On the ICE/ECE 2012 Congress Concert

It may come as a surprise to some attending the ICE/ECE 2012 Congress, but Florence has had a thriving cultural scene for the last, oh I’d say, 800 years. Last night’s Congress Concert brought us right to the heart of the renaissance, in Brunelleschi’s Basilica di San Lorenzo. Completed in 1459, the Basilica is rightly considered one of the masterpieces of renaissance architecture. Of course, it’s most famous for Michelangelo’s Medici tombs, in adjacent Cappelle Medicee, but last night’s concert took place in the main nave of the Basilica.

The Giuseppe Verdi Choir, under the direction of Enzo Consogno, gave a fine performance of a variety of choral pieces ranging from Handel to Mascagni. From where I was sitting, around halfway back, the acoustics tended to muddy the performances a little, so to me the pieces which worked best were the more distinctively choral (rather than for example where the chorus was supporting the tenor or soprano voices, or the excellent trumpeter). However, this shouldn’t detract from the overall performance, the choir was very good indeed: disciplined, coherent, and able to fill the Basilica with their voices. Italy is famous for its voices, and rightly so.

There were around 400 seats laid out for the ICE/ECE 2012 delegates, and indeed there were another 40 or so sitting on the various altar steps around the church, so it really was a full house, and the warm reception given at the end of the performance showed how much the audience valued the evening, in a setting which was quite breathtaking.

As we were heading out, ESE President Philippe Bouchard told us of attending a performance of the Mozart Requiem, two months ago, as part of another congress concert. He showed us some photos he took at that concert, and then by chance came across a photo he had taken of the famous Fra Angelico Annunciation (which is in San Marco). “It is one of the masterpieces of humanity”, he said. And as we headed out into the night, past Michaelangelo’s unfinished façade of San Lorenzo, it was difficult not to think “As is Florence itself”. We are lucky to be here.