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Chinese and Russian buyers eye Verdi’s palace

An elegant palace where the legendary Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi once created his finest work may be sold to a foreigner, with buyers from China and Russia showing particular interest.

Published: 3 October 2013 15:00 CEST
Chinese and Russian buyers eye Verdi's palace
Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi's Palazzo Orlandi is up for sale. Photo: Hera International

Palazzo Orlando is located in the small town of Busseto, 40kms from the northern city of Parma.

It was bought by the 19th century composer after his opera Nabucco became an international sensation in the opera houses of Vienna and Lisbon following its premier in Milan in 1842.

Verdi purchased the ornately decorated palace in 1845 and caused a sensational scandal at the time when he invited his girlfriend, the soprano Giuseppina Strepponi, to share his life there.

Formerly known as Palazzo Cavalli, after its original architect and designer Giuseppe Cavalli, the palace is one of the finest features of the small town.

Verdi is understood to have composed Rigoletto and Stiffelio here before transferring to a country home, Villa Agata, outside the town in 1851.

The sale of the palace is being handled by Hera International, a Milan real estate firm.

A company spokesman told The Local on Thursday the potential sale had already attracted strong interest from abroad, particularly from Russia and China, but declined to reveal the reserve or any other details about the buyers.

Gaia Maschi Verdi, the great niece of Verdi, and other family members unsuccessfully sought government funding to restore the palace and keep it open to the public.

In November 2012 the Italian parliament approved €6.5 million in funds to restore the home where Verdi was born and Villa Agata.

 

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OPERA

A Masked Ball: Madrid opera forced to cancel show after protest over social distancing

Spain's main opera house, the Teatro Real in Madrid, defended itself Monday after it had to cancel a performance when a small group of spectators loudly protested against being seated too close to each other amid a spike in Covid-19 infections.

Published: 22 September 2020 11:23 CEST
A Masked Ball: Madrid opera forced to cancel show after protest over social distancing
View of the Teatro Real in Madrid. Photo: Claudia Schillinger/ Flickr

The performance of Giuseppe Verdi's “A Masked Ball” on Sunday night was called off after a “minority” of spectators repeatedly jeered and clapped despite being offered the chance to be relocated or get a refund for the value of their tickets, the theatre said in a statement.

Videos shared on social media by several spectators who were at the performance showed full rows in the upper sections where seats are cheaper, while in the pricier floor section many empty seats could be seen.

Clapping and calls of “suspension!” could be heard even after the actors tried to begin their performance.

The Teatro Real had “respected the health norms” put in place by the regional government of Madrid to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and “even reinforced them”, the chairman of the body which manages the theatre, Gregorio Marañon, told a news conference on Monday.

Attendance at the performance had been reduced to just 51.5 percent of the total, well below the  limit of 75 percent set by the regional government, he added.

The regional government does not require there to be an empty seat between spectators, but it does require there to be a distance of 1.5 metres (five feet) between people, or if this is not possible, that they wear face masks, which is mandatory at the theatre, Marañon said.

The Teatro Real, which celebrated its bicentenary in 2018, is studying “what measures we can take for those spectators who… clearly felt in an uncomfortable situation,” he added.

The incident comes as the regional government of Madrid has imposed a partial lockdown in several densely-populated, low income areas mainly in the south of the Spanish capital where virus infections are surging, sparking a debate about inequality and triggering protests in these neighbourhoods over the weekend before the new measures took effect on Monday.

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