Garda Concert: Verdi Celebration with Mixed-Choir Opera Performance
Music Event in Garda
It takes courage to take three choirs of different backgrounds, put them together on a stage, and create an operatic concert. It requires bravery, but it can work. This happened some time ago in Vallagarina. It will happen again in Garda on the evening of Sunday, September 2nd, at 9 PM, in the truly charming setting of the cloister of the pieve.
The creator of this original musical performance is Giorgio Avanzini, director of the choir La Rocca di Garda. A month ago, he found himself involved in organizing a Verdi concert in the Trentino land. They needed a large choral group to accompany the soloists.
He quickly assembled his Garda singers, the Filarmonica di Bardolino choir, and the San Biagio di Rivoltella choir, based on the Brescia coast of Garda. Three very different groups: the Garda choir specializes in local lake folk music, the Bardolino choir is a polyphonic ensemble, and the Brescia choir performs opera.
The fact is that the formula was successful. So why not repeat it? Therefore, here is the appointment with the “lyric salon” on Sunday evening, with free admission, under the patronage of the Comune di Garda. A homage to Giuseppe Verdi on the centenary of his death.
The concert and the participants
The super choir, bringing together singers from both sides of the lake (about sixty members, truly a sizable ensemble), will accompany three soloists: Lidiana Gelmetti from Bardolino, Clara Clarich, and Vincenzo Rose, who is also known as the director of Piccolo Teatro del Garda, a theatrical company from the riviera that has achieved success across Italy.
Avanzini will alternate between conducting the choir and playing the piano. When he is involved with choral performances, he will be replaced at the keyboard by Vittorino Moro. The program will feature pieces from Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Nabucco, Aida, and other famous operas.
“The idea was born almost spontaneously a week ago. We received immediate support from the comune di Garda, and here we are again to present the Verdi evening,” say Vittoriana Degli Antoni and Beppe Bertamé, the “historic” leaders of La Rocca chorus.
The costumes and chorus activities
For the occasion, they will have to bring out their “serious” costumes: the concert dress code includes long skirts for the female singers and black jackets for the men. Meanwhile, the Garda chorus is engaged in its usual summer tour of small concerts in the Libertà square. Every Tuesday evening, this tiny space of the historic center turns into a concert hall.
La Rocca chorus consistently opens with songs from the Garda tradition: “Barcarola,” “Usignolo,” “’Na sera né ciàra né bruna,” just to mention a few. Then they perform a rhapsody of “light” tunes, reflecting the distinct Garda style of “musical minestrone.”
Next, they venture into Italian folk music, from Sicily to Trentino, and when they start singing “’O sole mio,” the voices of the chorus are joined by those of spectators of all nationalities. Finally, operettas and opera arias. And tourists keep applauding enthusiastically, with full houses every Tuesday evening from July to September. This tradition has been ongoing for over ten years.
