Culture – Major cultural events are aiding Italy’s recovery. The New York Times emphasizes that during “these days Americans can only envy Italy’s success in weathering the coronavirus, its rapid return to a kind of normalcy” (July 23 – Why Can’t Trump’s America Be Like Italy?*) and reports on the country’s revitalized cultural calendar: from La Scala, whose autumn programming is “a signal of confidence that European cultural life can resume in full” (July 27 – La Scala Announces Fall Season as Cultural Life Resumes*) to the Venice Film Festival, the first to be held after the peak of the COVID emergency (July 28 – ‘We Have Saved the Heart’: Venice to Host First Film Festival of COVID Era*), “a landmark in the reopening of the movie business” (July 28 – Venice Film Festival to Return With Masks and Without Blockbusters*). And while the American daily also offers coverage of the “return of tennis” at the Palermo Open (July 24 – AP Interview: Palermo Open to Mark the Return of Tennis*), other news outlets concentrate on art, architecture, and literature. Le Monde recommends watching the restored version of The Garden of the Finzi-Continis to rediscover “Giorgio Bassani’s masterpiece” (July 24 – « Le Jardin des Finzi-Contini », voir le film pour lire le livre*), and visits the glass house built near São Paulo by the Italian/Brazilian architect Lina Bo-Bardi (July 24 – Lina Bo Bardi, en communion avec la forêt tropicale).
El País, on the other hand, reports on Venice: the newspaper pays a visit to Palazzo Grassi and Punta della Dogana, “two privileged settings” for 3,000 artworks by Francois Pinault, “the Serenissima’s last great patron” (July 28 – François Pinault, el último mecenas de la Serenísima) and covers the upcoming Architecture Biennale on the occasion of the pavilions’ virtual opening (July 22 – Catalunya porta l’aire a la Biennal d’Arquitectura). Lastly Die Zeit pays homage to Italian culture with a book by journalist Thomas Steinfeld recounting the clichés, the beauty, the hidden sides, and the contradictions of the Bel Paese (July 26 – Das versteckte Italien).
Tourism – The summer season also accounts for the numerous reports devoted to tourism. Financial Times recounts “an Italy without the crowds,” from Florence to the Amalfi Coast and explains that requests for villas by international buyers are increasing on the Lakes of Northern Italy (July 28 – Italy without the crowds). The How to Spend it supplement pays a visit to the Tuscan hills and the Baroque Villa Cetinale, included in a book dedicated to the world’s most expensive vacation homes (July 29 – Rooms with a view – inside the world’s most expressive homes). The New York Times also makes a stop in Tuscany, visiting Giglio Island to recount how it was spared from the coronavirus (July 26 – Luck? Genetics? Italian Island Spared From COVID Outbreak). L’Orient le Jour, on the other hand, is in Lombardy, with an article paying homage to the “city of luthiers,” Cremona (July 29 – Crémone, patrie de Stradivarius, vivier de luthiers du monde entier). Lastly, El Mundo is following the tour of Chiara Ferragni, carried out with the objective “of promoting and supporting tourism” in Italy (July 24 – Chiara Ferragni emulando a Letizia realiza su ‘gira italiana’).
Wine & Food – In wine & food, The New York Times, in its Style Magazine, proposes the Sicilian recipe for “pasta chi vruocculi arriminati” by writer and food blogger Skye McAlpine (July 29 – A Food Writer’s Sicilian Pasta Dish — and Tips for Sharing It), and celebrates the life of Anthony Terlato, the “visionary wine importer” who acquainted Americans with Pinot Grigio (July 23 – Anthony Terlato, Who Brought Pinot Grigio to the U.S., Dies at 86).
Fashion, luxury, lifestyle – Numerous reports are also dedicated to fashion and lifestyle. While Reuters covers Prada’s sales in Asia (July 29 – Prada flags recovery in Asia after virus hits first-half sales), Le Monde recounts the Dior show in Lecce, a choice by artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuri (July 23 – Collection croisière : Dior a osé le show à Lecce).
In luxury cars, El Mundo drives the Ferrari FS90 Stradale, “1,000 HP of pure pleasure” (July 25 – Ferrari FS90 Stradale: 1.000 caballos de puro placer), while The New York Times reports that Ferrari has got into “esports” with its own virtual championship (July 28 – Esports: Ferrari Launch Own Virtual GT Championship*). Lastly, Handelsblatt celebrates the Alfa 1900, “the car with which Italy wrote the history of the automobile” (July 28 – Das ist Alfa – so schrieb der Typ 1900 italienische Autogeschichte).
*Article available for pay / at registration