Concerto Finalmente, en Orgosolo

It was an early morning. I did not stay up too late, having fallen asleep sometime around 1:30a.m. I woke up at 7am, to a beautiful morning sky.
After having experienced a sky like this almost every morning, it has occured to me that all the artists painting those frescos of the light of God shining down upon the earth did not to need look very far for inspiration, if they were early risers. So today, I was an early riser. A charter bus picked us up on this morning, and took us to Assemini where we met up with the group that had been with us from day one. We were on our way to Orgosolo, an old mountain town, to perform in our final concert. I asked Gianluca how long it would take to get there. He said to me, "Oh, uh, one hour or so, very easy". An hour later I would ask Gianluca how long it takes, and he would say, "Oh, uh, one hour or so, no problem." But the weather was a problem.It had rained very hard the day before, and it was a rainy day today, and very windy. So the near three hour ride became an adventure. As it turned out, many of the roads we took had been washed out by a massive flood and is was interesting watching snow plows shoveling mud off the roads in places where the highway was down to one passable lane. But eventually we made it into the mountains.View from the van was a wonderful one as we made our way through some very narrow, and windy passages. Eventually we landed ourselves in Orgosolo
Below: Daevidas and Sophie fresh off the bus.where we headed to what was the best meal I have eaten yet.The table was laid out beautiful. Already laid out was the house wine, both Sparkling water and Natural water, and our first course, Antipasto. I took a few olives, some pancetta, a little proscuitto ham, a few slices of salcizze (Sardegnian sausage), Ricotta Cheese, and Parmagiano. All of it made fresh in Sardegna. All of it exquisite.
The Second Course was Ravioli, with a lamb meat sauce. Again very fresh, made with fresh pasta, and wonderful.The next was the main course: Ensalata (salad) and baby pig (I forgot the Italian name for it).I didn't eat much of this as I was already full and had eaten enough for the entire Offensive Line of the Rams (which really isn't saying much this year). Anyway, it's gotta be over, right? ....nope. Dessert. Sebadas. a dessert ravioli filled with fresh mozarella, lightly fried, and honey drizzled on top. Very light, not overly sweet, and my new favorite dessert.
A truly beautiful meal from start to finish. I was stuffed. Most of my time here I have eaten very lightly, apples, yogurt, and Salcizze, so this was a LOT for one sitting. And just a few hours before the concert. We packed up and headed for the Auditorium.
Okay, so I had said it was raining. I didn't realize Sardegna had declared a state of emergency and was requesting help from the federal govt. The flood had wiped out the sheep and Yaks. That's a problem, there are a lot of Yaks here. The emergency helicopters had been put on Yak rescue duty. Another problem was our auditorium flooded. Our concert was in doubt until the very minute we arrived. When we got there the stage was still wet, it was freezing cold inside, and we found out there was no piano. The acoustics were HORRIBLE, and I had forgotten my dress shoes. It sounded like outreach to me. So these were not problems, after doing Outreach shows for the past 3 years. But for the other established professionals, they were horrified (understandably, in some cases). And to top it off, there was another problem: There had been a death in the town. It is a small town, everyone is very close. The funeral was at 4pm. Our concert was at 6:30p. People in Small towns in Sardegna don't go to a funeral and then celebrate with an Opera concert afterwards. They mourn the loss of there friend. Final attendance was 9, not including our group, which outnumbered the audience. We decided to cut the program to 6 songs. I did three. Here's a shot during the show. Below: Rehearsing prior to start, with half of our audience already in attendance. Above: Sophie and Yali sing Ave Maria with Gianluca playing
Below: Gianni watches intently with wife Anna, while holding his nieceThere wasn't much to it. One of the people in attendance was the mayor of Orgosolo. He was gracious, and presented us all with gifts. The ladies recieved pieces of jewlery. The men recieved very nice necklaces with Sardegna pendants.
After a quick reception, we were back on the bus. And for three hours I enjoyed working on my Italian with Gianni, Anna, Karen, Liliana, Carlo, Sophie, some other guy, Gianluca, while the others tried to sleep. I would have slept myself, were it not for Gianni wanting to re enact the Finale of Verdi's Otello. And that was after he and Sophie sang every single Sardegnian song since before Christ. So I stayed awake, learned a little more Italian, sang O sole mio, Finiculli Finiculla, The Christmas Song, etc.. and took in what continues to be a very special experience with these extraordinary people.From the left: Carlo could sleep through anything, Liliana, myself, Gianni next to me, his wife Anna, and bottom right is Sophie.

Pics of days 3,4,5, and six in Sardegna

This is the view from Liliana's rooftop garden in Assemini.





Gianni was so sure I was Clark Gable reborn, he drew a mustache on me to show the group during dinner. Now I am known as Clark.






Iglesias





View from my balcony






view from my flat.





Our performance space for the first three concerts. The final concert will be in an old theatre in the oldest city in Sardegna, Orgosolo.




"Vieni, Butterfly!" In concert with Gianluca playing, Yali, and myself





Daevidas and I are wondering when the pizza is coming.







From the right: Emily wong (pianist), Sophie (mezzo), Daevidas(baritone), Analivia (harpist) and Gianluca enjoying a celebration of the first two concerts.






From the left: Gianluca, Don Carlo, e Donna Liliana Eirru. All founders of the Ente Concerti and our wonderful hosts.






Look at that tile work. Gianni did that all by hand.





Gianni ("Johnny") was commissioned by the city of Assemini to create the stations of the cross for the churches of the city. Each station is put in a significant place all throughout the city.





the steeple of the Church of Santa Lucia






in the church of Santa Lucia






Nice shot of homes in Assemini, the home town of all these wonderful people.






Cagliari




you can see where they built new stands where the old ones ended. This theatre was shocking, totally open air.


Merging the old with the new. The acoustics are wonderful in that ampitheatre. "Gianluca, why aren't we singing there?"




Overlooking Cagliari




Loading up to drive through Old Cagliari





I am in the car when I took this picture. Notice how close the camera is to the wall on the right. No wonder all the cars are so small.



Driving in the Old City portion of Cagliari






Gianni takes us into his shop where he shows us some of his works-in-progress. This is a plate/bowl which has not yet been fired.





staying by the fire to keep warm, Gianni chats with Karen (left), and Yali before the meal starts.






Daevidas chats with Gianni's dog, Lambretta (translates to "Scooter")






Toasting the end of a fine evening with AnaRosa as she pours me yet another glass of Mirto. "Basta!"
So much in so little time. The concerts have been a huge success. We have toured the city of Cagliari, seen many things, and had two other very long, wonderful dinners with friends.

When do we sleep?

After some very much needed sleep, a stone cold shower in a stall custom built for the people of munchkin city, and an apple for breakfast, we started day 2. Today was a rehearsal day as, after all, the concerts started tomorrow. So we were picked up by Gianluca, and driven the 45 minutes from Iglesias to Assemini where we rehearsed for most of the day at Gianlucas Family's house.




After rehearsal we had been invited to the home of Gianni e Ana Rosa, just three blocks away. Gianni is a potter. He is 4th generation, and his work is fantastic. He does everything from lamps, to plates and cups, tiles, frames, large bowls, and these large elaborate traditional plates. His work can be found all over Sardegna. Gianni is also very talented. He has a wonderful voice, he rhymes whenever he speaks, and is one of the funniest people I have ever met. So we were at his house, and the house of his equally spirited wife, AnaRosa.
After the antipast0 (first course), someone suggested we each go around and say the Our Father in the language of our native country. We started with Italian, then Sardo (the native language of Sardegna), Russian, Spanish, French, Polish (similar to Russian), English... Well, then Gianni decided to demonstrate the Our Father... first in Japanese, then in JIHAD. This is Video of his jihad 'Our Father'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VNRLmycszs . That is Gianni in a nutshell. Always joking, smiling, and, with his wife, welcoming new friends to the table. By the time dinner was over, it was well into the morning of day 3. It is impossible to end dinners like this when they are given. There is always another course, or something to sing, or a dance to be danced, or a story to be told. On this night, after six courses, after Mirto (dessert liquor), one of our new friends, Sergio, was invited to play his insturment, the Launeddas. It is a beautiful instrument, the instrument of Sardegna. It dates back as far as 1700 BC.
Finally, after all the talking, toasting, eating, laughing, dancing, and a final toast, we were able to sneak away, back to Iglesias, and rest for the concerts the next two nights.

quick touch

Hey fam,

Just a quick note. For the past two days I've been without a power source to charge my phone and computer, as well as use other things. Tomorrow that problem will be solved and I hope to get a blog up, as it is serving as my journal. I have many pictures to share, and a few stories to tell. I can say it is a wonderful experience, I will come back a better person for having known the people here, and I am looking forward to the next two concerts. Tomorrow, a press conference, rehearsal, and antipasto, no doubt.

A Whirlwind

It started with the flight. Cat drove me an hour to Newark, where I picked up an hour long shuttle ride to JFK. Three hours later, I was in a spacious Coach seat aboard a Delta flight where I spent the next 9 hours of my life. On that flight, I met up with one of our group, Yali ("Jollee") who was just a few rows back. After several failed attempts at sleep, I watched two movies, studied music, and made several trips up and down the aisle to stretch. After landing in Rome, Yali and I wandered around the concourse, as we had three hours before our connecting flight to Rome. Getting through Customs was very easy. I'm not sure it's going to be that easy coming back. After window shopping at stores like Dolce & Gabbana, Hermes, and other posh stores you wouldn't expect to find in an airport, we boarded a small flight to Cagliari, Iglesias. I was asked to move to the back of the plane to help balance the weight for flight.
We were picked up by the family that has run the music festival here for the past ten years. Gianluca, company administrator/accompaniast, and his mother, Lilliana. Lilliana was already documenting with her video camera as we made our way to them through the empty baggage claim area. Lilliana does not know much English. Gianluca's english is very good. Between the three of us we were able to communicate just fine. Gianluca drove us, in what was a relatively spacious car for Europe, to his family's house. This is Yali, and Gianluca's mother, Lilliana.
At first glance, it seemed a humble place, but once inside you see the love and care the family had put into the house. They had rennovated the entire place. Three floors, with a Terazza on the roof, where Lilliana has her garden.During the rennovation, they removed certain areas of the wall finish to expose the underlying old brick. This brick looks more like Adobe than what we think of as brick. There is rock, straw, mudpack. It's very interesting, but it has a wonderful effect. It is a warm place, comfortable, and welcoming.
So here we waited another several hours for Sophie (the groups mezzo-soprano) to arrive. Yali and I were both a bit hungry, and extremely tired, as it had been over 24 since we had slept. lilliana picked up on this and said she would make a "snack". okay, the snack was so much more. she had prepared several things, from simple sliced bread with Beautiful olive oil and vinegar, to preparing fresh green peas, she made a breaded, pounded pork which was wonderful. She also made a giant fritatta with green peas (one of her specialties). She offered us her home-pickled calliflower and dried tomatoes. They packed some serious punch, but were amazing. There was also a dried sausage called.....um, "saltuzza", I think. I'll check on that. She boiled a pasta only made in Sardegna, it was kind of like gnocchi, only smaller, and she made a light tomato sauce with it. Everything she made was from Sardegna, and it was all wonderful. And she does it all in a kitchen which can hardly fit one person. It makes the kitchen at Mom and Dad's look like the Claim Jumper Kitchen.
So we ate, we talked, had an italian lesson, all while fighting the urge to pass out from exhaustion. Eventually, Sophie was brought from the airport, and friends of the family came to meet the singers.
In the pic above, from the left, Sophie our mezzo, in the very back Lilliana is head back to the kitchen, to her right is Don Carlo, her husband, then Karen Saillant (the director of International opera theatre, the one who hired me), Emily Wong (one of our accompaniasts, and a wonderful pianist), and Gianni (a potter, a singer, a comedian, and more on him later).
Once we had the three singers that would be arriving on day one, we were driven an hour to our flat in Iglesias. It did not take me too long to put my things away and crash. What a day (or days). As I was falling asleep, I took a quick look at my phone..... 33 hours without sleep. I would sleep for the next 14.

Sardegna

Hi Family!

Just a quick note that things are well in Sardegna. The weather is nice, in the 50's, partly cloudy, a little windy, but sunny. The people are so very nice. Tonight we dined with family and friends of the Company directors. We had a 7 course meal, all made from scratch, meats aged and raised in Sardegna, foods unique only to Sardegna. It was all wonderful. We then had music from a player of the Launeddas, which is an ancient instrument, kind of like a small set of bag pipes without the bag. There was dancing, and many jokes. I've even started to pick up a little Italian. Tomorrow is our first concert, with Harp. I will keep you updated, and include some pics in the next blog, maybe tomorrow. Love you all.

Buona notte

-patrick-