DECEMBER ANNUAL EVENTS IN VENICE
MONDAY
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PEGGY GUGGENHEIM CELEBRATES ITALIAN ART
► Featuring over ninety works, this much-awaited retrospective marks the return to Venice of Tancredi Parmeggiani (1926–1964), among the most original and prolific Italian painters of the second half of the twentieth century. Tancredi was the only artist, after Jackson Pollock, whom Peggy Guggenheim placed under contract, promoting his work and organizing shows, including one in her own home, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, in 1954. More than sixty years on, Tancredi returns to Palazzo Venier dei Leoni with this retrospective exhibition which, through a selection of exceptional paintings, reconstructs the brief and convulsive career of this great postwar artist. Until 13 March 2017.
My Weapon Against the Atom Bomb is a Blade of Grass. Tancredi. A Retrospective Collezione Peggy Guggenheim. Dorsoduro, 701 (Palazzo Venier dei Leoni). www.guggenheim-venice.it
SATURDAY
31
NEW YEAR’S CONCERT 2017
▼ Italian conductor Fabio Luisi will conduct the 2017 New Year’s Concert in Venice. He is the musical director of the Staatskapelle in Dresden and the Principal Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York and has been named the Musical Director of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, a position that he will accept in 2018. As is customary, the first part of the concert will be purely orchestral, while the second part, involving the participation of soloists and the Chorus prepared by Chorus Master Claudio Marino Moretti, will be dedicated to melodrama. This second section will feature several of the best-known arias in Italian opera, including the famous Brindisi (toast) from Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata.
Teatro La Fenice. New Year’s Concert 2017 www.teatrolafenice.it Thursday 29 at 8pm, Friday 30 at 5pm, Saturday 31 at 4pm and Sunday 1 at 11.15am.
JANUARY New Year’s Eve Concert > Arias and operatic selections at La Fenice Opera House.
FEBRUARY Carnival of Venice > Shows, masked parades and music in ‘calli’, squares and palaces.
APRIL Festa di San Marco / Feast of St. Mark > (25 April) In addition to being a national holiday, on 25 April Venetians also celebrate Saint Mark’s day.
MAY Festa della Sensa (or Ascension festivity) > A masked parade in St. Mark’s Square to celebrate the Serenissima and the ‘Sposalizio del Mare’ (Marriage of the Sea) ceremony Vogalonga > A 30 km rowing marathon through S. Erasmo, S. Francesco del deserto, Burano, Mazzorbo, Murano and the Grand Canal. The competition is open to the public.
JUNE/JULY Biennale of Art > An international exhibition of Contemporary Art (next edition: 2017) Biennale of Dance > (17-27 June 2016) An international dance festival Feast of San Piero de Casteo > An end-of-June festivity to celebrate the arrival of summer: the focal point of the event is the Island of San Pietro di Castello.
JULY/AUGUST Festa del Redentore / Feast of the Redeemer > (third Sunday of the month) One of Venice’s best loved festivals, the event features a parade of boats in the Giudecca and fireworks. Biennale of Theatre 2016 (26 July-28 August 2016)
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art > (31 August-10 September 2016) Now in its 73rd consecutive year, the exhibition is organized by the Biennale of Venice. Biennale of Architecture (28 May-27 November 2016) An International exhibition of Architecture, held at the Giardini della Biennale and Arsenale venues.
SEPTEMBER Regata Storica / Historic Regatta > first Sunday in September One of Venice’s foremost rowing competitions, it is preceded by a spectacular parade of historic 16th century craft.
NOVEMBER Festa della Salute > 21 November A popular religious feast day.
DECEMBER Christmas Concert at St. Mark’s basilica w w w.wh e re t ravel e r. com 11