This is the final comment I made in Europe to end our summer festival tour. When we arrived back in Italy from Spain, we went straight to Viterbo from Rome, only we took the wrong train. It went to Viterbo, but it took six hours. Any way, my bass never made it from Rome on the bus that the festival sent to get it. It stayed for many days in Rome before Melissa threatened Claudio Ferri, the organizer, and my bass showed up that day, with out its case and in the back of the smallest car I've ever seen, with two guys in it. And claudio looks at me and says: "Va bene, Robin?" little did I know, this was to be the beginning of a very long month.......
For any of you interested, the Festival in Italy is Named "Tusia Opera Fesival." It takes place in Viterbo, Italy. Home of the Pelengrino. I do not recomend the fesival, but the city is nice. I only wrote this one post...
Viterbo Italy, Tuscia Opera Festival.
Hi all, I have to apologize to all of you for not writing more this past month as Melissa and I have been in Viterbo, Italy. The truth is that we have had one of the most challenging times of our musical careers here. This festival has tested our professionalism and tact far beyond the limits I have ever experienced. I made the decision early on not to write a daily blog because I believed then, and have felt even stronger since, that it would have been counter productive and would have given all of you a very negative view of our experience here in Italy. My daily journals would have portrayed a feeling of betrayal by the festival from the moment we arrived to the present (as I sit in our hotel room waiting for the night to pass so we can board our bus to Rome and catch our plane home). Without going into extensive nagging details, our original contracts were only honored when we strongly stood up for ourselves, and were constantly treated like unwanted step children. The organizers of this festival wore their priorities on their sleeves, as they drove their fancy Mercedes Benz’s while the musicians were made to walk close to 4 miles a day with their instruments to sit through five hour rehearsals, some lasting until 2am. Ben Willow and I have hauled our basses on our shoulders for close to a hundred miles in this month. When we asked for help, we were asked why we were not wearing the correct clothes and then lied to about the availability of transportation. I shortly solved this problem by befriending the driver of the “equipment van” who had to smuggle us out of the venue every night with our instruments so the staff wouldn’t know. I have to say that I am confused as to the level of neglect that we have been treated with, especially from a festival which not only encourages students to participate, but also charges them money to come. Those of us who were on scholarship had the terms of our scholarship changed at one point or another and had to stand up for ourselves.
Musically, I have grown so much since the last time I played this festival (summer 2005) that the first time I may have not been aware of the injustices as clearly, or the division of musician/administrator as they were so crystal clear to all of us this time. Maybe things were different last time. Musically, I played on the same level as the orchestra, if not above, and I used this time to reinforce all of my lessons learned in Canada and improve while playing a lot of music with little or no preparation. I will not return again.
A list of things we played while we were here: Beethoven’s 2nd Symphony, Mozart Piano Concerto #21, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Exultante Jubulie, Mozart’s Mariage of Figaro, Donezetti’s Elixure of Love, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and a midnight performance of the Symphonie Concertante for Double Bass and Viola (performed by the rebellious UNM string and oboe ensemble including two horn players from NY.)
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