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The love for good food.
I grew up surrounded by agricultural fields, nearby Parma, with the genuine and homemade flavors of the grocery store and its annexed tavern that my parents managed in Roncole.
My food tastes, although refined with time, remained always attached to peasant and ancient tastes. In my rare moments away from my music, free from all the worries caused from the editors, the singers and the theatre’s managers, I dedicated myself with passion to cooking pleasures and often it was possible to meet him since seven o’clock in the morning at the food markets, taking care of choosing personally all the ingredients necessary to my friends all known as divine cookers. During one of my periodic permanence in Genoa, while they were there for a visit, I asked my friend Montuoso to cook in Voltri I adored Neapolitan’s maccheroni:"... Montuoro, not trusting the food that they would found in Voltri accepted at the condition to provide myself the provisions needed, directly in town. I decided to accompany him through the winding streets of Genoa and had to load myself with butter, cheese, tomato’s conserve while my friend carried in my arms, as a baby in bands, the package of maccheroni. Once in Voltri, with the company of my wife Mrs Verdi and Mariani, I almost starving and in order to be able to eat had to set the fire in the kitchen, blewing on it for a quarter of an hour while Montuoro prepared, with the typical Neapolitan’s austere concentration, the precious ingredients needed to flavor the maccheroni with a little of my wife and Mariani help... "
In Genoa, whose local cooking I really appreciated together with the confidentiality of its inhabitants that revered me without bothering me, I had a dear friend , Giuseppe De Amicis, who was in charge of my personal purchases when I was elsewhere. "Beloved De Amicis, would you please (sorry for the trouble that I might cause you...) go immediatly to Romanengo and make him send here in Milan two of the best can of candied fruit, of chocolate fudge, etc...”
"Dearest De Amicis, when you go out could you please go to Giavotto and ask him why the Marsala, paid since Monday, hasn’t arrived yet?..."
A famous Genoa’s bakery, Kleinguti’ s bakery, had the honour to be my trusted supplier and sent each morning to the me a croissant filled with a special jam: the name of the croissant was Falstaff.I, grateful for the daily thought, leaved a memory note saying: “ Thank you for the Falstaff. So good! Much better than mine!”
Years passed by but my passion for good food and wine never got weaker. The best proof of it is the very rich menu prepared, written down as every day on a cardboard with his initials, and served by my faithful waiter Umberto Bertolazzi in Verdi’s suite at Milan’s Grand hotel, the 7th of january 1901, 20 days before his death: Verdi was almost 88 years old. .

Menù

Risotto
Boiled sea brass with maionese
Braised beef with erbs
Roast beef
Roast turkey
Salad
Dessert
Fruit
Ice cream
Different types of wines

But, over all, my greater passion was the Spalletta di San secondo which I got to know in my early age when I used to visit a friend in the little village of San Secondo. I loved cooking and I used to give my “secret” recipes to my most intimate friends, like the one sent to my friend (according to gossips something more than just a friend) Teresa Stoltz, half soprano and Prima donna of the Requiem Mass:
“Together with this letter you will recieve two Spallette San Secondo, that I have sent.

One is for you and the other is for the Ricordi’s family. Choose the one you’d prefer but be careful when you cook it.

This is the way to do it:
1) Put it in warm water for about 12 hours in order to take off the salt;
2) Afterwards change the water and start boiling it at low heat for about 3 hours and a half or maybe four hours for the biggest one. To be able to know if the cooking is ready use a toothpick. If the toothpick enters easily in the spalletta it means it’s ready.
3) Let it cool down and then serve it. Be careful especially with the cooking because if it becomes too hard it’s not good anymore or if you cook it too long it becomes tough and dry...”

My success was universally recognized not only for my music but also for my famous Spalletta di San Secondo. It is testified by my corrispondence with Giulio Ricordi, my editor and consignee of one of the two spallette above-mentioned, who asked me how much did I owe him for the esteemed delicatessen that Verdi sent him.

“Dear Giulio, great abundance of pigs... but the spallette are a bit expensive! Price 100.000. Regards G. Verdi”

“Dearest Maestro, indeed you suceed in everything you do...even with the spallette. I have the pleasure to inform you that yesterday the spalletta that you sent has been inaugurated with great enthusiasm! And many persons asked for more! To be honest though, I found the bill a bit expensive but à tout seigneur tout honneur! And considering the exquisite quality of the spalletta I did not want to bargain for some fewer liras! And I have indeed paid the bill as it turns out from the enclosed receipt... Regards, Giulio Ricordi"

You can also find another recommendation in a letter written in April 1872 to the Arrivabene Earl to give him details on the right season in which the mythical spalletta is supposed to be eaten: “Dear Arrivabene, I will never become feudatory of the Rocca of San Secondo but I can very well send you a spalletta of that Saint. Indeed I have already sent it to you with the train. Even though the season is almost finished I hope you will appreciate it but you have to eat it straight away, before the heat arrives...Do you know how to cook it? Before boiling it you have to take off the salt by leaving it in warm water for an hour. Afterwards cook it in some new water and boil it on low fire for about six hours. And make it cool down in its own broth. Once cold, after about 24 hours dry it and eat it...”

During my long visits in various european cities for the rehearsals of his Operas, I was always accompained by my faithful personal cook. My long stays were prepared with great accuracy especially on the cookery side as the letter sent by Giuseppina Strepponi to Mauro Corticelli, secretary of the famous actress Adelaide Ristori who was acting in Russia in 1861, testifies. Indeed, in that period, I was getting prepared to go to San Pietersburg for quite a long period to compose the Opera “La forza del destino” and my wife took care, as always, to make sure that I could find all the things I wished:

"I says that I didn’t make a good choice accepting this contract because it forces me to work and sweat too much in the summer and then to get too refreshed in the winter. We will need the tagliatelle and the maccheroni perfectly prepared in order to avoid any bad mood and I have decided to agree all the time with him from half October to the end of January supposing that during the hard work of writing and the rehearsals there will be no chances to convince him he could be wrong not even once […] We will stay in Russia for about 3 months, from the first of November to the end of January and there will be four people to feed, two masters and two domestics[…] Could you please prepare for us (considering your usual proportions) the same supplies you provide Ristori of the following provisions: rice, maccheroni, cheese, delicatessen, and all the things that aren’t findable in Russia and if they are they have an exorbitant price. For the wine the numbers of bottles and the quality that Verdi would like are: n.100 little bottles of Bordeaux, n.20 bottles of fine Bordeaux, n.20 Champagne’s bottles”.

RIGOLETTO STORY

“Obsessional love, if guided by a talented person, can generate a work of art fated to remain in history” Quentin Tarantino

Hash is pleased to present “Rigoletto Story”, the DVD of the praised Rigoletto’s last performance arranged by the Arturo Toscanini Foundation, recorded in the evocative Campo Square in Siena the 2nd of august 2002.
Thanks to almost two years of post production Hash has maintained the promise made to Giuseppe Verdi’s Opera and its audience: it has transposed Rigoletto in an entertaining video which will attract the music lovers as well as the cinema audience.
“Rigoletto Story” has chosen to re-invent Verdi’s Opera without any sensational development but simply by offering a new visual expression that will allow any spectator to appreciate it.
A daring ambition born out of our love for the historical and cultural italian identity and our gratitude towards our “Great Maestros”.

Rigoletto Story colours the Opera with new emotions bringing the theatre stage under the stars, in the most evocative italian square, while passers-by confound themselves with the spectators becoming an unexpected and authentic audience.
Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto, played by the Arturo Toscanini Foundation Orchestra, is therefore surrounded by an incredible artistic and historical background. The most celebrated Opera of all times executed in such a scenery owns the strength to gather people through universal feelings, creating a shared Emotional experience.
“Rigoletto Story” DVD was conceived in order to allow Verdi’s Opera to reach an even larger audience, respecting the symbolic force of its Live performance, capturing it in its authenticity while honoring its Author.

THE VIDEO

br The 2nd of August 2002, Giuseppe Verdi’s italian Opera gathers 32.000 people in the magic “Piazza del Campo” in Siena. People of any age, coming from different origins, cultures and social backgrounds joined together, recalling in our memory the great “popular” affluence of the 19Th century’s theatre performances.
The senese square had never permitted camera’s glances before for anything other than the historic “Palio di Siena” held in the summer.
In its pioneering role Roadhouse Movie was forced to deal with many controversies, security problems, authorizations while wanting to assure an undisputed video quality and, moreover, never forgetting the respectful consideration owned to those who had participated to the production and especially to the senese citizens.

“In front of us the Square was opening up like the valves of a gigantic shell, overlooked by the Mangia Tower and with the stage leaning against the Town Hall facade”

To show the uniqueness of this scenery Roadhouse Movie prepared the greatest video production setting ever seen in Opera history. For the first time an Opera was filmed with 23 cameras giving to the production the possibility to accomplish a movie editing.
A new visual language that transposes “Rigoletto Story” and the famous senese square in all places in a timeless dimension.

THE SOUND

The sound has been realized in Dolby Digital 5.1 and the Opera has been recorded on 48 audio channels at 24 bit. The sound effect surrounds the spectator at 360° re-creating the live experience. The quality of sound will be as if the viewers were positioned on the conductor ’ s podium. This peculiarity will consent to enjoy even the slightest musical shade with the real perspective of sound produced by the orchestra as the great Maestro Giuseppe Verdi had conceived it.

THE CAST

The great audience was the one to declare the success of the evening thanks to a cast of such great artists to make out of the performance such a unique happening.
Roberto Servile, insuperable baritono performing as Rigoletto.
Inva Mula as Gilda, soprano with outstanding skills, young artist who has performed in the last years on the most important stages of the world, wanted also by Luc Besson for his movie “The fifth element” where she played the role of the futurist singer that ends the movie with an incomparable exhibition.
And last but not least, to complete the exclusive trio, Marcelo Alvarez as the Duke of Mantova, officially recognized as the most acclaimed artist of his generation in today’s Opera panorama.

Music:

Aida, Alzira, Aroldo, Attila, Don Carlos, Ernani, Falstaff, Giovanna D'Arco, I due foscari, I lombardi alla prima crociata, I masnadieri, Il corsaro, Il trovatore, Jerusalem, La battaglia di Legnano, La forza del destino, La traviata, Le vépres siciliennes, Luisa Miller, Macbeth, Messa da requiem, Nabucodonosor, Oberto conte di San Bonifacio, Otello, Quattro pezzi sacri, Re Lear, Rigoletto, Simon Boccanegra, Stiffelio, Un ballo in maschera, Un giorno di regno ossia il finto Stanislao,

Movies:

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Television:

Giuseppe Verdi's Tribute

Giuseppe Verdi - Il Trovatore - Placido Domingo. Asi ben mio + Di quella pira

Giuseppe Verdi - Robert Merrill sings "Il Balen del suo Sorriso" from Trovatore

Giuseppe Verdi - Big Luciano Pavarotti, Ah si ben mio + Di quella pira

Giuseppe Verdi - La divina Maria Callas in D'amor sull'ali rosee - Il Trovatore

Giuseppe Verdi - Jose' Cura in "La forza del destino"

Giuseppe Verdi - Nabucco - Renato Bruson

Giuseppe Verdi - Il Trovatore - Marcelo Alvarez - Di quella pira

Giuseppe Verdi - Maria Callas Tribute

Giuseppe Verdi - Il Trovatore - Mario Del Monaco

Giuseppe Verdi - Mario Del Monaco Tribute

Giuseppe Verdi - Mario Del Monaco 1964 - Rigoletto, La donna è mobile

Mario Del Monaco - Il Trovatore, Di quella pira

Giuseppe Verdi - Falstaff - Tito Gobbi 1958

Heroes:

Verdi will be proud...

Best Of Musical

The Best Of Cats - The Musical
..
Rocky Horror Picture Show - Intro
..
Rocky Horror - Sweet Transvestite - Tim Curry
..
Rocky Horror Pictures Show - Damnit Janet! - Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick
..
The Rocky Horror Picture Show - Time Warp - Richard O'Brien and Patricia Queen
..
Richard O'Brien and Christopher Malcom Rocky Horror Show
Official "promo" Live Tour - a great Musical star: Bob Simon as Frankye
..
a wonderful Rik Mayall - King Herod's Song' from Jesus Christ Superstar

MUSIC MUST

A great version! Proud Mary - Tina Turner
Eric Clapton - Wonderful Tonight
Prince - Purple Rain in Tokyo
Louis Armstrong - When the saints go marching in
Jose Cura & Sarah Brightman
Elvis Costello - SHE
The Platters - The gerat pretender
Frank Sinatra - My way