Roma, ville du mois

Rome and music

Venues & Orchestras

History

Although evidence exists of the performance of an opera back in 1606, such shows were prohibited for a long time by the Pope.
The first public opera house opened in 1697 but the papacy took a strong stand against the opera. No composer of any significance became associated with Rome. When it was declared capital of the kingdom (at the end of the 19th century), the Teatro Argentina became the centre of Rome’s musical life. It was here that Rossini first performed his Barber of Seville (1816) and Verdi, at the Teatro Apollo, four works including Il Trovatore (1853) and Un Ballo in Maschera (1859).

Teatro dell'Opera - www.opera.roma.it
In 1877, Domenico Costanzi, having made his fortune in the hotel trade, had the idea of building an opera house to put his name down in Rome’s history. The Teatro Costanzi opened 3 years later. Roman operatic life then developed at a rapid pace. From 1880 to 1926, 46 first performances and 120 Roman premieres took place. The first performances were by Italian composers, among them distinguished triumphs by Mascagni with Cavalleria Rusticana and Puccini with Tosca. In 1884, Parsifal played to a Roman audience whilst Toscanini made his début in Rome with Carmen.
In 1926, the theatre came under the control of the fascist government and a complete modernisation and transformation of the building was undertaken. When it reopened 2 years later under the name Teatro Reale dell’Opera, it continued its policy of national first performances. The stage which hosted well-known foreign companies opened up to young composers. Respighi, Malipiero, Stravinsky, Richard Strauss and Berg’s Wozzeck were heard here. The open-air seasons at the Terme de Caracalla began in 1937.
In 1946, the institution adopted the name Teatro dell’Opera and its repertoire turned international whilst remaining faithful to contemporary composers: Britten, Honegger, Hindemith, Janácek, Henze… The soprano Renata Tebaldi also made her name here in 1948 as did Maria Callas (Kundry, Parsifal) in 1950. With the advent of the Republic, the name of the opera house was changed to Teatro dell'Opera and in 1958 the building was remodelled and modernized by the architect Marcello Piacentini.
Founded almost a century ago, the Teatro dell'Opera has always enjoyed growing prestige at home and abroad.
The most celebrated productions include Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro in 1964 and Verdi's Don Carlos in 1965, conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini and directed by Luchino Visconti. On 2 January 1958 the Theater scored another first with a performance of Norma starring Maria Callas that was interrupted in the presence of Giovanni Gronchi, the head of state.
In recent decades, in spite of financial problems, artistic directors such as Massimo Bogianckino (1963-68) or Carlo Menotti (1992-94) and, since 2004, Mauro Trombetta have continued to bring their creativity to the Roman stage.

Villa Medicis
Built around 1560 by Lippi, it has housed the Académie de France (French Academy) in Rome since 1901. This institution formerly played host to artists who had been awarded the Grand Prix de Rome. (The prize was abolished by the Malraux reform of 1970).
For the last two years, the Academy has run the Musica XXI festival in collaboration with its composers in residence. These are currently Frédéric Verrières, Ramon Lazkano and Benjamin de la Fuente.

Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia - www.santacecilia.it
The National Academy of Santa Cecilia is one of the world’s oldest music institutes. Having started as an association in Rome in 1566, it was formalized by Pope Gregory XIII in 1585 as a “congregation of musicians under the protection of the Holy Virgin and Saints Gregory and Cecilia”, and later became an academy. Admittance was strictly for master composers, organists, singers and instrumentalists having the required qualifications. The institute remains an association, members comprise 70 full academicians (italian) and 30 honorary academicians (non-italian). The President is now Bruno Cagli.
Even if the institute’s objectives have changed over the years, the ultimate purpose has always been the promotion and growth of the art of music.
February 2, 1895-date the inauguration of the concert hall in via dei Greci – marked the beginning of regular performances, and these were further boosted with the establishment of the Orchestra and Choir in 1908. The Santa Cecilia Orchestra was the first in Italy exclusively dedicated to the symphonic genre.
Until 1936, concerts were held at the Augusteo (a theatre later demolished by Mussolini) then at Teatro Adriano, Teatro Argentina and, since 1958, at the Auditorium in via della Conciliazione. From 2002 Santa Cecilia’s concerts are held in the New Auditorium Parco della Musica of Renzo Piano.
The Santa Cecilia Orchestra has held over 15.000 concerts, under the direction of the most distinguished conductors and with the most famous soloists. In addition to the classical and romantic repertoire, it also performs 20th century and contemporary music. Past resident conductors have included Bernardino Molinari, Franco Ferrara, Fernando Previtali, Thomas Schippers, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Daniele Gatti. Myung-Whun Chung now hold this post and in 2005 Antonio Pappano will be the new resident conductor. Leonard Bernstein was Honorary President from 1983 to 1990.
The orchestra has performed all over the world: in Austria with Georges Prêtre and Luciano Berio, in Australia with Giuseppe Sinopoli, at the Schleswig-Holstein Festival with Leonard Bernstein, in South America with Lorin Maazel, in Japan with Christian Thielemann and Myung-Whun Chung, in Argentina, Germany and England with Daniele Gatti, and in Portugal, Spain and France with Myung-Whun Chung. The orchestra was the first and unique Italian orchestra invited to play at the Berliner Philarmoniker Auditorium.
The orchestra has made a substantial amount of records, including “Rigoletto” with Giuseppe Sinopoli, “Il Trovatore” with Carlo Maria Giulini, la “Bohème” and music by Debussy with Leonard Bernstein, Respighi’s three symphonic poems with Daniele Gatti and music by Beethoven, Fauré and Durufflé with Myung-Whun Chung.
The Santa Cecilia Academy Choir directed by Roberto Gabbiani and composed of about 90 people is the only Italian ensemble devoted entirely to a symphonic repertoire and to the vast heritage of Italian polyphony.
In recent years, the Academy has focused on developing studies, research and didactic efforts. In addition to the traditional advanced courses, there are many open courses for precialization and professional training.

Auditorium Parco della Musica
www.auditoriumroma.com
Designed in 2002 by architect Renzo Piano, this complex dedicated to classical music consists of three concert halls, an open-air theatre, two rehearsal rooms, a museum of musical instruments and an exhibition of archaeological remains.

SLegend has it that Rome was founded in 753 BC by the twins, Romulus and Remus, sons of Mars and Rhea Silvia, abandoned on the banks of the Tiber and raised by a she-wolf. Romulus, who killed his brother, is then supposed to have founded the city of Rome on the Palatine hill.
For two and a half centuries, the town was governed by kings, the earliest of whom were of Etruscan origin. Tarquin the Proud was overthrown around 510 BC. In 509, the Romans established a Republic and conquered the area around the Mediterranean. The Romans were above all great soldiers. The Republic progressively absorbed neighbouring villages and became increasingly powerful. It had the Servian Wall built following the invasion of the Gauls. Around 300 BC, the first Aqueduct and the Appian Way to the south were built. Early in the Third century BC Rome had taken possession of most of Italy. The Forum developed and around 180 BC the first Basilica (the function of which was to provide shelter to the public in bad weather) was built.
From 130 BC, after several internecine battles and civil wars, Caesar became Dictator of Rome. Another major figure of Rome, Octavian, who won the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, took the name Augustus and became Emperor. He promoted literature and the Arts and the city expanded (Temples, Thermal Baths, Circuses, Theatres…)
The reign of the emperors sparked off a frenzy of construction, each emperor wishing to leave his mark. Nero built the Domus Aurea, Vespasian the Colosseum, Trajan his column, Hadrian the Castel Sant'Angelo, famous buildings that remain with us today. In 313, the emperor Constantine recognised freedom of worship. Several of the great basilica were built (Santa Croce, Santa Maria Maggiore, San Pietro and San Sebastiano). On the death of Theodosius, in 395, the Empire was divided between the West and the East (capital Constantinople).
From the year 407, barbarian invasions weakened Rome’s power. The Empire of the west collapsed in 476, but was later restored by Charlemagne in 800 and went on to become the Germanic Holy Roman Empire.
From the 9th to the 12th centuries, the power of the popes grew. Other events shook Europe, putting Rome in the background. In 1870, the city became capital of Italy once more. During the 1930s and the fascist era, Rome grew in size with the addition of the large boulevards. In 1940, Italy entered the war on the side of Germany. The city was liberated in 1944, Mussolini executed and the Italian Republic established by referendum in 1947. In 1957 the EEC was founded with the Treaty of Rome.
The 1970s and 80s were marked by political terrorism and radical extremist movements, such as the “red brigades”. The end of the 20th century saw economic success and a fight against corruption. In 2001, Silvio Berlusconi, at the head of the “centre-right” coalition, became the head of government.

Architecture

Some Highlights

Gardens & in the surrounding area

Roman Antiquity
The Romans managed to borrow the best from their Greek and Etruscan heritage. Thanks to a series of innovations using the techniques of the vault and the arch, major construction projects got under way. Among the finest examples are the Colosseum and the Theatre of Marcellus. In the field of private architecture, the insula (a town building occupied by several families), and the villa (a vast luxurious residence) existed side by side. Religious architecture took the design of the temple to its peak of perfection. The Forum, a political, religious and commercial centre, was a place for meeting and trade for the city.

Early Christian Art
The early Christians carved stone to be able to practice their religion clandestinely in the catacombs. The first Christian basilicas (San Pietro and San Giovanni a Porta Latina) were built after the Edict of Milan (313) allowing freedom of religion. Unfortunately, they were not built out of durable materials so only vestiges remain today.

Medieval Art (5th-14th century)
The rising power of the Church was accompanied by the construction of a great many religious buildings. The Romanesque style was then in fashion in Rome (Santa Maria in Cosmedin Church).

Art of the Renaissance (1502-1510)
The greatest geniuses of the Cinquecento (Michelangelo, Raphael, Perugino and Botticelli) worked on embellishing Rome. Pope-patrons profoundly changed the face of the city, such as Julius II with the first renovation of the Basilica di San Pietro and Paul III who appointed Michelangelo as chief architect.

Counter-Reformation (1568-1575)
The Gesù Church was the first example of this architecture, to the extent that it gave its name to the “Jesuit style”. The façade is distinctive for its unusual solemnity and the opulence of its marbles.

Baroque Art (1658-1678)
Originating in Rome, this art expresses the exuberance of life, the joy of living, light and fantasy. It was with Baroque architecture, a means of propaganda, that the popes were to proclaim the triumph of Catholicism over Protestantism.
Worth seeing: Santa Maria della Vittoria church, Santa Maria degli Angeli church and the Trevi Fountain by Nicolas Salvi

Neo-Classicism (1816-1820)
A movement that advocated a return to the simple forms of Graeco-Roman culture. Worth seeing: Piazza del Popolo (Giuseppe Valadier).

Architecture of the Mussolini period (1939)
Roughly inspired by ancient Rome, its aim was to show that the community takes precedence over the individual. The grandiosity of the Foro Italico sports complex or of the EUR district are the best examples of this.

ROMAN FORUM
The Via dei Fori Imperiali which started out at the Colosseum led to the Forum, a veritable commercial, political and religious centre of ancient Rome. It occupied the area between the Capitol and the Palatine hills, a dried-up marshy terrain and its construction was spread over 900 years. The decline of the Roman Empire accompanied that of the Forum. The temples and monuments fell into ruin to make way for pastures nicknamed in the Middle Ages the Campo Vaccino (field of cows). It was not until the 18th and 19th centuries that systematic excavations were undertaken.
Worth seeing: Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus, Temple of Saturn, House of the Vestal Virgins, Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, Triumphal Arch of Titus…

PALATINE HILL
Accessible from the Forum, it represents the mythical birthplace of Rome. The medieval churches and Renaissance gardens that partially cover the ruins instil in them a highly romantic charm. Rich Roman citizens of the Republican period then emperors, attracted by this hill overlooking the Tiber, built their houses here: Domus Flavia, Domus Augustana...
Also worth seeing: Livia’s House (wife of Augustus), Terme di Settimio Severo, Circus Maximus

PANTHEON
A temple dedicated to all the gods, it was built in 27 BC by Agrippa, then rebuilt by Hadrian. With its imposing dome, originally covered with gilded bronze tiles, it offers an example of classical architectural perfection. It contains the tombs of the painter Raphael and Victor-Emmanuel II.

CAPITOLE
The Capitol was the place of confrontation between Romans and Sabines. It then became the religious centre of the city, then the seat of Republican and Imperial Rome. In the Middle Ages, the Government settled here, making way for the Popes in the Renaissance.
Designed by Michelangelo in 1538, the Piazza del Campidoglio is lined by three palaces: Palazzo dei Conservatori, Palazzo Nuovo (which house the Capitoline museums where you can see the famous Etruscan bronze statue of the Roman she-wolf) and Palazzo dei Senatori.
Worth seeing: La Cordonata (flight of steps designed by Michelangelo)

CASTEL AND PONTE SANT’ANGELO
Immortalised by Tosca, it was Pope Gregory the Great who, in 590, gave it its name after seeing an angel on top of the building, announcing an end to the plague epidemic. In 136, Hadrian had the bridge across the Tiber built (rebuilt in 1450 with some original parts retained).

THE BATHS
They illustrate the quality of life that Roman Civilisation managed to provide.
Two of the Baths have conserved significant remains: Terme de Caracalla and Terme di Diocleziano.

SAINT PETER’S BASILICA
The principal basilica of Catholic Christianity, on which architects Antonio da San Gallo, Bramante, Raphael, Baldassare Peruzzi and Michelangelo successively directed the work. In the middle of the following century, Bernini added the famous elliptical colonnade (crowned by a hundred and forty statues) and the baldachin.

PIAZZAS and PROMENADES
Piazza Navona has three superb fountains, in its centre, the Fontana dei Fiumi by Bernini (1651). Always bustling with people, it is a meeting place for both Romans and tourists.
Other meeting points are Piazza di Spagna at the foot of the Spanish Steps (Trinità dei Monti), the Fontana di Trevi, immortalised in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, Campo dei Fiori where a picturesque market is held every morning and Via Veneto with its luxury shops and hotels.

Gardens
The garden tradition goes back undeniably to Classical Antiquity. Rich patricians (Lucullus, Pompey, Caesar) had vast gardens built which are remembered in ancient literature. The emperors confiscated the main part of these to build their villas. In Rome itself, the large majority of gardens were lost with the thrust of urban development towards the end of the 19th century.

Orto botanico
Before the park became the botanical garden of Sapienza University in 1883, the hills of the Janiculum (Gianicolo) had since ancient times harboured gardens such as those of Caesar and the famous Bosco Parrasio (headquarters of the Arcadia Society, a centre for poets and musicians).
Above the garden, the “Janiculum Walk” offers an extraordinary panorama over the city.

Gardens of the Villa Medici www.villamedici.it/historique/index.html
Today they still conserve to a large extent the appearance given them by Cardinal Ricci and Ferdinando de’ Medici in the 16th century.

Villa Borghese
Located behind Il Pincio (Pincian hill), this is Rome’s second large public park. In addition to its museums, the villa offers walkers some magnificent green spaces.
The Giardino del Lago, built around a lake on which you can take a boat trip.
The Giardino Zoologico, Rome’s zoo with the equestrian centre near Piazza di Siena.

Giardino del Pincio
This public park, designed by Valadier between 1809 and 1814, is on the hill of the same name and is accessible from Piazza del Popolo. It is framed by the park of Villa Borghese and by the private gardens of Villa Medici. A magnificent view over Rome

AROUND

CASTELLI ROMANI
This region of the “Roman castles” is about 30 km south-east of Rome. They were homes to the families who left the city during the troubled periods of the Middle Ages. Among these villages are Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the popes and Frascati, famous for its white wine.

OSTIA ANTICA (24 km from Rome) www.ostiaantica.net
Worth seeing: the ruins of Roman remains, Terme di Nettuno, Castello di Guilio, Santa Aurea church

TIVOLI (à 39 km from Rome) www.tivoli.com
A pretty little old town. Worth seeing: Villa Adriana, Villa d’Este, Villa Gregoriana

ORVIETO (à 124 km from Rome) www.comune.orvieto.tr.it
A town of art famous for its dome, Pontifical Palace, Palazzo del Populo, Pozzo di San Patrizio (St Patrick’s well), etc.

SPOLETO www.comune.spoleto.pg.it
A medieval Italian town, former capital of Lombardy in which an arts festival is held each year. Festival Spoleto - Associazione dei Due Mondi in June-July.

Food & Drink

Traditional customs

Festivals

Roman food is among the most highly seasoned of Italy. The most authentic dishes are prepared with simple ingredients: pasta, tripe, chicken giblets, baccalà (dried salt cod), beans, artichokes, brain, oxtail; richer dishes, based on lamb, goat’s meat, pork and seafood.

STARTERS
Cold meats
Raw vegetables marinated in olive oil or vinegar, olives
Bruschetta (toasted bread with olive oil, garlic and tomatoes)
Seafood

MAIN DISHES
Coda (oxtail)
Tripe with Roman tomato
Saltimbocca alla romana (veal escalope served rolled around a slice of prosciutto - cured ham - seasoned with white wine and sage)
Bacchio al forno, roast suckling lamb flavoured with rosemary and garlic
Pecorino (sheep’s cheese) romano, freshly grated, accompanies spaghetti al cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper sauce)
Abbacchio alla cacciatora (suckling lamb with rosemary, garlic, pepper, white wine and sage)

DESSERTS
Maritozzi (pastry with cream)
Pangiallo (fruit and peanut cake)
Cavallucci (biscuits)
Ricotta cake

DRINKS
White wine: Frascati, Monteporzio, Marino, Albano, Lanuvio, Genzano, Velletri, Grottaferrata de Malvasia.
Red wine: Cesanese d'Olevano (produced in the Castelli region)

Public holidays
April: Spring festival. To celebrate the return of fine weather, the famous steps of the Piazza di Spagna are decked with azaleas and concerts are held at the Trinità dei Monti church.

21 April: beginning of Natale di Roma which commemorates the founding of Rome

25 April: festival of the liberation of Italy

Holy week and Easter with celebrations all over the city (Stations of the Cross from the Colosseum to the Palatine Hill on Good Friday, Urbi et Orbi Blessing on Easter Sunday)

23 June: Feast of St John (San Giovanni district) with fireworks.

29 June: Feast of St Peter and St Paul, patron saints of the city.

20-28 July: Festa de Noantri, the working-class district of Trastevere hosts street theatre, craft stalls and gastronomic specialities.

Summer season of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma at the Terme di Caracalla from July to early August

New Opera festival di Roma
Talented young musicians come and play in the courtyard of the Basilica di San Clemente in July.

Musica XXI Contemporary music festival at Villa Medici performed by the top musicians of the day.

Estate Romana in July-August, a major festival with operas, open-air cinemas, theatres and fashion shows.

Autumn sees the Roma Europa Festival, which brings in the most innovative international shows and the Roma Jazz Festival International, which offers an extensive programme of Afro-American music.

Things to Do

Hotels

Restaurants

VATICAN MUSEUMS
The Vatican museums contain the biggest collection of antiquities in the world. Pharaonic Egypt, Ancient Greece, Roman Empire are the most significant periods with magnificent works of art.
- Sistine Chapel
This was designed to be the private chapel of the popes. Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to decorate it, and he took four years to paint these 800 m2. The pope visited regularly to ask him when the work would be finished. He invariably replied: “When I can!” The result is a sumptuous epic illustrating the creation of the world, which has been recently renovated.
- Raphael Rooms
Julius II had commissioned the decoration of his apartments to some of the finest artists of the time (Perugino, Sodoma). Dazzled by Raphael’s painting, he entrusted the continuation of the work to him and had the previous frescoes effaced. Raphael himself painted the stanza della Segnatura and the stanza d'Eliodoro. He left the decoration of the sala di Costantino and the stanza dell'Incendio to his pupils.
- Pinacoteca
This offers a complete panorama of Italian painting from the primitives to the baroques. Among the dozens of masterpieces, note the room devoted to Raphael. The room devoted to Florentine painting has paintings by Fra Angelico, Benozzo Gozzoli and Filippo Lippi.
- Museo Pio-Clementino
Housed in the former Belvedere Palace, it contains many masterpieces of Greek and Roman sculpture. Among the major works are the Apoxyomenos, a first-century statue depicting an athlete cleaning his body, the statues of Hermes, Sleeping Ariadne, the Venus of Cnidos and the Belvedere Apollo.

CAPITOLINE MUSEUMS
These house ancient sculptures and Italian paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries. Here you can see the impressive statue of Marcus Aurelius.

ETRUSCAN MUSEUM
Housed in a 16th-century villa, this is the most important Etruscan museum in the world, with, notably, a very fine sarcophagus, the reconstructed façade of a temple and a very complete collection of objects from daily life.

MUSEUM OF ROMAN CIVILISATION
A museum in which the principal monuments built by the Romans are reproduced. Worth seeing: the scale model of Rome as it was in the third century.

BORGHESE GALLERY
The museum has remained over the centuries just as it was designed by Scipione Borghese: a gallery housing the most well-known sculptures of Bernini - Apollo and Daphne, The Rape of Proserpina -, as well as paintings by Raphael and Titian.

GALLERIA DI PALAZZO COLONNA
One of the finest Roman palaces exhibiting furniture, paintings by Carraci, Dughet, Bronzino, etc.

ROMAN NATIONAL MUSEUM
Housed in three superb venues (Baths of Diocletian, Palazzo Massimo and Palazzo Altemps), this museum contains remarkable archaeological collections.

MUSEO NAZIONALE DEGLI STRUMENTI MUSICALI DI ROMA

Roscioli Hotels
Sales Office - Via Marsala, 22
Tel 06 448 7542 - Fax 06 44 57205
rhr@rosciolihotels.it
www.rosciolihotels.com
Close by the main venues in Rome, situated in the city center, near the central station and transports. The four hotels with all modern equipment and facilities : B.W. Hotel Universo, B.W. Hotel President, Hotel Royal Santina and Hotel Claridge.

Hotel Massimo D'Azeglio 4*
www.bettojahotels.it
The world-famous restaurant Massimo D'Azeglio offers delicious traditional Italian regional cuisine in its paneled period dining rooms.

Sofitel Roma 5*
www.sofitel.com
In the midest of Rome's prestigious "seven hills", the hotel is located in the heart of the city with view of the Villa Borghese gardens, near the Via Veneto and the Spagna Square.

Hotel Bernini Bristol 5*
www.sinahotels.com
The Hotel Bernini Bristol is right in the heart of Rome at the beginning of Via Veneto near Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain.

Il Cardinale
www.inroma.it/cardinale
Managed by Giovanni and Lucia who oversee every detail and buy only the freshest produce daily. Creative and tipical roman cuisine

Checchino dal 1887
www.checchino-dal-1887.com
The restaurant "Checchino since 1887", is now one-hundred and ten years old, a temple of the Roman gastronomy, where around the 1890's, what with chance and what with wisdom, as in every historical great invention, "la sora Ferminia" ( the daughter of Lorenzo and Clorinda, founders of the restaurant ) invents "la coda alla vaccinara".

Hosteria del Orso
The great Italian chef Gualtiero Marchesi offers the best of Italian Gastronomy in an 18th century house.

Harry's Bar
www.harrysbar.it
One of the favourite destinations for tourists, as well as the local population. An international menu with a view of the Via Venato and a little music.