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class="servicesnav"><a href="/hi/english/static/help/default.stm">Help</a></div></font> </div> <DIV><img src="/furniture/dotted_line.gif" width="99" height="1" border="0" alt="" vspace="3"></DIV> <FONT SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana,Arial,sans-serif"><DIV CLASS="servicesnav"><A href="/low/english/world/europe/newsid_1942000/1942852.stm">Low Graphics</a></DIV></FONT> </TD> <TD><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=5 HEIGHT=200 ALT=""></TD> <TD VALIGN=TOP> <SPAN CLASS="date">Monday, 22 April, 2002, 01:11 GMT 02:11 UK </SPAN> <DIV CLASS="headlinestory"><B>Landmark music venue opens in Rome</B><BR></DIV> <FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2">  <DIV CLASS="inlineimage"> <IMG alt="Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (left) and Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni " vspace=0 border=0 width="300" height="180" src="/olmedia/1940000/images/_1942852_ciampi_veltroni_afp300.jpg"> <DIV CLASS="caption"><SMALL>Italy's president and Rome's mayor were among the celebrities at the inauguration</SMALL><BR></DIV> </DIV>  <DIV CLASS="bodytext"> <table border="0" width="315" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <TR> <TD><img width="310" height="2" src="/furniture/nothing.gif" border="0" alt="test hello"></img></TD> <TD><img width="5" height="2" src="/furniture/nothing.gif" border="0" alt="test"></img></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD valign="top"> </TD> <TD rowspan="2" valign="bottom"></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD valign="bottom"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, Ariel, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-weight:600; color:#666633; "> By David Willey </span> <BR> <span style="font-family:Verdana, Ariel, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:11px; font-weight:400; color:#000000; "> BBC Rome correspondent </span> </TD> </TR> <TR><TD colspan="2"><IMG vspace=0 height=1 hspace=0 border=0 alt=line width=315 src="/furniture/grey_pixel.gif"></TD></TR> <TR><TD colspan="2"><IMG src="/furniture/nothing.gif" height="7" width="315" alt="" border="0"></TD></TR> </table> <P> The largest music complex in Italy - the first in Rome for nearly 70 years - has finally opened. <P> The three concert halls, an open-air arena and recording studios in a 20-hectare park replace the city's last auditorium, destroyed by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1934. <P> </FONT><TABLE CELLSPACING="3" ALIGN="RIGHT" WIDTH="154" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="3"><TR><TD><FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2"> <DIV CLASS="inlineimage"> <IMG alt="Orchestra plays at the Music Park" vspace="0" border=0 width="150" height="180" src="/olmedia/1940000/images/_1942852_orchesta_tv150.jpg"> <DIV CLASS="caption"><SMALL>The concert hall will seat nearly 3,000 people</SMALL><BR></DIV> </DIV> </FONT></TD></TR></TABLE><FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2"> The Music Park was designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, who was also behind the controversial hi-tech Georges Pompidou Centre in Paris. <P> The new music complex is expected to change the musical life of the Italian capital. <P> The city's Santa Cecilia music conservatory will take over the running of the Music Park, which is built near the old Olympic village constructed for the 1960 Games. <P> The president of Italy attended the opening concert, which ended with Handel's Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah. <P> <B>Eclectic tastes</B> <P> Every sort of musical taste, from classical and folk to pop and rock music, will be catered for. <P> </FONT><TABLE CELLSPACING="3" ALIGN="RIGHT" WIDTH="154" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="3"><TR><TD><FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2"> <DIV CLASS="inlineimage"> <IMG alt="Auditorium" vspace="0" border=0 width="150" height="180" src="/olmedia/1940000/images/_1942852_auditorium_tv150.jpg"> <DIV CLASS="caption"><SMALL>The $100m-plus complex took eight years to build</SMALL><BR></DIV> </DIV> </FONT></TD></TR></TABLE><FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2"> <P> Thirteen concerts were scheduled for the opening day. <P> Performers included the British violinist Nigel Kennedy, the American rock singer Patti Smith and the Swingle Singers, with their rendition of the Italian partisans' song Ciao Bella, which got one of the biggest ovations of all. <P> After a short six week season, Rome's new music complex will close down until December to allow for the completion of the still unfinished 2,700 seat concert hall. <P> Performers and critics praised the acoustics of the 1,200 seat auditorium in which most of Sunday's concerts took place. <P> The complex took eight years to build and the cost - over $100m - went way over the original estimate after the original contractors failed to meet the deadline for completion. <P> Extra delays were caused by the discovery of the remains of an ancient Roman farm at the site. <P> The ruins were later incorporated by the architect into the foyer of one of the new concert halls.</DIV> </FONT> </TD> <TD><IMG SRC="/furniture/nothing.gif" WIDTH=10 HEIGHT=1 ALT=""></TD> <TD VALIGN=TOP> <FONT FACE="sans-serif" SIZE="2"> <DIV CLASS="puffbox"></DIV> <DIV CLASS="rhslist"><DIV CLASS="rhshead"><B>See also:</B><BR><IMG SRC="/furniture/grey_pixel.gif" WIDTH=170 VSPACE="2" HEIGHT=1 ALT=""><BR></DIV> <DIV CLASS="aitem"><SPAN CLASS="seealsodate">31 Jan 02 | Arts</SPAN><BR> <A HREF="/hi/english/entertainment/arts/newsid_1793000/1793571.stm" CLASS="heavy">Pompidou celebrates 25th birthday</A> </DIV> <DIV CLASS="aitem"><SPAN CLASS="seealsodate">18 May 99 | Europe</SPAN><BR> <A HREF="/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_347000/347364.stm" CLASS="heavy">Rome's Opera House in trouble</A> </DIV> <DIV CLASS="aitem"><SPAN CLASS="seealsodate">07 Feb 02 | Arts</SPAN><BR> <A HREF="/hi/english/entertainment/arts/newsid_1806000/1806694.stm" CLASS="heavy">Milan's opera house to reopen</A> </DIV> <DIV CLASS="aitem"><SPAN CLASS="seealsodate">14 Jan 00 | Entertainment</SPAN><BR> <A HREF="/hi/english/entertainment/newsid_603000/603250.stm" CLASS="heavy">Tenors toast Tosca</A> </DIV> <DIV CLASS="aitem"><SPAN CLASS="seealsodate">19 May 99 | Europe</SPAN><BR> <A HREF="/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_347000/347501.stm" CLASS="heavy">Strike threatens Rome opera</A> </DIV> </DIV> <DIV CLASS="rhslist"> <DIV CLASS="rhshead"><B>Internet links:</B><BR><IMG SRC="/furniture/grey_pixel.gif" WIDTH=170 VSPACE="2" HEIGHT=1 ALT=""><BR></DIV> <DIV CLASS="aitem"><A href="http://www.santacecilia.it/" CLASS="heavy">Santa Cecilia academy (in Italian)</A></DIV><DIV CLASS="aitem"><A href="http://www.rpwf.org/" CLASS="heavy">Renzo Piano Building Workshop</A></DIV><DIV CLASS="aitem"><A href="http://www.teatroallascala.org/" CLASS="heavy">La Scala (in Italian)</A></DIV><DIV CLASS="aitem"><A href="http://www.beniculturali.it/" CLASS="heavy">Italian Culture Ministry (in Italian)</A></DIV> <SPAN CLASS="disclaimer"><BR>The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites</SPAN><BR> </DIV> <DIV CLASS="rhslist"> <DIV CLASS="rhshead"><B>Top Europe stories now:</B><BR><IMG SRC="/sport/furniture/grey_pixel.gif" WIDTH=170 VSPACE="2" HEIGHT=1 ALT=""><BR></DIV> <DIV CLASS="aitem"> <A HREF="/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_2116000/2116542.stm" 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