Month of Italian cultural events kicks off in Moscow

(AGI) Moscow, Sept 1 - Italian and Russian cultural institutes have organised a host of cultural events in Moscow for the month of September, including an exhibition on Raphael at the Pushkin Museum and the La Scala Theatre's tour at the Bolshoi. "Through these initiatives, we wish to not only display the beauty of Italian music and paintings but also encourage people to learn more about our country, to visit it, to learn the language, and to make Russians ambassadors of our increasingly close relations," Italy's Ambassador to Moscow, Cesare Maria Ragaglini, said during Thursday's press conference for the month-long programme of events. The exhibition "Raffaello e la Poesia del Volto" (Raphael and the Poetry of a Face) will run from Sept. 12 to Dec. 11, with eight paintings and three drawings by the Urbino-born master on loan from the Uffizi Gallery, the Palatine Gallery at Pitti Palace, the National Gallery of Le Marche and the National Art Gallery in Bologna. The works are insured for just under half a billion euros, Ambassador Ragaglini noted. The exhibition was one of the Italian Embassy's major objectives and represents "one of the most important artistic events Italy has organised in Russia, both for the artworks' inestimable value and the exhibition's scientific value", he added. The embassy will host an early viewing of Raphael's famous "Self-portrait" on Sept. 9. Milan's La Scala Theatre will take its tour to Moscow from Sept. 10 to 16 as part of the city's Cherry Tree Forest Festival. The performances have already been booked out and promise to set a milestone in the 50-year-long collaboration with the Bolshoi Theatre. The programme will revolve around operas and compositions by Giuseppe Verdi. Both the art exhibition and the La Scala Theatre's performances will be sponsored by Russian oil company Rosneft and the Bosco di Ciliegi Group. Ambassador Ragaglini said efforts are being made for governmental representatives to attend both openings. From Sept. 19, the Pushkin Museum will also host an exhibition on Giovanni Battista Piranesi that the Italian Embassy and Italian Cultural Institute in Moscow have been planning for almost two years. It features more than 100 etchings from some of the artist's most important collections. Artist Pino Pinelli's first exhibition in Russia, "Matter. Fragment. Shadow." will be hosted by Moscow's Multimedia Art Museum (MAMM) from Sept. 21 to Oct. 23. The "W Italia" exhibition, a tribute to Italian cinema featuring 65 photographs by Angelo Frontoni, will be held at the Moscow Manege from Oct. 2 to 8. (AGI). .