Cartolina

Cari amici, welcome to the new year of Cartolina programs “for those who remember Italy and who dream of it”.

Some of you have already discovered the convenience of listening in their own time, through the internet, simply visiting here. Select “Cartolina” and you’ll get the list of all available programs.
If you are keen on the actual radio broadcast, tune in on PLAINS FM 96.9 on alternate Wednesdays at 7.30 pm, or listen to the repeat program on the following Monday, at 10.30 am. Contents of the single programs are on the “Radio Program” page of the Dante website

The upcoming programs are:

Tribute to Pavarotti. In four programs, from 23 January to 5 March, Cartolina celebrates Pavarotti’s artistic life playing some of his famous and less famous recordings, interspaced by comments from a number of people with connection or interest in the opera world: Beverley Cock and Dame Malvina Major (23 January), Luca Manghi and Ruth Todd (6 February), the former Italian Ambassador, Liana Marolla, and Christopher Doig and Suzanne Prain (20 February), and Antony Ernst and Denis Walker (5 March).

Mercatini (19 & 24 March). Guests Lis Burt & Frans Huysmans, owners of the Mercatini shops in Auckland-Newmarket and in Christchurch at 216 Madras St., talk about their expeditions through Italy to source great furniture, made by artisans who follow traditional hand craft methods. Recipe: prawns with cannellini beans. We’ll play a song, just received from a young Italian song writer, Gerardo Amato: “Cha cha cha della nostra Italia”, and more music, from the Tuscan folk repertoire.

Abruzzi (2 & 7 April). Gail Hopkins tells how to find and buy a house in the Abruzzi, an Italian region full of great secrets. From her first trip there, to the connection with “il Trovacasa”, and then establishing “the Housefinder”, it’s all an adventure connecting New Zealand with Roman-founded Sulmona and the Peligna Valley.

Italian Children's School

The Italian Children's School has started on Friday afternoon the 15th of Feb. in Opawa at the Risingholme Community Centre. For more information about the school please write to Maria Fresia at mariafresia1@hotmail.com

Authentic Venetian Masks

If you have come to the Italian National Day dinner last year or the our Christmas stand at the Arts Centre, you might have seen the beautiful Venetian masks made by our Venetian friend Alberto. Now you can buy them at a very reasonable price at the furniture store Mercatini, 216 Madras St. (click "read more" to read more...)

Mercatini (and its twin shop in Newmarket, Auckland) sells wonderful artisan's furniture imported from Italy. The owners of Mercatini are happy to keep the masks for decoration of their shops and to sell them on our behalf. Please go there and have a look if you are considering getting a mask or a beautiful piece of furniture!