By ervin lisaku
TIRANA, Nov. 11 – Celebrations to mark Italy’s 150th anniversary of unification in 2011 are also being held in Albania through several historical and cultural events organized by the Italian Institute of Culture in Tirana.
The programme of events kicked off this week with a conference dedicated to Italy’s unification hero Italian and military leader Giuseppe Garibaldi, whose great-granddaughter Anita Garibaldi, was the keynote speaker in a conference held last Tuesday in cooperation with the National Library in Tirana.
Events continued on Thursday with a performance by soprano Alisa Zinovjeva and pianist Massimo Lambertini at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet.
On Friday, November 12, the Italian Institute of Culture organizes another conference promoting the republication of the “Arb쳥sh촠dhe Garibaldi” (The Arberesh and Garibaldi) book by Koli Xoxi.
In this conference, Professor Elio Miracco of the Albanian language and literature at the La Sapienza University of Rome will elaborate on the contribution to Italy’s unification of the Arberesh community, Albanians who moved to southern Italy after Skenderbeg’s death in 1468 following the reestablishment of the Ottoman rule which continued until the early 20th century.
Otello opera
The biggest event scheduled to be held in November is the Otello opera, a lyric tragic drama in four acts composed by Giuseppe Verdi.
The opera will be staged as an Italian-Albanian cooperation starting from November 19. Italian tenor Leonardo Gramegna will perform along with some of the most prominent soloists of the Albanian Opera House including Ylber Gjini, Manjola Konjari, Marjana Leka and Irini Nikolla.
The opera is directed by Albania’s Nikolin Gurakuqi while the symphonic orchestra conducted Alessandro D’Agostini.
The famous opera with libretto by A. Boito after William Shakespeare, was premiered at La Scala, Milan, February 5, 1887. The setting is in a seaport on the island of Cyprus, end of 15th century.
Earlier this year, dozens of activities were held in Albania for more than three months in the frame of “Italy, Albania, Two Peoples, One Sea, One Friendship” season of cultural events. The more than 80 events held from March to June included 25 concerts, 5 film festivals, 10 fairs, 28 conferences, 5 sports events, 7 initiatives on the economic and commercial sector, 6 training activities and 5 contests.
The events were aimed at promoting Italian culture in Albania considering the successful cooperation during the past 20 years which have made Italy, where more than 400,000 Albanian immigrants, the country’s top trade partner.
150 years of Italy’s unification
In 1861, after the wars waged against the Austrians and once the Garibaldi expedition to Sicily was completed, the long period of political and military fights leading Italy to unification was over, according to the event’s official website. On the 17th March of that year the national unity was proclaimed in Turin, which became the first capital city of Italy. Therefore, the new history of Italy, independent and united, initiated from Turin on the 17th March one and a half century ago.
The city would be the capital for four years until 1865, when the centrality of the Government of the Kingdom moved to Florence. Rome became the final capital city, from 1871, when the unification of the country was fully completed.
In 2011 Italy will celebrate 150 years and, once again, Turin is going to celebrate the anniversary with a magnificent event.
