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October 2007

Holidays in Sicily

After a busy Summer; Il Trovatore and Les Choregies d'Orange in July, The Proms and the Stresa Festival in August, it was already September and after nine months of uninterrupted work we eventually went on holiday, 10 days in Sicily!

September is the best period to enjoy this beautiful region of South Italy, the weather is ideal and it's fantastic to swim as the sea-water is warm, calm and clean! The place where we like to go is on the Oriental coast of the island, between Catania (the city I'm from) and Taormina. As it is near the Vulcano Etna, this part of the coast is made up of lavic rocks which give the landscape a special unique aspect: the black rocks contrast with the blue and sometimes green crystalline sea-water which is deep and quite cold due to the sweet water currents flowing in the depth.

Also the vegetation is very typical of the area, lots of lemon, orange and mandarin trees are blooming continuesly, so the wonderful smell, especially in the late afternoon, blends with the smooth wind coming from the sea.

This is our favourite moment of the day, when, from our terrace we can enjoy the sunset looking towards the sea, reading a good book or challenging a big and difficult crossword.

To be honest, Gianandrea is more a “mountain-man”, but since we met, he started to appreciate the sea and its beauties! But don't ask him to lie down in the sun or to swim far! He prefers to wait for the late afternoon to go walking his 10 Kilometres and after a refreshing shower he's ready for a good delicious Sicilian dinner, fish of course and a good glass of Sicilian white wine.

Cin cin e salute!

April 2007

Welcome to Torino!

Everybody knows how beautiful and unique are Venezia, Roma, Firenze, Siena and many other Italian cities which are traditionally on the map of all travellers of the world. But in this occasion I'd like to talk about a city wihch after the Winter Olympic Games 2006, has gained a very important place in the classification of the most visited and recently discovered Italian cities; Torino.

We started the new year in this wonderful city as Gianandrea had to prepare and to conduct Robert Carsen's beautiful production of Rusalka by Dvorak at the Teatro Regio. Our relationship with the city started years ago when Gianandrea was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra Nazionale della RAI (the Italian radio television). Since then we've been witnesses to a fantastic renovation and rebirth of the city, that was previosuly known all over the world principally for its production of FIAT cars.

Torino is one of the European capitals of Baroque, first capital of the Kingdom of Italy, the king and the queen used to live there and you can still breathe the royal atmosphere when walking around the elegant city centre. From Piazza Castello, the heart of the city, you can admire the Royal Palace, the marvellous Palazzo Madama, which has recently reopened and of course the Teatro Regio. Then you can walk to Piazza San Carlo under the picturesque Portico of Via Roma or visit the many historical Cafes of Via Po where you can taste the best cioccolata con panna (hot chocolate with cream). In fact Torino is not only the city of good wines and truffles (coming from the Alba area), but also the city of chocolate in particular of Gianduia; chocolate made of a perfect combination of cacao and hazelnuts (from the region Piemonte) .

You can find the most important Egyptian Museum of the world, after Il Cairo, the National Museum of the Cinema situated in the famous Mole Antonelliana - but what makes Torino particularly appealing is its vocation for culture. In a recent interview Gianandrea affirmed that “Torino is the city to be nowadays”.

The Teatro Regio is always full and there are many initiatives to open it to young people. Sometimes walking in the theatre I meet groups of students visiting not only the Hall, but also discovering the backstage, the dressmaker area or the orchestra pit. Gianandrea is always very happy to see young people attending his rehearsals and afterwards he likes to chat with them and to catch their impressions.

Our relationship with Torino will continue as Gianandrea has recently been appointed Music Director of the Teatro Regio, and I'll be delighted to spend more time in this wonderful city ! See you there!

November 2006

It can seem fantastic to travel all the time and most of the time it is. But sometimes it can become a nightmare!!!

After being abroad for three weeks we arrived at home in the late afternoon on November 11th. The day after, I had just the time to change some items in our luggages and to enjoy the nice atmosphere of a Sunday at home: the bells sound, a sunny day, a good espresso macchiato at our “Caffe' Pasticceria Marietta” and a wonderful sunset view on the Maggiore Lake from our sitting room.

But then it was time to leave again, in fact at 8.00am on the 13th we were already at Malpensa Airport ready to fly to Cincinnati via Toronto. At 9.30am the air company announced that the departure was delayed for 4 hours due to technical problems! Many times, talking with Gianandrea, we realize that we spend much more time in the airports than at home!

After 9 hours flight we missed our connection and the last flight to Cincinnati. Exausted, we decided to fly the day after at 6.25am and to sleep overnight in the airport hotel. It wasn't too bad, as there was a hotel right on top of the Terminal 3 from which our flight was suppose to depart...

Our minds were already dreaming about a warm shower and a good sleep night (even if we had to check in our flight at 4.30am!), when a very kind man at the reception told us that the hotel was fully booked!

In these occasions the tiredness becomes unbearable, but we found an other hotel and we made the last effort of the day dragging ourselves to the shuttle stop.

The next day was the first rehearsal scheduled to start at 10.00am but 9.15 we were still at Cincinnati Airport waiting for our luggages! We arrived straight to the Hall five minutes before the rehearsal start!!!

In these occasions I have a huge respect for Gianandrea who has to start to work without having a minute of rest. After all I'm very lucky - I can go to the hotel and eventually relax a bit!!!

October 2006

Last Spring we were on tour in Germany with the BBC Philharmonic when I received a phone call by a friend calling from Italy asking for the "cavaliere " Noseda. This word is usually used in Italy only for people who received a special honour by the Italian President!

My first reaction, after a sonorous laugh, was to say: "Stop kidding, please!", but our friend replied: "I'm not kidding! Gianandrea is going to receive the honour of "Ufficiale dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana", that in one word in italian is "cavaliere", "knight".

You should have seen Gianandrea's face when I told him the good news! He was very surprised and honoured and later, he confessed that after receiving this honour, he feels much more responsibility to do his job as best as he can.

On the 30th of July after a fantastic Prom concert played by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Gianandrea, the Italian Ambassador in England, Giancarlo Aragona, hosted a wonderful event in the Italian Embassy, during wich he officially gave the honour to Gianandrea, on behalf of the President of the Italian Republic, in consideration of his artistic merits.

For this special occasion, also our parents came from Italy, to enjoy the concert and to attend the event, they were very excited. Many of our English and Italian friends were there sharing with us a very special moment in Gianandrea's career. We were all very proud of him!

COMPLIMENTI MAESTRO!

May 2006

After two weeks in Oslo we arrived in Manchester.

This time Gianandrea will perform the Tchaikovsky Cycle, one of my favorite composers! One of the great emotions will be to attend the opening night of the Cycle featuring Gianandrea and the Kirov (Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra).

These musicians have been like a family for us, especially during the difficult period of beginning in St Petersburg, where we started to go regularly from 1997. We used to spend three months a year there plus many tours around the world with the Kirov company, so we learnt Russian and a fantastic relationship began.

In the last three years many of the Kirov musicians have been asking about Gianandrea's new important job in Manchester with the BBC Philharmonic, and finally last Friday they arrived in Manchester and they played their beloved music by Tchaikovsky (3rd and 4th Symphonies) in The Bridgewater Hall. They loved the Hall and enjoyed the city for two days off (so rare for them to rest during a tour).

It was joyful for me to meet many of them in the centre of Manchester, it made me feel like I do in St Petersburg where we meet in the street nearby the theatre, going shopping or walking along the canals during the White Nights Festival.

But the most touching thing was to realize that 50 of them came to attend Gianandrea's concert with the BBC Philharmonic on Saturday.

They wanted to be there, to spend their only free evening, sharing the emotions of the music (their music!!!) with their old and beloved Italian friend. They enjoyed very much the BBC Phil playing and congratulated Gianandrea for his wonderful orchestra. I'm very happy as I know that this week has been very special for Gianandrea conducting his two favourite orchestras.

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