We packed up, had a lovely breakfast at our favorite Rome hotel, and boarded the coach for a 6-hour ride that ended up closer to 8 hours. So it goes with Rome traffic and necessary requirements for the coach driver’s rest en route. Though long, the drive was beautiful as we passed through mile after mile of green pastures and hills, many very old towns surrounding a castle built on the top of a hill, and in the distance mountains that still had a good coating of snow. Most of the wonderful hill towns were on the other side of the bus from me, but below is one that was on the correct side of the bus.
We checked into our new home away from home in Bari—a very lovely hotel that kindly served us our lunch at 4 pm when we arrived. This city is very different from Rome—not a ruin in sight so far. It seems to be very industrial. (Though reading ahead to tomorrow’s activities shows there is an historic district, so Bari’s been around a while.)
The concert tonight was at the Conservatorio di Musica Niccolò Piccinni. (Piccinni was from Bari, and was one of the most popular composers of opera during the Classical period.) It has a very well-designed concert hall which shows off the choir’s sound nicely. They enjoyed performing here very much, and the audience was very enthusiastic. They gave the choir an immediate and lengthy standing ovation, followed by an encore of “I Am a Child of God.” Much of the repertoire for the Greek Music Festival this weekend is now reappearing in their performances as they prepare for that event.
There were quite a few people waiting for the choir outside of the hall, making it hard to break away. These really are charming people, and they are music lovers! They respond immediately to the choir and their music, and quickly to Dr. Crane once they realize he truly is speaking Italian to them!
We drove a little way to join some of the audience in a party—they brought all kinds of delicacies and homemade food for the choir to enjoy. After a while it was time to leave both for the bus driver and the choir to get some rest!