The Four Seasons

I always have a penchant for history and classical music. Guess I got it from my grandfather, a professor of history and avid listener of romantic and baroque periods.

So it is a rare chance to combine those two when a friend told me about a free classical concert in Siena Duomo/ Cathedral in occasion of St. Catherine's day, Siena's patron saint. Uto Ughi, a famous Italian violinist, together with I Filarmonici di Roma will play Vivaldi’s Four Season. A perfect break after the long trip-plus-conference (more in the next post) & exam preparations (two down, one to go).

Four Season is one of the top in my play list. I like it even more since Vivaldi is a composer that open music to any fee paying costumer, a radical turn from what was limited to enjoyment of royalties and high priests. The title of the first commercial musician was enabled by existence of numerous wealthy merchants in Venice due to its role as main trade hub between east and west.

Siena’s Duomo is a major architectural feat and tourist attraction (usually it cost 6 euro just to enter, no concert). The black and white tower and dome majestically watch the city below for centuries. Do you put stars on your bedroom ceiling? So did the architect of Duomo, he (I don’t know who) put stars in those grandiose blue arches. A move latter imitated and perfected by Gaudi in Barcelona when he built Casa Guell.

The architect is also a splendid sound engineer. When Ughi start playing, I need to stand just to make sure he is actually there and not just a recording. The Duomo was packed with thousands of visitors but I felt like sitting in front of him, hearing the sound crisp and clearly. Those hundreds of arches and corners must have bounced and amplified the sound, an ancient surround effect.

I heard the piece many times, but there is no substitute for live performances. He played like those violinist in Disney cartoons where the passionate violinist makes it seem like he give the last performance. The moving hands, the loose hairs and the intensity of emotions, all add up to the angelic sounds he made with the violin to make it memorable experience. No wonder he was called “Bambino Pridigioso” (child prodigy) since he first perform in public at the age of seven (playing Paganini’s “Capricci” and Bach's "Ciaccona").

But it is the couple sitting in front of me that steal my attention. They sit closely with the man putting his hand on the women’s shoulder during the concert. During 2 hours performances, they continue to exchange meaningful looks, swap occasional whispers and trade occasional peck on the cheeks. I would ignore it away as teenager love, lost in their youthful infatuation. But I could not, because they are at least 60 years old!

Isn’t it grand to stay so much in love after so many years of togetherness? Where the feeling is not like an occasional sunny day on the winter that you want to enjoy while it last. When it is not the end of autumn where you know that the best weather has past and only the windy winter ahead. Its not a spring time when everything is still new and uncertain. It’s a summer that never ends. An everlasting love!

Now that a season I would like to live in.

Back in Siena

Breakfast at Jakarta
Lunch at Kuala Lumpur
Dinner at Singapore
Breakfast at Rome

Total of 14 hours of flight, 15 hours of transit and 3 hours of bus ride. As Paul Therouz, a Washington Post journalist, said, "Travel is only glamorous in restrospect"

Now back in Siena to face the exams (which I haven't properly prepare) this week

But somehow this is the trip I find hardest to take eventhough I will be back to Jakarta in 3 months. May the future unfold its best side to me.