GREETINGS FROM NEW YORK, NEW YORK!
I arrived at JFK airport at 7:30 Sunday evening to a warm welcome from my brother Billy, his daughter Kyla, son Chasen, wife Jennie and my parents!
Have five weeks really passed??
The last you heard from me it was the morning of my Pesaro concert.
4 days later let me tell you what an outrageously fantastic time was had that night!
We arrived in Pesaro at the Conservatory of Music, Gioachino Rossini. It's a music school that has produced such names as Tebaldi, Del Monaco and Corelli.
While the La Musica Lirica team was waiting downstairs at the entrance to the school...
I ran upstairs to take a look at our venue:
Not too shabby if you ask me!
It was a glorious night in the Salone Pedrotti. This is what the Conservatory webstie has to say regarding the Salone Pedrotti:
"All'interno del Palazzo Olivieri è collocato l'Auditorium Pedrotti, elegante e
capiente sala da concerti costruita ed attivata nel 1892, dieci anni dopo
l'inizio dei corsi dell'Istituto.
L'Auditorium Pedrotti, con pavimentazione
in legno, dotato di pianoforte gran coda Steinway e grande organo a canne a tre
tastiere, è caratterizzato da un'acustica eccellente"
[At the interior of the Olivieri Palace is located the Pedrotti Auditorium, an elegante and capacious concert hall constructed and opened in 1892, ten years aftern the Institute began classes. The Pedrotti Auditorium, with wooden floors, furnished with a Steinway grand and a great 3 manual reed organ, is characteristc of acoustic excellence.]
Sadly, only one of my 3 Boheme performances was video recorded. Fortunately, the recording was at this very special venue. Aside from being the theatre for the Rossini Conservatory, The Salone Pedrotti is home to Pesaro's Rossini Opera Festival. The Rossini Opera Festival is a very important annual summer opera seriers which presents some of the best singers in the world.
It was a dream come true. At this point in my life, having performed Boheme in 2 different productions with 3 different casts in 5 different theatres/locations, I am proud and confident to say that this was the best venue by far. To sing Rodolfo in Italian, in Italy, for an Italian audience, in Rossini's home town, with an Italian orchestra, in a theatre designed exactly for that purpose is INCREDIBLE! The acoustics were amazing, the setting was perfect. Every element was in place for our cast, crew and orchestra to do their best and it was a successful night.
After the show Maestro Rescigno congratulated me, all of my friends and collegues expressed that they thought it was the best we had done. They were all so proud. If the excitement and support from my La Musica Lirica team wasn't enough for me to be myself I was stopped in the streets by several of the orchestra members who not only congratulated me but asked me if I would come back next year. They demanded that I return next year! What an honour! One of the orchestra members, Matteo, had tears in his eyes and told me that it was a pleasure to work together and I had done such a great job, that the performance made him very emotional. While on a high from those compliments I strutted down the street with my chest high and a smile wide from ear to ear. I couldn't go very far without being stopped by audience members strolling down the cobble stone streets of Pesaro screaming Bravo, Bravo BRAVI!
I even received a few "Bravo"s after my aria!!!!!!
Friday was a relaxing day. My friend Giulia, violinist from Milano, come to see the show and we spent the afternoon in Rimini.
We had out final meeting on Friday where I received my certificate of completion of the Italian Course. I scored the highest grade on the most advanced level (the highest level they offered) B1, 95 out of 100. I picked up some of the enormous posters:
We left at sunrise Saturday morning for Rome.
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| A phot of Maestro Joeffry Price and me in Rome, Italy |
And good bye Italy!
And so the adventure of a life time has come to an end. These amazing experiences, people and places are a part of my life because of you all who helped me emotionally and financially. I hope that these updates brought you some insight into the opera world and my world.
I plan to update with some more recollections and photos from the different concerts as they become available. In the meantime, thank you again and please keep your comments comming!!!
With gratidude,
Joe Brent
