Anna and Marika tell the first part of the story of Violetta and Alfredo, their falling in love and their decision to live in Paris together. But their happiness doesn't last...

Violetta writes a letter of farewell to Alfredo. He is miserable, but hears of a party where he is sure to see her. But there, things go from bad to worse. Alfredo ends up having to live abroad, and Violetta's illness gets much worse. Will they ever be able to embrace each other again?

Verdi's Rigoletto: intrigue, love, passion and cruelty. Brought to you by Anna and Marika.

Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto: more passion, intrigue, love, and cruelty at court. The curse is fulfilled!

Meet the characters from The Barber of Seville, an opera by Gioacchino Rossini that was first performed in 1816: brought to you by Anna and Marika.

Anna and Marika tell us the story of Rosina, who in the midst of deception and intrigue, ends up getting married. But to whom? The one she loves, or the one who wants her at all costs?

Magpies [gazze ladre] in folklore are known to be attracted by shiny things. Rossini's opera La Gazza Ladra recounts the story of Ninetta, a servant girl. She is wrongly accused of stealing the silverware that the family magpie stole.

Ninetta is in prison, condemned to death, and things are looking very bleak, indeed. Don't worry though; in the end, love and justice win out, and everyone except the magistrate lives happily ever after.

Claudio Capotondi is a sculptor who lives and works in Pietrasanta, a Tuscan town famous for its marble and marble sculptors. He talks about an upcoming exhibition.

Claudio Capotondi, sculptor, takes us into his "thinking room" and talks about the process of taking a block of marble and turning it into a work of art.

The artist takes to the fascinating world of the marble quarries where he chooses the blocks of marble which he will transform into works of art.

Claudio Capotondo talks about the tools and techniques that enable him to transform a block of marble or porphyry (a kind of igneous rock) into a work of art.

"Innercore" is the title, inspired by an article in the New York Times, of Claudio Capotondi's masterpiece. He talks about the significance of the sculpture, and about the special kind of stone he used to make it.

Claudio Capotondi discusses his marble and travertine sculpture entitled PortaRoma, created in 2000.

Giuseppe Pitrè was an ethnologist who collected documents pertaining to Sicily and its culture and traditions. His work is the basis for this documentary, which unites live footage, drawings, and archival documents.

We learn about Pitrè's life, and his relationship to the sea.

In this segment, we see some swordfish harpoon fishing, and hear an old Sicilian legend about a boy named Nicola who could stay underwater for a very long time.

Pitrè's life was marked by a sort of travelling storyteller tradition in his family. In those days, a cuntastorie (storyteller) would go around to all the piazzas and tell stories, and people would pay to hear them.

This segment focuses on an actor who retells and acts out stories from Sicily's past, speaking in Sicilian dialect. He uses the Pitrè Museum as a source for material. The museum houses a manuscript with over 4,000 Sicilian proverbs, just one of the many volumes of Sicilian ethnographic material.

Pitrè's mission was to conserve and safeguard the traditions of his people, the Sicilians, and to keep the roots alive. Looking at religious traditions is one important way to do this.

Saint Rosalia (1130–1166), recognized by her crown of roses, is Palermo's patron saint. The video shows the July 14 parade in honor of the saint, and a young man who credits his cure from a grave illness to Saint Rosalia.

The segment concentrates on the richness of the Sicilian dialect, a dialect which is less and less spoken. The narrator interviews two poets who recite their works in Sicilian, providing insights into the language.

Giuseppe Pitrè received his degree in medicine in 1865. His patients, among Palermo's poorest, provided him with a wealth of ethnographic material.

A woman performs a traditional Sicilian ritual involving the sticking of pins into an onion, accompanied by prayers, in order to bring back the boyfriend of her suppliant.