2010

1. •July 15-25, 2010: Opera Lover’s Italy with Smithsonian Journeys. We will attend Verdi’s Aïda at the Terme di Caracalla, an all-Schumann concert at the Ravello Festival, and two rare works by Donizetti and Nino Rota at the Valle d’Itria Festival in Puglia). There will be sublime regional meals, a cooking class, visits to gorgeous towns such as Lecce, Locorotondo, Ostuni and Matera. Five nights in Martina Franca, two nights in Ravello, two nights in Rome: Smithsonian Journeys - Opera Lover’s Italy
   

1. •August 14-25, 2010: Speaker on Crystal Symphony, sailing from      Stockholm to London, including calls in Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Copenhagen and Oslo. http://www.crystalcruises.com/VoyageDetail.aspx?CID=0219
   

1. •Sept 20-29, 2010: Music Cruise in the Classical World, with Smithsonian Journeys: Smithsonian Journeys - Music Cruise/Classical World
   

• October 7: 6:30 PM ADVENTURES IN ITALIAN OPERA: Remembering Renata Tebaldi. Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò/NYU (24 West 12th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues; Tel: 212/998-8730) http://www.nyu.edu/pages/casaitaliana/events.html   FREE

• October 11-22, 2010: Speaker on Crystal Symphony, sailing from New York City to Montreal, with calls at Newport, Boston, Portland, St. John, Halifax and Quebec City. http://www.crystalcruises.com/VoyageDetail.aspx?CID=0224&RK=NEC

•October 25: 6:30 PM ADVENTURES IN ITALIAN OPERA: A Conversation with members of the cast of the Metropolitan Opera production of Puccini’s La Bohéme at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò/NYU (24 West 12th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues; Tel: 212/998-8730) http://www.nyu.edu/pages/casaitaliana/events.html   FREE

•November 30: 6:30 PM ADVENTURES IN ITALIAN OPERA: A conversation with the superb bass Ferruccio Furlanetto (starring in Verdi’s Don Carlo and Simon Boccanegra at the Metropolitan Opera) at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò/NYU (24 West 12th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues; Tel: 212/998-8730) http://www.nyu.edu/pages/casaitaliana/events.html   FREE

•December 8: 2:00 PM  Metropolitan Museum of Art (1000 Fifth Avenue, in the Grace Rainey Rogers auditorium) -- La Fanciulla del West, the original spaghetti western. Puccini wrote this opera for the Metropolitan Opera and scored a major success. Fanciulla proved highly influential. Fred Plotkin will explore its impact, two days before its centennial performance (December 10, 2010 at the Metropolitan Opera). Ticket price of $23 includes admission to the Metropolitan Museum. Purchase tickets at www.metmuseum.org/tickets; telephone 212-570-3949 for information or write to MMAtickets@metmuseum.org

                                                       2011

•February 22: 6:30 PM ADVENTURES IN ITALIAN OPERA: A conversation with Aprile Millo, one of the foremost exponents of the Italian soprano repertory. Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò/NYU (24 West 12th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues; Tel: 212/998-8730) http://www.nyu.edu/pages/casaitaliana/events.html   FREE

•March 30: 6:30 PM ADVENTURES IN ITALIAN OPERA: A conversation with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato (starring in the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Rossini’s Le Comte Ory and revival of Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos)  at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò/NYU (24 West 12th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues; Tel: 212/998-8730) http://www.nyu.edu/pages/casaitaliana/events.html   FREE

•April 13: 6:30 PM ADVENTURES IN ITALIAN OPERA: A conversation with soprano Violeta Urmana, appearing as Tosca at the Met and interpreter of some of the towering roles of the Italian dramatic repertory. Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò/NYU (24 West 12th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues; Tel: 212/998-8730) http://www.nyu.edu/pages/casaitaliana/events.html   FREE