Seminar on Italian presence in Cuba will begin celebration

The Week of Italian Culture in Cuba will start today with the VIII Historical Seminar on emigration and presence on the Caribbean island at the Palacio del Segundo Cabo, in this capital.

In the building, headquarters of the Center for the Interpretation of Cultural Relations Cuba-Europe, the project “Footprint of Italian sculpture in Cuba” will also be presented this Monday, a map with the route through the statues created by sculptors from that country in Havana.

Tonight the show “Vivir por amor, morir por amor” (“Live for love, die for love”) will be presented in the Hubert de Blanck hall, a theatrical tribute to some women in Puccini's opera, the result of a workshop given by director Gianluca Barbadori, in collaboration with the University of the Arts of Cuba and Impulso Teatro.

The ambassador of Rome in this capital, Roberto Vellano, highlighted in a recent press conference the artistic value of the 18 events planned, an example of the diversity and variety of the program that will continue until Sunday, December 1.

He pointed out that the main objective of the activities is to strengthen cultural relations between the two countries, in addition to promoting the exchange between Cuban and Italian artists and of the latter with the public.

He explained that part of the celebration will have as its guiding thread the commemoration of the centenary of the death of the extraordinary Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924).

A prelude to the beginning of the week is the exhibition opened since last Friday at the headquarters of the Cartelón group, in Vedado, with 24 posters created by young Cuban designers, 12 inspired by the composer's operas and 12 dedicated to his centenary.

On Saturday, in the Universal Art Building of the National Museum of Fine Arts, maestro Marco Lo Russo offered a solo concert with accordion, accompanied by dancers from the company Danza Teatro Retazos, inspired by the dramaturgy of the aria Vissi d’arte, from the opera Tosca, also by Puccini.

The program also includes the presentation of maestro Ludovico Troncanetti in the José White Concert Hall, in Matanzas, a city with great Italian tradition, 100 kilometers from the capital, said Leonel Pérez Orozco, Curator of that city.

The Italian pianist and director will offer for the first time a concert in Cuba with soloists from the Symphony Orchestra of that city, which will include works by Mendelssohn and Saint Saens.

To the delight of the Cuban public, the Week of Italian Culture will continue with attractive proposals that include visual arts, cinema and music.

The event is organized by the Italian Embassy in this country in collaboration with the Cuba’s Ministry of Culture and the Office of the Historian of Havana, as well as with the support of several Italian and Cuban companies and institutions.