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AUGUST 2008
verdi's rigoletto in mantova
a solitary swan on the shores of lake inferior in mantova - the Swan of Mantua?
the arena in piazza bra, verona
fantastic chimera adorning the windows of a house
steve tromans quartet italia
peschiera del garda
taking it all very easy on lake garda
peschiera jetty and misty mountains
the mountains reveal themselves
not the giro d'italia
garibaldi jazz 2008
Tomorrow is National Day in Italy, so having an extended weekend off we have decided to take the opportunity to visit two famous cities in the vicinity which our students repeatedly tell us are more than worth the train fare to visit - Mantova (English name, Mantua) and Verona. Today we went to Mantova in the region of Lombardia, which gets its name from Mantus and his wife, Mania, Roman (and also Etruscan) gods of the underworld. Mantova's most famous ancient citizen was the poet Publius Virgilius Maro - known as Virgil in English, and also as "the Swan of Mantua" - who was born near the city in 70 BCE. Mantova is also the location for Giuseppe Verdi's "opera-in-three-acts", Rigoletto, first performed in Venice in 1851. In fact, during our initial random wanderings, we came across the statue of the despised and cursed jester erected in the garden of his supposed house in Mantova city centre (see left).
Mantova is an easy 45-minute train journey direct from Carpi. The city is surrounded on three sides by three 12th century man-made lakes - Lago Superiore, Lago di Mezzo, and Lago Inferiore ("Superior", "Middle," and "Inferior" Lakes) and it was these watery delights that were our main focus of attention during the three hours we spent there prior to returning home. The last time we saw a substantial body of water was a year ago back in Muscat (the Indian Ocean). It was fantastic to be next to water again after such a long time, and we spent the afternoon taking a leisurely walk along the shores of all three lakes before returing invigorated back to sleepy Carpi before the last train. We saw swans, ducks and the occasional heron as we made our way around the tranquil bodies of water that were created in 1198, when the course of the Mincio river was "optimised", reinforcing the city's protection from the spread of the Holy Roman Empire, given that at that time it enjoyed the relative freedom of being a "free commune".
These days, however, the main threat to Mantova comes from Africa, and is non-human. All along the lakeside were posters declaring the lakes closed on the following weekend for the strict purpose of fumigation in view of the disturbing appearance in Italy a couple of years ago of Chikungunya, the Tiger Mosquito. This is the first case of an epidemic of a tropical disease in a developed, European country, according to the World Health Organization’s Health and Environment programme. Apparently, climate change is creating conditions that make it easier for this predominantly African mosquito to survive, opening the door to diseases that didn’t exist in Italy previously. We've both heard from various students about this troublesome little beastie, and considering our apartment is regularly invaded by the smaller, non-dangerous but damned annoying, native Italian mosquitoes, I hope Carpi's own fumigation efforts are 100% successful in their objective!
Mon 2nd June 2008
Another day, another magical destination courtesy of the Italian train network. We have not long returned today from Verona - famously, the setting for the tragic story of Romeo & Juliet. But Verona has more to offer than the house and balcony of a literary character - undeniably beautiful, yes, but too overcrowded with tourists for my personal taste. In the central Piazza Bra there are the remains of a Roman amphitheatre/arena, second in size only to the Colloseum in Rome itself. There used to be gladitorial combat in the arena back in the day, but these days it is reserved for large-scale concert performances. I don't know what had been happening prior to our arrival in the piazza, but alongside the amphitheatre there were huge hands and arms - disembodied props from some gigantic stage set, whether they were there for an opera or film production, I have no idea. You could imagine that they were the discarded severed limbs in the aftermath of some monumental gladitorial struggle between the gods. I was taken back to the mythic films of my childhood, "Clash of the Titans" and "Jason and the Argonauts", which used to be shown every yuletide back in the UK, although I am aware that both of those films were based around Greek, not Roman, mythology, but you get the idea!
Strolling through the streets of the city is a magical experience, surrounded by such magnificent architecture, and one of my personal favourites was a roaring chimera head on the side of someone's house. To me, it looked like something straight out of the time of the old gods and riotous pre-christian times, but I know it's undoubtedly more recent than that.
Sun 15th June 2008
The Cantina Bentivoglio Jazz Club, Bologna, beckons once more! I am pleased to announce that I shall be appearing with my all-new Italian quartet at Cantina Bentivoglio in Bologna on October 3rd, 4th and 5th later this year. The "Steve Tromans Quartet Italia" to be presented on these three nights consists of three young prominent figures on the modern Bolognese jazz scene: Andrea Ferrario (saxophones and whose band I jammed with back in May), Mirko Scarcia (double bass) and Dario Mazzucco (drums). Dario was personally responsible for sorting the gig out with Mr Serazzanetti, one of the owners of the venue, so ultimate respect to him for his efforts on my behalf and his and the others desire for my music to be heard by the discerning jazz ears of the Cantina B. We shall be premiering some of the music I've written in Mongolia, China, Oman and Dubai alongside pieces from my current time in Italy, older pieces I wrote whilst still in the UK, plus a good measure of malleable standards, too. As the days tick away towards the gigs in Bologna, watch this space for more information as we get closer to the dates!
After the last couple of years of mostly trio and solo work, I am eagerly looking forward to a return to the possibilities of playing both lead and support roles at the piano in the quartet. Possibly as a result of my longterm love of the sound of the "pianoless" small jazz unit, I have always seen the piano's role in a small band as more than that of a chord machine, and in particular, I have fond memories of playing alongside UK tenorist Mark Hanslip at the now-defunct "Sunday Jazz at the Strathallan" in Birmingham, when we presented joint solos on a number of standards, utterly confusing the audience present as to whom they should have been applauding for the solo/solos! Counterpoint upon the already existent counterpoint between the sax, piano, bass and drums.
Wed 18th June 2008
We have just returned from two nights beside Lake Garda, only a 15-minute train ride from Verona, itself a direct train route from Carpi. Peschiera del Garda is a sleepy little town nestled on the southern shore of the lake, which is the largest in Italy. Considering it's a major tourist destination, it wasn't at all swamped by the usual tourist trappings, and we enjoyed our time there. The harbour at Peschiera is full of tiny boats, which were contentedly swaying back and forth in the gentle currents of the lake during our time there. Peschiera is only one of many small towns dotted around the lake, and all our students say that the others, in particular those along the northern shores of the lake, are even more beautiful. One for further exploration I think!
On Tuesday morning I awoke around 5am, which is very unusual for me, especially when on holiday. Not being able to get back to sleep, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to walk alongside the lake before it became more crowded with sightseers. So, armed with my mp3 player and the sounds of Shakti, Victor Jara, the Howl Band and a compilation of recordings made on the fantastic Cuneiform Records label, I made my leisurely way along the pebble beaches of the south-west contour or the lake. During the following hour-and-a-half I only saw two other people - one fishing, the other jogging. I settled myself on the end of one of several jetties and gazed out across the waters. As I sat there, feet dangling millimetres from the water's surface, the sun made an appearance from behind the clouds - ghostly pale at first as it navigated its passage through the rain clouds, then golden yellow on its triumphant appearance into clear blue skies. The golden light of Sol Invictus, late-Roman God of the Sun, unfurled a dazzling rope-bridge of glittering light along the tranquil waters of Garda, leading straight to my dangling feet as I listened to Carl Solomon: Angel in Moloch, the 25-minute instrumental overture to the second half of my Howl musical setting. It was a truly magical interpenetration of music and imagery, and I don't think I could have felt any more relaxed at that very moment.
My reverie, however, was interrupted in the most unexpected of ways - glancing down at my shoes as they dappled the lake I was utterly flabbergasted to see a snake moving along the water's surface! Believe you me, I got my legs up onto the jetty pretty bloody fast at that point! I watched the serpent snake its way underneath the wooden planks of the jetty until I somehow lost sight of it. Considering the union of Fire (the Sun), Water (the lake), Air (particularly fresh at the lakeside) and Earth (the fragile jetty tentatively projecting out into the mysterious waters) at this point in my meditations, it is tempting to place great significance on the appearance of the serpent, currently regarded with fear and suspicion, but historically with healing and, more specifically, with immortality - the Caduceus, with its intertwining snakes, is still the internationally-recognised symbol of medicine, as well as being a stylised representation of the DNA helix itself, the Tree of Life. But maybe I've just been reading too much Mythology recently. A potent moment, all the same...
Later that day, more drama, as the misty horizons of the opposite side of the lake cleared to reveal a series of majestic mountain ranges. We had no idea at all that they were there, and the revelation was indeed profoundly affecting. I believe we were looking at the Monte Baldo mountain range on the south-east side of the lake, but I'm not 100% sure. After a delicious pizza at a small restaurant on the lakeside, we watched the twinkling lights on the opposite shore as night set in over "Lago di Garda".
Returning to Carpi this morning, we were back to work again, reinvigorated and with the determination to re-visit the lake in the near future. We will definitely be returning to Lake Garda, hopefully to the less-visited northern shores, if it is possible to catch a bus around the lake to its northernmost town of Riva. All in all, a fantastic mini-holiday at the lake. I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who visits North Italy!
Sat 21st June 2008
OK, here's a brain-teaser: what's old and green and goes round and round Carpi since last night? My new bicycle, that's what, folks. Our boss's father has very kindly been on the lookout for unwanted bicycles for Hannah and I. Yesterday he deposited one said unwanted set of two wheels outside the cafe next to our workplace. So, after finishing my teaching day at 8pm, I unlocked my new transport and took off into the night. I don't mind admitting that it was pretty damn shaky at first! It's been over 20 years since I last straddled a bicycle, and the balance skills had got a bit rusty over the ensuing decades! After the first nerve-racking 10 minutes-or-so though I happily rode around Carpi for another hour until Hannah finished work at 9:30pm. Her bike is apparently going to be in evidence on Monday or Tuesday, so from that moment on we are finally relieved the arduous task of marching off to the supermarket every day for our water and other essentials (such as wine, for instance). Carpi, look out! The English have got wheels!
Sat 28th June 2008
The end of another week in North Italy, but what a week - terribly hot and unbearably humid. Yesterday, the mercury rose to a meltingly barmy 40 degrees Celsius, which is more than enough to deal with, especially having no air-conditioning in our apartment or at the school, but it's the humidity that is the real killer over here. Carpi being on the flat "pianore" of Emilia-Romagna, there is next to no wind to speak of and a stifling humidity that means you spend all your time sweating. Having the bicycle has helped in that the daily shopping trip is made a lot easier (though I can carry less in my rucksack than by hand), but it's incapacitating even just being in the heat - in particular during the afternoon. Today was a little better on account of a welcome breeze, but it's still a greenhouse in our apartment. We managed to take a fan from the school and that has made it possible to sleep at night, but it really is worse than in the Middle East. I thought we'd escaped from all that!
On a more pleasant note, we were able to see a big band featuring Dario and Mirko from my "Quartet Italia" on Monday night. They were playing in Piazza Garibaldi in Carpi, and started just as we were finishing work at 21:30. We took a seat along with what seemed like most of Carpi and enjoyed what was a particularly tight band. A good night's music. The great news is that next Monday there's another "Garibaldi Jazz" concert in the piazza featuring the awesome Joey de Francesco on Hammond Organ, playing with an Italian trio of, interestingly, piano, sax and drums. I can't wait, what a great way to relax after work.