Monteverdi Concert 6 October

The Jubilate Singers will join Wellington’s Baroque Voices and Burnside High School’s Bel Canto and Aurora Voices choirs in one of the best-loved compositions of the choral repertoire and Monteverdi’s largest work, his Vespro della Beata Vergine. Part of a larger 1610 Venice publication, the Vespers comprises large psalm settings, smaller-scale motets, a lavishly scored sacred concerto, and a setting of the Magnificat. The Vespers is courtly and majestic in places, touchingly intimate in others. A pinnacle of Renaissance music, it contains elements that look forward to the Baroque style to come, and spectacular vocal and instrumental effects that are still capable of thrilling audiences four centuries later.
The concert is on Saturday 6 October 2012 at St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Manchester St, Christchurch at 7.30 pm and will be directed by Grant Hutchinson. Tickets are $25/$20 (concession) and school students are admitted free of charge.

Cartolina 10 Ottobre

Festival Director Tony Lambert gives us an insight of the present edition of this much-loved appointment with Italian film. There are more titles than the previous years, and, as usual, there is something for everybody!

Invitation to participate in a PhD study

Agnes Szabo, a PhD student at the Centre for Applied Cross-Cultural Research, School of Psychology at Victoria University of Wellington invites members of the Society to participate in a research study.  

Agnes writes:

Dear Members of the Dante Alighieri Group in Christchurch,

I am writing to you, because I would like to invite the Dante Alighieri Group in Christchurch to participate in my study that is designed to help us gain a better understanding of how immigrants deal with challenges related to their settlement into New Zealand society. It is a completely anonymous online survey that takes approximately 20 minutes of the participants’ time.
I consider it very important to cover a wide range of acculturating groups with different cultural and ethnic background in order to get a comprehensive picture about the adjustment of immigrants in New Zealand. That is why I would like the Italian community to be represented in my sample.

To participate in this research, just click on the following link:
http://vuw.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6FHCF1GTJRh3Zgp

Thank you so much for your help!

Agnes Szabo

PhD Student, Centre for Applied Cross-Cultural Research, School of Psychology
Te Kura Matai Hinengaro
Victoria University of Wellington
Te Whare Wananga o te Upoko o te Ika a Maui
PO Box 600
Wellington, New Zealand

Cartolina 29 agosto e 3 settembre

Elisa Ramon and Alessio Olivieri are the Duo that call themselves OPERAPERTA. They have recently offered to perform for a fundraising of the Lions Club of Christchurch Host, with profits going to its Charitable Trust Earthquake Relief Fund. President Bill McDonald explains how the concert came to be. Elisa, soprano, and Alessio, guitar, present their repertoire of Spanish, Venetian and Neapolitan songs, collected in their just released CD, available from www.operapertaduo.com and from the major online music stores. We play Federico Garcia Lorca’s Nana de Sevilla and La Tarara, plus a Venetian Boat song: Sento che ‘l cuor me manca.

Cartolina 15 and 20 August

University of Canterbury Professor Chris Jones describes the publishing treasures that the University owns; among others, a 1502 Aldo Manuzio's edition of Dante's Divine Comedy. We discuss the past and the future of printed books: it seems we are presently witnessing a new (digital) revolution, similar in scope to what the press meant for printing. From Angelo Branduardi's Futuro Antico we play Schiarazula Marazula (an ancient song published in Venice in the late 1500s), and  Suite d'Angleterre.

International film festival

The New Zealand International Film Festival starts in Christchurch on 9th August and includes two Italian films:

Reality.  The first film directed by Matteo Garrone since Gomorra (2008).  Winner: Grand Prix, 2012 Cannes Film Festival.  

Caesar must die.  A stripped-back production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. The directors  Paolo & Vittoria Taviani filmed key scenes from the play in the high-security wing of Rome’s Rebibbia jail.

Tickets are now on sale from Hoyts. Further information is available at http://nzff.co.nz/christchurch or contact Cinerama@xtra.co.nz