Kicking Off the Celebrations for the Centenary of Maestro Puccini’s Death Begin at the Embassy in Washington

On the evening of March 27, the Italian Ambassador to the United States, Mariangela Zappia, hosted a concert to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the death of Maestro Giacomo Puccini. The event, organized with the Italian Cultural Institute in Washington, featured a performance by the renowned double bassist Valentina Ciardelli accompanied by Stefano Teano on the piano.

The musicians presented two Puccini fantasies: "Che puoi farmi? Non ti temo" from "La fanciulla del West" e "O Scarpia, Avanti a Dio!" based on themes from "Tosca".

The concert marks the beginning of a series of initiatives planned to celebrate the centenary of Giacomo Puccini's death, in collaboration with the Arena di Verona Foundation and the Washington National Opera. Both will inaugurate their respective opera seasons with Puccini's Turandot, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, the capital's premier theater. The event is part of a broader program to promote Italian opera as part of UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage.

***
[Three photos and a video downloadable via the following link: https://we.tl/t-C760XOdwiR]