Events celebrating Verdi

Fans of Giuseppe Verdi will have many homages to attend, of which the most distinguished will probably be the San Francisco Opera's June stagings of "La Traviata," "Simon Boccanegra," and "Aida." Other events extend beyond the musical domain: Italy's fierce national bicycle race, the Giro d'Italia, will pay homage to the composer in June by a stopover in his native province of Parma, near his hometown of Busseto.

Academics are in on the act: A thousand-object museum exhibit will be running through Feb. 23 at Milan's Palazzo Reale in Italy, with 26 rooms of exhibition space devoted to "Verdi: the Man, the Operas, the Legend."

Musicologists will kick off an international congress of Verdi studies in Parma on Jan. 24, which will move to New York University and wind up at Yale on Feb. 1. The non-tenured will also get into the act, when Smithsonian Study Tours offers an 11-day travel package from April 5 to 15, visiting Verdi sites in Busseto and Milan, attending operas, and soaking up local atmosphere for the price of around $6,000. For more information, call toll-free 1-877-EDU-TOUR).

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