We’ve been adventuring,  but are home again and battling the forces of nature threatening to take over the garden.  We may have fought to a standoff –  so  it’s time to get back to Foreign Writes and Venice – Sept-Oct, 2015.

There are so many music options in Venice it’s hard to choose among them.  Mostly, you can’t go wrong and the ticket prices are a fraction of those in the U.S.

IMG_0499A particular perk of our location is the five minute walk to La Fenice – Venice’s jewel of an opera house.It’s good to purchase tickets on line in advance as the house is often packed.

 

 

Tosca is gripping and beautiful.  It would be nice to have a more elaborate set,IMG_0980 though it’s pretty amazing what they can do with a few boards on the stage.

 

 

 

traviata veniceLa Traviata is a real disappointment – a contemporary setting.  I guess they think that will appeal to a wider audience, but in the process they’ve made Violetta a prostitute, not a courtesan, and dropped in a dance number – male and female – nearly nude except for cowboy hats???  In the process they’ve lost many layers of sympathy for our dying heroine – at least from me.

The orchestral performance of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano is thrilling, especially as our box seats put us so close to the orchestra.  How do they do it? IMG_0989 Such talent still seems magical to me.

 

 

 

 

IMG_1094Five minutes walk in another direction takes us to the Church of San Vital, deconsecrated, and now home to the Interpreti Veneziani – an absolutely top notch chamber group.  Vivaldi is their specialty, though they include other composers.  Their cellist, Davide Amedeo is unbelievable.  Watch them on youtube.  You’re in for a treat!

Of course,we can never resist stopping at one of our favorite gellaterias on our stroll home through quiet squares and lanes emptied of tourists.  The best part of the day!