The Diva and the Sleeping Beauty: Inside Verona’s Due Torri
Evening Standard · Douglas Blyde ·
Juliet has Verona’s most famous balcony. Maria Callas had another. Between a basement circus and sublime soured-butter pasta, Douglas Blyde discovers a grand hotel overdue for a second act.
Juliet has Verona’s most famous balcony. Maria Callas had another. Between a basement circus and sublime soured-butter pasta, Douglas Blyde discovers a grand hotel overdue for a second act.
At Due Torri, the opera begins with a room change. Having found our original accommodation wanting, we are moved to the Maria Callas Suite. Giorgia Gazzuola, who oversees sales and marketing and has worked here for fifteen years, explains that Callas would greet her adoring fans from its balcony. Had I encountered a similar reception that morning, she wonders, with a smile suggesting she has identified another diva in residence. It is an exquisitely diplomatic way of describing a demanding guest. Unlike Callas, however, my public has yet to assemble.
Callas is a promising patron saint for a hotel in Verona, where the Arena gives summer evenings their soundtrack. Our suite offers more space and rather more character. Some tables downstairs stand on clawed paws; here, strange faces with lizard-like mouths rise towards those seated above them, as though the antiques would like to join the conversation. The bathrobes have unusually high collars. There is no obligation to sing, although the wardrobe appears prepared for it.
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