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-

A whole lotta cold goin on..

Hi Family! So I thought I'd hop on to give a quick update. Cat and I are doing pretty well over here in NJ. Recently I had a chance to go and hang out with the actual members of NazRock! We had a good time, ate at the Golden Arches, and I got to see the progress on the Kitchen and living room remodeling. It looks like the makings of what will be a wonderful space for food, family and friends.
It's getting cold. But it's wonderful to see summer into fall, into winter, and back into spring.
Cat's busy. Very busy. There's a lot going on. December 7th is her Recital, a Recital that will live in infamy, no doubt. She's working hard with two Choirs, including the world-famous Westminster Choir, which is recording an album this year. Last week we headed into New York. She had an audition with Diamond Opera Theatre, the same company I did Red Carnations with last Spring. After her Audition they hired her on the spot, asking her and I to present a recital on Valentines day, 2009. Naturally, the theme will be famous love arias and duets. It's a wonderful opportunity, and we love any reason to go up to the Hudson NY area. It's gorgeous up there.
In other semi-exciting news, things have been looking up for me. My official weight loss since June is now at 34 lbs. We have both set goals for ourselves, and are both doing great. I recently finished a production of a Vienesse Operetta called Sari.
It was a fun little production, and I recieved many complements from peers. Mom and Dad, Jose Melendez, a guy I often refer to, is the gentleman sitting down. I work with him quite a bit. Later this month I'll be a guest singer at a Faculty recital for Neumann College her in Philly. Jose will be playing for that.
Also exciting, I just found out I will be flown to Sardinia, the island off the coast of Italy, to sing in several concerts, participate in masterclasses in November. I will be spending Thanksgiving there, so sorry Wells fam as I will be there singing Italian favorites. It's a daunting task, having to sing Italian songs to Italians. But I'm looking forward to the opportunity to travel, be heard, and see a beautiful piece of the world. Cat will be back in CA spending thanksgiving with her Dad, Brother, and family. I'm sure she'll want to see every one of our side as well. She's already talking about it.
I've got to get to Church rehearsal. Things are busy out here. We miss everybody and think about you guys a lot. I'll post again soon, as things are ever-changing around here these days. God bless you family.

You wont find this on his website..

I thought I would move this discussion to a blog, since I've been so long winded. Those of you who don't know what I'm talking about can refer to our discussion on politics on the Nazarro blog entitled, "suspension of nazrock".

One of the few issues Obama has actually voted on is abortion. In fact, he's done much more than that. He's used it to "excite his base and raise money." In 2004 Michelle Obama sent out a fundraising email on behalf of her husband. The hook was the 2003 Congressional ban on partial-birth abortions. Even certain Democrats voted for the ban referring to it as, "as close to infanticide as anything I have come upon..." (Senator Patrick Moynihan, NY). In the email she describes the law as a "ban on a legitimate medical procedure" that "is clearly unconstitutional and must be overturned.......On march 16th we have a chance to nominate a candidate who will be tireless in the fight to protect women's rights." In 2007 Obama offered a statement against a Supreme court ruling upholding the 2003 ban. He said it was a restriction on "a woman's right to choose", and cited lack of "women's medical concerns". Family, he wasn't just talking about abortion. He was talking about Partial-birth Abortion. In 97 he voted "present" (effectively a "no") on two different partial-birth abortion bans that came to the floor. One bill passed, 44 to 5. Obama tried to explain that the bill contained no exception for the health of the mother in his book, Audicity of Hope. When is partial-birth abortion ever necessary to a mother's health? A health coalition, the Physicians Ad Hoc Coalition for Truth, a group of 600 doctors wrote,"Never is the partial-birth procedure medically indicated."
Obama wants to see all restriction on abortion erradicated. in 2007 speaking before the Planned Parenthood Action Fund he said "The first thing I'll do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act." Listen close, this bill would cancel every state, federal , and local regulation on abortion, no matter what. It would abolish all state restrictions on govt funding of abortions. If Obama becomes president and lives up to this promise, everyone who pays income tax would be paying to fund abortions. By promising to sign this into law, he's eliminating laws which protect our nurses (hey, I know a few nurses) and doctors from losing their jobs if they refuse to participate in abortions. He's promising to abolish requirements for parental notification and informed consent for mothers considering the procedure. There are Pro-life groups that argue it would even remove the requirement that only licensed physicians perform abortions.
This is one area where Obama has a real record.