Art, Events, Museums, Rome

Art and Music in Concert at Rome’s Museums This Fall

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Museums in Music ad from Beniculturali, ItalyArt is great, and music is great. But art plus music? Well, that’s even better.

If you agree, then you’re in luck this fall: A number of museums in Rome are hosting concerts and other nighttime events.

The most-touted is Rome’s “Musei in Musica,” offering free concerts at museums all over Rome on Saturday, November 20. (More details are forthcoming, so check back in a few days). (Click here for more information about the 47 different concerts occurring). But there’s lots else going on, too — some mainstream, some quirky, all incorporating music and visual art.

This Sunday, the Museo di Roma hosts its last Aperitivo ad Arte. Go at 7pm for the aperitivo, take in a jazz concert (Alice Ricciardi and Enrico Bracco) at 8pm, and at 9pm, take the guided tour (in Italian) of the museum’s exhibit “Il Risorgimento a Colori,” featuring 19th-century paintings of patriotism in the time of Italy’s reunification. The cost is €11, and the museum, at Palazzo Braschi, is located right on Piazza Navona.

Want more jazz? On November 27, check out Jazz Noir at the Museo di Roma in Trastevere. On November 27, jazz guitarists Fabio Zeppetella and Umberto Fiorentino will perform as actors read out noir literature. Admission to the concert is free with your €5 ticket to the museum. Reservations are recommended (call 060608).

If you want something a little less heavy, then try the Budapest Bar-Urban Gipsy concert at the Museo dell’Ara Pacis. On November 17, the band — which blends contemporary and traditional Hungarian music — will play, the elaborate, ancient monument in honor of Emperor Augustus in the background. The concert is at 9:30pm. Reservations are required (call 060608), and the concert is free.

The Museo dell’Ara Pacis is also hosting a multimedia show called “Dedicated to Sara…” on Nov. 26, 27 and 28. The show incorporates music, dance and images, along with poetic verses by Joseph Manfridi. The performance costs €12; you can book in advance by calling 06 70493826. The performance begins at 9pm.

For something even more imaginative, don’t miss the Villa Torlonia’s “A Bell from the Owls,” a surrealist performance inspired by the Villa Torlonia’s House of the Owls. The performance, which takes place Nov. 27 at 11am and 3pm and Nov. 28 at 11am, is included with your €3 entrance.

And, every weekend through December 17-18 (and again on Jan. 7-8), the Centrale Montemartini, Rome’s former power station turned museum of ancient art (London’s Tate Modern with a twist!), hosts its “Central Notes” concerts. They range from orchestral film scores (like Stelvio Cipriani’s concerts on Nov. 12 and 13, or Nicola Piovani Cyrano’s Film Quintet on Nov. 19-20), to blues (Paul Millns and Butch Coulter, Dec. 3-4), to rock (American Elisabeth Cutler plays on Dec. 10-11). The food and wine tasting, plus concert, costs €8. The showings are on Fridays at 8pm and Saturdays at 10pm. For a full list of concerts, click here.

 

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Art, Museums, Rome

For a Quirky, Quick Art Visit, the Galleria Spada

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Borromini's perspective in Galleria Spada, Rome

Unless you're a Mannerist art fan, don't visit the Galleria Spada until you've seen the Vatican museums, Galleria Borghese, Capitoline museums, Villa Farnesina, Palazzo Massimo, and Palazzo Barberini.

But. Once you've done those — or if you're in the mood for just a half-hour art stop, instead of the longer slog the other galleries entail — check out the collection of Palazzo Spada.

Located just around the corner from Campo dei Fiori and Piazza Farnese, in one of Rome's lovely and quieter neighborhoods, the palazzo got its start as a cardinal's palace in the 16th century. Seventy years later, it was built by another cardinal (Cardinal Spada, of course!) who commissioned none other than Borromini to modify it.

Borromini's main contribution? The courtyard's colonnade, a trick of perspective that makes the gallery look 37 meters long, when really it's just 8 (shown above).

The "ah-ha!" you get when you catch just how small the gallery really is (aided by one of the workers, who will come out and stand at the back of it to show you that it's all just a trick) is one that must have been shared by guests to the palazzo for nearly four centuries. But that's not the only way in which you experience the gallery much as 17th-century visitors would have.

In all four (yes, only four) of its rooms, the museum seems frozen in time. The collection — which boasts paintings by Guido Reni, Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi (Artemisia's "Santa Cecilia" is shown below), and Domenichino, plus one piece thought to be a Titian — is still displayed much as it would have been. The walls are hung with
painting upon painting; the floors are bordered with ancient busts and statues; the ceilings are frescoed. It all feels a bit musty, and you're likely to be the only person there. 

Sound good? Then go. After all, it's one of the few things you can do in Rome that almost no other tourist has.

For more information (in Italian), click here. For a map, click here. The Galleria Spada costs €5, with reduced options for E.U. members.

 Cecilia by Artemisia Gentileschi at Galleria Spada, Rome.

 

 

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Archaeological sites, Art, Beyond Rome, Events, Museums, Rome

On Tuesday Nights, Free Art Across Italy

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DSC_0162
Just in case all of the fun events and free entrances on European Heritage Day (September 25-26) weren't enough for you, mark the last Tuesday of the month in your calendar, too.

That's because, on the last Tuesday each month through December 28, a series of state-run museums and sites will have late openings and free entrances. It's called "Martedi in Arte" and takes place across Italy. In Rome and Lazio, the following sites will be open from 7pm-11pm and will be free:

  • Palazzo Barberini, with its reopened archaeological exhibit, Via Quattro Fontane 13
  • Pantheon
  • Borghese Museum
  • Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Viale delle Belle Arti 131
  • Baths of Diocletian, Via Romita 8
  • Crypta Balbi, Via delle Botteghe Oscure 31
  • Museo Nazionale Romano and Palazzo Massimo, Largo di Villa Peretti 1
  • Palazzo Altemps, Via di S. Apollinare 44
  • Museum of Castel Sant’Angelo, Lungotevere Castello 50
  • Villa d’Este, Tivoli (shown above)
  • Hadrian's Villa, Tivoli
  • Necropoli, Strada Provinciale Monterozzi Marina, Tarquinia

To see which sites will be open elsewhere in Italy, check out this list on MiBAC's site (in Italian, but pretty self-explanatory).

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Events, Rome

European Heritage Day=Free Events and Entrances

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Ancient statue of Marcus Aurelius in the Capitoline Museums - which will be free September 26.
On Sunday, September 26, On Saturday and Sunday, September 25-26, every state-run museum and site in Rome, and across Italy, will be free — including such big-time sites as the Colosseum, Borghese gallery, and Capitoline museums (shown above).

But free entrance is far from the only perk. Many sites are offering (mostly free) events. And those events sure do range. They include:

I beg you, as much as I’d love to see a Nordic-Walking mountain-biker who’s spouting modern art knowledge and staggering from too much kosher wine, please don’t do all four of these in one weekend.

The events and free entrances are all part of European Heritage Days, which the Council of Europe launched in 1991 to promote European art and culture. And while it’s exciting, do keep in mind that at the highly-trafficked sites (like the Colosseum), lines are likely to be looong. Let me repeat that: looong.

So unless it’s worth it to you to stand in a 3-hour line to save €12, I’d recommend hitting up the lesser-known galleries, instead. Think: the Palazzo Barberini (which just unveiled its refurbished archaeological wing and newly-restored Pietro da Cortona fresco), the Palazzo Massimo with its incredible archaeological collection, the MAXXI with its modern art and cutting-edge architecture…

The list goes on, so take advantage! It’s not every day that you can do so much, while spending so little. At least in Rome.

 

 

 

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Art, Events, Museums, Rome

Late Summer and Fall’s Best Events in Rome

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Don’t be sad that the summer is ending and, with it, Rome’s best summer’s events! The autumn brings a new slew, too. I’ll be updating this as we go along, so check back for more exciting events.*

September 5. Opening of the Jewish catacombs at Villa Torlonia. Remember to book… now!

Until September 8. Colori dell’Ara Pacis, a light show showing the Ara Pacis as it would have been. Wednesday nights only.

September 1-11. The annual International Festival of Urban Theatre puts on performances all over Rome, outdoors and indoors, including events for children.

September 3-October 29. The Vatican museums open at night.

September 17-20. The Colosseum will be set on fire (virtually) in an art show by Thyra Hilden and Pio Diaz. 8:30pm-2am Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

September 19-20. La Notte di Raffaello. The newly-restored Palazzo Barberini opens Sunday night and Monday, offering free guided tours to the public.

September 21-December 2. RomaEuropa Festival. The annual festival, now in its 25th year, boasts a series of music, dance and theater performances. Highlights this year include a production of “Orpheus” with hip-hop music and music by Monteverdi and Philip Glass, the British rock group “The Irrepressibles,” and Laurie Anderson’s “Delusion,” a multimedia series of mystery plays that include violin, puppetry, and visuals.

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Art, Events, Museums, Rome, Tips & tricks

Rome’s Best Summer Events: Go Before They End

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 Baths
August is upon us — and with it, the winding-down of some of Rome’s best summer festivals and events, or “Estate Romana”. A recap of Rome’s best summer offerings… and when they end:

Ending August 3. The saldi (summer sales). If you miss these, you’ll have to wait until January!

Ending August 8. Opera at the Baths of Caracalla (shown above). This year: Aida and Rigoletto.

Ending August 9. The “Roma Incontra Il Mondo” festival with nightly concerts at the Villa Ada, a lovely, enormous park in Rome.

Ending August 15. Rock City, a festival in the Park of the Aqueducts featuring nightly concerts and restaurant stalls. (On the smallish side, but fun).

Ending August 19. Lungo il Tevere Roma, an enormous nightly festival at the Tiber River.

Ending August 31. L’Isola del Cinema, showing films nightly at the island on the Tiber River (both foreign and Italian).

Ending September 4. Nightly jazz concerts at the Villa Celimontana. 

Ending September 4. All’Ombra dell’Colosseo, a pool (with events like aperitivo and concerts) in the Colosseum’s shadow.

Ending September 5. La Forma del Rinascimento (“The Shape of the Renaissance”), with works by Donatello, Bregno, and Michelangelo, at the Palazzo Venezia.

Ending September 5. L’Età della Conquista (“The Age of Conquest”), an exhibit on the founding and Greek influences of the Roman Empire, at the Musei Capitolini.

Ending September 8. Colori dell’Ara Pacis, a light show showing the Ara Pacis as it would have been. Wednesday nights only.

Ending October 3. The Colosseum’s Gladiators exhibit.

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Art, Churches & holy sites, Events, Rome

La Notte di Caravaggio: On Saturday Night, Art for Free

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Boy with basket

There may be no artist better suited to the night than Caravaggio — the tormented Baroque painter famous for his dramatic, almost theatrically-lit paintings.

And on Saturday night, Rome is offering up its Caravaggios to the public. From 7pm on Saturday, July 17 until 9am on Sunday morning (yes, all night), four different sites will be open and free: the Borghese Museum (right now, ordinarily a €10.50 entrance), with its "Boy with a Basket of Fruit" (above), "Sick Bacchus," and "Madonna of the Snakes," among other pieces; the Church of San Luigi in Francese, home to Caravaggio's first major commission, the three frescoes of St. Matthew; the Basilica of Saint Augustine, with its Madonna of Loreto; and the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo, with its Crucifixion of St. Peter and Conversion of St. Paul (open only until 1am).

Just be prepared for a queue at the Borghese, where Romans are most likely to flock… although the later you go (or the earlier Sunday morning), the more likely you are to to have the museum to yourself.

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