Happy 2023!

Hi guys, here I am again!

I closed my last post dreaming of my soon-to-begin holiday but... music managed to sneak its way right in the middle of it! I was about to spend 10 wonderful days in Croatia, worrying only about swimming, eating, and not getting a sunburn, when the phone rang: "Hi Alessandro! Last minute concerts! We have the opportunity to repeat in Croatia two programmes we did earlier this year! Will you join us??". So I said, "actually, I'm going to Croatia for my holidays, you know...".

"Oh, come on - said the voice on the phone - everything's ready, you just need to show up on the day and have a quick rehearsal before the concert, please...". Luckily the concerts were close to where I was about to go, so, in the end, I said why not! These events turned out pretty fun - especially the one in Rijeka, where I had the chance to sing, accompanied by a big band, also something quite out of my usual repertoire: Cheek to Cheek, My Way... I had a good time and Claudia wasn't annoyed we had to hit the pause button on our holiday and she enjoyed the concerts as well!

Later, in October, I went back to Italy for the last part of the European Project which had brought me to Athens in May: I met again in Pordenone old and new friends from Italy, Portugal, Greece, Serbia, and Montenegro to perform the now completed show "Bravo Bravissimo!", about the life and the music of Gioachino Rossini. I enjoyed a lot being part of it and we are now working to find opportunities to repeat it in the future.

On my return to England, Ralph Woodward and his Fairhaven Singers were waiting for me for two concerts in Cambridge. The first one was a moving Schubertiade at Cambridge URC, where I sang a few Lieder with Ralph at the piano and the beautiful Intende Voci for tenor, oboe, choir and piano 4 hands. For the second one, we moved to the magnificent Queens' College Chapel, where the choir performed some stunning masterpieces such as Nänie by Brahms and Ode to Death by Holst, and together we repeated Schubert's Intende Voci. Here's a pic from the rehearsal:

Between the end of November and early December, I had something different on my plate: a couple of trips to the studio recording!

First one in Cambridge: my ex student Nicholas asked me if I wanted to join him in recording the very popular aria Nessun dorma from Turandot by Puccini - as a duet. Nicholas is more of a rock singer, but gifted with an amazing voice, and we had not meet each other in a very long time as he now lives in another part of the country, so I happily accepted his proposal! It was great to find Nicholas keeping well - and the sound engineer had fun as well, used as he was to pop singers rather than operatic tenors! Anyway, here you can listen to what we did together - I hope you enjoy it!

My second appointment in a studio was in London, where I kicked off the recording sessions of a new composition written by Bob Stuckey on the poems by Anthony Howell. This is an exciting work, involving singers and performance artists, inspired by the great Basilica in the Roman town of Aquileia, not far from the place where I was born. Putting together all the parts of this huge work will be a tough job - for now we are getting a recording of the musical part, but I can't wait to start working with the performance artists!

But time flies, and soon the moment arrived to go home again (but not before meeting Ricky Gervais during a walk in snowy Cambridge!) and perform for the traditional Christmas Concert in my town. I invited my closest musical friends to join me on this occasion, and we had a wonderful time with the music of Mozart, Bach, Handel, and a few traditional Christmas carols!