ignazio visco : closing of the cultural days of the european central bank – italy 2011 address by mr ignazio visco, governor of the bank of italy, at the closing of the cultural days of the european central bank – italy 2011, european central bank, frankfurt am main, 17 november 2011. * * * mr. president, caro mario, cher christian, colleagues of the central banks, ladies and gentlemen, i attended this evening ’ s closing concert of the european central bank ’ s cultural days dedicated to italy with great pleasure and it is with great pleasure that i now take part in this ceremony in which the baton passes to christian noyer, governor of banque de france. since october 19 the public in frankfurt has had the chance to meet many representatives of contemporary italian culture, artists known and admired the world over and emerging young talents. in this month a gust of italy seems to have blown across frankfurt ( thanks, too, to the coincidence that the cultural events happened to be held at the same time as the installation of an italian president in the eurotower ). after our many years of work together in banca d ’ italia, i again express my best wishes to mario draghi as he takes up the challenge of his new position. music has been the fil rouge of this month of italian culture, inaugurated by the orchestra mozart of bologna under the direction of maestro claudio abbado and concluded this evening by the remarkable and fascinating performance of the orchestra verdi of milan under maestro xian zhang. in between, the master violinist uto ughi performed on the occasion of the charity event. to be sure, there has been no lack of significant moments dedicated to the other expressions of italian culture, with the participation of great contemporary italian writers, such as claudio magris and dacia maraini, and the projection of a series of italian movies in which six directors confronted the theme of the family between tradition and modernity. contemporary music, too, has been showcased, with the virtuoso, high - energy performance of stefano bollani, one of italy ’ s most celebrated young jazz musicians. still, we wanted to open and close the programme in the grand tradition of classical music. the two orchestras – the mozart of bologna and the verdi of milan – have an important common denominator : both are examples of how superb results can be achieved when there is the active will to discover and promote young performers and the conviction that music is both a means of

his remarks at the literaturhaus on october 20th claudio magris, rightly considered the “ most european ” of contemporary italian writers, described the european identity not as a set of roots delving down into the earth but as the branches of a tree reaching outward and intertwining with the branches of other trees. to me, this image is most evocative. each of the individual national identities that contribute to our european identity is exactly like a tree, with its own deep roots in history and centuries ’ worth of fruit, but above all horizontally outstretched towards transparent, vital enlacement with its equally fruit - laden neighbours. in closing, let me offer my best wishes to governor noyer – and to the european central bank – for the preparation of next year ’ s cultural days. i am curious to learn the programme of events devoted to french culture. i am certain that frankfurt will be treated to the best of france ’ s immense cultural heritage, in its profoundly european dimension yet also bearing the signs and the fruits of its contact with the other great civilizations of the world. bis central bankers ’ speeches