For a little under two hours we were transported from the solemn statuary and quirky frescoes of Saint Francis convent church at Borgo a Mozzano to the salons of Napoleonic Italy, the cafes of Hapsburg Vienna, the Puszta of Hungary and the night-clubs of Buenos Aires courtesy of a phenomenally gifted violin and guitar duo, Ladislau Petru Horvath and Nuccio D’Angelo.
This was their programme:
The opera excerpts consisted of Puccini arias and two Mascagni intermezzi transcribed for solo violin and played with virtuosistic double-stopping. I could never have imagined this sort of transcription in my wildest dreams but then I have heard the same done on solo double-bass. Was it musically effective? In some sort of way it was especially if one is a brilliant violinist and has no supporting orchestra or singers!
The musicians praised the church’s acoustics which lend themselves well to most kinds of musical combination. I remember the performance of Saint-Saens’ Christmas Oratorio I sang as a member of the choir there some years ago. That same choir sang the Saint-Saens at Equi Terme when an earthquake had hit the town: https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2015/10/04/our-choir-sings-for-saint-francis-at-equi-terme/
After the concert we were invited to a reception in the attractive gardens of the convent which is now a rest home. It was interesting to talk to the violinist with his mittel-European background about such subjects as the Austrian Empire, the current state of Hungary and his experience of that mythical conductor Celibidache while enjoying a glass of wine and a home-made cake.
Further concerts in this series organised by intrepid local guitarist Giacomo Brunini include the following.
As if these weren’t enough to be getting along with I’ve two musical gems listed down which will certainly not want to be missed:
They are Mozart’s ‘Weisenhaus’ Mass performed by a choir including my friend’s Stereotipi group at Lucca’s San Michele in Foro this coming Saturday at 5 pm and, on the following Sunday another Mozart Mass, this time his Requiem again at 5 pm in Lucca but this time in the De Servi church.
I am quite sure that this last item must in some way reference the awesome event we witnesses yesterday in respect of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral at Westminster Abbey and her internment in Saint George’s chapel in Windsor. We admit we were glued on and off the screen for much of the day for this once-in-a-life-time event of supreme historical and emotive significance.
We were there for the Queen mum’s lying-in-state and there was some regret that we were not in London this time for her own. However, friends (thanks Trine!) were there and sent us these photographs:
A whole era has gone with the Queen’s death which has represented so much of our own life-span. As for those anti-monarchical spoilsports who derided the whole occurrence I should just say this that I couldn’t disagree more. Please remember that of the twenty-seven members of the European Union seven are hereditary monarchies. That’s almost a third! In addition three other hereditary principalities (Monaco, Andorra, and Liechtenstein) remain affiliate members. All these dynastic states happen to be among the most stable, liberal and prosperous countries in the EU. They are also happy to remain in that Union unlike the UK which voted itself out not because of any influence by the monarch but through a skewered campaign of lies by oligarch-funded western capitalists.
Queen Victoria united dynastic Europe through the marriages of her children. Queen Elizabeth united a post-war Europe through her magnetism, her smile, her dignity, her courtesy and her supreme sense of human values. She will never be forgotten. May her soul rest in eternal peace.