To broadly paraphrase Shakespeare’s 29th Sonnet, when I all alone beweep the outcast state of parts of the opera world and trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, and feel that in what I most enjoy I am contented least, I tend to go to my bookshelf and my well-worn copy of Marilyn Horne’s memoir The Song Continues (written with Jane Scovell) to read the no-nonsense and always perceptive views of an artist who refers to colleagues she esteems as “a real pro.” She knows whereof she speaks.

Fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who count pop star Madonna and model Naomi Campbell among their clients, went on trial on Monday for alleged tax evasion in one of the most prominent tax cases involving celebrities in Italy.
 

In an apparent act of large-scale vandalism, much of the last six vintages of Case Basse di Soldera, perhaps the greatest producer of Brunello di Montalcino, was destroyed Sunday night, the Italian winery said in a statement Tuesday.

  Italy’s political outlook has recently been about as clear as the grey autumnal skies over Milan. Investors are wondering whether Mario Monti will be able to serve a second term as prime minister. Silvio Berlusconi, Mr Monti’s predecessor, is going around in circles over whether to give up politics or finally bid arrivederci to a long-suffering public.

Leonardo da Vinci's "The Battle of Anghiari" is the "LOST" of Renaissance frescos: every step towards solving its mystery seems to reveal even more loose ends. Yet a stolen copy of the long lost masterpiece was recently returned  to Italy after years on the black market, possibly providing more insight into one of art history's greatest mysteries, the BBC reports.

Pier Luigi Bersani, the head of Italy's main center-left Democratic Party, won a runoff primary Sunday to become the main center-left candidate for Italy's 2013 general elections — a vote that polls indicate could well be won by the Democratic Party given the utter disarray of the opposing center-right.