Chapter Three

Chapter Three takes us into Rossano's early adult years beginning with his initial stint as a lawyer along with his early stage successes. Rome was very dear to Rossano (and his wife, Lydia), and he spent the majority of his life in this city. I understand his passion for Rome. It is a beautiful city and one that I never tire of visiting.

To the left is the Victor Emmanuel monument, the Altare della Patria by the Piazza Venezia. Also known as the wedding cake.

This is Emma Grammatica. She was a huge stage and screen star in Italy in the early 20th century. She asked Rossano to audition for her to enable him to join her repertory company. 

The following photos are of the Hotel Quirinale where Rossano auditioned for Emma in around 1938. Rossano passed that audition and, in his own words, learned a great deal from this lady. She was quite the trailblazer and she, herself, was influenced by another leading lady on the stage, Eleonora Duse. They were both very independent women for that era.

The hotel is on the Via Nazionale, a long, wide avenue not far from the train station. It's a lovely hotel and maintains an old-world charm. 

The Boboli Gardens referenced in Chapter Three is actually in Florence behind the Pitti Palace. This is where Rossano had his first taste of stage success under the direction of impressario, Renato Simoni. A beautiful amphitheatre with the backdrop of Florence.

On the left and right is the amphitheatre. The second from the left shows the back of the Pitti Palace with the huge theatre in front of it. The third photo was taken to the side of the Pitti Palace, looking over the rooftops of Florence. This really is a beautiful place to visit and spend some time. At the very back of the gardens you can find far-reaching views of the typical Tuscan countryside.

Here's 22-year-old Rossano with his equally young co-star, Micaela Giustiniani starring in the stage play, Aminta. This was staged at the beautiful Boboli Gardens in Florence. Rossano was practising law at this point but on the verge of giving his legal career up.

Similar to many who visit, I completely understand why Rossano and Lydia loved Rome. It really is a beautiful city with wonderful people, delicious food and, of course, its history and culture can be viewed on just about every street corner. Visit it if you can and walk the same streets.

My guide in Rome, Giorgia Cadinu, (shown behind me in the 4th photo) can be found online and was an excellent choice to take me to specific areas relating to Rossano's story. She took the time to read about him and actually gave me some information I wasn't aware of. She is definitely someone to have beside you if you want to learn about the city. She can be found online under the Rome Personal Guide website: https://romepersonalguide.org/

My guide in Rome was Giorgia Cadinu. I found her on Google and she turned out to be fun and extremely informative. I advised her about the project I was working on and the places I needed to see that related to Rossano Brazzi.  She made a point of reading up about Rossano and discovered things that I had no way of knowing, including the Italian book, Hollywood sul Tevere. Without her, I would not have had many of the anecdotes in the book. 

I've since met Giorgia a few times for coffee and asked her to give me a tour of the Vatican when I was last over to give her a copy of the biography. Here she is proudly holding her copy in St Peter's Square.