2010/08/30

Il Carnevale dell’Amore at Edsa Shangri-La

Il Carnevale dell’Amore at Edsa Shangri-La

Delight in the best of Italian sights, sounds and tastes in a carnival of love.


Italy purveys the kind of splendour that inspires universal admiration, be it in art, music or food.


Read more in LuxeDining.com
 http://www.luxedining.com/philippines/il-carnevale-dellamore-at-edsa-shangri-la


I had dinner at Paparazzi not too long ago and ran into old acquaintances I'm always happy to see, and met some new ones I'd love to see again. For entertainment we had Italian classical opera artists –the tenor Maurizio Saltarin (referred to by some as the next Pavarotti) and the soprano Jolanta Stanelite- serenade us. They sang the aria from La Traviata, my favorite opera.

Wow, that sounded pretentious! But I kid you not, it is my favorite opera. I have a special obsession with Maria Callas and courtesans.

Also, La Traviata was based on Dumas' The Lady of the Camellias or Camille, if you're pertaining to its many film versions. Camille is also my second name, which my late grandfather never really liked. He said it was a name of a "bad woman" i.e. a courtesan, no doubt he got that from the Camille films. Not coincidentally, La Traviata means "woman gone astray."

Was everyone able to follow?