There was a time when, according to concert programmes, music began to be played on ‘authentic instruments’. It made one wonder what instruments were used previously; violins made of vinyl, pre-recorded cassettes for clarinets or perhaps balsawood bassoons? ‘Authentic’ has since been superseded by a truly HIPP term: ‘Historically Informed Performance Practise’,
So many of the concerts we have for some time been listening to have, regrettably not even been ‘authentic’. Instead, they have been ‘virtual’. At least, that was something.
For too long this has been the case with that Salzburg musical equivalent south of the Alps, Lucca. Last week, however, I was able to attend a brilliant rendition of Stravinsky’s ‘A Soldier’s Tale’ conducted by Jonathan Brandani, now an internationally respected conductor and someone who was raised in the Lucchesia. Brandani’s youthful performances of Mozart’s da Ponte operas were a highlight at the Montecarlo theatre in 2013 and were covered in my posts at:
The Stravinsky concert was held in the ample space of Lucca’s church of San Francesco. Originally the centrepiece of a large convent, which had been reduced to a military depository in the nineteenth century it is now beautifully restored as one of the city’s finest venues, higher education institutes and conference centres.
The inauguration of San Francesco and its transformation into one of Lucca’s major cultural centres is described in my post at:
It was refreshing to be able to attend a truly authentic concert in Lucca instead of those ‘live streams’ which, although lucky to have the technology, are clearly no way near the real thing in terms of atmosphere and acoustics.
Stravinsky’s ‘Soldier’s Tale’, a variant of the Faustian story where a soldier trades his fiddle to the devil in return for unlimited wealth, is set in that dismal year which ended the First World War and saw the Spanish Flu pandemic sweep the world and kill even more millions than the machine-guns, barbed wire, trenches and mud. With its sparse band of seven (socially distanced) instruments, speaker and dancer parts the piece seemed strangely appropriate for our times when another cataclysmic world event drags on….and on.
Immaculately performed under Brandani’s direction the event was an excellent way of stating that the arts will never be put down no matter whatever age can infict upon creativity and hope.
In this respect it is great that Giacomo Brunini, the new director of our own local music school at Borgo a Mozzano (and half of the Brunini-Atzori guitar duo), has announced the following concerts as part of the ‘I Luoghi del Bello e della Cultura’ series which aim to bring visitors to the attention of beautiful and historic locations in our area. (More information on the programmes, performers and times of performances will follow, I am informed:)
27 June – Chiesa di San Francesco a Borgo a Mozzano
1 July – Chiesa di S. Maria Assunta – Rocca
13 July- Chiesa di San Francesco a Borgo a Mozzano
29 July- Chiesa di San Romano
5 August- Piazza della Chiesa di S. Giovanni Battista – Cerreto
Let summer return with a glorious vengeance! Already temperatures here are hitting above thirty degrees centigrade and beaches, mountain footpaths and cool streams are showing increasing signs of bipedal activity (and I don’t mean just ducks, eagles and swallows!)