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by Kirstrin Roble   From roughly 1700 until his death in 1737, Italian luthier and crafter Antonio Stradivari produced more than 1,000 instruments, considered to be "bold and innovative" even in his lifetime. To call a Stradivarius bold and innovative today is an understatement.   The nearly 450 violins that have survived are consider...

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Summerfest isn't the only Milwaukee event attracting big names in music this summer. Festa Italiana announced this week that it would welcome Matt Nathanson and the Plain White T's, who are slated to perform at the Spiked Island Adult Lemonade Stage on Saturday, July 20.   Nathanson, whose hits include "Come on Get Higher," "Faster" and "Run...

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Play bocce with friends young and old (then watch the champs compete in a tournament Sunday). Watch cooking demonstrations and sample cuisine at the Cucina Showcase. Enjoy Henry Prego's musical tribute to Frank Sinatra and Dove c'è Musica's salute to Eros Ramazzotti daily.   Grab an espresso so you're wide-eyed for a Festa tradition: firewor...

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David is on the move. The statue, that is. A full-sized replica of Michelangeo's "David" statue has been featured at Festa Italiana for years. Thursday, it took a trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum. "We (have to) get him out of here," said Dean Cannestra, of the Italian Community Center. He and his crew loaded David onto a truck to be part of an exh...

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By Bill Glauber   Mario Carini was the unofficial historian of Milwaukee's Italian-American community. He was a retired schoolteacher who spent months poring through records in reference libraries. He was the man families entrusted with their precious, vintage black-and-white photos of people and places long gone yet lovingly remembered...

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By Heather Ronaldson   The ornate marble work they produced distinguished Milwaukee's first Italian immigrants from other ethnic groups in the city. So did their unification under Festa Italiana in 1978 — the city's first ethnic festival on the Summerfest grounds. This citywide Italian family reunion at the lakefront keeps getting bigger and...

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We are Pursuing Our Italian Names Together, Chapter 22. We are also known as and the Italian Family History Club at the Italian Community Center and Milwaukee County Genealogical Society's Italian Area Interest Group.   An opportunity for you to learn and to search for your relatives will be held Saturday, November 7, 2015 starting at 1:00 p...

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Fans of literary fiction know Chicagoland's Mary Doria Russell as the author of the critically-acclaimed and much-loved (by book clubs and fiction fans) novel "The Sparrow."   Her latest novel, "A Thread of Grace," is based on the true experiences of many Jews in Italy during World War II. During that time, many Jews fled other European coun...

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by Matt Mueller   When Festa Italiana opens this Friday at Henry Maier Festival Park, many will flock down to the lakefront to gulp down some authentic Italian food and wine. Yet some of the most revered tastes of Italian culture coming to town this weekend are wholly inedible: the lovingly crafted and almost identical replicas of the countr...

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By David Luhrssen With its secluded booths and Sinatra tunes on the stereo, Catarina's Ristorante (9104 W. Oklahoma) is a great place for a date. The kitchen is leisurely, meaning the preparation is fresh, and the portions are ample. The filet melts in your mouth, the various Italian-style chicken dishes are flavorful, and on Fridays, this legacy...

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