New England heiress Marguerite Chapin Caetani, the ‘American Princess’ of biographer Laurie Dennett’s recent book (Mcgill-Queen’s University Press, 2016), was one of the twentieth century’s pioneering literary owner-editors. In Paris during the 1920s, she used her personal fortune to produce the modernist review Commerce, convinced that access to good writing was not an option or a luxury, but a social necessity. Marriage to the Italian composer Prince Roffredo Caetani in 1911 made Italy her adopted country, and from 1932 until her death in 1963 she resided there. Serious gardening at the Caetani estate of Ninfa provided a refuge from fascism, and she was thus able to make a lasting contribution to one of Italy’s most outstanding gardens. Her greatest achievement, however, was the international review Botteghe Oscure, begun in 1948 to provide a forum for young Italian writers in the aftermath of fascism and war. During the next 12 years Marguerite Caetani went on to fund and publish the work of more than 600 writers in a dozen languages, ensuring that Botteghe Oscure played its part in creating the international literary community we enjoy today.
Laurie Dennett: Born in Toronto, Canada, Laurie Dennett has spent much of her professional writing life in the City of London. She is the author of eight corporate histories, including those of Prudential, the Institute of Actuaries, and law firm Slaughter and May.
She raised nearly $500,000 internationally for multiple sclerosis research through her pilgrimages on foot to Santiago de Compostela, Rome and Jerusalem, and wrote a travel book, A Hug For The Apostle (Macmillan of Canada, 1987) about her walk from Chartres to Santiago. From 1995 to 2003 she chaired Britain´s Confraternity of Saint James.
She has also translated several Camino-related books from Spanish. She lives in the province of Lugo, Galicia, where she continues to write and translate, and to welcome visitors to the first and only Quiet Garden (affiliated with the U.K.-based Quiet Gardens Trust) in Spain.
Book Review from Jay Parini, Axinn Professor of English, Middlebury College, USA
I have just finished reading Laurie Dennett’s life of Marguerite Chapin Caetani. I have read other work by Ms. Dennett, and I knew something of Caetani, being a long admirer of her great work as editor of Botteghe Oscure and, some years ago, a visitor to her estate at Ninfa. But I was unprepared to read such an engrossing biography, one that combines a wonderful literary range with deep and original research. In addition, it’s a biography that has the narrative momentum of a good novel…
…This is a brilliant and vibrant biography that left me deeply moved as I finished the last chapter, where Dennett considers the legacy of Marguerite. It’s a remarkable story, well told, beautifully conceived, and rich with learning. Dennett knows her stuff, and she writes clear, swift prose that nicely suits her subject. Her tone — one of quiet respect — never falters.
Drinks reception will follow the talk
We will not be able to give refunds for cancellation later than 48 hours before the event
Ernest Hemingway is most often associated with Spain, Cuba, and Florida; but Italy was equally important in his life and work. Richard Owen’s book, Hemingway in Italy, the first full-length study on the subject, explores Hemingway’s visits throughout his life to such places as Sicily, Genoa, Rapallo, Cortina and Venice.
Richard Owen describes how Hemingway first visited Italy during World War I, an experience that set the scene for A Farewell to Arms, and how he then returned after World War II, when he found inspiration for Across the River and into the Trees. Showing how the Italian landscape, from the Venetian lagoon to the Dolomites and beyond, deeply affected one of the greatest writers of the Twentieth Century, Hemingway in Italy demonstrates that this country belongs alongside Spain as a key influence on his writing—and why the Italian themselves took Hemingway and his writing to heart.
Richard Owen was the Rome correspondent of the Times for 15 years. He was previously the paper’s correspondent in Moscow, Brussels and Jerusalem, and also served as Foreign Editor. Richard Owen has written several works of non-fiction including Crisis in the Kremlin: Soviet Succession and the Rise of Gorbachov, Letters from Moscow and Lady Chatterley’s Villa: DH Lawrence on the Italian Riviera.
Drinks will be served after the talk
PLEASE NOTE NEW VENUE
This talk will seek to explain Italian wartime policies in the Aegean islands, and the impact on the population of the occupation of Syros and the Cyclades. The famine which decimated Greece from early 1941 was particularly severe on Syros, leaving its mark on public memory. In official Greek discourse the occupation can only be seen as negative. Famine and fascist brutality cannot be forgotten. In addition, complex local religious, political and social factors have been a source of controversy, while the extent to which shadows of the past remain serves as a trigger to examine the lingering ghosts of postwar history. The political clamp-down in postwar Greece distorted historical analysis, and gave rise to myths which have not been questioned fully. Italians themselves also struggle with different interpretations of the occupiers’ policies and behaviour. Conflicting memories of their own self-image have yet to be unravelled.
Dr Lecouer will illustrate the talk with episodes from her film The forgotten Greek famine, in which moving testimonies of survivors bring this period to life.
Dr Sheila Lecoeur, BA Hons (University of Westminster), MA (LSE), PhD (Birkbeck College, London University), has been Co-ordinator of Italian at Imperial College, London since 1990. She teaches 20th Century post-war European history.
Book: Mussolini’s Greek Island. Publisher IB Tauris 2009. Second edition in paperback 2015. Greek translation: Alexandria Publications 2013.
Documentary film: The Forgotten Greek Famine. Licenced to Fox TV Australia.
Current Projects: Research for publication of articles on Italian Occupation of Greece.
The preparation of a documentary film about the current economic crisis in Greece.
Future Project: A documentary film on ‘Acts of Reconciliation’ in World War 2.
Drinks will follow the talk
The event is in collaboration with the Institute of Modern Languages Research and the Friends of Italian at the IMLR
Please join us for a wonderful recital, providing a flavour of two centuries of Italian music.
This evening’s recital will range across a wide variety of Italian opera and song music, including Verdi, that great Italian patriot, through to Tosti, who, while being Italian through and through, ended his days in London as a British citizen, Professor at the Royal Academy of Music with a knighthood and friend to Edward VII, and on to Cardillo, who was an American citizen when he died in New York.
So, we promise you a varied and stimulating evening of beautiful music from two exceptionally talented performers. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy it! Please do come – and bring your friends. The evening’s full updated programme will be:
Verdi, Rigoletto Questa o quella
Tosti Marechiare
Verdi, Rigoletto Ella mi fu rapita
Tosti Ideale
Verdi, La Traviata Lunge da lei
Buzzi-Peccia Lolita: serenata spagnola
Interval
Verdi, Macbeth Ah la paterna mano
Tosti Non t’amo piu –
Verdi, Il Corsaro Tutto parrea sorridere –
Cardillo Core ngrato
Cilea, L’Arlesiana Federico’s Lament
Performers
Freddie De Tommaso is a British tenor. He made his Royal Opera debut in the 2016/17 Season as Apprentice (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg).
Freddie completed his BMus course at the Royal Academy of Music in 2017, where he studied with Mark Wildman and Iain Ledingham. He has also worked at the RAM with Richard Berkeley-Steele and Dennis O’Neill. He was a Drake Calleja scholar for 2016–17. In summer 2016 he sang in the chorus for Opera Holland Park, performing in Iris (also singing the role of Rag Merchant), La Bohème and The Queen of Spades.
In September 2017 Freddie joined the Opera Course at the Royal Academy of Music.
Michael Pandya is a versatile young pianist, specialising in song and chamber music, and performing with Graham Johnson, Jonathan Lemalu, Anna Huntley, Robin Tritschler and Eamonn Dougan. His recital schedule has taken him across the UK and Europe. He recently won the prestigious Brenda Webb Award for Accompaniment at the Royal Academy of Music.
Michael has received numerous other prizes, including the Joan Chissells/Rex Stephens Schumann Lieder Prize, the Vivian Langrish Piano Prize and the Pianist Prize at the Rosenblatt North London Singing Competition. Recent performing engagements include appearances at the Wigmore Hall, KlavierFestRuhr in Germany, Newbury Spring Festival, Leeds Lieder Festival, the Royal Overseas-League London, the House of Bob Boas and a live performance on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune programme. In 2017 he was the recipient of the Graham Johnson Fellowship at SongFest, Los Angeles.
Michael graduated from Queen’s College, Oxford with First Class Honours in 2015. There he directed student operas by Albinoni, Haydn and Michael Nyman, and worked as a repetiteur with New Chamber Opera for two years. He was also Accompanist in Residence for the Oxford Lieder Festival.
Michael now studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Drinks will follow the recital
We are sorry that Wagner Moreira, who was previously scheduled to perform at this event, has had to withdraw for health reasons. We are delighted however that acclaimed young tenor, Freddie De Tommaso, has agreed to replace him.
The British-Italian Society invites you for a celebration of Neapolitan porcelain and music
on Tuesday 5 December 2017, 5.15pm to 8pm
5.15pm – Private view of the ‘Collezione Fiordalisi’ of Neapolitan Porcelain
6pm – Champagne reception and canapés, Neapolitan music by duo ‘Settembre Music’
7pm – Lecture by Angela Caròla-Perrotti: The beauty of Neapolitan Porcelain
Entry: £20 per person (admission by ticket only)
Tickets must be purchased by 27 November: they will not be sold at the door
The British-Italian Society are jointly hosting this special event with the Directors of Bonhams and with the French Porcelain Society.
We are grateful to Kirker Holidays for their sponsorship.