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A traffic-ridden square in downtown Sant’ Antonia d’Abate suited the band rather more than the choir and, despite abandoning all pretence at dynamics, the singers failed to make their constant fortissimo audible beyond the first row or two of seats: such was the level of general hubbub, sirens, horns, shouting, bells, buses and Vespas.
The rehearsal space provided by the hotel proved to be on a covered outdoor terrace overlooking the bay, with distant views of Naples, Vesuvius and Ischia: hardship indeed! Both ensembles tightened up performances significantly following the pre-tour concert back at Marlborough the previous Friday.
An evening concert in the local town of Sant’ Agnello found the choir in a beautiful parish church and the band in a local hotel. Following a request from the management, the choir also contributed at the hotel, singing the Tippett Five Negro Spirituals and their encore piece, Witness. Big Band mixed classic swing with more contemporary funk arrangements.
The following day, we took a spectacular drive along the Amalfi Coast, negotiating a succession of hair-raising, hairpin bends and narrow roads with cliffs often falling hundreds of feet to the azure Mediterranean below. That evening in Gragnano, the choir performed in the stunning, domed, church in Gragnano, while the band set up on the long flight of steps that ascends from the town square. Tavener’s Song for Athene drifted magically around the dome. Our generous hosts on this occasion were a local swing/fusion band, Musique, who provided a P.A. for the Big Band. Traffic ground to a halt to the sounds of Jerry Nowak’s True Blue and the party began, with those members of the choir who were not in the band leading the dancing in the streets.
From the Port of Sorrento, we caught a hydrofoil to Capri. What a stunning island! A search for the world’s ultimate Gelateria may have ended in the narrow alleys of Capri Town. A single-seater chairlift rises to the summit of Monte Solare, the highest point on the island providing views to match.
A quick swim preceded our return crossing and the subsequent evening concert in the Cloisters of Saint Francis in Sorrento. This beautiful venue hosted a joint concert with Musique but some bright promoter had arranged a large choral concert in the adjacent church of St Francis to take place at the same time. At regular intervals, the forte from the concert next door forced judicious pauses in our own choir’s performance. The boot was firmly on the other foot, however, when Big Band took to the stage and we heard nothing at all from the church!
Our remaining three days all involved excursions dealing with the infamous eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. We visited Pompeii (buried under ash), Herculaneum (buried under mud) and, finally, made the ascent on foot to the top of Vesuvius itself. Most of the treasures recovered from the two buried cities have been moved to the Archeological Museum in Naples, where we spent a fascinating three hours.
In Minori, on the Amalfi coast, we performed, again, outside. Here, the local police became quite adept at halting traffic while songs and musical numbers where in progress. The setting, looking out to sea through fringes of palm trees, was magnificent.
A power cut to all the street lamps in Sant’Agnello (our next venue) meant that some members of Big Band were left to read their sheet music by candle light.
There was no such problem for our final concert in Massa Lubrense, perched at the tip of the peninsula. Antique, high-sided cloisters provided a generous acoustic and both ensembles excelled, each prompting a standing ovation. In the absence of AJA, Big Band was superbly directed by Andrew Stansbury. A dog barked incessantly during Barry Ferguson’s Jubilate Deo with Faux-Bourdons, only to be outdone when a full-blown domestic row broke out in a window overlooking the cloisters but, by this stage, we had become so accustomed to the interruptions that they only added to the charm of this extraordinary concert.
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