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The world of period drama is steadily getting bigger. Not only are we (finally!) getting more stories focused on British periods outside of the Regency (Mary & George, Monstrous Beauty), lavish foreign dramas are rapidly picking up the slack when it comes to historical dramas set outside the United Kingdom. From German series like The Empress to Da...

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Shooting has kicked off in Rome on limited series “The Leopard” based on the classic Sicily-set novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that marks Netflix’s most ambitious Italian original to date. Production on the lavish period piece will take place in the Sicilian cities of Palermo, Syracuse, Catania as well as the Italian capital over the next fo...

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When my dear friend Julia Burke, mistress of the magnificent Ogilvie Farm in North Salem asked me to help her plan a soiree that would be part of the benefit series “Tables of Content” for the North Salem Free Library, I could not resist. Immediately, an evening based on my favorite novel “Il Gattopardo” — “The Leopard” by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lamped...

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By pure coincidence, two American operas based on classic Italian novels had their premieres about five weeks apart. The Garden of the Finzi-Continis premiered in New York on January 27; The Leopard premiered in Miami on March 5. Having discussed the first opera elsewhere, I will concentrate on the second here — but they have a connection. Giuseppe...

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“If we want everything to remain as it is, everything must change.” With these words, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s “The Leopard” announced a paradox of modern Italian history, as elites frenetically cut deals to protect their privileged status on the eve of national unification in 1861. In “Lampedusa,” Steven Price’s fictional account of how the...

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