fertile land for art ike all places with a rich historical heritage, Bassa L Romagna is bursting with art, and we are not only referring to ancient buildings, sculptures and paintings. In the past as well as in the present Bassa Romagna has been the cradle and the adopted country of numerous painters, writers, musicians, opera singers, composers and poets, whose work has been influential on a national level, but also on an international one. It's no wonder then that this tradition is still on. Bassa Romagna has a wide and varied artistic community of creative people who prefer to live in this area, instead {19} of large cities that could give them more visibility, because here they find a powerful source of inspiration and a sense of respect for their sensibility. This corner of Romagna has nourished the creativity of several writers, musicians, actors and directors. This somehow "enchanted" land can also claim to have hosted in its mist the poet George Gordon Byron (in the picture), hero and symbol of Romanticism. · FERTILE LAND FOR ART · reading bassa romagna: landscapes of literature landscape of Bassa Romagna has can be found in the parsonage of the church of The been the inspiration for outstanding San Francesco, in Bagnacavallo, and the local poets such as Dante and Byron. This is also Museo Civico delle Cappuccine has dedicated the birthplace of remarkable protagonists of a part of its collection to the illustrious writer. past and present literature. Several writers Vincenzo Monti (Passetto, 1754 - Milan, 1828) from other regions and countries have found was born in a tiny village near Alfonsine inspiration here for their essays about Romagna and is one of the most important figures of and for the evocative settings of their novels. Neoclassicism; he was officially nominated poet The senior figure amongst local writers is without of the Italian Government and historiographer {20} any doubt Tomaso Garzoni (Bagnacavallo, of the Kingdom of Italy. His lecture Sulla 1549 - 1589). His birth name was Ottavio, but mitologia upholds the poetic value of classical he took on the name Tomaso when he became myths and his masterpiece is considered to be a member of the order of the Canons Regular the translation of the Iliad. The house where of the Lateran, in the monastery of Santa Maria in Porto in Monti was born has been recently restored; it now houses Ravenna, where he spent the rest of his life. He wrote several a museum and an environmental education centre. Leo encyclopedic works, amongst which La piazza universale di Longanesi (Bagnacavallo, 1905 - Milan, 1957) was born in tutte le professioni del mondo (1585), a best-seller volume that Bagnacavallo about a century later. He was a journalist and has been translated into several languages; to the extent that the founder of several weekly magazines, such as È promesso, Garzoni has been described as the Umberto Eco of the 16th Il Toro and L'Italiano; together with Mino Maccari he century (indeed Eco opened the 51st chapter of his novel Il worked at Il Selvaggio and was also a member of the literary Pendolo di Foucault with a quote from Garzoni). His tomb stone movement Strapaese. Longanesi was also a graphic artist, · LANDSCAPES OF LITERATURE · drawing inspiration from Giorgio Morandi as well as from the historical examples of Daumier, Toulouse-Lautrec and Grosz. After the war he established the Longanesi publishing house, of which he was the director. In Bagnacavallo, the herbal garden Giardino dei Semplici celebrates his scathing personality with special benches engraved with some of his famous aphorisms. Giovanna Righini Ricci (Lugo, 1933 - Bologna, 1993) is a more contemporary writer, perhaps less widely known, but nonetheless important for her role in the field of education. Indeed she was one of the most innovative writers for young readers towards the end of the 20th century; her vast production often features rural Romagna as its narrative setting. The Tomaso Garzoni Leo Longanesi municipality of Conselice has set up a literary prize named after {21} her, to celebrate her contribution to pedagogy. Eraldo Baldini (Russi, 1952) is an established novelist whose work is also translated and published abroad. His career as a writer started when he won the first prize at Cattolica's Mystfest in 1991 with the short story Re di Carnevale. Since then, his narrative style has constantly developed and we could define it "rural gothic", from the title of one of his collections of short stories. Baldini also writes scripts for cinema and theatre and organises cultural events. Gian Ruggero Manzoni (San Lorenzo di Lugo, 1957), a descendant of the famous Alessandro, is also quite a versatile writer and artist. Vincenzo Monti Eraldo Baldini · LANDSCAPES OF LITERATURE · He has written poetry, novels, essays and scripts for theatre, some of which have been translated abroad; he is also a painter and an listening to actor. Amongst the youngest writers, it’s worth mentioning the talented graphic novelist Stefano Babini, author of Non è stato bassa romagna: un pic nic!, which is currently one of the most interesting books of this genre in Italy, and the writer Deborah Gambetta, born landscapes of music in Turin in 1970, but a long-term resident in Massa Lombarda. Her debut novel, Viaggio di maturità, tells the adventurous tale of three eighteen years old from Romagna that travel to Puglia; Italy it's probably impossible to find another small it’s a successful teen novel that has won several prizes. It would In area without any big city, such as Bassa Romagna, be too long to mention all the writers that have been interested boasting such a prestigious music tradition. The earliest name in Bassa Romagna; amongst the contemporaries, we suggest that is that of Baroque composer Arcangelo Corelli (Fusignano, some of the best interpreters of the unique character of this land {22} 1653 - Rome, 1713), one of the celebrities of his time as well are Alfredo Antonaros, Renzo Bortolotti and Gino Giardini. as an excellent violinist; he created a school that had several followers throughout Europe. Fusignano's choir was established in 1971 and named after Corelli; it is still a very active choir. The Brief suggested reading list: musician and composer Giuseppe Malerbi (Lugo, 1771 - 1849) Alfredo Antonaros: I Romagnoli, la tribù di Fellini - Sonda,1997 was born about a century later; he and his brother Luigi (Lugo, 1776 - 1843), a composer and organist, ran a famous music Dante Arfelli: Quando c'era la pineta - Edizioni del Girasole, 1975 school in Lugo. Giuseppe is renown as one of the earliest teachers Eraldo Baldini: Frassinelli, 2000 Frassinelli Paperback, 2003 Gotico Rurale - / Mal'aria - of the celebrated Gioacchino Rossini (Pesaro, 1792 - Paris, Renzo Bartolotti: Nunàz - Il Ponte Vecchio ed, 2008 1868); the young Rossini studied singing, composition and Mario Bejor: Vallecchi, 1953 Le rane quella notte cantavano - harpsichord under Malerbi's guidance. The author of immortal Francesco Fuschini: Concertino Romagnolo - Edizioni del Girasole, 1986 operas such as Il Barbiere di Siviglia and La Gazza Ladra took Gino Giardini: Erbe palustri - Walberti Edizioni, 2004 his first "musical steps" in Lugo, where his family moved in 1802 Adriano Guerrini: C'è stato per tutti - Racconti brevi - Bacchilega Edizioni, 2007 and stayed until 1804. Following his debut at Milan's La Scala in Giovanna Righini Ricci: Nel cavo della mano. Un pugno di terra - Longo, 2003 1812, with La Pietra del Paragone, his fame grew continuously Gian Ruggero Manzoni: Il Francese - Edizioni del Girasole, 1995 and he moved on to perform in the major Italian theatres, then Francesco Serantini: Il fucile di Papa della Genga - Edizioni del Girasole, 1989 in Vienna, where he met Beethoven, in London and finally in Paris, where he became the director of the Romagna. The composer Francesco Balilla Théâtre Italien. The house where he lived in Pratella (Lugo, 1880 - Ravenna, 1955) was Lugo is now an art exhibitions venue. While a pupil of Mascagni; he is the author of five he was a teacher at the Bolognese Liceo symphonic poems called Romagna, which Musicale, Rossini had amongst his students then converged into the local dialect opera i Marietta Alboni (Città di Castello PG, La Sina'd Vargöun (Rosellina dei Vergoni), orell 1826 - Ville d'Avray, 1894), whose father was scena della Romagna bassa per la musica, in M. Al o A. C originally from Bagnacavallo; she became tre atti. Pratella befriended Marinetti and in ni successful worldwide as an opera singer. Alessandrina 1910 wrote the Futurist Manifesto tecnico della musica futurista Drudi (Cotignola, 1878 - Villa Verucchio 1961) also started out (in which he celebrated the principles of atonalism, enharmonic with a promising career as opera singer; due to sudden adverse modulation, absolute polyphony and free rhythm) followed by financial circumstances she moved into the more profitable Manifesto tecnico della musica futurista and Distruzione della field of operetta and gained great success with the stage name quadratura; his works l'Inno alla Vita and L'Aviatore Dro made {23} of Gea della Garisenda. The fascinating choir singer Anna him an important protagonist within the field of Futurist music. Lolli was just few years younger than Drudi; she became the The great heritage of opera in Bassa Romagna is still perpetuated muse and greatest love of the celebrated composer Pietro today by the productions of Lugo's Teatro Rossini; its Lugo Mascagni (Livorno, 1863 - Rome, 1945), Opera Festival was created in 2001. John De author of Cavalleria Rusticana. Mascagni Leo (Lugo, 1970) is a contemporary musician spent the last thirty years of his life with whose remarkable talent has been nourished Lolli and dedicated her his operas Isabeau by this land; his voice has been defined a and Parisina; however, their love affair was "polysemous instrument" and somehow secret and the resulting correspondence the third path after Demetrio Stratos' amounts to almost 5,000 letters that are revolutionary experimentation and Bobby kept in the Museo Mascagni in Bagnara di McFerrin's jazz paradigm.