Word: milan
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...proud city-states of Italy, none was more arrogant or belligerent than Milan, the rich capital of Lombardy. The names of its militant warlords, the Visconti and the Sforza, sent chills down the spine of Italy. But in art, Milan has always been looked down upon as a poor cousin by such sophisticated citadels as Venice and Florence. Even today most tourists take a look at the towered Duomo (second largest cathedral in Italy), seek out the faded mural remains of The Last Supper (painted by an imported Florentine, Leonardo da Vinci) at Santa Maria delle Grazie, and hurry...
Despite his debunking Missouri skepticism, Twain let himself be thrilled, too. He went as gaga as a vacationing schoolmarm before the beauties of Versailles ("an exquisite dream"), the cathedral in Milan ("The princeliest creation that ever brain of man conceived") and the Acropolis by moonlight ("All the beauty in all the world combined could not rival it"). As if half-ashamed of such ecstatic outbursts, he lapsed into heavy-handed gags about "Mike" Angelo and the tomb of Lazarus ("I had rather live in it than in any house in the town"). Even in such jests Twain foreshadowed an emergent...
...year-old war against Soprano Renata Tebaldi. Callas won the first battle in 1955, when her rival disappeared from La Scala; Tebaldi has not sung there since. But while Tebaldi began a brilliant new career at Manhattan's Met, her fans made things hot for Callas in Milan. When hissing Tebaldi rooters pelted Callas with radishes, Manager Antonio Ghiringhelli put up to 150 cops into La Scala, soothed Callas with public kisses and bales of flowers...
...Scala began peace talks with Tebaldi this spring, hoped she would sing at a special performance this summer at the Brussels World's Fair. Last week her fans were still throwing radishes at Callas, and so were some critics. "[Maria Callas'] well-organized claque," said Milan's Il Giorno, "does not prevent her voice from damaging well-formed ears." The final blow came when Manager Ghiringhelli, who had avoided her for months, cut Callas dead backstage. Enraged, she took public revenge at her next performance of Il Pirata. Instead of pointing offstage to her lover mounting...
Unwelcome in both Rome and Milan, too high-priced for other Italian cities, Callas faced a lucrative, popular future abroad-and the prospect of a new battleground. Next winter she will sing at Manhattan's Met, and so will Soprano Tebaldi...