The concert of classical music and jazz by the Dimitri Naiditch trio
A piano, a double bass and a drummer – and what an audience for this musical trio led by Ukrainian Dimitri Naiditch.
Firstly, there were the marble heads with noble faces, placed like sentinels in alcoves in the old stone walls.
The beautiful setting for dinner
Then there were the artworks in the Palazzo Farnese – Rome’s greatest monument to the Renaissance.
They included friezes and statues, whose sculpted bodies seemed to shiver to the sound.
Dimitri Naiditch performing
And what music! The explosive combination of classic – from Bach to Mozart to Tchaikovsky – and jazz. The musician’s imaginative programme was at the heart of the evening staged by LVMH, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
Behind the initiative, held in one of Rome’s greatest monuments, was Pierre Godé, LVMH vice president, and right hand of Bernard Arnault for 30 years.
CEO of Fendi, Pietro Beccari; LVMH vice president, Pierre Godé; French Ambassador Alain Le Roy and Nicola Bulgari
“This evening is to honour our friends and collaborators in Italy and pay tribute to Italian companies that are colleagues and friends,” said M Godé.
Elisabetta and Pietro Beccari with jewellery designer Osanna Visconti di Modrone
Front-row guests included his co-hosts Pietro Beccari of Fendi and Jean-Christophe Babin of Bulgari.
Carla Fendi and Pierre Godé
There was also a line-up of Bulgaris, Fendis (Carla, Silvia Venturini Fendi, who had spent the day working on the spring collection with Karl Lagerfeld, and her daughter Delfina Delettrez, who is planning to open a jewellery boutique in London).
Delfina Delettrez and Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher
There were also the Puccis, en famille – Marchesa Cristina Pucci di Barsento with her daughter Laudomia and Laudomia’s husband Alessandro Castellano.
Armando Branchini, executive director of Fondazione Altagamma; Laudomia Pucci, CEO of Pucci; and journalist Bruno Vespa
Roman high society turned out for the exceptional event which, for all its grandeur, had a sweet summer freshness, with jars of flowers on the long tables that followed the elongated architecture.
Socialites Gianalberto Scarpa and Ludovica Leuzzi D’aragona
The evening belonged to Dimitri Naiditch and his merry attitude as he switched from classical music to jazz, setting feet tapping and even encouraging a Tchaikovsky sing-along
The other star was Michelangelo, whose revised vision of the palazzo with its courtyard and placement towards the Tiber provided guests with the chance to eat the sweet course on the massive upper terrace.
While all the interior doors – even to Ambassador Alain Le Roy’s office – were open for viewing frescoes and the work of Annibale Carracci in the Farnese gallery.
Luxury conglomerates are often criticised for lacking a soul. But the artistry of the evening was an exceptional moment of life’s purest luxury.
Suzy and Elisabetta Beccari
Vogue International Editor Suzy Menkes is the best-known fashion journalist in the world. After 25 years commenting on fashion for the International Herald Tribune (rebranded recently as The International New York Times), Suzy Menkes now writes exclusively for Vogue online, covering fashion worldwide.