​The Dante Alighieri Italian Society of Christchurch stands in complete solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters who so senselessly and tragically lost their lives or who were injured on Friday while they were quietly praying. We extend to the families and friends of those who died our deepest sympathy. We share your tears and stand with you. Kia kaha!

Hello Dante Alighieri Christchurch,
To add to your opera feast, please note our narropera of Italian operas Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro, arranged for soprano, violin and piano/narrator. We open our 7th year of narropera perormances  (in April) with two performances of a newly written Don Giovanni, which has received repeated accolades since it was first performed in Europe in June 2018, Moreover we also perform three performances of a totally new Le nozze di Figaro, which has been created for a first performance on 20th April 2019, at Lansdown House. Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro play without interval, the former 75 minutes in length, the latter 85 minutes in length.

I hope lovers of Italian music and language will support these splendid performances which will be enhanced by the appearance of our European performance violinist, the lovely French Floriane Peycelon.

Our aim with Mozart is to make his music conform to Italian principles of music making, which were in Mozart's day the musical 'lingua franca'. Mozart is neither Viennese in the modern sense, and certainly NOT German. His musical lingua franca was 'italian'.

Best wishes, and please visit our festival website which has just been fully updated to reflect the new season in April 2019. Visit:  www.lansdownsummer.com

Greetings,
Haydn Rawstron