The cultural highlight in Pienza each Fall, at least for Carol and Roger, is the Pienza Opera Festival.
Now in it's 11th season, the festival brings to town opera students from across Europe, each hoping to be "discovered" and launch their professional careers.
This year's festival had 64 entrants from 16 different countries and three continents.
For two days, they performed before a panel of seven judges.
The judges came from opera companies in Germany, France, Belgium, and Italy.
Their job was to whittle the entrants down to the 16 who would perform in the finals.
Madame DuFarge sat in the audience through much of the preliminaries, knitting away on a pair of socks.
Two people who didn't get much recognition deserved some. Moira Johnson, our friend from Toronto, stage managed the event...shuffling schedules, assuaging the judges, and making the programs run on time.
...And Paolo Andreoili, whose vast knowledge of the entire canon of classical opera allowed him to accompany scores of singers, as they sang well more than 100 different pieces from dozens of different operas.
The preliminaries over, the festival moved on Saturday night from a rehearsal hall above the Pienza library to Chiesa San Francesco for the finals.
The church, built by Pope Pius II in the 15th century, boasted fragments of the original frescoes and better acoustics than the rehearsal hall.
The audience was a mix of local opera fans....
...proud parents of the contestants,...
...and people from professional opera companies on the prowl for new talent.
There was no question, all the finalists could sing.
(Important note: The video files below exceed the size restrictions of this blog, so we have linked to Google Drive...where the videos are stored. When you click on the links below, the video should open in a new window. These are large files. It may take a bit of time to load. When the video is finished, close the window, and you should return to this blog.)
(Important Note 2: A 15th century stone church and a cellphone recording of music are not conducive to high fidelity audio.)
YoungJun Park sings Verdi's Rigoletto
(Important note 3: If one of these links takes too long to open, close it and come back to it later. It will likely open right away)
But opera is as much acting as singing, so the judges were looking for people who could express the emotion the composer and librettist intended.
Rebecca Pieri sings Verdi's Aida
It's also a matter of stage presence. (Note how the judge sitting in front of the singer reacts to his body language.)
Francesco Bossi performs Donizetti
As the program wound down to the last few, there were several performances that stood out.
Lucrezia Venturiello performs San-Seans Sampson and Delilah
With the arias concluded, the judges adjourned to determine who would get auditions with several opera companies and who would receive stipends to further their music careers.
The contestants didn't wait around idly for the results. Please note in the two videos below, these performers are students who have never performed either of these numbers together before. They're winging it and having a great time.
Their final number is Verdi's rousing "Libiam Ne Lieti Calcici" from "La Traviata." In English, it's commonly know as, "The Toast."
The best part is, one night next July these singers will reunite to stage their first professional opera...outdoors, on the steps of the Pienza Cathedral.
We can't wait!
