Music In Italy

Who hasn't heard the strains of "O Sole Mio" and not conjured up a gondola ride on the canals of Venice? What tarantella doesn't evoke an Italian festival? Music is as much a part of the Italian culture as its food and wine.

If there is one word to describe the muisc of Italy, it might be "ecclectic." Throughout its history, Italy has absorbed the musical influence of its conquerors and foreign occupiers giving it a richness that only the United States has managed to equal. From religious to folk to classical to modern, Italian music runs the gamut of the musical spectrum.

One of Italy's greatest gifts to music is the opera which originated in Italy in the late 16th century. It is this form of music that also is most closely identified with the Italian culture. Verdi, Rossini and Puccini are the icons of classical opera. Credit Andrea Bocelli and Luciano Pavroti, however, for helping to bring mass appeal to hundreds of thousands of people who thought the form too highbrow to enjoy. These modern day musicians have brought opera from the stage of LaScala to the screen of an iPhone.

If you want to experience the full range of Italian music on a vacation in Italy, plan to travel there during the summer months when music festivals abound. The Festival of Two Worlds (Festa dei Due Mondi) is one of the most famous music festivals held each year in July in the picturesque town of Spoleto in Umbria. For two weeks, symphonic music, opera jazz and dance sate the music lovers' appetite.

Also in July, the stage is set for the likes of Eric Clapton, Natalie Cole, B. B. King, Miles Davis and other internationallly famous musicians that have performed at the Umbria Jazz Festival, one of the most important jazz festivals in the world. Thousands of music lovers from all over the world converge on the town of Perugia to enjoy the best of the best in both paid and free venues.

The San Remo Music Festival is Europe's oldest music festival. The equivalent of American Idol, each February wannabe singers converge on the resort town of San Remo to impress the judges with their singing prowess and original compositions in the hope of becoming the next Italian pop idol like Giorgia, Mietta, Laura Pausini and Eros Ramazzotti.

Whatever your taste in music, Italy is sure to provide a wealth of listening pleasure wherever in the country you travel.