Albanian maestro Zhani Ciko, the director of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet, was in Bari, Italy to conduct a gala concert featuring Verdi’s symphonies and arias
TIRANA, June 2 – Albania joined celebrations to mark Italy’s 65th anniversary as a Republic with two concerts in Tirana and Vlora. The concert in Vlora on June 1 at the local Petro Marko Theatre brought two Italian sopranos, and two pianists from Turkey and Albania performing different parts by some of the best classical composers. The celebration on June 2, Italy’s Republic Day, moved to Tirana at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet, where Albanian violinist Ermir Abeshi and Italian pianist Valentina Messa gave a joint concert. Meanwhile, Albanian maestro Zhani Ciko, the director of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet, was in Bari, Italy to conduct a gala concert featuring Verdi’s symphonies and arias. Italy’s Republic Day, marks the establishment of the Italian Republic on June 2, 1946 by a popular referendum in which the people chose between a Republic and a Monarchy. Events marking Italy’s Republic Day follow wide ranging activities. Since April 12, a cycle of 11 Italian movies have been screened each week at the Marubi Academy of Film and Multimedia in Tirana. The event called “Italy seen through the big screen” retraces the history of the past decade in Italy. The program of films will continue each Tuesday until June 21, organizers said. Celebrations in Albania to mark Italy’s 150th anniversary of unification on March 17, 2011 had begun since last November, with a concert dedicated to Italy’s unification hero and military leader, Giuseppe Garibaldi. Last year, dozens of activities were held over a span of three months in Albania in the frame of “Italy, Albania: Two Peoples, One Sea, One Friendship.” Since then, more than 80 events were held from March to June 2010– including 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 in consideration of the successful cooperation between both countries during the past 20 years.
