Accommodation in northern Italy: things to do - MUSIC and CINEMA:
ACCOMMODATION IN NORTHERN ITALY: THINGS TO DO, MUSIC AND FILMS IN REGION AROUND BEAUTIFUL SELF-CONTAINED STUDIO FLAT OVERLOOKING LAKE MAGGIORE, CONCERTS, INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALS, FIREWORKS, LUINO, LUGANO, LOCARNO, APPARTMENT TO RENT, SEASON, CONCERTS, CLASSICAL, ESTIVAL, BLUES, BOP, WORLD MUSIC, PERFORMANCES, LA SCALA, VERONA, MILANO, SWITZERLAND, ASCONA, FUNK, JAZZ
Music
Staying here in accommodation in Northern Italy? Love music? Classical? jazz?
Enjoy world-class music in this region.
For music lovers staying in Casa Lunga's self-contained studio-flat, there is a wide choice of musical events to choose from in the region. For information about performances at La Scala, click here: here. Please note that these performances are often sold out months in advance, so don't expect to turn up on the day and necessarily find a ticket!
There is also a musical appreciation society ("Amici della Musica Lirica") in Luino, organised by Signor Coa, which arranges excursions - including tickets, and transport to and from the venue - to a few select performances at La Scala and Verona etc every year. Again, places usually need to be reserved months in advance, and there is no website, but you can try to call Signor Coa to see what, if anything, is forthcoming. Tel: +39 0332 531 657.
Less famous, but a possibility for your diaries, are various classical concerts in the Lake Maggiore area during each season. Upon guests' arrival here at Casa Lunga, we provide you with a compiled summary of which concerts and events are due to be held in the area during your stay, so that you can plan your holiday around them if wished.
There is also a series of (free!) concerts in Luino itself. Every single one which we have succeeded in attending has been of the highest standard: we expect future concerts to be equally good.
This year's season has now sadly just ended, but past concerts have included:
* Duke Ellington «Sacred Concert»: played by the Ensemble e Coro Civici Corsi di Jazz di Milano, conducted by Giorgio Ubaldi, in the Teatro Sociale in Luino.
* «Toca Brasil» : performed by the Duo Petrin-Carvalho (Piano: Umberto Petrin, voice: Susie Helena Carvalho) at the Palazzo Verbania in Luino.
* And others. Next year's series is likely to begin around April 2009: contact rinascenze@libero.it for further information
Across the border in Switzerland, Locarno tends to be busy in the summer: the tourist office can give full details and sell tickets. The season kicks off in late May with the Back Home Again American music festival, followed in mid-June by a weekend devoted to I Feel Good, the Locarno Funk Festival. A couple of weeks later is the popular New Orleans Jazz Festival just 3km down the road in and around the Old Town of Ascona, which has gained a considerable reputation worldwide.
Over the course of three weeks in late August and September, Ascona presents its Settimane Musicali (Music Weeks), a series of prestigious classical concerts held in various locations around the region.
Music of various kinds tops the agenda at festivals in and around Lugano. The season opens in mid-April with eight or nine weeks of the Primavera Concertistica, a classical programme of renowned soloists and orchestras performing in the main Congress Centre; tickets (costs range between CHF.20.- and CHF.100.-) and schedules can be had from the tourist office. In early July, Estival Jazz (Summer Jazz) covers a series of free concerts in Mendrisio, Tesserete and Lugano that have been running for decades: in the 1950s, Dexter Gordon, Max Roach and Ornette Coleman all played at Lugano, and in the 1960s the festival featured some of Keith Jarrett's earliest performances.
The end of July sees two huge firework displays over the lake, with the Italian enclave of Campione throwing down the gauntlet on July 24 and Lugano itself responding a week later for Swiss National Day on August 1. The Blues to Bop and World Music Festival in early September is another free event.
FILM
The world-class Locarno International Film Festival, held over ten days in early August, is stealing a march on Cannes for both movie quality and star appeal, and is now rated among the top five film festivals in the world. Catch major offerings on the huge open-air screen in Piazza Grande, playing to 7500 people nightly (SFr.20.-), or one of the 12 daily screenings in the city's cinemas (SFr.14.-). SFr.200.- buys a universal festival pass. For information and listings ahead of time, contact the Festival internazionale del film Locarno, Via della Posta 6, CH-6600 Locarno (+41 91 756 21 21, www.pardo.ch).
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