of Lars J. Nilsson

A slow day in Fano. I don’t think anyone in the choir did anything at all. After the ceremony there was some coffee, and some sleeping and some beach volley and some shopping. But not much else.Rehearsed Rachmaninoff at 1730. New positions on the stage, 4 rows with quartets of each part (eg. 2 second bases at the 4th row and 2 at the 3rd). From where I stood it produced a very homogeneous sound and lovely projection from the choir. Good stuff!Concert starts at 2115, we’re on at… 2145?I’ll see if I can find a Brudetto for dinner (a local dish characterized by a friend as “fish broth with things in it”). Wish me luck.

… don’t sing to loudly at the outdoor bar after a concert in Fano off season. Or 33 elderly people may call the police on you (After which the party continued on the top floor terrace, I fled at 0230, but I hear the brave warriors kept at it an hour more).

And so the first concert is done. Frank Martin. We sang as 3rd and last choir, meaning a late start. The church was packed. And for your amusement, this was the men dress code, in chronological order: No jacket, tie. No jacket, no tie. Jacket, no tie. No jacket, no tie. But even though it looked a bit odd, it was probably the right decision, it was very hot in the spotlights.It went really, really well. The first 3 parts in particular were magical at times. Nice acoustics in the church, and a very nice response from the audience.Whee!

… that 1) Gary and his Mom arrived yesterday with a flight from Münich; and 2) Märit and Fredriks little boy was *the* center of attention during breakfast – at least the little old Italian ladies center of attention

Having given the Hotel restaurant less then a stellar review yesterday I was curious about the breakfast. It was ok, better then the dinner and the coffee was actually excellent.And now Carina and Mr G arived with the night train… Which apparently was really good, although it apparently had accelerated and breaked rather hard and unexpectedly making it hard to fall asleep.

Me, Herr Mürberg and Johanna (E) found a lovely little bar after the dinner. Good stuff. The dinner had quite depressed me, but the bar more than made it up. Free little freshly cooked snack to the beer, on the house. Bean paste on white bread. Tomato and parmeggiano. Avocado. Etc. Damn good!Then there was the initial concert. Well… We fled. I’m sure it was a nice concert and all, but… This was after all our only entirely free evening. The main group stopped and one piazza and me and E2 continued on to the next one. There was wine and beer at the first, and coffee (espresso, naturally) and liqueur at the other.After which… Well, you know the drill It’s been a long day. See ya’ tomorrow.