Italy has been a land of patrons and performers since the flushest days of the Medicis. Noble courts throughout the peninsula① maintained private orchestras.
Long more popular than classical music in Italy， opera continues to boom②. Some of the country’s dowager opera houses have been refitted with modish new finery③.
Even outside Milan and Rome， concerts are definitely a growth stock. Far from keeping audiences away， the widespread ownership of compact disc④ players and Walkman cassette players has actually brought down the average audience age.
① peninsulan. 半岛
② boomn. 繁荣， 隆隆声 v. 发隆隆声， 兴隆
③ fineryn. 华丽的服饰
④ compact disc光碟机；激光唱片(略作CD)
剧院与音乐
自美弟奇家庭最鼎盛时期以来，意大利一直是文艺演出者之乡。当时整个意大利半岛上的贵族家庭都拥有自己的私人乐队。
在意大利，歌剧一直比古典音乐更受喜爱，而且仍旧在继续发展。近来，意大利的一些老式剧院又被重新装修得新潮时尚。
甚至除了米兰和罗马这样的大城市外的其他地方，音乐厅的发展状况也是很好的。尽管CD机和录音机越来越受欢迎，可是音乐会的听众不但没有减少，反而吸引了越来越年轻的听众。