Blog

Enrico Guarneri in “Mastro Don Gesualdo”

Taormina Greek Theatre

Juyl 13th 2013, 9.30pm

Mastro Don Gesualdo is a novel by Giovanni Verga (Catania-Sicily, 1840-1922) who, at the end of the nineteenth century, was acclaimed as one of the greatest European writers of the time and his novels were reprinted many times, even in the States.
Verga is best known for his depictions of life in Sicily, and especially for the short story (and later play) Cavalleria Rusticana (Rustican Chivalry) and the novel I Malavoglia (The House by the Medlar Tree).
His works were often translated by D.H Lawrence who was a great estimator of Sicily and Verga’s works. In fact, soon after World War I, Lawrence made his second visit to Italy and in 1920 he settled in Taormina. This “Sicilian peoriod” was for Lawrence the time of his discovery of Verga.

Mastro Don Gesualdo “is a fine full tale, a fine full picture of life, with a bold beauty of its own which Mr. Lawrence must have relished greatly as he translated it” (Observer)

If you want to know more about Verga’s novels, have a look at this link: http://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/verga-littlenovels/verga-littlenovels-00-h.html
(thanks to A Project Gutenberg Canada Ebook)

The dramaturgic adaptation performed at the Taormina Greek Theatre, sees as main actor Enrico Guarneri.
Other Actors: Ileana Rigano and Francesca Ferro. Direction by Guglielmo Fetrro.

Tickets on boxol.it 
Ticket Office in Taormina: +39 0942.628730
Stalls (Parterre): € 25,00
Gallery: € 20,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 15,00

 Rigoletto

Taormina Greek Theatre, 9.30pm

This year is the bicentenary anniversary of the birth of Giuseppe Verdi and Taormina wants to celebrate this great artist by performing one of his best known works: Rigoletto

Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s’amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on 11 March 1851. The story is set in Mantua (north Italy) in the Sixteenth century.

A world renown cast will be on stage:
Baritono: Carlos Almaguer (Rigoletto)
Tenore: Gianluca Terranova (Duca di Mantova)
Soprano: Rocio Ignacio (Gilda),
Basso: Gianfranco Montresor (Monterone).

Orchestra Sinfonica Bellini, conductor Gianluca Martinenghi
Direction and Sets: Enrico Castiglione
Costumes: Sonia Cammarata


PRICES FROM TODAY TO MARCH 10th

Stalls (Parterre): € 75,00
Gallery: € 50,50
Upper circle (numbered seats): € 39,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 22,00

PRICES FROM MARCH 10th TO  APRIL 30th
Stalls (Parterre): € 85,00
Gallery: € 57,00
Upper circle (numbered seats): € 44,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 27,50

PRICES FROM MAY 1st TO JUNE 30th
Stalls (Parterre): € 95,00
Gallery: € 63,00
Upper circle (numbered seats): € 49,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 33,00

PRICES FROM JULY 1st TO EVENT
Stalls (Parterre): € 105,00
Gallery: € 70,00
Upper circle (numbered seats): € 54,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 38,00

Tickets on boxol.it 
Ticket Office in Taormina: +39 0942.628730

Synopsis

Act One
The Duke is boasting to his courtiers about his conquests and leads the latest, Countess Ceprano, to a private chamber whilst his hunchbacked jester, Rigoletto makes fun of her husband. Marullo announces the suspicions around Rigoletto having a mistress and Count Ceprano conspires with the courtiers to punish Rigoletto. Monterone enters to condemn the Duke for having seduced his daughter, but he is placed under arrest and scorned by Rigoletto. He utters a curse on both Rigoletto and the Duke. At home Rigoletto is greeted by his daughter, Gilda, whom he keeps hidden away. He reminisces about his late wife and demands Giovanna, the governess, to admit noone into the house; he has been frightened by Monterone’s curse. When Rigoletto has left, the Duke slips into their garden and silences Giovanna with money. He tells Gilda he is a poor student called Gualtier Maldè and that he is in love with her, rushing away when he hears approaching footsteps. Rigoletto is stopped by the courtiers outside his house who ask him to help abduct Countess Ceprano. He is fooled into wearing a blindfold and holding a ladder against his own wall whilst the courtiers break into his home and kidnap Gilda instead.

Act Two
The Duke is deeply upset about Gilda’s disappearance and rushes to see her when the courtiers inform him it was they who took her. Rigoletto enters looking for Gilda; the courtiers are shocked to hear she is actually his daughter and not his mistress as they had thought. Rigoletto condemns them and embraces Gilda. Monterone is sent to the dungeon and Rigoletto vows to avenge both Monterone and the Duke.

Act Three
Outside Sparafucile’s place Rigoletto and Gilda watch the Duke flirt with Sparafucile’s sister, Maddalena. Rigoletto sends his daughter off to disguise herself as a boy for her escape and then pays Sparafucile to kill the Duke. Gilda returns and hears Maddalena persuade her brother to kill not the Duke but the first person who walks into his inn. Despite his betrayal, Gilda sacrifices herself for the Duke and enters the inn. Rigoletto claims the body in a sack and gloats only to hear the Duke in the distance. Anxiously he cuts the sack open and finds Gilda who dies asking for his forgiveness.

 

Rally of Taormina

2nd Edition

Taormina and surroundings

July 6/7 2013

 

Organised by the New Turbomark Rally Team. This year the event in in the calendar of the Sicilian Rally Championship and in the Clio R3 Trophy .
A new edition completely revolutionized as to be more spectacular, harder from a technical point of view and… cheaper for the particpants!
On the first day the race will start from Taormina (coastal area of Mazzeo) on July 6th at 7,01pm. The day after the start is from the promenade of Santa Teresa Riva and the arrive is expected, in the same town, after some 140 miles of hard and selective routes, at around 7.00pm.
A run through the picturesque Sicilian countryside that will reach many villages and towns of the nearby Ionian area: Taormina, Giardini Naxos, Limina, Santa Teresa di Riva, Savoca, Alì Terme, Alì, Casalvecchio Siculo and others.

 

Info and program on www.rallyevent.it (in Italian)

 

 

 67th Silver Ribbon Awards Ceremony

Taormina Greek Theatre

July 6th 2013, 9.30

The Nastro d’Argento (Silver Ribbon) is a movie award assigned each year, since 1946, for cinematic performances and production by the Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani, the association of Italian film critics. The Nastro d’argento is the oldest movie award in Europe, and the second oldest in the world (only the Academy Awards are older). The awards are given during a fashion gala night held at the Taormina Greek Theatre.

TICKETS online at boxol.it and ticketone.it
Ticket Office in Taormina: +39 0942.628730
Stalls (Parterre) and Gallery: € 20,00
Upper circle (numbered seats): € 15,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 10,00

 

N E W

WINNERS OF THE 2013 EDITION

 

BEST DIRECTOR Giuseppe Tornatore – La migliore offerta
BEST DEBUTANT DIRECTOR Valeria Golino – Miele
BEST COMEDY Maria Sole Tognazzi – Viaggio sola
BEST PRODUCER Isabella Cocuzza and Arturo Paglia – La migliore offerta
BEST SUBJECT Massimo Gaudioso and Matteo Garrone – Reality
BEST SCREENPLAY Roberto Andò and Angelo Pasquini – Viva la libertà
BEST ACTOR Aniello Arena – Reality
BEST ACTRESS Jasmine Trinca – Un giorno devi andare AND Miele
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Carlo Verdone – La grande bellezza
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Sabrina Ferilli – La grande bellezza
BEST CINEMTOGRAPHY Luca Bigazzi – L’intervallo, La grande bellezza AND Un giorno speciale
BEST FILM EDITING Massimo Quaglia – La migliore offerta
BEST ART DIRECTION Maurizio Sabatini and Raffaella Giovannetti – La migliore offerta
BEST COSTUME DESIGN Maurizio Millenotti – Reality AND La migliore offerta
BEST SOUND Emanuele Cecere – La grande bellezza AND Miele
BEST SOUNDRACK Ennio Morricone – La migliore offerta
BEST ORIGINAL SONG Cesare Cremonini and Gianni Morandi in Padroni di casa – “Amor mio
BEST FILM Bernardo Bertolucci – Io e Te

 

 

“Io e te” ” – Me & You” by Bernardo Bertolucci is the winner of the Best Film Silver Ribbon Awards 2013.

Based on the novel by Niccolò Ammaniti, it is the story of an introverted teenager who tells his parents he is going on a ski trip, but instead spends his time in a basement.
The soundtrack is the Italian version of “Ragazzo solo, ragazza sola” by David Bowie

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Writers: Niccolò Ammaniti (based on the novel by), Niccolò Ammaniti, Umberto Contarello, Francesca Marciano, Bernardo Bertolucci (screenplay),
Stars: Tea Falco, Jacopo Olmo Antinori, Sonia Bergamasco, Veronica Lazar, Tommaso Ragno.

Watch the official trailer: Io e Te

 

MAIN SILVER RIBBONS AWARDS

Nastro d’Argento Best Director (since 1946)
Nastro d’Argento Best Actor (since 1946)
Nastro d’Argento Best Actress (since 1946)
Nastro d’Argento Best supporting Actor
Nastro d’Argento Best supporting Actress
Nastro d’Argento Best Score (since 1947)
Nastro d’Argento Best Comedy (since 2009)
Nastro d’Argento Best Producer (since 1954)
Nastro d’Argento Best Story
Nastro d’Argento Best Script (since 1948)
Nastro d’Argento Best Photography
Nastro d’Argento Best Scenography
Nastro d’Argento Best Costumes (since 1953)
Nastro d’Argento Best European Film (since 2007)
Nastro d’Argento Best Extraeuropean Film (since 2007)
Nastro d’Argento Best Documentary
Nastro d’Argento Best Short
Nastro d’Argento Best 3D-Film (since 2010)

 

 

Exhibition: “Il cinema sopra Taormina”

June 16 / September 30 – Taormina town library

An exhibition that talks about the many movies that have been filmed in Taormina and which have spread the fame of the little Sicilian town all over the world.
Photos, videos, posters and memories.
“Il cinema sopra Taormina”, a book and an exhibition.

Watch the video (in Italian) http://vimeo.com/69689465

TAORMINA FILM FEST 2013

The Lone Ranger

Taormina Greek Theatre

June 22nd 2013, 9,30pm

 

Native American warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice.

Johnny Depp said he wanted to reinvent the Native American character. “Since cinema has been around, Native Americans have been treated very poorly by Hollywood. What I wanted to do was play Tonto not as a sidekick – like ‘Go fetch a soda for me, boy!’ – but as a warrior with integrity and dignity. It’s my small sliver of a contribution to try to right the wrongs of the past.” Johnny revealed the role is quite personal for him. “I’m probably one sixteenth Native American, but of course that’s hard to trace,” he said. The Lone Ranger, which also stars Johnny’s frequent collaborator Helena Bonham Carter and Ruth Wilson, opens in Italy on July 3 and in the UK on August 9.

The Lone Ranger brings reunites Depp with Verbinski, after the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer is also working on this project.

Year: 2013
Director: Gore Verbinski
Writers: Justin Haythe, Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio
Stars: Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, William Fichtner

Watch the trailer

Tickets on boxol.it and ticketone.it
Ticket Office in Taormina: +39 0942.628730
Stalls (Parterre) and Gallery: € 10,00
Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 5,00

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The Lone Ranger began as a radio show during the 1930s and 1940s before becoming a television series in 1949. The opening episode told the now familiar story of how the Lone Ranger got his name and his mission in life. He had been one of a posse of six Texas Rangers tracking a gang of desperadoes when they were lured into an ambush in a canyon and five of them were slaughtered. The sixth, young John Reid, was left for dead but managed to crawl to safety where he was found and nursed back to health by a friendly Indian named Tonto.
Tonto, who famously called the Lone Ranger “kemo sabe” (trusty scout), vowed to stay with him as the Lone Ranger sought to avenge the deaths of his comrades.
After taking their revenge, the pair then set out to avenge wrongs throughout the Old West. They never accepted payment for their good deeds but funded their vigilanteism from a silver mine which the Lone Ranger inherited from his dead brother – the same mine which afforded him his endless supply of trademark silver bullets.
The Lone Ranger, who rallied his horse to the chase with the cry “Hi-Yo Silver”, was one of the most popular shows on television when it ended in 1957.

More info on the story of this fictional vigilante on http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/l/lonerang.htm

 

TAORMINA FILM FEST 2013

Parental Guidance

Taormina Greek Theatre

June 21st 2013, 9.30pm

Artie and Diane agree to look after their three grandkids when their type-A helicopter parents need to leave town for work. Problems arise when the kids’ 21st-century behavior collides with Artie and Diane’s old-school methods.

Watch the trailer

Year: 2012
Director: Andy Fickman
Writers: Lisa Addario, Joe Syracuse
Stars: Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, Marisa Tomei

Tickets on boxol.it and ticketone.it
Ticket Office in Taormina: +39 0942.628730
Stalls (Parterre) and Gallery: € 10,00
€ Upper circle (non-numbered seats): € 5,00

 

 

 

 

Taormina Media Awards “W. Goethe” 

June 18/20 2013 – 3rd Edition

Panoramic terrace of the Historical Archives, Belvedere square

An international journalism award dedicated to journalistic works on Taormina.

2013 edition will see just one winner: Roberto Vecchioni

Roberto Vecchioni (1943) is an Italian singer-songwriter, singer-lyricist, lyricist and writer. He is acclaimed as one of the most skillful Italian singer-songwriters: his inspiration draws mainly from autobiographical themes, intermingled with dreamy, literary and historical (often mythological) ones.

Roberto Vecchioni wins the prize thank to the article “Lady Chatterley a Taormina”

Click here to read the article  (in Italian)


UPDATING
– The award ceremony has been hel at the Greek Theatre on June 19

Vittorio Sgarbi, the Russian Minister Vladimir Korotov (consul in Sicily), Dino Papale, Roberto Vecchioni and journalist Tony Zermo

 

 

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THE AWARDS

Four journalistic awards, each of € 4.000,00 (four thousands) euros will be granted to authors of either articles or television progammes on Taormina published/broadcasted between May 1, 2012 and March 15, 2013.

See detailed regulations (in English).

The award ceremony will be held at the old Greek Thetre.

The four awards are named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, André Gide, Edmondo De Amicis and Roger Peyrefitte, artists who often visited Taormina.

Winners of year 2012:

– Marina AVAKYAN: Таормина: сердце Сицилии Italian Translation: Taormina: il cuore della Sicilia

– Dante MARIANACCI: Taormina vue d’Alexandrie d’Egypte Italian Translation: Taormina vista da Alessandra d’Egitto

– Aldo MOLA: La siciliana Taormina fu il grande sogno di Giuseppe Garibaldi

– Vittorio SGARBI (Peyrefitte award): All’ombra dell’Etna. Perdersi a Taormina: la summa della Sicilia che però non è Sicilia

More info: www.taorminamediaaward.it

Jewelry exhibition by Gerardo Sacco

previous Church of San Francesco di Paola – free entrance

Exhibition on the most recknown goldsmith and jewelry designer from Calabria (South Italy). His artworks have been shown all over the world and have embellished stars like Liz Taylor, Isabella Rossellini, Monica Bellucci and Elena Sofia Ricci.
He also designed prestigious prizes awarded at the the Taormina FilmFest.

Info and photos on:

www.gerardosacco.com

www.facebook.com/GerardoSacco

TAORMINA FILM FEST 2013

Song for Marion

Taormina Greek Theatre

Monday, June 17th 2013, 9.30pm

Song for Marion is a music-based British dramedy written and directed by Paul Andrew Williams. The film stars Terence Stamp, Gemma Arterton, Christopher Eccleston and Vanessa Redgrave.
The film was nominated for three awards – Best Actor, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress – at the 2012 British Independent Film Awards.

Tickets online at ticketone.com € 5,00 / 10,00

See the Official trailer

SYNOPSIS

Arthur (Stamp) is the grumpy husband of Marion (Redgrave), who is terminally ill yet continues to participate with enthusiasm at her local seniors’ choir. Arthur is unimpressed when the choir, led by mistress Elizabeth (Arterton) serenades the couple at their home. As Marion’s health deteriorates, Arthur is keen to please his dying wife and even agrees to take her place in the choir. The transition proves to be more trying for Arthur thanks to the unconventional songbook that includes racier songs such as Let’s Talk About Sex. Arthur’s experience in this new social environment will take him on a journey of self-discovery and thaw his bitterness, qualities that he will need in his imminent transition to life without Marion.
The movie is accompanied by a song titled “Unfinished Songs” written by Diane Warren and performed by Celine Dion.