Venice and the Grand Canal
Interlochen vice president for media, Thom Paulson and classical music host, Dick Wallace led a group of IPR listeners on a nine-day tour of northern Italy. Arriving in Venice on September 30, the 44 American tourists caught their first glimpse of the magical city’s canals, gondolas, arched bridges, palaces and little piazzas as they traveled from the airport by boat. The next day included a visit to St. Mark’s Basilica and the Doges’ Palace, once the residence of the city’s rulers and a symbol of Venetian power, and an evening concert by Interpreti Veneziani – a chamber ensemble that has received international acclaim.
The group traveled via Padova (Padua) to the great art city of Florence. The enormous artistic, architectural and cultural heritage of this “living museum” was on full display during a visit to the impressive Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo), one of the largest cathedrals in the world. The cathedral’s grand dome – a Brunelleschi masterpiece – and its Campanile (bell tower), designed by Giotto, are world famous. The evening’s entertainment featured a concert performance by Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the center of musical life in Florence.
While in Florence, the group visited the Uffizi Gallery, which houses one of the world’s greatest collections of Renaissance art, and attended a chamber concert by Amici dell Musica (Friends of Music) at Teatro della Pergola, Florence’s oldest theatre. A side-trip to Siena revealed a fascinating medieval art and pilgrimage center built on three converging red clay hills. After lunch at a local winery, the group toured the glorious Tuscan village of San Gimignano, a UNESCO World Heritage Site boasting 14 medieval towers. Then it was on to Milan, Italy’s center of fashion and industry, via the stunning coastline of the Riviera di Levante (the eastern part of the Italian Riviera). Along the way, they stopped in the peaceful seaside town of Pisa to see the famous Leaning Tower. During their two-night stay in Milan, the group enjoyed a tour of the impressive Gothic Duomo (Cathedral) and attended Donizetti’s opera L’Elisir d’Amore at the famed Teatro alla Scala.
On Thursday, October 7, it was back to the airport for the return trip home. All too soon, IPR’s Music Tour of Italy had come to a close – a whirlwind trip celebrating wonderful cuisine, breathtaking landscapes, magnificent art and architecture … and spectacular music heard in the very places in which it was originally performed. Viva Italia!