Scottish wedding in Barga

The kilts were one more in evidence this morning in the streets of Barga with a Scottish wedding in Palazzo Pancrazi, Barga Vecchia.

All the staff at barganews wish Karin Anderson and Jason Ormiston a long and happy life together.

Andrea Guzzoletti - Claudio Coccoluto

Esperienza “veneta” per il musicista Andrea Guzzoletti che sabato 4 giugno si è esibito con Claudio Coccoluto alla discoteca “IL MURETTO” di Lido di Jesolo.
Il trombettista e il suo manager Silvio Malibu scendono anche nei particolari tecnici della “performance” tenuta qualche giorno fa lasciandoci francamente a bocca aperta. La cosa che possiamo dire per certo, afferma il musicista, è che la cornice di pubblico era fantastica circa 2500 persone in un clima veramente magico. Poi, prosegue Silvio, eravamo in uno dei locali più famosi della penisola in un “live set” che vedeva presenti anche Stefano Fontana (STILOPHONIC) e Alex Neri (resident sabato sera del TENAX di Firenze) e lavorare con professionisti di questo calibro non ci può far altro che piacere.



Continuando la chiaccherata con i due ragazzi trapela anche qualcosa relativa alle produzioni musicali dell’artista che ci lascia capire una stretta collaborazione con il DJ Coccoluto. Insomma veramente una grande serata che ha coinvolto il musicista della Garfagnana e che lascia ben sperare nel prossimo futuro non solo nel campo della discoteca per questa affiata coppia.
Ci aspettiamo quindi tante novità estive ed invernali per uno dei proprietari della discoteca L’Ape Carica che fino ad oggi ci ha dato la possibilità di ascoltare dal vivo “live set” di guest nazionali e non solo che hanno alzato il valore tecnico della consolle.

Kraczyna exhibition of photographs from 1966

Images are from an exhibition of black and white photographs taken in Florence on the 4th November 1966, the day that the city was hit by the devastating floods which damaged, and in many cases, destroyed so many of the cultural treasures in the buildings close to the river.



The exhibition, which is open until the end of this month, was organised by Swietlan Kraczyna and his Studio for Color Etching and included colour xilografies of the Santo Spirito Firenze (1965 -1972)

Coro Alpi Apuane sing at Refugio Rossi La Pania

This Sunday the complete Male Voice Choir Alpi Apuane trekked up the mountain to the Refugio Enrico Rossi and performed a number of their songs in the shadow of the Pania Mountain in front of a hardy, numerous and appreciative audience.



Luckily, barganews had an on the spot reporter* there who captured for us a 2 minute film of the Coro Alpi Apuane singing for all they are worth which can be downloaded here (WARNING - 10 MB - do not try downloading this on a dial up line as it might try your patience to breaking point)





If anybody out there is not quite sure what or where the Pania actually is ... have a look at the original logo for barganews... that tall mountain covered in snow with cloud around the top is the Pania



*thanks to Ron Gauld from Casa Fontana we managed to get our sticky mitts on this film before most of the choir had even come off the mountain!

Motomessa San Pellegrino in Alpe 2005

Once again the faithful were gathered on high ... 1500 metres above sea level to be precise at San Pelligrino ìn Alpe for the annual Motomessa - the Motorbike Mass.



Now in its 9th year and getting more popular each year, the Motomessa 2005 drew in hundreds of riders from all over Tuscany and beyond.

Last year it was a Harley Davidson which carried Don Giovanni down the line of waiting bikes blessing them with holy water on the move but this year the iron steed was a Honda Gold Wing. (We wait for the MotoGuzzi to get its chance - maybe next year?)



The crowds of riders took over the tiny mountain village normally used in the winter as a ski resort or in the summer as a place to enjoy peace and quiet, nature and the mountain air.

The mountain air today was rent with the sound of hundreds of motorbikes roaring off back down the mountainside leaving the place once more at peace until next year

More images from the Motomessa at San Pellegrin by the barganews award winning photographer O'Connor can be found here

IV Prova della Coppa Italia Mapei - Filippo Lunatici

Grande spettacolo, grande pubblico ed una macchina organizzativa dalla precisione svizzera. Questi gli ingredienti della IV prova della Coppa Italia Mapei, gara nazionale di Cross Country che si è corsa a Barga sotto l’organizzazione davvero efficiente del Mountain Bike Club Garfagnana, con la collaborazione di Comune di Barga, Provincia di Lucca, Comunità Montana Media Valle, ISI di Barga, APT e lo sponsors ufficiale de “Il Ciocco”.

La gara ufficiale della Coppa Mapei ha visto al via 200 dei 250 iscritti in rappresentanza di 16 regioni italiane, dopo il ritiro di altre due all’ultimo momento ed in tutte le categorie in corsa, esordienti, junior e allievi maschile e femminile, c’è stata dura battaglia per aggiudicarsi i primi posti, anche perché il percorso studiato per l’occasione, 3,650 metri, è risultato sia tecnico che competitivo; oltre che spettacolare da parte del pubblico che ha potuto assistere alla gara potendosi spostare in più punti visto che il circuito era ricavato tutto all’interno della cittadina. Una novità che è stata apprezzata anche dai commissari tecnici della Federazione Ciclistica.

Le categorie in gara portavano punti ai comitati regionali di appartenzna ed alla fine la vittoria è andata nella gara di Barga al Comitato Regionale della Lombardia, seguito dalk Copitato Provinciale di Bolzano e dal comitato della Valle d’Aosta.
Sono state assegnate anche le maglie Mapei valevoli per il Granm Premio a cui partecipano le categorie junior maschili e femminili. Se le sono aggiudicate Nicole Perruchon della Valle d’Aosta e Paolo Treschi della Lombardia.
Per la cronaca, il primo concorrente della nostra provincia è risultato il giovane barghigiano Filippo Lunatici del Cicli Maggi Coppi, giunto al quarto posto nella categoria Junior.
La competizione domenicale era stata preceduta il sabato dalla staffetta a squadre che si è disputata sul solito percorso della manifestazione.

Senbassinga gospel choir at the Duomo

Nata quasi per gioco nell’autunno del 1997, la formazione vocale "Senbassinga" attinge i primi elementi dalla realtà parrocchiale e zonale di San Bartolo a Cintoia, ma si accresce accogliendo via via nelle sue fila persone di varia estrazione, provenienti da altri quartieri e da altre unità sociali: anche l’età non costituisce un discriminante comune: quello che conta e che accomuna è la voglia di stare insieme per cantare e per comunicare emozioni a chi ascolta: d’altronde, il genere musicale per ora praticato (Gospel – Spiritual) ben si sposa con questa esigenza: nato infatti nell’America dello schiavismo, praticato dai neri per dar voce a un anelito di libertà e di speranza, il "Gospel" reca nelle sue sonorità i retaggi ritmici dell’Africa tribale, integrati ad armonizzazioni sempre più "occidentalizzate", man mano che prende campo e si sviluppa: mentre contiene nei testi invocazioni di rara suggestione, suggerite dall’essenza di quel cristianesimo che, "imposto" agli schiavi dal popolo padrone, saprà accendere una consapevolezza e una speranza che accompagneranno il popolo oppresso sulla via del riscatto, in un simbolico parallelismo con la nazione Ebrea ridotta in schiavitù nella terra d’Egitto

The senbassinga site is here

IV Prova della Coppa Italia Mapei

IV PROVA DELLA COPPA ITALIA MAPEI
BARGA 24 E 25 GIUGNO 2005 - TUTTO BENE PER LA STAFFETTA A SQUADRE RECORD PER COMITATI REGIONALI ISCRITTI

Mentre cresce l’attesa per la gara prevista per domenica mattina, da registrare la buona riuscita, sia sportiva che organizzativa, della prima competizione in programma per la IV Prova della Coppa Italia Mapei, gara nazionale di XC che per la prima volta è stata ospitata in Toscana grazie alla disponibilità di Barga, città slow, della bandiera arancione e tra i borghi più belli d’Italia non a caso…
Alla staffetta a squadre hanno partecipato 17 comitati regionali , un vero record per questo tipo di prova e tra gli atleti in gara anche molti nomi di spessore del mountain biking giovanile. Un bel mix di ingredienti che ha dato prestigio alla manifestazione seguita peraltro da un pubblico che da queste parti si è visto per gare di Mountain Bike solo quando si svolsero i Mondiali nei primi anni ’90. Molti giudizi positivi anche per il percorso, risultato come ci si aspettava molto tecnico, ma anche spettacolare e competitivo.

Tra le novità di sabato, l’inserimento nella staffetta a squadre (oltre alla classifica di Coppa Italia) dei cosiddetti VIP: addetti ai lavori, professionisti e giornalisti, amatori, direttori sportivi con tanto di classifica fiunale.
Grande la soddisfazione del Presidente del Mountain Bike Club Garfagnana, Pier Luigi Turri che ha organizzato in prima persona l’evento eche dà l’appuntamento al clou della manifestazione, gara di domenica mattina con la presenza di circa 250 atleti in rappresentanza di 18 regioni che si daranno battaglia per tutta la mattinata su un circuito che verrà ripetuto più volte a seconda della categoria. Ricordiamo che parteciperanno alla gara atleti Esordienti, Junior e Allievi maschili e femminili.
Il via alle 9 con la partenza rispettivamente delle categorie Junior M/F e delle altre categorie femminili (ore 9); Esordienti M (ore 10,30); Allievi M (con record di partenti per questa gara) (ore 11,20).

Prime emozioni per i giovani atleti che partecipano alla IV Prova della Coppa Italia Mapei che sabato 24 e domenica 25 giugno si svolge a Barga.
Sabato pomeriggio alle 17,30, sul percorso ideato dal Mountain Bike Club Garfagnana, un tracciato di 3,850 mt., si svolgerà la gara di staffetta anch’essa valevole per la coppa Italia. Ogni regione presenterà una squadra composta da quattro atleti che obbligatoriamente dovrà comprendere una ragazza, della categoria Esordienti o Allievi, un esordiente maschile e altri due atleti da scegliere facoltativamente nelle categorie Esordienti e Allievi.
Ogni componente la squadra effettuerà un giro del percorso e passerà simbolicamente il testimone ai propri compagni.

La gara di sabato sarà anche un test importante per verificare la qualità del percorso e per un rodaggio della macchina organizzativa che vede la partecipazione di molte associazioni di volontariato e del mondo della scuola, assieme alle forze dell’ordine ed agli uomini elle varie istituzioni che collaborano. Tutto il paese si è insomma attivato per ospitare e far svolgere al meglio questa competizione, consapevole dell’importanza di questo appuntamento che per la prima volta nella storia della Coppa Italia Mapei, si svolge in Toscana.
Barga ha grandi potenzialità da offrire nel mondo della mountain bike e l’evento di questo giorni può rappresentare un ottimo biglietto da visita per candidarsi ad altre competizioni di livello nazionale. Luca Galeotti

Bicentenario Mazziniano 1805 - 2005

Inaugurazione this morning in Palazzo Pancrazi of an exhibition of documents to celebrate 200 years since the birth of Giuseppe Mazzini

Giuseppe Mazzini (Genoa, June 22, 1805 – Pisa, March 10, 1872) was an Italian writer and politician. His efforts helped bring about the modern Italian state in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the nineteenth century.

Slumber not in the tents of your fathers. The world is advancing.
Giuseppe Mazzini

In 1830, he became a member of the Carbonari, a secret association with political purposes. His activity in revolutionary movements soon caused him to be proscribed. In 1831 he went to Marseilles, where he organized a new political society called Giovane Italia (Young Italy). Its motto was God and the People, and its basic principle was the union of the several states and kingdoms of the peninsula into a single republic as the only true foundation of Italian liberty. He also founded several similar organizations aimed at the unification or liberation of other nations: Young Germany, Young Poland and finally Young Europe (Giovane Europa).

Mazzini believed that Italian unification could only be achieved through a popular uprising. He continued to avow this purpose in his writings and pursued it through exile and adversity with inflexible constancy. However, his importance was more ideological than practical: after the failure of the 1848 revolutions (during which Mazzini became the main leader of the short-lived Roman Republic), the Italian nationalists began to look to the king of Sardinia and his prime minister Count Cavour as the leaders of the unification movement. This meant separating national unification from the social and political reforms advocated by Mazzini.


Cavour was able to secure an alliance with France, leading to a series of wars between 1859 and 1861 that culminated in the formation of a unified kingdom of Italy. General Giuseppe Garibaldi, a former follower of Mazzini, also played a major role, but this kingdom was very far from the republic preached by Mazzini.

Mazzini never accepted monarchical united Italy and continued to agitate for a democratic republic. In 1870 he was arrested and sent again into exile, even though he managed to return under a false name and live in Pisa until his death in 1872. The political movement he led was called the Republican party and was active in Italy until the 1990s.

Aileen King and Andrew Kelly wed in Barga

Aileen King and Andrew Kelly from Australia were married yesterday afternoon in the Palazzo Pancrazi in Barga Vecchia



Best wishes from all the staff of barganews

Franco Pegonzi sculptures in Barga Vecchia

First the cars came out of Barga Vecchia and then the sculptures moved in. Preparations are nearly completed for the forthcoming Franco Pegonzi exhibition starting this weekend.



The piazzas are now playing host to a series of monumental marble sculptures from Franco Pegonzi. The barganews award winning photographer O'Connor went out with his trusty digital cmaera and came back with his impressions of "Franco Pegonzi in Barga 2005"

His images can be seen here

Orange holes in the landscape

Following on from a conversation over dinner with a painter, the barganews award winning photographer O'Connor has been out and about photographing the large orange coloured plastic sheeting which is appearing all over the area where work is in progress.

Your comments on these brightly coloured, highly visible incursions in to the landscape can be added at the bottom of this article.

More images can be seen here

Gara di Billiardo a stecca

This weekend the second annual meeting "Città of Barga " for Italian Billiards - Billiardo a stecca, was held at the Palazzetto of Sport here in Barga.

The series B Italian Championship team event took place on Saturday and was followed on Sunday by a series of exhibition matches between 8 champions:

Nestor Gomez - Napoli - ex world champion
David Martinelli - Pisa - ex world champion and european champion
Simone Spagna - Lucca - italian champion
Adalberto Gori - Pistoia - italian champion
Riccardo Raffaelli - Pisa - ex italian champion
Sandro Giachetti - Firenze - ex italian champion
Gustavo Longo - Argentina

Full article and more images here

Afternoon concert by the Barga Band at Giardino

The summer season down at Barga Giardino got off to a flying start this afternoon with a concert by the Banda Musicale of Barga with a new vocalist putting the band through their paces.

More images plus a small MP3 file of one of their songs here

Marriage of Dino Romiti and Elisa Cecchi

Wedding celebrations in Barga Vecchia this morning for Dino Romiti and Elisa Cecchi. The couple were serenaded by friends with the sound of motorbike engines and horns as they left the Piazza Pancrazi on their way to the first day of their married life.

More images here

Faster internet connection REALLY is on the way

As we said a month ago here on barganews ... they really are bringing in a line under the road from Mologno to Barga.

The trench has now arrived at the sign for Barga. A faster internet connection is on the way .... and not a moment too soon.

teuvo said on the comments section of the last article that he thought
"they were just placing the cables for the new public lights, has they have done on the way to San Pietro in Campo" check out the images this time ... there is no mistaking the telecom icon on the cable being laid.

The Studio of Colour Etching - Swietlan Kraczyna

The Studio of Colour Etching run by Swietlan Kraczyna opened its door this week to a group of students, mainly from the states, who will be working over the next three weeks for an exhibition of their multi plate etchings to be held at the end of their course. A welcome return to Barga for Maya Hardin, who was on the course last year as one of the students, but who this year is one of tutors. A "sneak preview" in Aristo's this week of some of her work done in New York showed graphically just how far she has been pushing the multiplate printing process in the intervening 12 months. It will be interesting to see what images of Barga she comes up with this year.... watch this space

Barga Gatti Randagi football team visit Belgium

The Gatti Randagi Football Club of Barga are off this week on a gruelling 4 day round trip to Leuven in Belgium...only the fittest will survive.

Thursday; Presentation of the squad at the KBC BANK in Bruxelle followed by evening meal offered by the bank President.

Friday, probably the hardest day of the whole trip - a guided tour of the Stella Artois brewery with "refreshments" inside the factory.

Saturday, guided tour of Leuven following in the afternoon by a friendly match against the football team that recently twinned with the gatti randagi, the KBC Bank team.

Sunday, guided tour of Bruxelles and lunch with the KBC Bank team followed by the flight home to Pisa in the evening.

Meanwhile somebody else has been having a hard week - Giorgio who was commissioned to paint a banner for the team has been slaving away in his studio trying to get the large banner ready in time.

More images and full article here

New Barga Jazz Orchestra double CD

Anybody remember an article from last year where we reported that the Barga Jazz Orchestra was recording a new CD ?

Well it took almost a year to finally come onto the steets but recently in Florence the new double CD from the Barga Jazz Orchestra entitled "Sound and Score" was presented to the press.

More images here

Buzztracker - world news mapped on barganews

The eagle eyed amongst you will by now have noticed a new addition to barganews - that small white map with red spots down near the bottom on the right hand side.

So what is that all about then ?

Well, its called the buzztracker and it is software that visualizes frequencies and relationships between locations in the Google world news directory. Buzztracker tries to show you how interconnected the world is: big events in one area ripple to other areas across the globe. Connections between cities thousands of miles apart become apparent at a glance



On the daily index page, you should see a list of cities with percentages next to them. The number represents the percentage of news stories that city is associated with for that day.

Locations that appear more often are represented by red circles on the map. The more frequently the cities appear, the larger the circle. Connections between locations are determined by intercontextual referencing in news articles. These connections are represented by lines between locations. The stronger the connection, the darker the line.

Move the mouse over the map to read the location names. Click on a city and relevant news stories will appear. Click "+ Enlarge" to get a larger version of the world map.

The top 20 locations for the day are listed on the far left. The currently selected location is highlighted.

The middle column -- "Associated Locations" -- lists locations appearing in the same articles as the selected location. The percentages represent the strength of association with the selected location in the left-hand column.

The right column -- "Associated Articles" -- lists all articles associated with the selected location in the left-hand column. The number to the left in parentheses is the number of times the location appears in the article. The articles are sorted by frequency.

It has only been running for a week on barganews but already people are getting used to seeing very quickly on the map where the major news stories are coming from around the world and with just one click they can find and read those articles.

John Bellany survives double heart attack

image by Sean Bell

John Bellany, was chatting to nurses and demanding pencils and paper in his hospital bed last night, despite suffering two heart attacks less than 24 hours earlier.

John was on his way to the opening of his new exhibition in Glasgow when he collapsed in the street with a heart attack. He was resuscitated with the help of a passing nurse before the ambulance arrived . He suffered a second attack on the way to the hospital.

The news of his condition was then relayed to the people waiting for his attendance at the opening of the exhibition, "The Bellany Odyssey" which features new paintings from Barga and from his recent trip to China.


John Bellany at his exhibition in Scotland .. image - theherald.co.uk

Classical and Jazz guitar in Barga Vecchia

The sound of jazz, classical guitar and flute floated out over Barga Vecchia last night with some of the the pupils of the Barga Scuola di Musica going through their paces at the Conservatorio.

All this month there have been musical evenings from the Scuola and this week it was the turn of the pupils of A. Rondina and C.Brunini showing just what they had learnt over the past year.

More images of classic guitars here

The sound of Jazz Guitar came from the Barga Jazz Club with the inimitable sound of the Max Amazio Trio setting the pace

More images of Jazz Guitar here

Bar "Il Bino " shuts for renovations

The "Bino" bar down in Giardino has shut for major renovations but should be open for business once again before the end of the month. The bar seems to be changing its role in the community as new kitchens have been projected which would point the way towards a different kind of client ... one with not just a thirst but a hunger to satisfy. More images here

Graffitti artists at work in Parco Buozzi

During the night graffiti artists have used the concrete retaining wall facing onto Parco Buozzi as a canvas for their latest “masterpiece”.

A large image of a Fiat Panda from the Polizia Municipale with what can only be a parking ticket attached to the windscreen ... maybe somebody has something to say concerning the fierce polemic in Barga this week about the banning of cars from Barga Vecchia ? Full article and more images here

Electrical thunderstorm over Barga

A huge electrical storm passed over Barga recently and was snapped by local architect Massimiliano Lanciani.

More images here

Writer drives 50cc Ape from Barga to Utrecht Holland

Yesterday I met up and spent an hour or so talking with a Dutch writer, Miriam Goudappel, who was staying at the Casa Giardino - the Bed and Breakfast run by Allan and Candy Turner-West

She was in Barga for a brief "pitstop" on her long journey north. Miriam took me out to the carpark to admire her latest acquisition, a brand new bright Ferrari red 50 cc Ape which she had just taken possession of directly from the Piaggio factory at Pontedera.

She is intending to take the ape, powered by its single cylinder 50 cc engine, for a spin..... well, in fact she is intending to take it home ... to Holland ! ... to Utrecht, more than 2000 kms north to be precise.

No radio, no tape player, no CD or MP3 player to interrupt her thought patterns as she winds her way slowly north. She is writing a book on philosophy and decided that the cockpit of the tiny Ape would be the perfect place in which to be alone and think while she gradually drives up through Europe. Intending to drive for only short bursts, she has given herself 40 days to get from Barga to Utrecht.

Full article and more images here

Tony Phillips watercolours at Camporgiano

Another artist has temporarily forsaken the gallery walls and instead started exhibiting his work at local restaurants.

An exhibition of watercolours by Tony Phillips at the Il Prato restaurant in Camporgiano yesterday, included many images painted inside the castle walls at Barga.

Tony, originally from Liverpool, England but now a resident of Filecchio for many years, could often be seen in Barga Vecchia working away on the paintings over the past few months.

Full article and more images here

Knickers, Paintings, Samba Drummers and Blues

Well its not that often that you read a headline like that on barganews is it ?

So where have we been the last couple of days and what is all this about knickers, samba and blues?

The last few days there have been no articles on barganews as we have been recovering from "The Mutande of Barga" exhibition at the Altana restaurant at Porta Reale in Barga Vecchia.

An exhibition of 15 large oil paintings all with their subject; mutande - the underwear that are everywhere, shouting out our secrets from clotheslines and drying racks strung in full sight on nearly every home in Barga.

The exhibition was officially opened by Gabriele Giovannetti with the help of an inspiring opening speech by Graziella Cosimini who also read out an article written by Frank Viviano on the subject of the Mutande in Barga

The full article and more images of the paintings in the Altana are here



The exhibition carried on and flowed out into the piazza until midnight with the help of the Artemisia Samba Drummers who dazzled the large and enthusiastic audience with a couple of brief but stunning sets of their Brazilian/Cuban Samba mix of rhythms.

The full article and more images of the Artemisia Drummers are here



The evening was brought to a close with the home grown sound of the Barga Blues Band - Jack's Pack who playing to a home crowd just let it all go and played their hearts out.

The summer season is off to a great start!

The full article and more images of Jacks Pack Blues Band in Action are here

Cars removed from Barga Vecchia

Following on from the noisy public meetings held last month, all car parking in three of the main piazza's in Barga Vechia has now been banned.

Workmen have already painted new yellow lines outside the walls for 30 car parking spaces for exclusive use by residents.

The sound of fierce polemic could be heard in Barga this morning as the city woke up to find on one hand, the architectural beauty of the castle finally visible as the open spaces in Piazza Angelio and Piazza Comune were revealed in all their splendour and discontent on the other as the 30 places allocated outside the walls quickly filled up leaving many people a longer walk down to the the new car park below the town.

The ban should stay in place until the end of the summer.

Full article and more images here