July 24th 2025 年7月24日

Maddalena Casulana (c.1544-1590) was an Italian composer, singer and lutenist of the late Rennaissance. She was the first female composer to have had a whole book of her music printed and published in the history of western music. It was dedicated to her female patron Isabella de’Medici.

Now how about that? And here is me singing her music nearly 500 years later. In Italy.

Gran Miracol d’amore, quel che’uccide da vit’ e’in un si sface, l’alma s’aviv’e more………

I find myself in the remote settlement of Fenigli in the province of Marche.

Perched on the top of a hill some 35 km from the Adriatic coast is a former monastery complex converted into a venue for hosting cultural groups – in this case a choir workshop named after the aforementioned composer. It is run by Göttingen conductor Nik Myers with voice training by Bass-baritone Fabian Franke. The centre is the dream fulfilled of our genial and eccentic host Heinz.

Art in my room….

….and outside…

The chapel where we rehearse is deconsecrated (i.e. not in use any longer), but many of the original furnishings remain, now embellished with modern contributions. Rather odd, you may think. But possibly unique……

A buddhist mandala strikes an interesting note from the side wall..

And some pious painting above the altar has been replaced by something more contemporary…..

The gallery still stands – just….

Sacred hearts…….

….the poor Virgin Mary had to listen to us rehearsing……

Every detail of the site has been carefully thought out : seating on the terrace…..

A chimney……

The midday light is hard here. The shadows deep. But the wine is good, and cook Martha produces delicious evening meals with an elegance and poise befitting a true Italian professional. We cater for ourselves for lunch, but eagerly await what she will produce from her kitchen after a long day of singing………

The local inhabitants get a look in….a scorpion is indeed a “fine thing”.

And up the lane this fig tree looks stronger than the shed it nestles up to…..

Colours are strong here….be it red….

or mauve………

……… or the bright yellow of a broom up near the old Rocca castle……

….from which you get a fine view of Monte Catria……. lit up by the early morning sun…..(6am!)

The Rocca really is a ruin though…..

The bell tower of our chapel can just be seen in this photo, looking out to the Adriatic coast at sunrise…..

But nature is unforgiving when left to its own devices. As in this house nearby…..

One day we sing Vespers at the monastery of Fonte Avellana, which nestles under the mountains not far away…..

We try to follow the monks singing the psalms in Italian, but are on more familiar musical territory with Tallis’ If Ye Love Me, and Duruflé’s Ubi Caritas.……

Holy relics gleam in the dim light….

The air is heavy with incense. The main door seems like an escape to the real world outside….

The surrounding countryside here was devasted by floods a few years back. Our host recounts how the river rose 7 m. at Pergola, the nearest town, and many of the roads which were are now using were then just a heap of rubble and boulders.

These windy roads lead us up to Castello, a tiny fortified settlement on a steep hill. Why are we here? for some post-vesper refreshment of course. The restaurant is very popular with locals, and a large family has gathered next to us for a birthday celebration. They invite us to sing with them, little expecting that we are actually a choir…..

….. around the corner there is a very red bell tower. Thank goodness that was not the real time. The clock stopped long ago.

I speak about 5 words of Italian – allegro, ritardando, piano, piu Forte and Scusi. So in town I have to learn Invito, and Concerto,(not difficult, that one) in order to hand out flyers for our little concert….Here I am with alto Judy…..

Accompanied by Ulricke at the church of S. Francesco…….

Art just happens in Italy. A back street in Pergola……

(The flowers are real by the way….)

Flyposting for the concert “Il grande miracolo d’amore”…..

…seems to have an effect. Whether the audience came for the free wine and buffet, an opportunity to talk to their neighbours or for the music I’m not sure.

A local lady took this photo and then persuaded me to fix up her violin the following day…..

On the terrace, post-concert ……..

The chapel……

Nearly every evening here has a stunning sunset…

When the cicadas eventually slow down for the day…..

Whilst driving back through Austria I was struck not only by the change of climate (no cicadas in The Tirol!) but by the violence of the Alps, and the seemingly over-tidy landscape of manicured green fields. Even today, crossing the Alps marks a crossing into another culture.

Well, thank you for reading this, and feel free to pass it on to anyone you think might be interested. These days you can translate a web site instantaneously with A.I. or Google translate.

However, I have given the photos Japanese 🎌 titles partly as an exercise for myself, but also as a goodwill gesture to all my dear Japanese friends who will read this.

読んでいただきありがとうございます🙏 よかったらお友達とシェアしてください😉

A special thanks to the indefatigable Nik Myers 🎶 here for organizing this course. To “Don” Heinz for affording warm hospitality, and to Signora Martha for her exceptional cooking 😋. I have lost track of who took what photos 📷, but thank you everyone anyway!

このコースを企画してくださった、精力的に活動してくださったニック・マイヤーズ🎶氏に心から感謝いたします。温かいおもてなしをしてくださったドン・ハインツ氏、そして素晴らしい料理を披露してくださったシニョーラ・マーサ氏 にも感謝いたします😋

See you またね 😉

nigelwruddock@gmail.com

The End

終わり