MAPPING TUSCANY

Incontri in Terra di Siena festival at Locanda dell'Amorosa (photo Paul Flanagan)  Stellar locations and classical music executed by with  world-class musicians is the hallmark of the Incontri in Terra di Siena festival. Cellist Antonio Lysy, grandson of writer Iris Origo, organized the first concert in the Val d'Orcia 30 years ago and since then the festival has become one of the backbones of Tuscany's classical music season. This summer Incontri celebrates its round birthday wit h an impressive line-up of musicians flying in from all over the world. Flutist  Emmanuel Pahud, pianists Leif Ove Andsnes, Lucille Chung, Alessio Bax (the festival's artistic director  who appears on the Oscar-winning soundtrack of 'Call Me By Your Name'), tenor  Ian Bostridge, violist Lawrence Power and many more reunite in some of the most stunning venues of southern Tuscany.  The concerts are accompanied by a dedicated program called 'Oltre La Musica' which include...

Roman ruins are all over the place in Italy and locals normally stifle a yawn when zealous archaeologists lecture about the discovery of yet another Roman villa or thermal bath. Science  has managed to puzzle together every minute detail of the modus vivendi of the Roman upper class, b ut things are very different when it comes to the majority of the population, since surprisingly little is known about the living conditions of the Roman farmer.      During the last years groups of Brits and Americans hailing from the universities of Cambridge and Pennsylvania have tried to fill this enormous gap in a joint venture called the Roman Peasant Project together with the universities of  Siena and Grosseto  ( I've written about the strange sudden influx of young attractive foreigners the project brought to our Tuscan backwater  before). The team under scientific director Kim Bowes has been digging through the fields around Cinigiano summer after summer with...

When I first visited the Amiata Piano festival I called beforehand to make a reservation. An unnecessary one since the concert was attended by a handful of people: two of my neighbors, the mayor of our town and me with a couple of Swiss friends in tow.  Waiting for Amiata Piano Festival at the ColleMassari winery Ten years later the festival rightly celebrates its first decade and reservations have become a must for the three concert cycles that bring world class musicians to Cinigiano , a little known Tuscan town in central Maremma. Dedicated to the great Claudio Abbado, the 2014 edition will put the spotlight on some of the major names in Italy's classical music scene. The first two cycles (called Baccus and Euterpe) take place in the Sala di Musica near Poggi del Sasso (with exclusion of the concert at the church of the Montecucco estate on the 29th of June).  The final concerts at the end of August will be hold in the ColleMassari winery; its contemporary wine c...

Over a decade ag o a group of Italian tourists  from the Veneto quickly s topped at one of Cinigiano's two small bars to ask for directions to famous Montalcino.  They left three days later.  The historic center of my Tuscan town  may not be much of a sight ,  but the  village bars have a certain reputation. In fact the aforementioned group has  been coming back every year. And rumo rs have it that they still haven't gotten around to make the drive to Brunello town .    WHAT TO  SEE A stroll through Cinigiano's tiny town center will make it obvious - the views towards Mount Amiata and over the  Maremma countryside  are the main attraction.  For more of them h op into your car and drive to one of the hamlets and villages which belong to Cinigiano's territory. Medieval looking Monticello Amiata is up on 734 meters and with that perfect for a cool  breeze on a hot summer day (and for freezing winds in ...

Summer in Tuscany and I'm hot and bothered. Since temperature remains over 30 degrees. For weeks. Inside our house . Summer in Tuscany and my Tuscan native is constantly grumpy. Since the construction sites he works in and the roofs he climbs upon are definitely under the Tuscan sun. It's summer in Tuscany and our two  kids are endlessly bickering. Since - autumn, winter, spring and summer - that's just what they like to do.  Once dreaded August 15 is on the horizon - and with it Ferragosto hell  - our ill tempered little family leaves the touristy hill towns and jellyfish invaded beaches behind and happily drives off to a better life. In Switzerland. Where temperatures drop and rain fall starts the moment we cross the border. And all we'll remember of the crowded, irritating and unbearably hot Tuscan summer is this.  Contemplative Cappuccinos before the heat sets in  and early evenings at Fiumara beach mornings spent collecting tomatoe...

Beer isn't like beer. Germany and Belgium are good places to find out about this. And Tuscany.  It may seem a little weird, but over the last decade the craft beer brewing movement has managed to take foot in winemaking territory and microbreweries keep springing up all through the Tuscan hills and Italy.  Most people may have downed some Nastro Azzuro or sipped a Moretti with their pizza, but the two best known Italian beers hardly ever induce long-lasting memories. No doubt, it's up to the microbreweries to prove that Italy deserves a space on the worlds' beer map.  Curious to taste the Tuscan version of artisan beer? Leave Brunello territory this weekend and make time for a stop at the neighbors in Mont enero d'Orcia to get to know the locals' take on the planet's  most widely drunk alcoholic beverage. Definitely time for a beer.  The small town at the foot of Mount Amiata has a lovely shady park with amazing views over the Val d'Orica and...

With the last days of June, the summer festival season is taking off and the sound of violins and drums will shake up the lay-back Tuscan hilltop towns. Classic, pop and jazz festivals will be hold in Siena, the Val d'Orcia, the Maremma and even in the remote villages around Mount Amiata. It's a summer of beat until September, when the festival season closes with the final concerts on the isle of Elba.   Getting ready for the opera season in Massa Marittima CLASSICAL MUSIC FESTIVALS DOWN SOUTH MELODIA DEL VINO , from June 27 to July 6 at various wineries in Tuscany.  The young festival brings Mozart & co. to the world of wine. The concerts will take place in famous Tuscany vineyards (some of them designed by the world's archistars like the  Petra winery by Mario Botta or Renzo Piano's Rocca di Frassinello).  AMIATA PIANO FESTIVAL , from June 27 to September 1 in Poggi del Sasso near Cinigiano. The three cycles of classical music (wi...

Montalcino Jazz & Wine 2012 Kurt Elling, Derrek Phillips and Charlie Hunter It's a nightmare. Montalcino Jazz & Wine and Southern Tuscany's several summer festivals are passing over me like a road train. Living the life of a countryside bum in the Tuscan hinterland I'm used to ten months of the year during which nothing happens (and I mean nothing). And then, out of that cultural desert, here we are in mid July, when a whole bunch of world-class musicians are thrown at you in one single week.

No please! not another guidebook about Tuscany , was what I thought when I first met Veronica Ficarelli, author of yes, another Tuscany guide book. But once she mentioned the title of her book -   Tuscany, A Great Reason for Every S eason   I perked up my ears. Guidebooks about Tuscany normally start off with Michelangelo, take in Botticelli and end with Leonardo da Vinci. And quite rightly so. But after admiring all those people and landscapes rendered immortal by the great Renaissance masters, you may wonder what life is like down South in the 21st century. And the best way to find out is by meeting the people who live on the land.  But where to go and above all when to go?  Tr y leafing through your Lonely Planet or Frommer's guide for some advice on the matter. Nada. You'll get great Tuscany maps, info on museum opening times, the region's history and hotel bookings. But the small scale events and artisan shops have a hard time appearing in any of t...

Meeting place in Magliano:  the square in front of the Renaissance church San Giovan Battista  Thanks god for the Vox Mundi festival!   Who knows when I would have discovered Magliano in Toscana  otherwise? Tuscany is such a treasure trove of beautiful villages and hilltop towns that even after 13 years in the region's South I still haven't seen it all. 

In the summer of 2084 my son will turn 80 and my daughter 78. Quite probably they will still own the Tuscan olive grove that has been in the family for centuries. A lot will have changed by then - but not  the beautiful olive trees in that grove . On my son’s birthday in August the family will gather and after a Tuscan lunch far too heavy for such a hot day, one of my great-granddaughters will quickly skip through the countless family photos on a worn-out digital storage device. Quickly until she gets to the pictures of the winter 2012. “Grandpa, what’s this?” Igloo building in Tuscany

Israeli singer Noa's tribute to Naples' music in Southern Tuscany Leave your Wellies at home. Rain and mud are no issues during Tuscany's summer festivals. And all those fabulous medieval or Renaissance locations will make Woodstock seem a teenage hangout. CLASSICAL MUSIC I've already written about Melodia del Vino , Musica Reale in Montalcino,   Amiata Piano Festival and San Galgano's  Opera Festival, which are some of the top  classical music festivals in Tuscany  in July 2012. But there is much more to be had when it comes to classical music down South. 

Petra Winery by Mario Botta - one of the venues of the Melodia del Vino Festival Waiting for Montalcino's Jazz & Wine 2012? Nope, the program isn't out yet - Banfi  obviously likes suspense. All we know so far is that it's going to happen in the second half of July, so book your room anyway. Nevertheless there are good news on Southern Tuscany's festival front. Three prestigious classical music festivals have already presented their rich program for the summer 2012.  AMIATA PIANO FESTIVAL  - three cycles of classical music in July, August and at the beginning of September.  The jazz lover in you will rejoice, as one of the concerts in Collemassari's stunning wine cellar is going to host wonderful Italian jazz pianist  Danilo Rea ,  who will play a tribute to Fabrizio de André . Poggi del Sasso/Montecucco near Cinigiano (half an hour from Montalcino and Grosseto): Baccus July 19 - 22 , Euterpe August 2 - 5 , Dionisus August 30 - September 2...