up Piazzale Michelangelo
It's a weekend concert extravaganza in Tuscany as I get to see 4 concerts in 5 nights! Unfortunately the tickets for Radiohead sold out months ago, but tonight I'm covering someone's class and am working in the centre of Florence. As the concert is in Piazzale Michelangelo, which is outside, I decide to see if maybe I can gate-crash... I drive up, but the road is cordoned off, somehow though I manage to convince the Carabinieri that I need to take this road home! I find somewhere to park. You can hear the music from a mile away. Hundreds of people have gathered outside the walled off seating area. You can just see the stage and hearing Tom Yorke and the boys is not a problem. So I settle myself down with a beer and enjoy 2 hours of free Radiohead! And pretty slammin' it is too!
Craig David
in Lucca
Friday night and we have tickets to see Mr Southampton smoothie himself. A 1 1/2 hour drive to the enchanting Lucca, we arrive at 8.30, grab some take-away pizza and settle ourselves down in Piazza Napoleone. He starts promptly at 9.30, all dressed in white and bangs out all the hits from his two albums, no Sting and only an hour and a quarter... still his performance is very slick and polished and we have a good boogie! Drinks after in a very buzzy bar, 11.30 and the city is heaving with throngs of people enjoying the balmy summer evening and party atmosphere.
Zubhin Mehta
in Siena
One of our work colleagues, Barbara Curtis, who lives in the beautiful Siena has told us that the 'Maestro' himself, Zubhin Mehta is performing a free concert in Piazza del Campo tonight and so an opportunity to see the world's greatest conductor is too good to miss!
After the 45 minute drive we park up and make our way to the Campo through the narrow winding streets. It was only two months ago that we were here enjoying the magical Andrea Bocelli! There are plenty of seats available. Some at the front are reserved, but further back they're free. We find a spot right in the middle and enjoy a wonderful evening in the company of the 'Hungarian hurricane'. He is conducting the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the orchestra based in Florence! This evening they are playing two pieces by Brahms and Prokoviev's Romeo and Juliet... a super evening under the stars and a big full moon!
Alanis Morrisette
in Lucca
Our final concert (for this week anyway!) is the multi-Grammy winning Canadian superstar, Alanis Morrisette. As a 'Jagged little pil' purchaser, Annette is particularly happy to be going along... For this gig we are back in the lovely Lucca, as the concert is part of the Lucca Summer Festival, an event now firmly engraved in our diary.
We decide to come to early and enjoy some time in Lucca. We arrive at about 2 pm, but struggle to find somewhere open for lunch. Eventually we find a shady outside table in a restaurant in Piazza San Martino and have a simple risotto and salad. There is still plenty of time for us to chill out before the concert starts. We've heard you can hire bicycles here and cycle on top of the 2 1/2 miles of city walls, sounds a bit dangerous? So that's exactly what we do! Actually the walls are about 50 metres wide, so it's pretty easy to stay on! We start at the Porta San Pietro and cycle anti-clockwise, many other people are doing the same thing and it's car free! We pass by the Palazzo Pfanner (used for the film 'Portrait of a Lady') and its fabulous gardens and come down and stop for a drink in the very peaceful Piazza Anfiteatro, where we get chatting to a local Lucchese woman. A small costumed parade passes us, complete with trumpeters and flag throwers. We enjoy a lazy nap in a shady park back up on the walls and then pop back to the car for a change of clothing for the evening...
We're back at the same Pizzeria, but today we have time to sit outside and enjoy a whole pizza at a more leisurely pace. 8.30 pm and we wander to Piazza Napoleone to await Ms Morrisette. She comes on 1 1/2 hours late! (A woman's perrogative!) But is well worth the wait... She plays an awesome 2-hour set, including all her big hits. Rock on!
No comments:
Post a Comment