MY TWO LANDS OF SONG

Yes, it's been a while. Sometimes life intervenes but I'm back today to tell you how happy it makes me when a special event links my two countries, Wales and Italy, especially when my home town of Cardiff is involved.

Cardiff Singer of the World is a prestigious classical music competition which takes place biannually in the Welsh capital. This year sixteen competitors arrived in Wales to take part and five were selected as finalists. All were worthy but after careful consideration the 29-year-old bass Adolfo Corrado from Salento (Puglia) was declared the winner. He looked absolutely amazed but also, of course, delighted. Asked how he felt, he replied, "Distrutto" and the audience went wild when he said he had learned just one word of Welsh, diolch - thank you. 

Adolfo studied at the Tito Schipa Conservatory in Lecce and this year has performed in Don Giovanni in Valencia and Il barbiere di Siviglia in Bari. He now lives in Florence and I am sure we'll be hearing much more of him in the years to come. Good luck, Adolfo!

You can watch the international version of the final on the BBC 4 website but I don't know for how long. I love the shots of dear old Cardiff at the beginning and towards the end, at approximately 2h.23m., you can see the winner announcement and listen to a very fine rendition of the Welsh national anthem. I have a feeling that Adolfo will be learning it!

STARS IN MY EYES

Here I am, almost a week late in posting about the 73rd Sanremo Festival of Italian Song, life and a storm (of which more below) having intervened. I always enjoy Sanremo but this year's festival did not get off to the best of starts, with the singer Blanco (one half of the duo which won last year) deciding to kick around the roses and mostly destroy the set because he had problems with his headphones during his performance. The Mayor of Sanremo was appalled, as were others, and pointed out how much work and time goes into the care of such flowers and the creation of such a set. He did, very tolerantly, I thought, add that we have all been young, and then called for an apology, which was, by all reports, forthcoming. The last I read on the incident was that the singer has been banned from the festival for the next three years. For me the evening was saved by the much loved singer and co-presenter Gianni Morandi, who calmly arrived on stage with a broom and swept like a pro. Do bring your broom round to my house if you find yourself in Sicily, Gianni! There might be a Welshcake in it for you.

I missed the second night of the festival because I fell asleep and on the third night Masterchef Italia was airing on another channel and claimed my attention but the following night's "Cover Night", when the singers in the competition perform versions of other artistes' songs (with another singer of their choice if they wish), was, as always, the best night for me, with the eventual winner of the festival Marco Mengoni giving a wonderful rendition of  Let It Be with the Kingdom Choir.

The final night featured two other scandals, or maybe three if you object to uterus-shaped jewellery (worn by co-presenter Chiara Ferragni), a minor one occurring when guest star Gino Paoli inappropriately began recounting the long-ago marital indiscretions (which may or may not have happened) of the partner of another artiste of his heyday and a major one when the rapper Rosa Chemical began twerking at Fedez, seated in the front row, and then dragged the latter onto the stage and snogged him. Signora Ferragni, who happens to be married to Fedez, was said to have been not exactly happy. Neither were many viewers and official complaints quoting "obscene acts" have been presented to the Public Prosecutor of Sanremo. Hmm. I leave the last word on this incident to the Sicilian comic Fiorello who, being interviewed by mobile phone on the show, commented that the next day all the papers would be talking about the clothes and the kiss rather than the songs - and they were.

The clothes, of course, help make Sanremo the fascinating entertainment that it is but I have to admit my eyes were on - well, the eyes. As an older woman, I have been aware for several years that I should by now have thrown out any black eyeliner lurking in my makeup drawers and opted for brown or at least navy blue and I have followed this advice. But black eyeliner was certainly back in vogue at Sanremo, and lots of it, on both young and older artistes. When I was young we all slapped it on after seeing Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra and I remember, at around the same time, an article in a teenage magazine in which the singer Dusty Springfield recommended not taking your eyeliner off at night, but leaving it on and painting the next day's liner over it. I tried this till the substance caked so much that I couldn't open my eyes. It all continued to look great on Liz Taylor and Dusty Springfield, though!

The worthy winner of the competition as a whole was, as I have mentioned, Marco Mengoni with his song Due Vite. I'm not usually very good at predicting the winner, but this time, I managed it - a superb song and fantastic performances. And well done, Sanremo (a town I have visited and remember with affection) and Rai.

In the eye of the storm

A storm like no other I have experienced in nearly eighteen years in Sicily began during the evening of Wednesday 8th February and I had begun to be concerned in the late afternoon when I read that all schools in Modica were to be closed the next day because of bad weather.

By mid-evening, the rain was pelting down relentlessly and I was surprised that the electricity supply held and enabled me to watch Sanremo at all. It didn't in several other areas of the city and I later learned that some homes were without power for as long as 36 hours. The difference between this violent storm and others I have witnessed here was that this one lasted so long - there was no let-up at all until Friday evening, schools remained closed, we were all asked to go out only for essential reasons and I had begun to think that it would never end. It was an extremely scary event to live through alone. 

My bedroom flooded, probably because the windows look out onto an open field, whereas the other rooms are partly protected by the surrounding buildings. The rug I keep near the bedroom balcony door became hopelessly wet very quickly and, searching a cupboard for some item to replace it, I came across a box of mat-sized absorbent pads, made of cotton wool backed with plastic, which I had bought when my dog was a puppy. (They didn't work because my dog thought they were for eating and then destroying.) I placed them on the bedroom floor and am happy to report that they did the job, absorbing a lot of the water and at least preventing things from becoming any worse. 

The whole Province of Ragusa was affected by the storm but Modica was particularly badly hit this time. Trees and masonry fell, roads became impassable and in the Old Town café tables and chairs were just swept away by the water coursing down the main street. Everyone I have spoken to this week had had to contend with water, to a lesser or greater extent, getting into their homes and it is not an experience any of us wish to see repeated. However, as Sicilians say, this time "Siamo qua" ("We are here"). 

ONE SAD SICILIAN

You didn't have to be watching the match between Italy and Belgium in the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship (confusingly taking place in 2021 because of the pandemic) last night to know that Italy won! I happened to be reading, so just followed the cheers from the bar opposite and the surrounding houses and believe me, it is nice to hear happy sounds outside again.

One Sicilian, however, will have been not exactly sad, but perhaps not quite as exultant as the patrons of my local bar, and that person is the Italo-Belgian singer, Salvatore Adamo. Born in Comiso, about 20 miles from where I am writing now and still in the Province of Ragusa, Salvatore Adamo emigrated to Belgium with his parents at the age of three. He now has dual nationality but this did not become possible until 2010. Now 77, Salvatore Adamo of course became famous as just Adamo all over the world, singing mainly in French but also in Italian and other languages. In 2018 he was awarded the Premio Tenco for helping to make Italian music and culture known in other countries.

Speaking about the Euros earlier this week, Adamo said that, like other Italo-Belgians, he would be supporting Belgium as a thank you to the country he has lived in most of his life, although they all keep Italy in their hearts. He said he was sure Italians would understand and I think he is right.

I followed Adamo's music in my youth as a French and Italian student so it is always nice to hear from him. Here is my all-time favourite Adamo song:

 

TWO FLAGS

Two lovely flags flew from my balcony today, for the occasion of the Italy - Wales match in the Euros 2021 in Rome.  

I love both countries but should confess that I don't love or understand football. However, sometimes you need to go with the flow and even I could see it was a good match. 

For me the anthems were the best bit and I must say the Italian commentator made a valiant attempt at pronouncing Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau.

Well done, Italy and onward, Wales!

DOMENICA MUSICALE

DOMENICA MUSICALE

Buon Anno a tutti! Happy New Year!

SABATO MUSICALE - FOR WALES

No words from me are necessary.

FOR ITALY, WITH LOVE

At the end of a tragic day for Italy, there is little that I can add to the news updates that you will all be following in your own countries but here are some snippets:

As I write, just before midnight in Italy, the death toll is 159 and 368 people are reported injured. Rescuers are still working, however, so these figures are expected to rise.

Early this evening the Mayor of Amatrice said that he thought 100 people were still missing in the town.  There is said to be nothing left of Amatrice and for me the most poignant image of the day has been of the town's clock tower with rubble all around it and the clock's hands resting at 3.36, the time this morning when the earthquake struck,  [Eerily it was at 3.32 am on 6.4.09 that the L'Aquila earthquake struck.]

A ten-year-old girl was pulled out alive at Pescara del Tronto after 17 hours. Sadly her sister has died.

A 28-year-old Sicilian man from Siracusa Province was pulled out from the rubble of the bakery where he had been working in Amatrice this afternoon.

The youngest victim was an 8-month-old baby.

At least 1,000 people have lost their homes.

Reports of strong aftershocks are coming in frequently.

In Ascoli Piceno 20 asylum seekers have asked if they can go and help the rescue effort in the village of Amandola.  In Gioioso in Reggio Calabria 75 migrants have offered the allowance they receive in Italy to families affected by the quake. I am sure that other migrants and refugees are also offering help.

People around the country have been queuing to donate blood since the first news of the quake broke.

If you are in Italy, you can donate €2 by texting a message of support to the number below or by calling the number from a landline:

You may find other ways in which you can help here.

Food blogger Paolo Campana has come up with the idea of raising funds through Amatrice's famous pasta dish: for every plate of spaghetti all'amatriciana ordered, participating restaurants will donate €2 to the earthquake fund via the Italian Red Cross:

The Italian information hotline number for the earthquake is:

800 840 840

It may seem that there is nothing we can say or do but we can donate funds if we are in a position to do so and blood if we are in Italy. There is also a need for underwear and blankets for the many displaced people and these should be taken to your nearest Protezione Civile branch if you are in Italy. [Please check with them first.]  But most of all, Italy tonight needs our love.

Albinoni [attrib.] / Giazotto - Adagio in sol minore

BUONA NOTTE DI SAN LORENZO 2016

Here's some soothing music for la notte di San Lorenzo, when Italians look for falling stars. If you see one, you must make a wish or say a prayer. But don't panic if you don't see a shooting star tonight - they should be around for several nights afterwards.

The guitarist is Giovanni Baglioni, son of the singer Claudio Baglioni.

Giovanni Baglioni - Quando cade una stella

Me looking for shooting stars in 2009

DOMENICA MUSICALE

I need to calm down, so I'll let Mr Einaudi do the honours again this week:

Ludovico Einaudi - Oltremare

SABATO MUSICALE

Ludovico Einaudi has no competition this week!

Ludovico Einaudi - Elegy for the Arctic

ENNIO....AT LAST

As I hoped when I posted my sabato musicale at the weekend, 87-year-old Italian composer Ennio Morricone at last won an Oscar for a film score on Sunday night. The maestro had been awarded an honorary Oscar for his career in 2007 but, despite being nominated five times over the years, had not won an Academy Award for Best Score.

All that has now been put to rights with the award for the score of Tarantino's The Hateful Eight and the director, like the whole of Italy, is delighted. How could Italy and the world not love a man who, in his acceptance speech, dedicated both the score and the award to his wife?

Here is an excerpt from another of my favourite Morricone scores:

SABATO MUSICALE

Congratulations to Ennio Morricone, who was awarded his well-deserved star on the Hollywoood Walk of Fame yesterday. Speaking at the ceremony, the composer said,

"I always try to create a soundtrack which pleases both the director and the public, but it must also please me."

This may explain the constant integrity of his music.

Here's an old  Morricone favourite of mine, which became well known in Britain as the soundtrack to a 1981 TV series about David Lloyd George:

Ennio Morricone - Chi mai

The 87-year-old maestro is hotly tipped for an Oscar for The Hateful Eight, so let us wish him luck.

CHRISTMAS SWEETHEART

It is safe to say that, following Sunday's edition of the popular talk show Che tempo che fa, Adele is Italy's Christmas sweetheart.

Introducing her second song, genial host Fabio Fazio said he had not felt so emotional about a singer since having Luciano Pavarotti on the show, a remark which provoked twitter comments ranging from "He's right" to the Italian equivalent of "What a dick", with the majority in the former camp.

Already enamoured of the singer's voice, Italy fell in love all over again with her looks, her personality and, above all, her laugh.  Her anecdote about her grandmother stealing the Queen's loo paper at Adele's MBE ceremony brought the house down and when this clip, in which she said "Italia" instead of "Italy", was shown, Fabio was near to tears of joy. I swear I could hear all of Italy cheering! Italy being Italy, the topic of eating had to be mentioned and when Adele said she liked good food Fabio assured her she had come to the right place.

Comic and actress Luciana Littizzetto had the unenviable task of following Adele and her jokes about the shape of Fabio's backside were a bit of a bummer. Never mind, Luciana - I'm sure we'll be laughing again with you next week.

You can see the whole programme here.

HOMETOWN

However much we love our new country, sooner or later most expats feel like this:


But that wasn't the only reason I took a quick trip back to the UK a couple of weeks ago, as you will see.
Firstly, it was an opportunity to spend some time with my new-found sister and meet the rest of my birth family and their friends.
"We're having a little party for you tomorrow", announced my sister Jill upon my arrival. I was astonished and delighted to find that she had invited what seemed like the whole of Norwich and I must say, she was rather Italian about food, as it kept coming!  Don't you just love brother-in-law's specially made shirt?  

The "sisters" poster was made from a photo taken when Jill and her husband were here in Sicily last year and yes, there were fireworks too!
As I said, the delicious food just kept on coming.....

I very much enjoyed walking around Norwich with my sister and it made me feel closer to my birth mother to walk through the market there, as I had learnt it was something she often did.

Then there was a visit to the Norfolk Broads:

Here I am the next day, hair done and ready to go and meet my blogging friend Ellee Seymour for the first time!  We were off to London for a very special occasion indeed and Oxford Street looked beautiful from the bus:

The occasion was the Charles Aznavour concert at the Royal Albert Hall and all I can say is that both Monsieur Aznavour and the venue were merveilleux.  And thank you, Ellee, for the dedicated copy of your very interesting book, The Shop Girls. I loved it!

Wednesday morning and I was off again, to WALES at last!  I'd had the hiraeth for a long time, you see and I also needed to reconnect with the mum and dad who had brought me up.  Of course, I cried as the coach came into dear old Cardiff but was "the 'Diff" going to be ready for my Catania hat?

It turned out that it was and one of the first things I did was to have a walk in the park in the rain. I met up with lots of friends, gazed open-mouthed at the sheer number of new shops in my hometown and spent several hours just trying to orientate myself! I was very relieved to find that the universal greeting there is still, "Hiya, love".  
Later I visited the Senedd or Welsh Government building - it hadn't been built when I was last in Cardiff - and was impressed, especially when I was told that it is probably the first Assembly in the world to have achieved gender equality in its membership.

These lovely gentlemen deserve a BIG photo all of their own for they are none other than the members of the fabulous Cardiff Arms Park Male Choir and they kindly allowed me to attend their rehearsal. There's nothing like the sound of a Welsh male voice choir and a more rousing version of the Welsh national anthem I have never heard in my life!

There was another concert, this time at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and performed by the students of the Brass and Percussion Ensembles. I'm sure some of these young people are going to be stars.   I had to have a "full Welsh" breakfast before leaving and the dear friend I stayed with lovingly prepared this excellent Jamaican Pepperpot Stew.  Then it was time to go and, as I passed the entrance to the Castle grounds at twilight, I couldn't help shedding some tears for the little dog I walked there so long ago.  "Ta'ra, love", I said to the 'Diff.  "I'll try and come back soon!"

Not that Cardiff is full of "tumble- down old shack streets" and not that my friends there are "corny country cousins" but this is for my hometown and for them:

EVENING FESTA

On Sunday evening a friend invited me to enjoy the festa del Sacro Cuore - the parish festival organised by the little church on the corner, which I hold in great affection - from her nearby balcony and I was delighted to accept.

The festa consists of special prayers and religious services and then, in the evening, the statue of Christ is carried around the district to joyous music and with a crowd following it.  On the route, people put up charming little altars where the procession and passers-by can stop for a moment to pray or think. An hour or two later the statue is brought back to the church, to the accompaniment of even louder music but the celebrations are not finished yet!  Christ is taken for three speedy turns around the square before he can rest!  Then the fireworks begin and I must say, what Modica lacks in population it makes up for in producing noise on these occasions.  

Luna Rossa, a Renzo Arbore cover band, played in the church courtyard throughout the proceedings and were still going strong when I left, just before midnight.

My friend, her family and I also enjoyed these magnificent pizze, from left to right, a wild boar sausage and rocket one [which I hadn't tried before and which was delicious] a Margherita and a capricciosa:

A cynical stranger might say,

"Is that it? A few stalls, a band and a statue being carried around?"

This, however, would be to miss the point, which, apart from the religious aspects of the event, is to be together.

Luna Rossa, Renzo Arbore Cover Band - Luna Rossa

"READY FOR LIFE"

There were those, as Mr Renzi said at the opening of Expo 2015 today, who thought that Italy would never be able to get it ready in time. Yet it did, and now, as the Premier also said, it has the six months of Expo in which to prove itself worthy of the responsibility.

The prelude to today's opening of the exhibition site was last night's televised concert from Milan. The undoubted stars were Andrea Bocelli and Lang Lang who, along with Simone Piazzola, Maria Luigia Borsi, German soprano Diana Damrau and the company of La Scala, performed against the fabulous backdrop of the city's illuminated cathedral. I must say I thought that Miss Damrau should have been advised against wearing a [presumably real] fur stole and perhaps she was, but otherwise it was an uplifting and dignified show, reminding me of why I still love Italy.

As always, in this country, there are contradictions - the wonderful and the absurd: I read recently, for instance, that the organisers of Expo were finding it difficult to find the employees they needed because young people had decided they didn't like the shifts [presumably the idea of working through the lunchtime and the summer]. In a country where it is notoriously difficult for young people to find any work at all, this just makes me want to cry or scream - I'm not sure which.

The wonderful, the absurd - and the ugly, of which we have seen plenty today in the form of "Black Block" protestors who have devastated Milan, damaging property, setting cars on fire and terrifying locals and visitors alike. The good news is that the Milanese have not caved in and by mid-afternoon the Italian media were carrying photos of bar and shop owners clearing up the mess in the streets themselves.

Sicily, I'm happy to report, is being well-represented at Expo, as the region was chosen to coordinate the Bio-Mediterranean Cluster, the largest of the themed pavilions, in which 12 countries are participating. The Cluster focuses on biodiversity and the Mediterranean diet. Sicily also, of course, features in the Italian pavilion, where a Sicilian square has been created. Two Sicilian "guest stars" at Expo are the "Dee di Aidone" or "Aidone godesses", acroliths of Demeter and Persephone which have travelled from the Aidone Museum [to which they were returned by the Bayley Museum of Virginia University in 2009]. I hope the ladies enjoy their trip!

Now I want to tell you about a great gesture of solidarity that has already come out of Expo and it is this: following last week's tragic events in Nepal, Nepalese workers on their country's pavilion understandably wanted to go home. Everyone was sympethetic when they did so and their pavilion was finished, voluntarily, by other foreign workers in their spare time and by Italian Expo employees from Bergamo and Brescia.

Finally, there couldn't have been a dry eye in the house this morning when the children in this video clip changed the line, "We are ready for death" in Italy's national anthem to "We are ready for life", a sentiment also expressed in Mr Renzi's speech

Thank you, Corriere della Sera:

JIMJAMS IN CATANIA

Images: Lorenzo Fragola on facebook

The city of Catania was one of the 24 chosen by McDonald's to participate in their "World's Biggest Breakfast" event on Tuesday and everyone who attended thought it was the cat's pyjamas, according to reports. This was especially so when Lorenzo Fragola, the catanese singer who won Italy's X Factor in December, appeared and sang in his very cute pyjamas.

The breakfast event took a different form in each of the cities, in order to appeal to the various cultures involved, and the Catania restaurant decided to turn it into a pyjama party - perhaps because the country produces such stylish nightwear. Anyone who turned up in decent, unscruffy pyjamas got a free brioche and hot drink, plus the opportunity to enjoy young Mr Fragola's music.

The twitter hashtag for the worldwide event was #imlovinit24 and, at the risk of being a spoilsport, I'd just like to put in a plea on behalf of English language teachers here: it's the devil of a job getting students to remember that certain verbs, including those that denote likes and dislikes, are not usually used in the present continuous and the "I'm lovin' it" campaign has not helped us! Yes, I know that the language is constantly changing and that the form is likely to become widely accepted in the not too distant future but for the purposes of most exams, it is not acceptable yet!

SABATO MUSICALE

The soprano Magda Olivero died on Monday, aged 104. La Scala honoured her with a minute's silence before that evening's performance.

Magda Olivero - Un bel dì vedremo

SABATO MUSICALE

Let's hear from soprano Daniela Schillaci, who is to perform in the wonderful setting of Modica's Villa Anna tomorrow night. Here she is in Norma at the Teatro Antico, Taormina, in 2012:

Daniela Schillaci - Casta Diva [Norma]