Culture

Introduction : Rome's cultural life has stepped out of the shadows and into the limelight in recent years. High-profile international dance and theatre festivals, such as the RomaEuropa Festival (website: www.romaeuropa.net) held from late September to the end of November, Rome's new state-of-the-art auditorium (see Music below), and massive city council spending on culture, have all helped to make this happen.

Rome's only official arts centre, the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Via Nazionale 194, (tel: (06) 489 411 for tickets; website: www.palazzoesposizioni.it) which combines cinema with dance and exhibition spaces, is closed until mid-2005, but is set to be pretty impressive with its newly revamped interior and roof-garden terrace. However, major exhibitions have a spectacular venue in the Scuderie Papali del Quirinale, renovated by famous Italian architect Gae Aulenti and located opposite the Quirinal Palace (tel: (06) 3996 7500; website: www.scuderiequirinale.it). Past shows have included one on the major pieces of St Petersburg's Hermitage, Sandro Botticelli, and one entitled The courts of the Baroque with works by Velazquez, Bernini and Luca Giordano. Contemporary art or photography shows are also programmed. From March-June 2005, the venue will host a show of masterpieces from the Guggenheim collection. And in a long line of major arts openings in past years, the city will soon have a Museo Nazionale delle Arti del XXI Secolo, or MAXXI (tel: (06) 320 2438; website: www.maxximuseo.org), a national centre for contemporary art and architecture. The former military barracks not far from Rome's new auditorium are currently being transformed and expanded under a project by well-known Anglo-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, and will be completed in early 2006. Part of the state collection of contemporary art and architecture will be transferred here. Temporary exhibitions are already being hosted in an adjacent pavilion.

Those determined to sample something less conservative should seek out the Centri Sociali, non-profit, self-governing social centres set up by left-wing students during the 1970s, with support from the Italian Communist Party, which host the most radical concerts, films, theatre and dance events that Rome has to offer. Admission costs are at a minimum here, as are the prices for drinks at the bar. Centri Sociali attract an 'alternative' crowd aged 18-30 and vary from well-run places offering educational courses and Internet cafes to suburban squats (see Live Music in Nightlife for more information).

Tickets for cultural events are in demand, so it is important for culture-keen visitors to rush to the box office with cash (not credit card) in hand some days prior to the performance. Prices start at around ?30. Ticket agencies may save hassle. Orbis, Piazza Esquilino 37 (tel: (06) 474 4776), provides tickets for concerts, theatre and sporting events. Hello Ticket (freephone: (800) 90 70 80 or (06) 4807 8400 if calling from abroad; website: www.helloticket.it) sells tickets by phone, online or at their main branch at Via Giolitti 34 (in the eastern wing of Termini train station).

The weekly Roma C'č (website: www.romace.it) and TrovaRoma and fortnightly Wanted in Rome (website: www.wantedinrome.com) publications provide information on cultural events.

Music : Rome's new auditorium, Viale Pietro de Coubertin 30 (tel: (199) 109 783; website: www.auditoriumroma.com) by Genoese architect Renzo Piano was officially inaugurated in December 2002. A 10-minute tram-ride from Piazza del Popolo, or a 30-minute bus-ride on the 'M' bus from Termini station, the Auditorium or Parco della Musica (as it has been christened), features three halls of varying sizes and a large outdoor amphitheatre used for concerts and events. Everything from pop and jazz to dance and symphonic orchestras are hosted here, and the venue is the official home of Rome's principal and most prestigious classical music academy, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (tel: (06) 808 2058; website: www.santacecilia.it). Rome's Philharmonic, the Accademia Filarmonica (tel: (06) 320 1752; website: www.filarmonicaromana.org) performs regular operas and concerts at the Teatro Olimpico, Piazza Gentile da Fabriano 17, Flaminio (tel: (06) 326 5991; website: www.teatroolimpico.it). Rossini and Verdi were once members of this academy (founded in 1821) that offers a varied programme of chamber music, opera and contemporary music. There are many other venues for classical music including the main auditorium of Rome's La Sapienza University where the reputable Istituzione Universitaria dei Concerti holds concerts (website: www.concertiiuc.it), churches and in the summer parks and archaeological sites, many of which are part of the Estate Romana series of events (see Cultural Events below). Some of the most atmospheric summer venues are the Baths of Caracalla, the Teatro di Marcello, the Fori Imperiali and the Terrazza del Pincio. Ask at one of the tourist information points for their monthly guide to cultural events called L'Evento, or read the local press for more information on music events in Rome.

The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Via Beniamino Gigli 1 (tel: (06) 481 601; website: www.operaroma.it), dominates the opera scene. The season runs from November to May. The box office is open every day except Monday. In summer the theatre hosts operas, ballets and concerts in the Baths of Caracalla. Free concerts (choral, chamber and organ recitals) are held in churches (including Sant'Ignazio, Sant'Eustachio and San Luigi dei Francesi) year-round by the Associazione Internazionale Amici di Musica Sacra (website: www.amicimusicasacra.com).

Theatre : The theatre season runs from October to May. The city's official troupe, the Teatro di Roma (tel: (06) 6880 4601; website: www.teatrodiroma.net), is based in two locations: at the prestigious Teatro Argentina, Largo di Torre Argentina 52 (tel: (06) 6880 4601), which hosts lavish and often highbrow productions directed by renowned directors, and at the Teatro India, Lungotevere dei Papareschi (tel: (06) 5530 0894), a renovated former soap factory with three stages which puts on rather more experimental and multi-disciplinary offerings, also in summer. Musical comedies are performed at the fashionable Teatro Sistina, Via Sistina 129 (tel: (06) 420 0711; website: www.ilsistina.com). Two other venues managed by the ETI (Italian Theatre Board), the Teatro Valle, Via del Teatro Valle 23A (tel: (06) 6880 3794; website: www.teatrovalle.it), and the Teatro Quirino, Via Marco Minghetti 1 (tel: (06) 679 4585; website: www.teatroquirino.it), put on an interesting and varied programme, the first of contemporary work, the second of classics and Commedia dell'Arte. Also worth mentioning is the recently reopened Teatro Palladium, Piazza Bartolomeo Romano 8 (tel: (06) 5706 7761; website: www.teatro-palladium.it) which is attached to the Rome's third university (known simply as 'Roma 3') and offers a very interesting range of readings, films, dance and theatre events. Fringe theatre is well represented at the Vascello, Via Giacinto Carini 78, Monteverde (tel: (06) 588 1021; website: www.teatrovascello.it).

Best of all are the open-air performances, held over summer in the lovely Giardino degli Aranci, Via di Santa Sabina, Aventino. Other venues are the Anfiteatro della Quercia del Tasso, Passeggiata del Gianicolo (tel: (06) 575 0827; website: www.anfiteatroquerciadeltasso.com), with stunning views over the city, and the Teatro Romano di Ostia Antica, the Roman amphitheatre in Ostia Antica. Information and booking numbers are advertised on posters.

Dance : The Rome Opera Ballet performs at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Via Beniamino Gigli (tel: (06) 481 601; website: www.operaroma.it), where the regular diet of classical ballet is enriched with guest performances of internationally renowned dancers. The Teatro Olimpico, Piazza Gentile da Fabriano 17, Flaminio (tel: (06) 326 5991; website: www.teatroolimpico.it), has a strong dance season, ranging from classical to contemporary. Tickets for dance productions at the Teatro Argentina, Largo di Torre Argentina 52 (tel: (06) 6880 4601; website: www.teatrodiroma.net), are snapped up, so early booking is advised.

Film : Italy's grand history in film has been centred in Rome since the Cinecittā (Cinema City), Via Tuscolana 1, was opened by Mussolini in 1937. Scenes from Anthony Minghella's The English Patient (1996) and Jane Campion's The Portrait of a Lady (1996) were filmed in these studios, but Italian cinema has failed to match the flowering of the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Among the greats are Rossellini's Open City (1946) and Vittorio De Sica's The Bicycle Thief (1948), painting a harsh but touching picture of post-war Rome. Equally popular but highly romanticised was Jean Negulesco's Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), focusing on the quest for love and the Trevi Fountain, and Audrey Hepburn's Oscar-winning performance as a besotted princess in Roman Holiday (1953). However, it is Fellini's films Roma (1972) and La Dolce Vita (1959) that have indelibly stamped images of Rome on the movie-goer's mind. More recently Rome's version of Woody Allen, Nanni Moretti, enjoyed considerable success at home and abroad with films called Caro Diario (1993), which showed a beautiful and virtually empty Rome in August, and La Stanza del Figlio (2001), the dramatic tale of a family that loses a son. Some younger film-makers, such as Gabriele Muccino and Turkish born Ferzan Ozpetek, have used the city of Rome to great effect as a backdrop in films such as L'Ultimo Bacio (2001) by the former and Le Fate Ignoranti (2001) by the latter, both of which featured the up-and-coming Italian actor Stefano Accorsi.

Rome is blessed with about 80 cinemas, though in recent years many older and smaller venues have closed to make way for larger multi-screen cinemas in the suburbs or outside Rome. Tickets cost about ?7 (prices are often reduced for matinee performances and on Monday evenings). The three-screen Pasquino, Piazza Sant'Egidio 10, Trastevere (tel: (06) 581 5208), shows English-language films daily. Metropolitan, Via del Corso 7 (tel: (06) 3260 0500), and Warner Village Moderno, Piazza della Repubblica 44 (tel: (06) 4777 9111), dedicate one of their screens to English-language films. Films are also shown in their original language on Monday evening at Alcazar, Via Merry del Val 14 (tel: (06) 588 0099), while Nuovo Olimpia, Via in Lucina 16G (tel: (06) 686 1068), shows original-language films regularly. There are numerous open-air showings in the summer, including Cineporto, Viale Antonino di San Giuliano (Ponte Milvio) (tel: (06) 321 1511; website: www.cineporto.com), close to the Olympic Stadium, and Notti di Cinema a Piazza Vittorio (tel: (06) 445 1208; website: www.agisanec.lazio.it), which shows films daily in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II in the months of July and August. Weekly showings and details of film festivals are set out in the weekly publication, Roma C'č (website: www.romace.it) or in the daily press.

Cultural Events : Each summer, from June to September, Estate Romana offers a lively schedule of outdoor cultural events around the city, from rock, ethnic and jazz concerts, through theatre performances and outdoor cinema, to dance lessons and other cultural events hosted outdoors in various Roman piazze, archaeological sites, monument grounds and parks all over town. Detailed programmes are available on the Rome city council website (www.comune.roma.it) or in special monthly editions of Roma C'č (website: www.romace.it) available at newsagents. As home to the Vatican, religious celebrations are important in Rome. The Pope makes an annual appearance at the Colosseum on Good Friday evening and delivers Midnight Mass at St Peter's on Christmas Eve.

Literary Notes : There is nothing like Ovid's Ars Amatoria (Art of Love - circa 16-25BC) for bringing Rome to life, with its vivid depiction of a trip to the Colosseum, the site of flirtation and grandiose spectacle. Those interested in political intrigue may turn to I Claudius and Claudius the God (1934), Robert Graves' portrayal of ancient Rome, or the more measured tones of Gibbon's History and Decline of the Roman Empire (1782). The dramatic poetry of Virgil's Aeneid (19BC), evokes the glory of the Roman Empire, blessed and cursed by the Gods. The Romantics had a soft spot for Rome; indeed Rome is the place where Keats breathed his last and the Keats-Shelley Memorial House is situated here (see Key Attractions). The tragic tale of Beatrice Cenci, beheaded in 1599 outside Castel Sant'Angelo for plotting to kill the father who had raped her, inspired Shelley's play The Cenci (1886).

A very good book about Ancient Rome is Marguerite Yourcenar's Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), a 'ghost' autobiography of Emperor Hadrian's life that evokes daily life as well as more philosophical aspects of life in Rome back then. Also written in the 1950s, The Talented Mr Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith (1955) is set mostly in Rome.

More recently, bestselling author Dan Brown's Angels and Demons (2003), the prequel to the acclaimed Da Vinci Code (2004) is set entirely in Rome and is crammed with Vatican intrigue and hi-tech drama. 

    

      

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