splendid place right across from the Teatro San Carlo (the opera house): Gran Caffe Gambrinus. They've got these wild espresso machines with super long handles that control the pull. It's looks very much like the splendid cafes in Vienna, where Lenin and Freud hung out (Cafe Central). The place in Naples serves a very short pull that is almost burned and sort of spicy. Espresso Arts Education | Dewei21C
09142010 If you were part of a poor family and you had a son with a glimmer of musical talent, it was off to the chop shop. As a young chorister, Joseph Haydn narrowly escaped it. Barbers in Naples hung a sign: 'Boys castrated cheap here.' The Castrati: The Beautiful, Sad Men 'The Little Knife' Made | Slate
09152010 The European online hotel reservations specialist - reveals the results of the contest "Which is your fashion type?" An unexpected 'strange couple' - Spanish and English - who agree on their style preferences, choosing a country castle (49% and 47%) maybe in the hills of Anacapri, above the famous Grotta Azzurra (65% and 59%). Between strolls along the cliffs towering over the sea and under the bougainvillea, the "Bottega Veneta" model would prefer the luxury of a Rolls Royce (40% and 44%). For the "Bottega Veneta" type Venere.com suggests the Blu Capri Relais in Anacapri. Venere.com Reveals European's Favourite Fashion Brands | Entrepeneur
09162010 In Working Together former Disney CEO Michael D. Eisner offers us an intimate and deeply personal look at some of the most lasting and successful business partners. When Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti met by chance at a restaurant in Rome, Valentino was on the verge of bankruptcy. After a whirlwind trip to Capri, romance ensued and Giammetti quit architecture school to manage Valentino's business. The rest, as they say, is history. Michael Eisner's New Book | HarperCollins
09172010 Food Director Susan Westmoreland's cousin, Paola D'Atino, makes this after-dinner cordial from the lemons that grow in her backyard near Italy's Amalfi coast. It's tastiest served from the freezer, very cold and syrupy. Do-Ahead: several months or more. Italian Lemon Cordial | Good Housekeeping
09182010 How did Giuseppe Mozzillo, COO, Exito Gourmet, a former investment banker who hails from a family of cheesemakers from Naples, land up in Haryana’s Golpura village to make authentic Italian cheese? “It was during a trip to India in 2006 that I came across water buffalos remarkably similar to those found in Italy. Later, I learnt that the buffalos found in Italy are descended from the Indian water buffalo,” he says. Having found the perfect bovine, he began the search for a perfect partner to set up business here. Jeez, it’s cheese | Business Today
09192010 Before you meet Alfonso Iaccarino, you might get to meet Josefina, the goat. I had reserved a table for lunch at Don Alfonso 1890, the most acclaimed restaurant in southern Italy, in Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi, a little hillside village sixty miles south of Naples in the Campania region. When my companion and I arrived at the restaurant, which is housed in an elegant pink villa in the center of town, a young man named Fortunato, a wavy-haired waiter with a good command of English, greeted us. "Don Alfonso wants you to see the farm first," he said. "Hop in." Farm Fresh in Italy | Town&Country
09202010 The sport of training horses for competition has existed for several centuries. Dressage developed as a method of training horses for war, teaching them precise movements. There is some evidence that dressage-type manoeuvres were developed by the ancient Greeks. Modern dressage began during the Renaissance when the Neapolitan nobleman Federico Grisone founded a riding academy in Naples in 1532. Equestrian | Beijing Review
09212010 The Ancient Shore explore the trademark sights and scenes of Naples: Mt Vesuvius, the district of Posillipo and the Spaccanapoli promenade, whose gothic churches, baroque palaces and medieval passages we are ushered to enjoy. Shirley Hazzard comes with first-class credentials to play Neapolitan tour guide. The UN sent her to war- savaged Naples for work in 1956. She has spent the spring and autumn months there for just on 50 years. Cool eye on a red-blooded city | The Australian
09222010 Some years ago I had the good luck to watch Sir Jonathan Miller give an acting masterclass for young opera singers, at Ischia, in the Bay of Naples. It was one of the most impressive moments of theatre I've ever seen, for he boiled down the entire secret of directing opera to a simple maxim: Remember that in opera you are always singing to someone. On very rare occasions it is the audience to whom you are singing; but in most cases you are singing to another person, or group of people, on the stage. This doesn't mean the singer can never look at the conductor. A moment of eye-contact is often sufficient to establish this bond with the other character(s) - but it has to be there, for in that connection is the essence of the drama. Diva details | Plain English
09232010 In the late 1990s, when Italian-born Sergio Esposito was shaping his concept for a shop of exclusively Italian wines. Now more than 15,000 wine investors nationwide currently use the company's portfolio management service. Much of Esposito's reputation is build upon his stamp of approval -- he travels to Italy frequently and personally tastes each wine that he buys for the store's collection. Esposito also recently wrote 'Passion on the Vine' which illustrates the connection between Italian wine merchants to his flavor-filled childhood in Naples. The Wine Entrepreneurs | Inc.
09242010 In Rome, Obikà is a mozzarella bar on Piazza di Firenze, an oddly modern place not far from the Pantheon that reluctantly serves as a tourist canteen during the day and then as a frosty, rather exclusive wine bar late at night. There has always been fresh mozzarella in Rome, trucked up each morning from its motherland near Caserta in north Campania, but Obikà, styled a bit like a sushi bar, was the first place to make a religion of the cheese. The Roman Obikà was the admitted inspiration for the mozzarella bar at Osteria Mozza in Hollywood. Obika: When Not in Rome ... | LA Weekly
09252010 One of my all-time favorite tomatoes comes from another backyard. Two years ago, I spent five months working on sailboats on Procida, a small island just off the coast of Naples. It’s one of the great tomato strongholds. At lunch, we’d eat at the home of Ellio Scotto Di Perta, a gentleman gardener much like my grandfather. His passion is equal to that of any gardener, but he also had the advantage of dark volcanic soil straight from the mouth of Mount Vesuvius. Premium Pomodoros. | Elephant Journal
09262010 The Bridge prize, a human heritage that will build and not destroy bridges”. Amongst the awarded people there were Saverio Moschillo, born in Ariano Irpino, 23 showrooms, 9000 customers worldwide and a 300 million Euros income a year. The “Filippo Mazzei” prize | Now Italy
09272010 Carthusia is an italian company based in Capri, Italy. The company has a line of fragrances for home and personal use. One of my favorites is Uomo with notes of fruit and leather. The newest offering in the line premiering in September will be 1681. 1681 features notes of mandarin, rosemary, bergamot, lavender, cedarwood, incense, and black pepper. Great perfumes launching in Fall 2010 at The Avery Perfumes in NYC | Examiner.com
09282010 The whole territory of Torrecuso is situated on the hillsides near Benevento, which start from the river Calore to the slopes of the Pentime Mountain. It is the district of the Taburno. The hillsides are sunny and covered with grapevines. Aglianico is the noble grape in this region. It was originally introduced to Italy by the Greeks who settled the penninsula a thousand years before the Roman Republic. Amid the hills of the Campania at Fontanavecchia (the name means old fountain), in sight of the remains of the ancient Roman bridge "Ponte Fenucchio" that spans the river Calore, rises the Azienda Agricola Orazio Rillo. The March Fab Five | Wine Shop at Foxcroft
09292010 The team of scientists wants to insert a borehole inside Campi Flegrei, a huge volcanic formation outside Naples, in the hope of gauging how active it is. Also known as the Phlegraean Fields, Campi Flegrei is an eight-mile-wide caldera lying west of Naples. It comprises 24 volcanic fissures and craters – one of which was believed by the ancient Romans to be the home of Vulcan, the god of fire - although much of it lies under water as it extends into the Bay of Naples. Scientists to drill 13,000ft into active volcano in test that could cause earthquake | The Telegraph
09302010 When upper-class Romans looked to escape the stress of modern life in the first century A.D., they ventured to the shores of the Bay of Naples, in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, where they built elaborate vacation villas filled with Greek antiquities. Not every vacationer along the shores of the Bay of Naples could afford to acquire original Greek art, so the pieces found in these ancient getaways might have also been reproductions or contemporary works made in Italy from Greek materials by Greek artists. Shore Things | Art & Antiques