Italy is Over! For now!

So. I said I would update regularly. I got halfway through I guess. Do I get points for that? Regardless, where was I!?

The next three important things that happened were some of the most fun I had during my time away. The three scenes concerts. Over the three concerts we each performed the scenes we had been assigned in three wonderful venues. The first was a 13th century castle in Piobbico, where we performed in the old throne room. Here I got to perform the scene from L’Egisto (Cavalli) and it was like singing in a bathroom, it was such a wonderful and easy acoustic to sing in. The second concert was in Urbino, a university town about half an hour outside of Urbania where we performed in one of the most beautiful small opera house. It was one of many ‘oh wow I am in Italy moments’ that kept popping up throughout my stay! Here I sang Alfredo in the Brindisi, Gernando in Haydn’s L’isola disibitata and Arturo in the sextet from Lucia di Lammermoor. Concert three was my favourite, occurring on the next Wednesday in Urbania itself in the Teatro Bramante. It was my favourite because we got to sing in the town we had being annoying with our obnoxious singing for a month, but also because I got to sing my favourite scene, Sento un certo non so che from Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. The duet is so charming and fun to both sing and act, performing it with the crazy talented Emily Sierra helped make it even more enjoyable! 

This marked the final performance for the four weekers who left the following Saturday as we were heading to Verona and Venice. It was a bittersweet moment saying goodbye to all of the incredible people that we had become such close friends with in such a short time. An incredibly fun dinner marked their farewell and we got to see them all ‘graduate’ from Centro Studi Italiani! 

Our trip to Verona and Venice was next! We only got to spend a few hours exploring Verona before heading to the Arena di Verona to see Rigoletto. Much like seeing Don Giovanni in Milan, there is something surreal about watching Italian opera in Italy with a full house (or arena, whichever is more apt!). All of the singers were fantastic and the breaks in between all of the acts were a quiet relief, as marble doesn’t make the most comfortable seating, especially for three hours! 

The next day we headed to Venice. As with Verona and Firenze there wasn’t enough time to see the whole city, but it was such an incredible taster and now I know what to expect when I return! We got to see the inside of the St Marks Basilica and the Doge’s Palace. The Palace was the perfect example of the extravagance and wealth that was present in Italy at the time of its construction. Elaborate paintings and ornate gold frames covered every single surface, including the ceilings. 
On the return journey all were either asleep or frantically learning music for the new scenes that we had been given for the final six week concert in two weeks. I had been given ‘Caro Elisir, sei mio! Exulting pur la Barbara’ from Donizetti’s L’esilir d’amore. But before that we had the songs of our heritage concert on the upcoming Tuesday! I was lucky enough to sing three Items in this concert, the first being Sixteen going on Seventeen from The Sound of Music with my wonderful friend Shurmila, Tonight at Eight from She Loves Me and the role of Candide in Make our Garden Grow from Candide by Bernstein. This was a pretty special piece to perform, as it was one of the pieces I sang with my friends in my fundraising concert in Christchurch. 

The next two weeks consisted of very much the same, more wonderful coaches such as Nicole Cabell and Mira Zakai joined the faculty for brief stints we said farewell to Håkan Hagegård. A lot of my time in these two weeks was spent working on the L’esilir scene was so much fun! It was also a delight to work with Rachel Kobernick who was a perfect Adina to my Nemorino.

The my final weekend in Urbania found myself and a few friends swimming and relaxing by the beautiful river Cagli which was a much needed respite from the weeks hard work. The final week, like the rest of the program, seemed to go far too quickly and before we knew it it was the final concert. Everyone performed superbly and the whole evening was a success! The second farewell dinner happened the next evening and the next morning we were on the bus back to Milan. After farewelling all those who were heading to the airport, myself and a few friends headed into the city or a final dinner together. After saying goodbye to Rachel that evening and Calli the next morning I made my way to Lake Como for the day. I know this update has, like all my updates, a very limited scope as far as adjectives are concerned, so why stop here! The lake truly was stunning and the town of Como itself was also stunning and wonderful and all of the above. It was an excellent way to finish my time in Italy. Did I mention it was wonderful?

Then it was simply a matter of getting myself from Italy back to NZ! The travel was super easy and now I’m finishing this update as I sit back at University in Dunedin seven weeks later. 

There are many thanks to be made, the first to Benton Hess and all of the incredible teachers and coaches at Si parla si canta and Centro Studi Italiani. Thank you thank you thank you for the most surreal and life changing experience I have had in my young life so far! 

And also to everyone who helped make this trip a possibility. To every single human being who came to one of my fundraising concerts, to the Inspire Foundation, the Cheviot Lions, Paul and Carol Stigley and Columba College for holding a fundraising concert in my absence! The generosity of all of these people/organisations is staggering and I cannot thank you all enough! 

Please keep popping back here every now and then, as there are some exciting things coming up to round off 2017 and I cannot wait to share them all with you! 

Until next time,

Harry