Italoeuropeo – Page 6 – L'ItaloEuropeo – Independent Magazine in London

Shakespeare and the Tube what they have in common?

LONDON – On April 23rd, 1616, William Shakespeare, one of the pillars of worldwide literature and the man who’s considered the greatest European playwright passed away in Stratford-uponAvon. Few days before the 400th anniversary of his death, a Shakespeariean map of the tube was unveiled as part of a series of eye-catching initiatives to celebrate “The Bard”.

The project was born from the collaboration between the TfL and The Globe: the map replaces the names of tube stations and lines with alternatives taken from Shakespeare’s plays and modern adaptations. Westminster became “King Lear”, the Northern line becomes the Villains line and St. James’s Park will be the first, and most cruel, piece from Shakespeare, the “Titus Andronicus”.

The map also shows three of the many theathres where some of the Bard’s plays took place: the Globe, the Blackfriars and the Shoreditch Theathre and, in addition to that, the feuding Montagues and Capulets from Romeo and Juliet are placed next to each other on a Fathers and Kings line, normally the Jubilee line.

Several myths and stories were born around the figure of the playwright throughout the years and centuries, including theories about the possibilities he never existed and that “Shakespeare” was just a pseudonym used by someone else. What is certain, though, is that his 37 plays represent one of the greatest and most beautiful expressions of western art and literature. The 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death has been celebrated since the beginning of the year in several countries all over the world: 110 events, festivals and theatrical tours were arranged to make his memory and his genius live again in modern times.

Furthermore, a new smartphone app called ShakeSpeak has also been released: it allows users to write their text-messages in a true Shakespearian style; the app brings out automatically the rest of famous sentences when typing in the first few words, which will allow users to show off their knowledge of the playwright.

As Cameron stated at the beginning of 2016, Shakespeare’s career and greatness has no equals: his plays were translated in more than 100 languages and are studied by students all around the world. The map will be available from April 18th (it can also be found online: http://www.ltmuseumshop.co.uk/posters/pre-printed-posters/product/shakespeares-400thanniversary-tube-map.html).

The Titans of the 60s Rock together on stage.

Bob Dylan,The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, The Who and Paul McCartney (Oct. 7-9 at the Empire Polo Field in Indio): the Titans of the 60s Rock together on stage.

Their music has changed the world. They have become the faces of a revolution. They transformed entertainment into Art. Bob Dylan, american songwriter, singer and poet, on the most influential musician of our time who reinvented a genre.

The Rolling Stones, the “World’s Greatest Rock & Roll Band” that has defined the attitude, the voice, the style of rock & roll. Neil Young, a rock & roll genius: an unpredictable guitarist and a brave songwriter who has never stopped to surprise his fans filling his songs with passion.

Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, cofounder of one of the most revolutionary band in the history of rock & roll, acclaimed for its progressive and psychedelic music. The Who, one of the most influential British rock band.

A mix of four powerful majestic sounds and characters: Pete Townshend guitar , Keith Moon drums, John Entwistle bass, and Roger Daltrey voice. Also known as one of the first rock band to successfully integrate synthesizers. Paul McCartney, bass player of the band that most influenced pop culture, the innovators who set new standards for artistic success.

It is a bill we will never see again. According to the LA Times, the promoters of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival are planning to bring them on stage, together, for a three day event, on October 7 – 9 th, at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, where the Coachella Festival is also held.

Six of the most Iconic, classic, titanic Acts of the sixties are getting together for the first time. Dylan and exBeatle McCartney, considered the two most representative and important rock stars of the 60s, are finally sharing the same billing.

Plans are said to be nearly complete, and it has been revealed that Dylan and the Rolling Stoned would share the night on October 7, opening the festival, followed by Neil Young and Paul McCartney on October the 8.

The Who together with Pink Floyd’s bassist, singer and songwriter Roger Waters would conclude the event on October 9. Someone involved revealed that “It will be their full stage productions, will full sets”.

No more details of the event have been shared or revealed but we expect a full announcement in the next few weeks. I agree with Elliot Roberts, Young’s manager, who said “ You won’t get a chance to see a bill like this, perhaps ever again. It’s a show I look forward to more than any show in a long time”.

ITALIAN VERSION HERE : [ I Titani del Rock anni Sessanta insieme sul palco]

Alitalia puts Australia on the map: codeshare deal signed with Virgin Australia

Alitalia puts Australia on the map: codeshare deal signed with Virgin Benefits also for members of both airlines’ loyalty programmes Rome, 11 April 2016 – Alitalia will this month offer air travellers access to Australia following a codeshare deal signed with Virgin Australia.

On sale from 15 April 2016, the agreement will allow the Italian airline to widen its international network by placing its two letter “AZ” flight code on flights from Abu Dhabi to Sydney and beyond to Brisbane.

Similarly Virgin Australia will place its two letter “VA” flight code* on Alitalia’s daily flights from Abu Dhabi to Rome and Milan Malpensa to increase its presence in Europe.

The new agreement will also bring benefits for members of both airlines’ loyalty programmes. John Shepley, Chief Strategy and Planning Officer, Alitalia said: “There are about one million people in Australia with Italian heritage so we’re hoping that this new agreement will encourage more air travellers, especially friends and relatives, between these two great nations.

I can really see more Australian tourists visiting Italy thanks to this agreement and the connection times at Abu Dhabi work well for customers travelling from Australia to Italy. New benefits for members of both carriers’ loyalty programmes will be an added incentive for travel”.

Alitalia operates daily flights to the capital city of the United Arab Emirates from Rome, using Airbus 330 aircraft and from Milan with a Boeing 777 aircraft. Virgin Australia is currently undertaking a refurbishment of its Boeing 777 aircraft which will feature a new Business Class cabin from mid-year and operate three times a week between Sydney and Abu Dhabi. Alitalia’s expanded long haul international programme this year will see it start new direct flights from Rome to Santiago in May and Mexico City in June. Australia

HMRC quarterly tax returns slammed

HMRC quarterly tax returns slammed Independent HMRC oversight body, the Administrative Burdens Advisory Board (ABAB), has refused to support the Government’s plans to force small businesses to submit quarterly digital tax returns saying: “compulsory digital record keeping and quarterly online updates is not an approach we can endorse.”

The ABAB has used its annual report to underline “significant concerns” shared by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) that, “the proposals for quarterly updates will be more burdensome than they currently are with increased record keeping and compliance costs.”

The stark criticism from the ABAB adds to growing concerns about HMRC’s plans to mandate smaller businesses to move to the untested digital tax returns platform.

The ABAB report highlighted “reservations around the current capability of software being able to deliver HMRC’s vision and the appetite amongst small businesses to utilise them.” The ABAB was also very critical of the decision to announce the policy without consultation or warning in the 2015 Autumn Statement, saying: “We were surprised and disappointed when this was announced at Autumn Statement, particularly that given our close engagement and relationship with HMRC we were not informed of the intentions earlier.”

HMRC quarterly tax returns slammed

The stark criticism from the ABAB adds to growing concerns about HMRC’s plans to mandate smaller businesses to move to the untested digital tax returns platform.

THE ARTS EXHIBITION REVIEW Botticelli in London

London- Sandro Botticelli was the creator of complex allegories, and his Birth of Venus, like Michelangelo’s David, has been reinterpreted and re-presented in every possible form by artists down the centuries. With its current exhibition, “Botticelli Reimagined,” the Victoria and Albert Museum in London strives to mix modern interpretations of the Florentine painter’s acclaimed masterpieces with original works, most of which are on loan from the Staatliche Museen in Berlin. Sadly, the show is a bit of a mess.

To begin with, the big plastic “selfie” shell in front of the information desk at the entrance of the museum, although much appreciated by Japanese visitors the day I was there, lends a distinctly pandering feel to the exhibition.
The exhibition opens in a kind of dark cave, which articulates in darker spaces where the Birth of Venus is re-dressed, re-shaped and re-skinned in paintings, pictures and movie clips. This is Botticelli reimagined.

From Ursula Andress emerging from the waves in Dr. No to Uma Thurman displayed in the shell in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, the Asiatic feature by Yin Xin, the close-up by Andy Warhol, the camouflage in the Shell petrol pumps and the occasional striptease by Orlan, Botticelli’s Venus complies with the efforts of desperate pretenders to “modernize” her beauty.

Austrian artist Valie Export has tampered with the mighty Madonna of the Pomegranate, including in her photomontage a picture of herself cradling a vacuum cleaner instead of Jesus, emphasizing the social pressure on women through the ages.

In Tomoko Nagao’s paraphrasing Venus comes back as an updated advertisement: she stands on a gaming console floating in a sea of Italian consumer goods while the sky is crowded with EasyJet planes.
Of these reimaginings, René Magritte’s Ready Made Bouquet stands out as noteworthy. When the Belgian surrealist artist first saw Botticelli’s Primavera, his reaction was, “It’s not bad, but it’s better on a postcard.” He produced a superimposed Flora on a man with a bowler hat seen from behind, suggesting what the man is thinking while walking in the woods.

The exhibition could have ended here, but instead it continues, ostensibly to elevate the show to a higher classical standard but most likely to spotlight paintings by British artists.

The Rediscovery section is presented in a well-lit hall where Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris and the like are meant to illustrate the impact of Botticelli’s art on the Pre-Raphaelite circles of the mid-nineteenth century. These interpretations, which are sometimes too mangled or too sophisticated for comparison, in turn introduce the next section, Botticelli in his Own Time.

This section crams together original works and a variety of Botticelli-style productions, a profusion of religious tondi (difficult to differentiate or give proper attention) and a sequence of undistinguished portraits. Simonetta Vespucci, the great beauty of Renaissance Florence and the idealized muse of Botticelli, would perhaps have been worthy of a room all to herself.

Finally, there is what I believe should have been the highlight of the exhibition: the magnificent Pallas and the Centaur, travelling to London for the first time from the Uffizi.

This is an exhibition of missed opportunities to showcase Botticelli’s real masterpieces alongside the creativity they have inspired, whether the message is poetic, philosophical or political.

Botticelli Reimagined
Cromwell Road, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Until July 3, 2016
10am–5.45pm Saturday to Thursday; Friday 10am to 10pm
£15
www.theflr.net/botticellireimagined

London – Marina Rei Live Amazing performance of a singer-drummer rock Lady!

Another success of Tijevents with Marina Rei

Ladies and Gentlemen, how on Earth can possibly exist such a lovely creature? Marina Rei, the one you maybe knew only for the songs «Primavera» or «Il giorno della mia festa» is a kick-ass astonishing performer! Yes! We knew it, as we saw her many times on television.

But. Let us say: she is just much better on a live stage! She was just amazing, yesterday: singing with perfect confidence while playing drums like a boss (yeah, maybe it’s just her DNA: her father is Ennio Morricone’s drummer). Yesterday @ the Underbelly we Italians (but also not-italians people) enjoyed so much Marina’s concert.

She presented some songs of her last album Pareidolia, produced by Giulio Ragno Favero – Teatro degli Orrori bass player: «Sole», «Ho visto una stella cadere», «Lasciarsi andare» are some highlights of her last work. But she also delighted us with some classic songs of her best-known repertoire: «Al di là questi anni», «I miei complimenti», «Un inverno da baciare», «T’innamorerò».

And what can we say about her duet song «E mi parli di te» with Pier Paolo Capovilla? So poignant. What a gracious mix of grief and beauty. Because this is what a true artist can ultimately do: to transform something painful into beauty. And we should also spend some words on the song «Donna che parla in fretta». Because this is just the perfect one to celebrate March as the International Women’s Month.

Inspired by the poem «Woman who speaks fast», written by the Beat Generation poet Anne Waldman, «Donna che parla in fretta» is a passionate tribute to women, but also an engagement against the neglected topic of infibulation.

And – believe it or not – yesterday was the first day of Spring. Yes: it was the 20 and not the 21 of March, yesterday. But – extraordinarily – it was the first day of Spring. Marina did not sing her super-hit «Primavera».

We guess she’s just too bored to sing the same song over and over again. But her show was definitely the perfect thing to celebrate the joy of a new Spring blooming. Thank You Marina, you made our day!

More than three quarters of people in London fear future generations will never have a ‘forever home’

A staggering 78% of people in London fear it will be impossible for future generations to have a home to settle down in, new research by housing and homelessness charity Shelter reveals today. The Ipsos MORI survey, commissioned by Shelter and British Gas as part of a new study into the meaning of home in Great Britain today, exposes alarming social trends caused by the current housing shortage.

Nationally the research showed that for recent generations, the chance to have a ‘forever home’ has been slipping increasingly out of reach. Worryingly, 74% of people in younger Generations X and Y said it is harder for them to get a home to settle down in than it was for their parents’ generation.

This compares with only 44% of people born in the Baby Boomer or Pre-War years. A large majority of people who don’t currently live in a long-term home say they would like to, either now or in future, with most saying the key reason is to give them stability or to put down roots.

However, the reality of life for the millions of young people and families who make up ‘generation rent’ is very different, with the research showing that 25-34 year olds in Britain today have moved more than twice as frequently per year of their lifetime as pensioners.

This new research marks the launch of the Great Home Debate. In its 50th year of striving to end bad housing and homelessness, Shelter, with support from British Gas, wants to have the country’s biggest ever conversation about the meaning of home.

It will use people’s views from the Great Home Debate to shape new standards for homes in the 21st century. Campbell Robb, Shelter’s chief executive, said: “The fact that vast numbers of people fear their grandchildren will never have a home to put down roots in, highlights the sad truth that this country is once again at the mercy of a housing crisis.

“While we have made progress over the last 50 years, our current housing shortage means millions are facing a lifetime of instability and, understandably, people are giving up hope.

But if our history tells us anything, it’s that together we can make things change. “For the sake of future generations we cannot make this crisis someone else’s problem. We’re urging the nation to tell us what they really need from a home – so we can better help those who aren’t lucky enough to have one.

At Shelter we won’t stop until we all have a place to call home.” Anyone can join the nation’s Great Home Debate by visiting www.greathomedebate.org.uk and sharing their thoughts on the meaning of home in Britain today. Bryan Halliday, Head of Corporate Citizenship at British Gas, said: “Through our ongoing partnership with Shelter we’ve already helped to improve living standards for thousands of families.

This debate will help us to understand how we can help more people in the future to have a safe, warm and stable place to call home.” Case study: Brenda was raised in poor privately rented housing in the sixties and went through a period of homelessness. As a young married adult she bought her own home and raised a family but, following a divorce, now finds herself back in unstable private renting. Brenda says: “We’ve come full circle.

There was a shortage of housing in the 1960s, and we’re facing the same problem again now. Houses are unaffordable, the number of homeless people is rising, and landlords can throw you out at short notice.

“When we bought our house it was like a dream. It felt almost like we’d started our journey in life because we owned a piece of land with a house on it and nobody could throw us out.

You’ve got local schools and shops nearby, people know where you live, you become part of the community – and that’s what makes it a home. “Sadly, I don’t think the future looks good for my daughter and my granddaughter when it comes to having their own home, unless somehow I can afford to help out.”

Twist and Shout a 50s and 60s night

Bring me back to the 50s and drive me around the 60s. Well, shake it up, baby, now Twist and shout Post World War II rebellion, the vitality of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis, the British invasion, Cadillac, mini skirts and the Hippie movement.

is back to London and It will bring back to life the atmosphere of the two most revolutionary decades.

Twist and Shout! has been founded in 2011 by Alessio Granata who rediscovered the 60s music due to a journey to London CEO of Twist and Shout S.r.l. And Dj for the events. Together with Alessandro Leuci, coorganiser, tour manager Dj and bartender, they started organising Dj sets in Milan’s Club.

Due to the audience’s positive response Granata and Leuci started to cooperate with bands, dancers and hairstylists. Since then they have been touring Italy (Milan, Turin, Rome, Vicenza, Treviso and so on), Europe (Paris and London) and on November 3 they’ll reach New York – entertaining the audience throughout the night with a rock’n’roll, swing, do woop, twist, and so on and so forth, repertoire.

This time, here in London, the two Djs will work sidebyside with an extraordinary team of professional artists. Lipstick and Curls, Uk’s leading make up and hair team – winners of the London Vintage awards – that will provide a Free Hairstylist and make up service.

Markus Rosendal , professional dance teacher, performer and Dj, will offer a 50s dance class. Active from 1998 he moved to London in 2015 performing and teaching 20s50s style.

Surfin’ Kids, an Italian band from Turin, will be live on stage. Andy Caligaris – drums Luca “Zanna” Simeoni double bass – and the frontman Nick Mantoan founded the band in 2014 brought together by the passion for rockabilly.

Influenced by the Stray Cats, the trio brings adrenaline and rock’n’roll energy on the stage. The moment for London to wildly dance is approaching. And, who knows, maybe you’ll get a chance to slow dance with Elvis. th @ the GARAGE, 7.30 pm. London. April 14

Greg Dyke appointed BAFTA Vice President for Television

London, 3 March 2016: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced that Greg Dyke has been appointed its Vice President for Television. As Vice President, Greg Dyke will chair BAFTA’s Council, support the Academy’s President, HRH The Duke of Cambridge, and assume an ambassadorial role for the charity across the television sector.

Previous Vice Presidents for Television have been Michael Grade CBE (2004-2010) and Sophie Turner Laing (2010-2015). BAFTA can appoint up to three Vice Presidents, one in each of the three sectors of film, television and games, who can serve a term of up to six years. Greg Dyke said: “I was delighted to be asked to be a Vice President of BAFTA.

After eight years at the BFI, I am pleased to be staying in the television and film industries where, hopefully, I can use my understanding of both to good purpose. BAFTA is a great organisation.” Anne Morrison, Chair of BAFTA, said: “Greg Dyke is an inspirational leader whose characteristic energy and positivity will be a huge asset to BAFTA as our new Vice President for Television.

Greg will be a terrific ambassador for the Academy, and I am sure we will benefit greatly from his ideas and support.” Greg Dyke was educated at Hayes Grammar School and later at York University where he read Politics. After an early career as a journalist, he started his broadcasting career in 1977 at London Weekend Television.

He became Editor-in-Chief of TV-am in 1983 and the following year Director of Programmes for TVS. He returned to LWT in 1987 as Director of Programmes; and from 1991 to 1994 he was Group Chief Executive of LWT (Holdings) plc. He joined Pearson Television as Chief Executive in 1994.

He guided the consortium which created Channel 5 and became its first Chairman. During this early period of his career he was also Chairman of GMTV and at various times a director of Pearson plc, Channel Four Television, ITN and BSkyB. He was a non-Executive Director of Manchester United Football Club 1997-1999 and was a Trustee of the Science Museum 1995-2005.

In January 2000 he became Director-General of the BBC and in his four years at the BBC he started four new digital television channels, five new digital radio channels, opened two new BBC regions, launched the BBC’s interactive television services and helped create Freeview, a new free to air digital platform. He also made major commitments to expand the BBC’s education services and to improve the cultural diversity of the workforce.

After leaving the BBC in January 2004 he was made Chancellor of the University of York in December 2004. He was Chairman of HiT, a large international television production company specialising in programmes for the under-fives from 2005 to 2012.

From 2006-2013, he was Chairman of Brentford Football Club and was Chairman of the British Film Institute from 2008-2016, from which he received the BFI Fellowship for his outstanding contribution to television and film. He is currently Chairman of The Football Association and is Chairman of ATG, Britain’s largest theatre Group. He runs several businesses of his own including golf clubs and hotels. His autobiography entitled Greg Dyke: Inside Story was published in September 2004 by Harper Collins.