Culture – It was Italian culture that most piqued the interest of the foreign press this week in articles about the Bel Paese, starting with news about La Scala and the opening of “Attila” that, the Financial Times, described as a “real success” (December 11 – Verdi’s Attila becomes a blockbuster spectacle at La Scala*), although, the focus of the New York Times was on the relevance of Verdi’s opera today and how it does even better than a rapper from the Bronx on that score! (December 7 – La Scala Premiere ‘Attila’ Speaks to Today’s Global Turmoil*).
The same US paper dedicated space to the memory of Pier Massimo Forni, a Professor in Italian Literature at John Hopkins University (December 7 – P.M. Forni, Who Argued for ‘Choosing Civility,’ Dies at 67) and then Icon, an El País supplement, ran a piece about the beauty and traditions associated with Sardinian pottery made especially for weddings (December 9 – Cómo un cántaro de agua se convirtió en el regalo de boda más deseado en Cerdeña). However, Le Monde featured an article about the Sergio Leone tribute mounted by the Cinémathèque française (December 11 – Hommage : Sergio Leone, à la recherche du cinéma perdu*).
Economy – On this subject this week, Le Monde wrote about its visit to Max Mara’s HQ in Emilia, describing the company’s “empire” as the pride of Northern Italy (December 7 – L’empire Max Mara, fierté nord-italienne). Two articles focused on Barilla in Les Echos about its strategies for growth involving Italian-made organic products (December 12 – Le grand virage vert de Barilla* although another by Reuters explained how the group known for its pasta is planning to challenge another Italian “great” – Ferrero with its own chocolate spread (December 6 – Italy’s Barilla challenges Nutella with ‘Pan di Stelle’ spread) and Ferrero itself featured in another piece that explained how it too is continuing to grow and now has plans to buy Australia’s Arnotts Biscuits (Bloomberg, December 9 – Italy’s Ferrero in Talks to Buy Arnott’s Biscuits, Sole Reports).
Tourism & Wine – Other articles about Italy this week featured tourist destinations, with Der Standard, writing about Matera, the city it described as the “pride of Italy” that will be named as the European Capital of Culture in 2019 (December 12 – Wie sich der Schandfleck zu Italiens Stolz wandelte, whilst both the New York Times and the Washington Post both featured Milan in an article that described the city’s determination to plant 3 million trees by 2030 (December 9 – Plant a Tree: Milan’s Ambitious Plans to Be Cleaner, Greener; Plant a tree: Milan’s ambitious plans to be cleaner, greener). The New York Times was still in Milan to explain how the Lombard capital continues to dominate Italy’s property market and to shine a light on a historic villa for sale in the countryside, not far from Abbiategrasso (December 12 – House Hunting in … Italy*).
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal was in Piedmont where it was inspired to write the first of two articles about Barolo (December 6 – Why Italy’s ‘King of Wines’ Is A Relative Bargain—For Now*; December 11 – This Elegant Italian Red Wine Is Easy to Love*).
*Article available for pay/at registration