Modern World: Italian and English

“What Makes It Italian?” is a music listening and discussion group that meets online on the Zoom platform and is open to everyone.
Participation is free.
The group is led by Gina Crusco, who has also guided listening at Bard LLI and Riverdale Y; acted as maestro del coro for opera in Italy; instructed music at The New School; and directed Underworld Productions.
Please email ginacrusco@gmail.com to confirm your attendance and receive an invitation link.

French Impressionism was resonating throughout European music and art, but the British and the Italians responded with their own home-grown versions.

Italian pairing: Composer Franco Alfano (1875 – 1954) and painter Emilio Longoni (1859 – 1932)

English pairing: Composer Edward Elgar (1857–1934) and painter Vanessa Bell (1879–1961)

What seems indescribable in music is often easy to name in the visual arts. So each session in this series we explore four works: a pairing of an Italian painting with a musical work, and a similar pair from outside of Italy. Discovering riches from painters like Sandro Botticelli, Guido Reni, Francois Boucher, and Vanessa Bell, and composers like Girolamo Frescobaldi, Joseph Bologne, Edward Elgar and Dominick Argento, we define more clearly “What Makes it Italian.”