Singing on the Streets of Italy

Playlist: Excerpts from Verdi operas and Beethoven Symphonies.In class yesterday I remembered an experience in Venice that I must not forget. After going to the Guggenheim, I started leading students back to the Ferrovia (train station–near our hotels) and, Venice-being-Venice, got lost in a residential section. I stood looking at a map when an elderly gentleman came by an offered his services. He had, I think, a Venetian dialect which meant I had more trouble understanding than usual. And he understood little English.I was able to tell him we were heading to Ferrovia and he told us to follow him. He clearly wasn’t heading that direction; however, seemed committed to making sure we found our way. As he was walking, he began singing a theme from the Beethoven Pastoral Symphony. I joined him. He smiled and we sang the passage together, becoming louder and more animated as the folk-melody opened into full-Beethovenian passion. We then moved to opera and sang sections of Otello, Rigoletto, and Nabucco–always highlighting dramatic moments with the point of our fingers, as if cuing the orchestra. There is something very Italian about these gestures, my Father does them, as did my Grandfather.I quickly realized this was a very special moment–and so did the students who suddenly went quiet and followed so closely they bumped into me whenever we stopped. We sang all the way to Ferrovia, clearly far away from his home, and when we arrived, parted with handshakes all around.I know there was a time in Italians sang in the streets. You don’t hear that so much anymore, at least in the areas I’ve been. This makes me particularly grateful for that experience and even more so that my students were able to be a part of it.