Naples Fauré Requiem

I've been here in Naples a few days, and it's seemed like ages! My
old friend Detlef Roth is the baritone soloist on this concert, so we
have had a lot of fun hanging out and catching up. Tullio joined us
this weekend, as well as our friend Matteo from Turin. We've had a
grand ole time! We made the mistake of booking a hotel way in
advance. This is usually a good thing, but the problem is, nobody
told us the concerts weren't at the opera house! So we spent a bunch
of time going back and forth to the venue (farther out of the center
of town) in taxis or metro. Luckily, our hotel was in the middle of
the center of town, so we got to see a bit of Napoli. Anything is
fun with Matteo, so our walks around the town have been more than
entertaining! We have eaten and walked and eaten and walked. Not bad.
The concerts went well - it's a nice piece. Nobody thought to tell me
that Jeffrey Tate had such bad scoliosis (or whatever it is he has!) I
didn't realize he was so misshapen, so I was a bit taken aback that
someone could do such a physical activity as conducting with such a
handicap. I suppose it's NOT a handicap for him, then. Kudos.
Pardon me being frank, but it surely was the 10ton elephant in the
room that nobody mentioned. Only problem for me was the choir, which
is unfortunately the heart of this piece. The tenors would tilt their
heads back and bawl - always under pitch. This kind of all-balls-out
singing really does not favor French music (or any kind of music, if
you ask me...) so I had to make sure I didn't cringe when the tenors
came in. Luckily, they were a bit better for the concert, but
still. Hm. At least the sopranos were good!! The orchestra was a
bit unruly but pulled through in the end. Nice people, nice hall,
nice concert. Merry Christmas.
We're going to go to Mount Vesuvius tomorrow with Matteo, drop him off
at the Naples airport and then continue on to spend the night with the
Cuomos in Salerno before heading on to Martina Franca. It will be
great to see them again.