Flower: Piazzale Michelangelo in Full Bloom

Piazzale Michelangelo is more than a pretty panorama with this summer’s resurgence of Flower. Through October, a rotation of speakers, musicians, and authors will provide the temporary mid-piazza eatery with entertainment best appreciated at sunset.

Designed by architect Chiara Fanigliulo, Flower welcomes guests to its pop-up café. As the intersection of a square and a cosmopolitan crossing ground, Flower draws inspiration from nineteenth century architecture to create an open and inviting space.

Entering its third season, this space transforms the popular tourist vista into a relaxing atmosphere where guests can enjoy an assortment of eco-friendly refreshments catered by Florentine bistrot Amblé. With minimizing waste a priority, Flower uses recycled paper packaging and no plastic, letting environmental consciousness underlie its artistic offerings.

The program offers a range of guests and include presentations, performances, concerts, and panel discussions, rewarding those who climb Piazzale Michelangelo’s steps. Weather permitting, Flower plans to offer a different program every night of the summer, and expected guests include cartoonist Sergio Staino, novelist Tiziano Scarpa, and writer Petros Markaris.

Ongoing throughout the summer, jazz music will continue to animate Piazzale Michelangelo with shows directed by Alessandro Di Puccio. Ensembles feature young recruits from a variety of Tuscan organizations, including those from the Florence Academy of Music, the Cherubini Conservatory of Florence, and the Siena Jazz University. In addition to these groups, Flower highlights soloists Alessandro Fabbri, Dario Cecchini, Franco Nesti, and Jacopo Martini, among others.

This week brings its first live performance on Tuesday, August 7 with the Calabretta Trio (Federico Calabretta at the piano, Cosimo Marchese on the drums and Bernardo Sacconi playing the double bass) in a free concert starting at 8 pm.

New this year, Flower also presents OpenArt: an association of street artists who will give concerts over 14 evenings. This focus extends Flower’s partnership with Art in Progress, a non-profit association furthering leisure and entertainment in conjunction with geographic cultural realities.  The series will headline Francesco Garito on Thursday, August 9; Claudio Spadi playing Italian and international hits on Friday, August 10; and Foneno (Ugo Nativi, vocals and drum), Federico Riondino (vocals, guitar) on Saturday, August 11.

Flower’s Sunday jazz series, “Piazzale Jazz” with free admission continues on Sunday, August 12.  The evening’s special guest is Giovanni Cifariello, who was recognized as a talented artist even during his studies at Florence’s Cherubini Conservatory, where he specialized in the guitar and was known for his interest in Sicilian, Sardinian, Hebrew, Irish, Arab and Cuban ethnic music to blues, funk, pop, rock, jazz and fusion.  In 2000 he formed his own trio, which is known for interpreting an extremely original repertoire.

In the past, Cifariello has collaborated — as a performer, arranger or composer — with Italian and foreign music artists such as Antonella Ruggiero, Tullio De Piscopo, Peppino di Capri, Riccardo Fogli and others.

From the stage to the page, the segment “Book Flower” is the Tuesday evening focal point at 6:30 pm, except for mid-August. Authors will present selections of their works accompanied by live music. These readings cover all topics, from travel to love to relationships, accommodating any listener in the vicinity. “Book Flower” has already had a promising start, as this year’s series began with readings by Sauro Albisani, Rosalba de Filippis, and Davide Rondoni. The series will resume on Tuesday, August 27 with the participation of Giampaolo Sim and his novel “Come un famiglia” (Sellerio, 2018).  The remaining writers scheduled to speak include Sergio Staino, Roberto Innocenti, Vanni Santoni, and Caterina Bonvinci.

Fresh for the 2018 line-up, Flower’s “Storia vision attesta” series invites writers to discuss contemporaneity, opening dialogue about the interim between the past and the future. Curated by Controradio, this sequence will continue on Thursday, August 29 with a dialogue on the controversy surrounding the proposed expansion of the Florence airport.  Future speakers include former Turin mayor and Piero Fassino for September 13, and Alba Donati for September 27. Each presentation will occur at 9 pm.

As Flower continues to grow throughout the summer, Piazzale Michelangelo is guaranteed to satisfy all who visit, whether with food, conversation, music, or the view.  (anna staropoli)