Alpinist, explorer, linguist, anthropologist, orientalist, poet, photographer. He was all these things and we were off to visit him, or at least his house, Fosco Maraini’s house, since sadly this great man, this mind-expanding person had died almost twenty years ago.

Born in 1912 Fosco had a particularly strong relationship with China and Japan. His book on “Secret Tibet” is a must-read and his second wife was Japanese. Indeed, when the square dedicated to Fosco was inaugurated in Alpe Sant’Antonio there was a significant Japanese presence.

The ‘Serchio delle Muse’ festival had informed me that there was going to be a ‘concerto Lirico’- an operatic concert – at Fosco’s house. It would be a great opportunity to hear some good music and visit his house.

Recently Maraini’s house has become part of a network of places called ‘case della memoria’. They are all locations where some of the greatest Italians lived ranging from artists to writers to social reformers to composers to political figures. We already have visited some of these houses in our area. Opera composer Puccini, for example has two dwelling devoted to him and Poet Carducci even three!

Our sat-nav placed us near the end of a spectacular road below that Queen of the Apuan Alps, the Pania Della Croce which at a height of above 6095 feet may not be quite the highest of these wondrous mountains but is certainly the most majestic.

‘’You have reached your destination’ said the navigator. In fact we had only reached the beginning of a footpath, named after the famous explorer, which descended steeply in a magical wood. Could Maraini only have reached his hideaway by this path?

Stupendous views surrounded us across the beech and birch trees. The path was well-kept and someone had even cut the grass! However, there was no-one else on it. Were we truly going to come across a dwelling in this arcane woodland? Our way ranged from rocky stretches to turfed ones with plenty of slippery leaves. Eventually round a corner we came across a little settlement of shepherds’ house used for transhumance in the summer season when the pastures would be able to fatten up their flocks of sheep which in these parts produce the excellent pecorino cheese.

Now these hamlets are largely deserted but this one had a house bought up by a family from Empoli who directed us to the concert. Indeed they were going to the event too.

Fosco’s retreat from the everyday cares of a city life in Florence consists of two houses, one of which he completely restored to form a very cosy literary sanctuary. It was enchanting to see where this speaker of Japanese and Tibetan had produced his enthralling books. The Olivetti Lettera-22 typewriter now stood unfingered on his desk and behind it his library containing so many of his writings including that best-seller ‘Secret Tibet, a country which we too had visited and which still, despite conquest by its neighbour, contained many secrets.

Outside the house in the yard the tenor and soprano duet were singing a whole scene from that bloodcurdling opera ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’ which is based on a short story by Giovanni Verga, greatly admired and translated by D. H. Lawrence. It was the final scene where Alfio finds Turridu drinking in the village square after church and challenges him to a duel—a challenge which is sealed by the peasants’ custom of embracing and biting the ear. Turridu is, inevitably, killed by his rival in true Sicilian fashion. The singers were accompanied by a brilliant quintet of brass from the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the performances were applauded heartily by the audience of around a hundred souls.

But where had this audience come from? Which route had they taken to this bewitched place? We discovered that we had actually reached Fosco’s house by the most challenging route. There was also a private 4 X 4 road which was somewhat easier to use. Damned navigator! But we would not have missed our woodland walk and the views for anything!

The concert concluded not just with an encore from Verdi’s ‘Un Ballo in Maschera’ but with a nourishing buffet of Garfagnana delicacies including formaggio, prosciutto, salami and emigliaccio all nicely washed down by white and red wines. The local serving ladies did themselves proud!

Suddenly in the audience my wife noticed a very Japanese-looking veteran lady. Could she have anything to do with Fosco Maraini? Indeed! It was none other than his wife Mieko Namiki, with whom he lived in Florence at the family villa of Torre di Sopra near the Poggio Imperiale and who assisted him in organising his archive of photographs and rare books. It was a fortuitous meeting and Mieko and Sandra got on truly wonderfully. What a great lady is Mieko!

But how were we to get back? The thought of climbing back up that path was slightly daunting and it would soon be dark. This is when the mayor of Molazzana, Andrea Talani, stepped in. He drove us back to our car which had been parked near the chapel dedicated to martyred partisans of the last war and we had a good chat with him on the way.

Andrea is a very pro-active mayor who has done much to encourage people to visit his spectacular part of Italy. He pointed out to us the new footpath signage, the refurbished mountain hostel where a school party was enjoying their time in natural surroundings and also the amazing work done on restoring the fortifications of the so-called Gothic line. This was the last defence of the Nazi regime n Italy, even further out than the standard gothic line of Borgo a Mozzano. The German soldiers held out during the severe winter of 1944-5 but when the Allies finally broke through the line with sufficient firepower it was a hasty retreat by the Axis powers, over the remainder of the Apennines, across the Po valley, up to the foothills of the Alps and all finishing with the hanging of the Italians’’ once beloved leader, upside-down, in Milan’s Piazzale Loreto.

We reached home through the courtesy of Andrea but our evening was not yet finished. Our late evening was charmed by the silvery voice of 22 year old singer Charlotte Potter happily back in Bagni di Lucca after her debut at the Villa Webb aged just 17 in 2018. Outside Bagni di Lucca’s Teatro Academico and with a repertoire ranging from Rogers and Hammerstein to Mozart and Puccini Charlotte, a versatile cross-over soprano, entranced us and provided a sweet ending to a particularly memorable day.

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Addendum:

Fosco Maraini died in 2004 and wished to be buried in a cemetery in the Garfagnana. The one at Alpe Sant’Antonio was chosen and here is Maraini’s tomb:

 

For more information about this multi-talented guy go to http://www.foscomaraini.net/

Isn’t it amazing how a little-known place like Alpe Sant’Antonio can reveal whole new areas of knowledge! The entire region is a trekker’s paradise and is now particularly beautiful with its high summery (and wonderfully cool) ambience.