The 17 March 1861 Vittorio-Emmanuelle II of Savoy became King of a United Italian Kingdom. Tomorrow the 17th we celebrate all over Italy this great day under the theme of Italian Unity or Patria Unita.
There will be demonstrations and concerts, museums will remain open late and everyone except yours truly will enjoy a National Holiday, I forgot the Holy See is not celebrating this holiday, they lost the war against the Italians and the Pope lost all his estates and all of central Italy which came under his direct rule.
Pater Patria, King Vittorio-Emmanuelle II of Italy.
Auguri and Complimenti to all my Italian friends on this great day! Unity came after years of bloody conflict with the Pope and his French and Austrian allies against the people of Italy. The capital at first was Turin and then Florence and finally after the conquest of Rome on 20 September, the Eternal City became once again after almost 1400 years the Capital of all Italy. This feat was in a large part the work of one great Sardinian, Garibaldi who was very successful at conquering town after town and region after region and becoming the symbol of the aspiration of the Italians to be able to govern themselves.
Tomorrow night at the Teatro del Opera di Roma, the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano will host by invitation only an evening presentation of the great Verdi opera Nabucco directed by Maestro Riccardo Muti, this work is the musical symbol associated with the historical struggles of the Italians to rid themselves of foreign rulers like the French and the Austrians. The famous chorus Va' pensiero sung by the Jewish slaves in Egypt is the allegorical reference in the story and strikes that emotional chord in all Italians. Just a few nights ago, the crowd at the Opera demanded an encore of the chorus, Maestro Muti turned to the audience and invited them to stand and sing with the singers the encore. It was a great emotional moment, many cried, all the newspapers carried the story the next day.
We are going to the opera on the Saturday 19th to see Nabucco, I hope for a repeat of this scene.
Everyone is invited to post in all the windows of homes and shops the Italian tricolore in celebration of the Anniversary. The showing of the flag in Rome is especially significant as a rebuke to the Vatican.
There will be demonstrations and concerts, museums will remain open late and everyone except yours truly will enjoy a National Holiday, I forgot the Holy See is not celebrating this holiday, they lost the war against the Italians and the Pope lost all his estates and all of central Italy which came under his direct rule.
Auguri and Complimenti to all my Italian friends on this great day! Unity came after years of bloody conflict with the Pope and his French and Austrian allies against the people of Italy. The capital at first was Turin and then Florence and finally after the conquest of Rome on 20 September, the Eternal City became once again after almost 1400 years the Capital of all Italy. This feat was in a large part the work of one great Sardinian, Garibaldi who was very successful at conquering town after town and region after region and becoming the symbol of the aspiration of the Italians to be able to govern themselves.
Tomorrow night at the Teatro del Opera di Roma, the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano will host by invitation only an evening presentation of the great Verdi opera Nabucco directed by Maestro Riccardo Muti, this work is the musical symbol associated with the historical struggles of the Italians to rid themselves of foreign rulers like the French and the Austrians. The famous chorus Va' pensiero sung by the Jewish slaves in Egypt is the allegorical reference in the story and strikes that emotional chord in all Italians. Just a few nights ago, the crowd at the Opera demanded an encore of the chorus, Maestro Muti turned to the audience and invited them to stand and sing with the singers the encore. It was a great emotional moment, many cried, all the newspapers carried the story the next day.
We are going to the opera on the Saturday 19th to see Nabucco, I hope for a repeat of this scene.
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