I'm sorry for the long delay between posts, it's been a fun, but busy week and a half! I will soon be posting about my trip to Florence (weekend before last!), but first I wanted to write a bit about my first day of classes yesterday!
My class load is quite light this semester, I am taking four classes: Italian, Voice Lessons, Music Performance Workshop, and History of Italian Opera. Very music oriented! My classes are all held at the IES center, which is about 20 minutes from my apartment via metro. My Monday started out with Italian at 9:00am! I have the same teacher and classmates as I did during the language intensive, classes are just less frequent and only half as long. We talked a lot and watched a bit of "My Name is Tanino," a movie about an Italian youth who moved to America. The stereotypes are rather hilarious....! After my Italian class I had a break until 1:30pm, then it was time for History of Italian Opera!!
When I walked into the classroom, I was greeted with the amazing sight of our teacher. He is an older gent (50s/60s?) with fly away wispy hair, reminiscent of Einstein. He is a prominent music critic in Europe, so much so that La Scala has banned him from coming to their dress rehearsals! He started to teach us about the very first opera: L'Orfeo by Monteverdi. We discussed the Baroque influences and the use of recitar cantando. It was so cool to see the origins of so many traits we have just come to expect in an opera! I'm looking forward to seeing what else we will learn in his class. Oh! And he just so happens that part of the class requirements include attending the dress rehearsal of "Rosenkavalier" at La Scala TONIGHT!!! So exciting!
Immediately following History of Italian Opera, I have my Music Performance Workshop! While at first I thought this class wasn't going to be so good, I have changed my mind! The professor is one of the most acclaimed musicians in Europe. We have been working through Bach, connecting the phrasing of the music to art and literature from that time period. It's really cool to see how connected they really are! We ended class on a high note with Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Oh Rossini, how I love thee! I left class humming Figaro's tune...
This Monday was an exciting glimpse into the next few months! My schedule is a bit scattered, some days I only have on class, others I have a booked day. But I'm enjoying it! And now I have found a babysitting job for a young family in Milan, I start tomorrow! Last night we had a bunch of friends over for our "American Night" dinner. There were 12 of us crammed around the table! We had mac & cheese, hotdogs, and homefries. So yummy!
Hopefully this quick blog is an indication of just how much I'm loving it here. Life is good, the food is good, and the Italian is improving!
I'll post again soon!
Buonasera tutti!
Myself and the adorable New Zealand gal we've adopted! She works as a nanny in a little town between Milano and Torino.
Marialuisa and I on the 7th floor restaurant of La Rinascente (a huge department store). Marialuisa knows and loves Paonia!
In front of the stained glass windows of the Duomo!
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