The March edition of La Freccia: Fiorello, happiness as an antidote

Rome, 3 March 2023

The cover of La Freccia’s March edition features a light-hearted Fiorello playing with a ball of newspapers. And the morning gold is Viva Rai2!: his programme that’s already gained a cult following in just a few weeks’ time. Billed as the antidote to all the bad news from around the world, Fiorello and his partners unleash pure cheerfulness with their witty dialogue and observations about bizarre current events and newspaper headlines that are often just as unusual.

And in addition to that with the Sicilian showman, this edition also contains numerous other interviews and articles. Including comedian Nino Frassica, the protagonist of the third edition of the comedy show LOL: chi ride è fuori, young singer-songwriter Leo Gassmann, Lorella Cuccarini, who’s ready for her appearance on the evening talent show Amici di Maria De Filippi, actress Cristina Donadio, and Michele Spotti, who has become the musical director of the Marseille Opera House at just 29 years of age.

It all begins with the testimony of senator-for-life Liliana Segre, and thoughts by Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano, on the Holocaust, inviting us to never forget, and not to be indifferent to any forms of discrimination or intolerance. On 6 February, together with the CEO of FS, Luigi Ferraris, and the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, they inaugurated a multimedia totem at the Central train station indicating how to reach the Holocaust Memorial, which is located under platform 21e: the point of departure where thousands of people were deported to the concentration camps from 1943 to 1945.

The voices from around the world in this edition of La Freccia include that of the passionate former president of the Ukrainian Railways, Oleksandr Kamyshin, who has recently taken on a new position, and who, over a year after the start of the war, recounts his ongoing commitment, and that of the tireless railway workers, to managing a network that has allowed four million inhabitants to be evacuated, and 325 thousand tonnes of humanitarian aid to be transported, and has carried international delegations of Heads of State, including our own Giorgia Meloni, to their destinations.

The content then becomes more light hearted. On a journey amid the melodies of Lucio Battisti and Lucio Dalla, we retrace the places most cherished by these two unforgettable songwriters, 80 years after their birth. With Battisti, the journey begins in his birthplace of Poggio Bustone, in the province of Rieti, and extends all the way to his getaway in the Lecco Brianza area. With Dalla, on the other hand, we begin on the streets of Bologna, which inspired some of his most memorable songs. And from there we move across the peninsula, from Alta Badia, which is preparing to welcome eight thousand cyclists for the Maratona dles Dolomites, to the Sicilian village of Sutera, with a stopover in Tuscany for a wine tour in the Chianti and Maremma regions.

There’s also plenty of art and photography to be enjoyed. The tour begins in Turin, where the first solo exhibit of works by JR, a French artist who reflects on the conditions of migrants and refugees, is being held at the Gallerie d'Italia. From there we move on to Padua, for an exhibit of works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, one of the most renowned and creative couples in the history of art. The tour concludes in the Pescara area, among the works of modern art found at the large open-air museum of No Man’s Land.

And, finally, it’s off to the races with the spring marathons, which are held on 19 March in Rome, and on 2 April in Milan. Over 42 kilometres amid squares and city streets for the competitive participants, along with shorter routes and solidarity relays for amateurs.

All this and more can be found in the March edition of La Freccia, which can be browsed and read in digital format on the Fsnews website, and in print copies on Trenitalia’s Frecce trains, in all FRECCIALounge and FRECCIAClub locations, where readers will find personal plastic-wrapped copies to take with them.