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The New York Times. Conductor Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra offered a significant, if underattended, performance at the Avery Fisher Hall on Friday night. Titled “Persecution and Hope: Masterworks of Conscience,” the program was based on two one-act operas by the Italian modernist Luigi Dallapiccola: “Volo di Notte” (1939) and “Il Prigioniero” (1948). According to the NYT, Dallapiccola, who died in 1975, "has never been able to shed the label '12-tone composer,' which will always put off segments of the audience."

"An avowed anti-Fascist, he became the leading exponent of 12-tone techniques and serialism in Italy. Yet following the example of Alban Berg, Dallapiccola combined serialism with elements of tonality to give his scores an elusive harmonic allure. And you cannot be an Italian composer, it would seem, without acquiring a feeling for Italianate lyricism, which Dallapiccola had in abundance."

(Read the article by Anthony Tommasini)

WALTAINFO.  High level Italian delegation will visit Ethiopia from February 26-27, 2009, Italian ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union said. Ambassador Raffaele de Lutio told WIC today that Italian Secretary of State for Economic Development, Alfredo Urso will lead the delegation comprising more than 40 Italian companies.    

 The ambassador said the visit underlines Italy’s recognition of the growing strategic role played by Africa and by Ethiopia in particular in the political and economic equilibria at the global level.   He said the main objective of the visit is to encourage and facilitate the entry of Italian companies in the markets of Africa and of Ethiopia in particular.  (Read the Article)

REUTERS. Italians cut down on buying organic food and drinks in 2008 as economic downturn trimmed appetites for healthier but pricier products with consumption growth slowing by nearly 50 percent, a survey showed on Monday. (Read the Article by Svetlana Kovalyova)

Csmonitor. Until recently, Italians overwhelmingly ate Italian food, but a decade or more of immigration has seen a surge of new foreign food eateries. Now, one city has declared that enough is enough. The walled, medieval bastion of Lucca, in the heart of Tuscany, wants no more of the kebab shops and Chinese restaurants that have sprung up along the cobbled streets of its centro storico, or historic center. (Read the article by Nick Squires)