Italy in NYC: Upcoming Talks and Events Inspired by La Bella Italia
By Troy Segal
Columbus Day has come and gone; it’s one of those holidays that, alas, barely seems to register nowadays—except, perhaps, as an excuse for sales. Still, it’s inspiration enough for us to celebrate the considerable cultural gifts of la bella Italia. From food to music, here are some upcoming Italian-themed activities, screenings and events. Ciao, baby.
Mangia, mangia: A bevy of culinary professionals—including TV host Rachael Ray and chef Alfred Portale (of Gotham Bar and Grill)—gathers to reminisce about the Italian dinners of their childhoods, and how those meals influenced their careers. Hudson Mezzanine, Gallery B, Fri., Oct. 16…Sure, there’s a kitsch quotient attached to Little Italy, but it still offers some of the best eats this side of the pond. Get some to go during this two-hour Italian Food Tour Of New York, which interweaves cooking and culture as you walk the historic streets. Thursdays-Saturdays, ongoing.
Art & Architecture: What, you still haven’t been to the new Whitney Museum, designed by Renzo Piano? No more excuses, especially when you can take a tour of the celebrated Italian architect’s stair-stepped glass cube overlooking the Hudson River; on Tuesday, Oct. 20, it’s designated the Building of the Day of Archtober, a month-long festival of architecture activities, programs and exhibitions sponsored by the New York chapter of American Institute of Architects. Whitney Museum of American Art…Two Metropolitan Museum of Art curators discuss “Theme and Variations in Two Paintings by Andrea del Sarto”, the Renaissance master whose religious scenes influenced artistic generations with their brilliant colors and composition. The talk ties into the Met’s just-opened Andrea del Sarto’s Borgherini Holy Family exhibition (thru Jan. 10, 2016). Thursday, Oct. 22 & Thursday, Oct. 29…The Center for Italian Modern Art has kicked off its fall programming season. On Thursday, Oct. 22 hear about When Hollywood Fell In Love with Modern Italian Art, followed in the coming weeks by recollections of Giorgio Morandi and photographer Joel Meyerowitz on Morandi’s Objects…There was nothing conventional about Umbrian-born artist Alberto Burri, from the beginnings of his career (he learned to paint during World War II, in a POW camp in Texas) to his works (which featured non-traditional materials such as burlap, wood, tar, plastic and Celotex, an industrial insulator). Let a museum conservator guide you through Alberto Burri: The Trauma of Painting, a major retrospective exhibit (through Jan. 6). Guggenheim Museum, Friday, Oct. 30.
History lessons: As the title of one of her books—Confronting the Classics—suggests, University of Cambridge classics professor Mary Beard takes anything but a tried-and-true approach to her field. You can hear her irreverent, but well-researched, take on the history of ancient Rome (not-so-coincidentally, the subject of her newest work) first-hand at this lecture. 92nd Street Y, Monday, Nov. 9.
The Lively Arts: This season, the Metropolitan Opera’s repertoire is particularly rich in Italian works. Enrich the show-going experience with a Score Reading Crash Course, offered by the Metropolitan Opera Guild: you’ll learn how to parse an annotated piano-vocal score of Puccini’s La Bohème, and get a score-desk seat for that evening’s performance, Saturday, Dec. 12. If that’s too intense, just enjoy a lecture (punctuated by arias) on Puccini’s heroines, from sweet seamstress Mimi to ice princess Turandot. Wednesdays, Oct. 14, 21 & 28 and Nov. 4. Both are at the Samuel B. and David Rose Building, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts… Italian composers revolutionized mid-19th century opera; 100 years later, Italian filmmakers changed mid-20th century movies with their stark, “neorealistic” approach that eschewed studio artifice and sometimes even professional actors. Check out the original docudrama at a screening of Roberto Rossellini’s 1946 masterpiece Paisan—it was one of the films that made actress Ingrid Bergman want to work with (and eventually marry) Rossellini. Guggenheim Museum, Friday, Nov. 20.
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