Types of seats on Frecciarossa train?

Look at www.seat61.com

The section on Italy has a page about frecciarossa trains, including photos of the different classes.

But in summary......

Standard are cloth seats and four across the carriage. Premium are leather seats but otherwise no different. Business class are three seats across the carriage. Quite nice for a couple as you can get a pair of seats facing each other with no one next to you. There is also business silenzio: quiet section with no cell phones etc. Leg room is the same in all of the above but seat width is obviously better in business as there is one less seat across the carriage. Executive is only eight seats in the entire carriage. You get a complimentary drink and snack in premium and business and more in Executive. If you book upto 120 days out you can get some very good super economy fares that make business a nice, but by no means necessary choice.

Everything above standard is one version or another of first, marketed so that they can justify the ever stratospheric price. Which is more important to you - money or exclusivity?

We took Fresciarossa second class Milano Centrale to Florence SMN, and then after a few days, on to Salerno. Cloth seats but way more comfortable than airline coach. On a par with second class Swiss trains, believe it or not. A pleasure.

Are the seats wider in Business class to accommodate the wider bottoms of the affluent?

They are (wider), Norma, they are!

I am a fan of Business Class because we like the configuration where my husband and I can sit in the "detached window" seats and be across from each other with no neighbors to climb over. We buy well in advance, usually 120 days, and get super super low fares. Yes, Standard in advance can be even cheaper....Always a trade off.

Even at 5'4", I have noticed or believed that seat pitch (distance between seats) is less in Standard class on these new trains than in 2nd class on older trains. Upgrading to the next option for about €10 did not make a big difference in seating, but might have had a little more lumbar support, which we found to be an issue during longer rides in the cheap seats (e.g., 5.5 hours from Paris to Torino by TGV).

Despite Nigel's comments the prices in business can be very reasonable if you get supereconomy. In April we had 4 supeconomy business seats from Rome to Turin, a 4 1/2 hour trip, for just over 140euro.

We just took that train two days ago from Rome to Florence, we asked bought first class and it was for four people and they were leather large seats, four together facing each other. Electric adjustment, you could easily nap, much better than an airline! Next we are on a Trainitalia 2cd class, we shall see!