© stephenhanafin

Costumes were encouraged at the Sicilian Carnevale held at St. Augustine Preparatory School in Richland, New Jersey. The event featured the best Italian music performed live by the band Idea 71, along with dancing and buffet dining. The Sicilian-American Club of South Jersey, based in Vineland, has hosted this annual bash modeled after the Venetian traditional gala before Lent, for 25 years running.

The club President Vincent Marolda explained the idea behind the gala, what is known in America as Mardi Gras, is that "basically before Lent begins, let's go crazy!" Prizes were awarded for the best costumes, including money prizes for the Carnevale's king and queen. Marolda said that the event is a great way for club members to keep their cultural traditions alive, and introduce their friends and family to them as well.

© DeusXFlorida

The Italian soprano Renata Scotto has never been averse to taking risks. She decided at a young age to become an opera singer, and at 18 she debuted in the lead role in Verdi's La Traviata. After decades of performing with the greatest singers, from Callas to Pavarotti, her love for the best Italian music is still as passionate as ever. She loves today's opera singers, like coloratura soprano Natalie Dessay and tenor Jonas Kaufmann, while also remaining devoted to greats of the past.

Although she is now retired from singing, the 77-year-old is still busy in the opera world with teaching, directing, and costume design. She is being honored by the Metropolitan Opera Guild this month with a special "Met Legends" evening in her honor to celebrate her impressive career.

© gnuckx

If you are looking for free Italian music file download, the first thing you should realize is that in the world of music there is no such thing as a free lunch, unless the music you are downloading is illegal. That being said, there are many file sharing sites like Ares, Limewire, Kazaa, and Morpheus that work on a p2p file sharing basis. You download free software from the site and install it before the files can be accessed.

The software includes a search feature that you run to bring up a list of files that are available for download, and then you can select the ones that interest you. There is tons of music available through these sites, including Italian songs, but downloading them is illegal. Alternatively there are pay for music websites from which you can download Italian songs like iTunes, MP3, and Emusic. Jamendo has a great selection of foreign music that is all artist sanctioned so you can download without guilt.