A night at the Italian opera is a bucket-list experience for many tourists and Unesco recently safeguarded the ancient art form, including Italian opera singing on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage last month.
Dating back to the late 1500s, Italian opera singing is practised or taught by more than 30,000 people in Italy.
Each day, a new generation of students receive tutelage from operatic maestros. They learn not just exquisite control of vocal pitch, but also powerful projection that allows them to maximise the acoustics of venues such as churches, arenas, amphitheatres and, of course, those stunning, famous opera houses.
Here are five of the finest venues where you can enjoy this form of singing in Italy.
Teatro alla Scala, Milan
When first I visited Italy’s most famous opera house, I feared my camera was going to overheat. Such was the intense labour it went through in snapping my wife from every conceivable vantage point in what is one of the most photogenic interior spaces I’ve yet seen.
The blend of blood-red furnishings and gilded accents inside Milan’s 18th-century opera house is wonderfully ostentatious. Tourists all around us were taking just as many photos during one of the five daily English-language guided tours of the facility.
For $33 per person, we were led past its sublime foyer, royal box, orchestral pit, backstage area and museum, which is laden with artworks, images and artefacts. It explains how the Teatro alla Scala once all but disappeared. In 1943 it was badly damaged by Second World War bombing, but was rebuilt immediately after the war and continues to regularly present concerts, operas and stage shows.
Verona Arena, Verona
If Paris is the city of love, Verona is the city of romantic tragedy. This charming city in north-east Italy has become intertwined with Romeo & Juliet, a Shakespearian tale of love found and lost set in the timeworn streets that surround perhaps the country's most unique opera venue.
Whereas the other Italian opera houses I visited were meticulously maintained, Verona Arena is a crumbling, open-air amphitheatre that once was periodically splattered with blood. After it was built, almost 2,000 years ago, it regularly hosted violent gladiator battles. In recent centuries it has been a key venue for concerts, stage plays and operas.
All of which are even more dramatic set against the backdrop of this Unesco-listed structure, which is similar in appearance to the Colosseum in Rome. Built to accommodate up to 30,000 spectators, the arena is the main venue of the annual Verona Opera Festival, which runs from June to September this year. At other times, tourists can enter and wander the amphitheatre each day between 9am and 7pm.
Pavarotti-Freni Theatre, Modena
Like Verona, the small northern city of Modena has a unique identity, in its case due to being the birthplace of the luxury sports car brand, Ferrari. A short walk south of the impressive Enzo Ferrari museum is a magnificent venue named after another of this city’s greatest creations, opera legend Luciano Pavarotti.
Born in Modena in 1935, Pavarotti died in 2007 as perhaps the most famous singer in Italian history. Even now, his music lives on in his hometown, where tribute concerts are held for him each year. I was able to watch him in full vocal flow, albeit suspended in motion, by visiting his statue outside the Pavarotti-Freni Theatre.
This stately building was Modena’s opera headquarters since the 1830s and was known as the Teatro Comunale di Modena until being renamed in recent years.
Guided tours can be booked online, as well as tickets to its shows, which span opera, dance and classical music concerts.
Teatro Communale di Bologna, Bologna
Bologna is one of Europe’s most overlooked cities, the result of being located in between tourist magnets Venice, Milan and Florence. Those tourists who do pause to delve into Bologna are rewarded by a picturesque historic centre, decorated by pretty churches, art galleries, shady parks and a splendid opera house.
Built in 1763, the attractive facade of Teatro Communale di Bologna is embellished by rows of arches and columns. This reflects Bologna’s most famous architectural achievement – its 62-kilometre network of ornate, covered walkways that are now a Unesco World Heritage Site.
The city’s oldest theatre is tremendously busy. More than 100 events, including about 80 operas, are held each year in its luxurious main hall, which is draped in vibrant murals and covered with velvet furnishings.
Teatro Argentina, Rome
Rome is so dense with historic sites that it’s easy for even the most remarkable buildings to fade into the background. That was what happened when I headed to the Italian capital’s revered opera venue, Teatro Argentina.
As I approached this cream-coloured, 18th-century masterpiece, I encountered a unique site opposite it – the ruins of 2,000-year-old Pompey Theatre, where Roman leader Julius Caesar was assassinated.
One of the oldest performance venues in Rome, Teatro Argentina doesn’t offer regular tours. But tourists can still see its lavish interior by booking online tickets to one of its many shows, which in 2024 range from ballets to opera, stage plays and orchestral concerts.
Fixtures
Friday Leganes v Alaves, 10.15pm; Valencia v Las Palmas, 12.15am
Saturday Celta Vigo v Real Sociedad, 8.15pm; Girona v Atletico Madrid, 10.15pm; Sevilla v Espanyol, 12.15am
Sunday Athletic Bilbao v Getafe, 8.15am; Barcelona v Real Betis, 10.15pm; Deportivo v Real Madrid, 12.15am
Monday Levante v Villarreal, 10.15pm; Malaga v Eibar, midnight
Boulder shooting victims
• Denny Strong, 20
• Neven Stanisic, 23
• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65
Know your camel milk:
Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk.
Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
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Starring Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays
4.5/5
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Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
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The Book of Collateral Damage
Sinan Antoon
(Yale University Press)
It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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Top New Zealand cop on policing the virtual world
New Zealand police began closer scrutiny of social media and online communities after the attacks on two mosques in March, the country's top officer said.
The killing of 51 people in Christchurch and wounding of more than 40 others shocked the world. Brenton Tarrant, a suspected white supremacist, was accused of the killings. His trial is ongoing and he denies the charges.
Mike Bush, commissioner of New Zealand Police, said officers looked closely at how they monitored social media in the wake of the tragedy to see if lessons could be learned.
“We decided that it was fit for purpose but we need to deepen it in terms of community relationships, extending them not only with the traditional community but the virtual one as well," he told The National.
"We want to get ahead of attacks like we suffered in New Zealand so we have to challenge ourselves to be better."
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How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
Sukuk
An Islamic bond structured in a way to generate returns without violating Sharia strictures on prohibition of interest.
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 2
Rashford 28', Martial 72'
Watford 1
Doucoure 90'
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