There goes the long awaited concerti with orchestra in Italy.
First I arrived in Rome international airport, then there was a driver who came to pick me up. He looked in his late 70s. Licio was his name if I'm not wrong. This guy was speeding his way to Grosseto at 140-150km/h, gave me the chills throughout the trip, on top of that he couldn't speak a single word of English. That has to be one of the craziest rides of my life! More effort to be in the passenger seat than to perform both concerts!
I arrived in Grosseto at around 4pm. Too tired to do anything else, I went straight to bed and woke up the next morning at 5. Yes my body-clock was completely screwed.
We had a really nice rehearsal in the theater, few hours before the concert. Look at the time of the concert - that's 21h00 - where I live, that would have been 11pm! My goodness! Anyway the orchestra was very well prepared and Maestro Giancarlo De Lorenzo was really kind and friendly.
Since this was going to be a late concert, I decided to go to the city and find myself a good eating place. You know what it means to be in Italy? Simply means you will always eat well, in some cases, very well. I usually send photos of Italian food to poke friends who've been to Italy, there's no other way to make them jealous ;)
I found this little cozy restaurant. The food was really great and the owners knew I was performing in the evening. The service was excellent and all the food came on time :)
And Back to the theater
- Italy, just like in France, their concerts rarely begin on time. Why am I not surprised this time.
I think I have a better video somewhere on my Ipad, but I can't seem to find it. Perhaps I'll post it someday on YouTube when I find some time.
Well I would say this for me was quite a good performance taking into account of all the traveling obstacles and time differences. Not to mention I haven't practiced since I arrived in Paris 6 days ago.
Went to a wine place the next day to celebrate of course!
I spent a few hours at a music school practicing for the next concert in Lucca, and I had to practice Debussy as well for my recording the following week. Pretty intense! Well I'm starting to get used to this madness.
Then I got some news from the organizers that the concert might be canceled due to a Thunderstorm. Wait what? Thunderstrom!
Breaking news - Italy Severe Weather: 11 die after fierce winds and heavy rain batter country
Severe flooding has caused the canal-ringed city of Venice to reach historic high levels, peaking at 150cm (more than 5ft)
Thankfully this news was only published on the 30th, the day right after the concert.
Right.
We drove 3 hours right through a thunderstorm to perform in one of the most amazing places in Italy - Lucca.
Same story as Grosseto, this concert will begin at 21h15. Right after another Madam Butterfly concert. To my surprise it was a full house! What are the chances, with such crappy weather and at such a strange time. The hall was filled with tourists, mostly from Sweden.
This time I decided to record with my phone. The sound quality isn't as bad!
Bravo! That was it. 488 into the collection!
Next stop - Budapest