Choir Tour of Tuscany 6 - 13 February 2008
05 May 2008
31 pupils and 5 staff set off very early in the morning and, flying with Ryanair from Prestwick to Pisa, arrived at the palatial Youth Hostel in Lucca in the early afternoon. We were greeted by our energetic local musical contact Elio Antichi and after settling in and going on a brief exploration of the pretty walled town, we rehearsed.
On Thursday there was more rehearsal, a pizza lunch in a local restaurant and an ascent of the Torre dei Guinigi, with its topknot of trees. This was followed in the evening by a magnificent concert performance of Puccini's Missa di Gloria by a choir and orchestra from Bologna in San Frediano Church, conveniently next door to the hostel. This included the Kyrie which we were later to perform in several concerts as part of the celebrations of the 150th anniversary Puccini's birth. Every member of the choir received a certificate at the end of the trip to acknowledge their participation in the memorial concerts taking place throughout 2008.
On Friday the demands of our schedule kicked in after two relaxing days and we set off early for Florence, bathed in the golden sunshine which lasted from dawn until dusk for all 7 days of our visit. The programme started with a visit to the Accademia, home of Michelangelo's David and an eye-popping accompanying array of sculptures. We then moved on to the Mercato Centrale and the San Lorenzo market, famed for its leather goods. Here the pocket money was severely dented by some. In the afternoon the cathedral district and its ice cream shops were investigated before we made our way to St Mark's Anglican Church in Via Maggio for a rehearsal. This was the one disappointing audience of the tour: when Mr Single arrived with three business colleagues the size of the audience doubled. However, the church was lovely to perfom in and it gave us an opportunity to sing through a large chunk of our repertoire.
Saturday morning in the sun drenched main square in Lucca could not have been more different. We shared a one hour concert with Elio Antichi's Coro Il Baluardo in front of a huge and enthusiastic crowd and parts of the performance were televised. We performed our unaccompanied repertoire, the highland dancers and the piper were a big hit and many compliments were gratefully received. After a quick lunch in the excellent restaurant at the hostel the coach took us to one of the leading marble workshops in Europe, where we were met by our other musical host, Lino Viviani, who is finance director of a company which supplies marble cut from the local mountains to buyers around the world. We were shown how the sculptures are produced from models and huge blocks of marble and cameras were banned as we had the chance to see the work in progress of leading sculptors, an opportunity not available to the general public. We then moved on to Pietrasanta cathedral for a brief rehearsal before a welcome break in a local restaurant where Lino had booked us a huge set meal, certainly a gastronomic high point of the trip.
The concert was shared with two top quality choirs, the Schola Cantorum of the cathedral and Lino Viviani's Coro Versilia. All remaining fears about small audiences were dispelled by the arrival of a large and enthusiastic crowd of concertgoers and the Loretto Choir rose to the occasion. There were exchanges of gifts with our hosts, who then threw a reception for all the performers in a nearby hall. Bedtime at the hostel was 12.45 ...
... and breakfast on Sunday was at 7.30 as we set off to perform in the morning service at St James American Church in Florence in front of a cosmopolitan congregation of 200 (including the Dobie family, who caught up with us as we arrived). Jonny Torrance piped the worshippers in and suddenly, after all the rehearsal and two introductory appearances in public, we had become a really good choir. We were rewarded with a standing ovation and CDs were snapped up eagerly. The rest of the day was relaxing, with a leisurely lunch in quiet Fiesole, from whose sunny heights there were panoramic views of the city, followed by a visit to the Uffizi Galleries, where The Birth of Venus drew everyone into the Botticelli room.
Another early start on Monday saw us on the road to Barga, twinned with Prestonpans and East Lothian. The journey up in to the mountains was spectacular and we gave a concert of lighter music, piping and dance in the delightful Teatro dell'Academia dei Differenti to an audience of 200 schoolchildren, doubly keen to see us as they had been awarded a morning off lessons. There was an exchange of gifts to celebrate the twinning and we were then escorted to lunch in a specialist restaurant and cookery college attached to the town high school. On the way we called in to meet this year's artisan in residence, a bagpipe maker who demonstrated the small pipes to us and demanded a song from us in return. At the cookery school Jonny Torrance caused a sensation by piping along the classroom corridors to announce the lunch break. We were then served a wonderful meal prepared and served by the 16-18 year old students and returned the favour by singing and (bravely) dancing on full stomachs. A walk to admire the 360 degree panoramic mountain view from the cathedral terrace was followed by ice cream in a gelateria run by a former resident of Dumfries married to a local man and typical of the population mix which makes Barga "the most Scottish town in Italy". We returned gratefully to dinner at the hostel and an early night.
We took a train to Pisa on Tuesday morning and the white marble of the tower and surrounding buildings glinting in the sunlight against a brilliant blue sky reduced the party to stunned silence. We had several hours to climb the tower, which still leans more than is comfortable even after the recent work reduce the tilt, and visit the cathedral, mausoleum and museum. In the Baptistry we were allowed to sing in order to experience the 6 second reverberation time and the sound of our last chord wafting round the dome was another musical highpoint.
There was some free time back in Lucca before our final concert, which was again shared with Il Baluardo. The setting was San Micheletto, a converted convent and now an arts centre. A good sized audience of friends and local music lovers made this the most rewarding performance in many ways. We were on Italian time, so the 9pm start became 9.20 and Il Baluardo's 20 minutes of music became 40, so by the time we started it felt like bedtime. However, no one was snoozing once we started. Elio's choir is absolutely top quality and we had to match that. As the programme went on the value of going away on tour as a unit became apparent. This was a very different choir from the one which had performed at the pre-tour concert in Chapel and was singing better than it had ever done before and better than any Loretto group in recent memory. The audience response was wildly enthusiastic and as we ended with the pipes and choir performing Amazing Grace in English and Italian it was clear that we had established links on the trip which would lead to continuing contact and return visits in the future. The reception afterwards turned out to be a full sit down meal and ended with the tables being pushed back and a lengthy Dashing White Sergeant, quickly picked up by our hosts. We walked back through the quiet, picturesque streets at 1.30, eagerly anticipating the 3.45 alarm call for breakfast and the flight home.
A major factor in the undoubted success of the tour was the enthusiasm and complete co-operation of all the pupils, despite the fact that many had nasty colds and sore throats: we bought up all the Strepsils and Panadol in Lucca during our stay. The staff of the hostel commented that this was the best behaved group they had received there and it was certainly a pleasure to be with them. This was a team effort, but a few individuals shone: Katy Thomson's solos in Pie Jesu, Nella Fantasia and the Puccini aria, Jonny Torrance's piping, the singing and highland dancing and Louise Edmond and Harriet Wood, Cara Ballingall's vocal solos and duets, Luke Bullard on guitar, instrumental solos by Shanice Tsang, Emily Sinclair and Rowan Fenion. Already people not mentioned will be feeling left out, so congratulations to all involved.
We very much hope that the tireless Elio Antichi and his Coro Il Baluardo will be visiting at the end of August and Lino Viviani hopes to bring Coro Versilia for a few days in the near future. These are very exciting choirs and we welcome the opportunity to return the amazing hospitality which they offered to us and hear them sing in Scotland.
The trip came in on budget partly due to careful planning and luck, but also because of the generosity of a large number of donors, supporters and funds. This help is gratefully acknowledged. The smiles on the tired faces as we tipped out of the coach back in Musselburgh proved that all the effort was all worthwhile.
Links to more photographs of the tour:
Il Baluardo 2
Il Baluardo 1
Teatro dell'Academia dei Differenti, Barga