In April 2018, we followed the choir trip of our boy to Padova, Vicenza and Venice. He’s a member of the school choir in Salzburg, which is internationally recognised and was many times awarded. For this year’s performance in Italy, the choir united boys and girls of two schools (age 12 to 18), plus professional orchestra musicians and the four voices: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists. In sum, there were 170 choir members in Italy, performing Mozart’s Requiem: Introitus, Kyrie, Dies Irae, Tuba Mirum, Rex Tremendae, Lacrimosa, etc. under professional conduction of Prof. Moritz Guttmann, and choir direction of Prof. Hannah Klinger and Prof. Gerrit Stadlbauer.
Looking from the parent’s perspective – we are very proud and grateful to everyone who collaborated on the organisation of the performance in Italy, starting from school teachers, choir members, Mozart who created one of the greatest masterpieces in all of classical music – the Requiem! We are also very happy that our boy is enjoying being a part of it! What an honour!
Padua. The city of Padua is one of the oldest city in northern Italy, founded in around 1183 BC by the Trojan prince Antenor. The University of Padua was founded in 1222, and one of its most famous lecturers was Galileo Galilei. The city offers picturesque architecture, ancient churches, and museums, vs. modern restaurants and fancy shops. We also visited the Miro’s exhibition that was organized by the Portuguese Museum of Contemporary Art. No photos allowed, plus overprotective and unkind museum staff. The worst place ever to admire Miro’s paintings, especially after visiting his museums in Barcelona (read my post here) and Palma (read my post here) .
Vicenza. The first choir performance was in Vicenza, at the Basilica Palladiana, which is a Renaissance building in the central Piazza dei Signori. The concert was supported by the local government of the city of Vicenza, organized by the Rotary Club of Vicenza. The performance was very well attended and enjoyed! Truly brilliant and what I understood from some informal little chats with two ladies from the audience, the city was honoured to host the choir from Salzburg that is well known as the city of music and Mozart. Oh, and Vicenza is very charming with fantastic restaurants and beautiful city corners.
Venice. The third day in Italy was all about Venice and the two concerts: the main one was at the Basilica di San Giovanni e Paolo, and the second one was a “gospel singing” for the church service at the Basilica di San Marco in Venice. We previously visited Venice several times, but never stepped into the Basilica di San Marco. This was also the first time for us to travel to Venice for a concert. The first time ever that our boy was singing in Venice 🙂 How fancy!
Finally here is one of my “not-so-easy-to-select” and absolutely favourite photo 🙂
Watercolours & more 