A leading boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 12-18 in Perthshire, Scotland
(Photos at Photo Gallery )
The choir outside the Chiesa di Sant' Anastasia
Despite a very sociable meeting time of 11.30am, it was a somewhat bleary-eyed group of Glenalmond singers who met at Edinburgh airport on the late morning of Sunday 3 July 2011. Thanks to the Leavers' Dance at the Crieff Hydro the previous night, few of the U6 had gone to bed, and it was left to the Captain of Choir to be the first to flout TJWR's tour motto, "early is the new on time". However the EasyJet check in was managed easily, with the combined baggage weight for the entire group of 28 coming in at under 580kg, the pre-paid baggage allowance. That was the first potential disaster averted! Flights were smooth and arrived as scheduled, and in time at all we were being greeted by our tour guide Sonia, an affable and hugely knowledgeable Austro-Italian.
After a two and a half hour coach transfer we arrived at our accommodation for the week, the Albergo da Franco in Lazise on the south east shore of Lake Garda. Rooms were simple and clean, food likewise, although the concept of vegetarianism did cause some headaches for chef-proprietor Franco. Even such an outright carnivore as this writer felt sympathy for the choir's one vegetarian when she was presented with a single slice of processed cheese as her main course meat alternative!
Monday 4 July, Day One, involved three intensive rehearsals, but the holiday spirit was already prevalent as we practised outside under large sun-canopies, with a few taking an early chance to work on their tans. During breaks the choir retired to the large pool area, before the final stoppage of the day at 4.00pm. At this point we transferred to the legendary Gardaland theme park, famous for being the custodian of some truly celebrated roller coasters. We stayed until 11.00pm, with much fun being had by all and nobody admitting to any stomach upheaval.
We began Day Two by visiting a street market in Desenzano on the opposite shore, before catching the ferry back across the lake to Lazise. We then headed into the mountains to our first concert venue, the spectacular shrine of Madonna della Corona near Spiazzi. This place of pilgrimage is perched on a cliff 3,000ft up, and an unscheduled and unexpected walk down of 1,000 vertical feet, thanks to one of very few mistakes by the tour company. The interior of the church is actually hollowed out of the cliff face and its uneven rocky walls, combined with the height of the ceiling, produced a glorious acoustic in which we wallowed unashamedly after the comparative dryness of Coll's Chapel. The choir's resident piper, Lewis Fyfe, then commenced what was to become a ritual over the course of our five concerts, playing outside the venue, summoning potential members of the audience. The pipes were in their traditional venue, sounding out over the mountains and the effect was spectacular. A good sized audience enjoyed what was a good concert for a first outing, with even the resident, initially frighteningly militant, nun becoming supportively voluble (our Italian speakers told us she was being supportive anyway!). After a rather disappointing supper at a local Spiazzi restaurant we returned to the hotel.
The Wednesday morning was kept free for members of the choir to enjoy a lie-in and then to lounge by the pool or explore Lazise, our local metropolis being a beautiful, old, walled town. Much to the Director of Music's chagrin, choristers returning from Lazise, via the local pizzerias to acquire their lunches, had failed to factor his pizza requirements into their purchases. However stomachs were forgotten as we journeyed to Verona, first to the magnificent Madonna de Lourdes viewpoint overlooking the city, and then to the Chiesa di Sant' Anastasia, the principal Dominican Church in Verona. This cathedral sized venue was truly draw-dropping, with an acoustic which outdid the previous day by a couple of seconds. Following a short rehearsal we left to explore Verona, taking in Juliet's balcony and the Arena in Piazza Bra. Free time gave us the chance to have the first of many gelati, before returning to Sant' Anastasia for our evening concert. Probably the least well attended of all our concerts, there was still much to enjoy from the simple pleasure of making music in such a spectacular setting. Within the choir's programme there were also several solo items, with Lisa Robertson and Heather Campbell playing all three movements from Bach's Double Violin Concerto over the course of the five concerts. The five voice Madrigal Group, directed by Sandy McCleery, sang the beautiful renaissance setting of Hymnus Eucharisticusby Benjamin Rogers. Tamsin Birch, Emily Harrison and Sandy also reprised Rutter's arrangement of Quem Pastores Laudavere on a nightly basis, bringing some Christmas cheer to 37 degrees Celsius heat in the Italian summer.
Thursday, Day Four, offered no let up in what was proving to be a well-filled itinerary. A 6.45am breakfast was followed by a two hour coach trip to Venice. Everywhere we travelled we took electric piano and stand, violins, full concert kilt rig, a flight case full of music and music stands. We also took (by mistake) a small but surprisingly heavy speaker which was never used but always mysteriously made it onto the coach. It is very much to the pupils' credit that, under the leadership of Tom Francis, Captain of Choir, this equipment was manhandled safely and uncomplainingly around northern Italy, with some transfers, notably Verona and Venice, involving considerable walking. Upon arrival in Venice we transferred to a private boat for the 50 minute, scenic ride around the main island to the Fondamente Nuove, followed by a five minute walk along a narrower canal to our venue, the Basilica di Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Once again, this was a huge, Dominican church, not dissimilar on the inside to Sant' Anastasia and for many residents the principal church in Venice and burial place of many Doges. A rehearsal was followed by free time, with the staff, somewhat reluctantly and with fingers firmly crossed, releasing the choir into Venice's labyrinthine streets in the full expectation that some would not make it back for the meeting time. As it was, the only person who got lost was Sonia who was unable to relocate the Basilica from our meeting point in the Piazza San Marco. A small vocal group went busking to raise some gelati (or was it beer?) money. Many, your writer included, took a hugely expensive and irritatingly short gondola ride, others took in a glass blowing demonstration, with almost everyone sampling the delights of the multitude of gelateria. The preamble to the Venice concert was undoubtedly Lewis Fyfe's most impressive moment, surrounded by tourists taking pictures of him, in full concert rig, woollen kilt and all, with not an ounce of shade in sight and the temperature knocking on forty degrees Celsius. It's extraordinary to think that he (and the choir who posed for photographs with him) will be in photo albums from Japan to the USA, always a part of these tourists memories of their time in Venice.
Day Five was the day we explored our more immediate area, travelling north up the lakeshore. Our final destination, Tenno, was in the mountains above the very north end of Lake Garda, but we took the whole day to get there, with stops at Garda and Malcesine on the way. Market day in Garda proved fruitful for some and at Malcesine we took the cable car to the top of Monte Baldo for stunning views up and down the lake. Abandoning our coach we then traversed the lake on a paddle steamer, journeying via Limone to Riva. After dinner in Riva we met up with the coach for the dizzying trip up the mountainside to Tenno and our venue, the Casa degli Artisti. This was our only outdoor concert: what we lost in acoustic we certainly gained in singing to the mountains as the sun set behind them. Bathed in bright floodlights we also gained the attention of a multitude of flying insects who enjoyed feasting upon the pasty, Scottish flesh on offer. Especially memorable was Simon Boendermaker's predicament: called upon at the last minute to hold Heather and Lisa's music to stop it blowing off the stand during performance, he was then relentlessly dive bombed by a large and tirelessly energetic moth which was determined to distract attention from the ever industrious violinists. A small but wonderfully enthusiastic audience of locals enjoyed our programme before treating us to a reception afterwards. It was another late night.
Saturday morning was spent at the Canevaworld Aqua Paradise water park, one of the largest water parks in Europe. Our final concert was scheduled to take place at the parish church in the small town of Castelnuovo, only just down the road from Lazise. Although this venue may not have been as grand as our huge venues in Verona and Venice, there was still a gloriously warm acoustic, matched by our largest and most volubly enthusiastic audience of the week. There's something to be said for planning your concert to take place immediately after the biggest Mass of the week, at which the whole town attends, and then locking the doors afterwards! Actually a few did manage to leave, but those who remained were treated to the outstanding concert of the week, concluding with a standing ovation and a decided lack of dry eyes amongst those leavers in the choir The sudden realisation that this was it, all those years of service to the choir, all the hours and hours of rehearsal and the many services and performances had come to an end. The last night party back at the hotel was tinged with reflection for several, though not to the extent that the point of the party was forgotten, and an especially late night was had by all.
The journey home was seamless, with all in the group tired from the night before, and in no time at all we were meeting up with families at Edinburgh international arrivals. The insanity of the airport's expensive and consumer unfriendly pick up scheme meant that there were few protracted goodbyes and the Ridleys and Haylocks, having been surrounded by 24 boisterous teenagers for over a week felt a kind of uncomfortable peace. Yes, it was a relief that all had gone smoothly, that the tour had been enjoyed, had been musically spectacular and memorable. But we missed the camaraderie which the pupils brought to the table quite magnificently. They had been relentlessly selfless, friendly, genuine, hardworking and committed: all that is best about Glenalmond pupils and which makes working with them such a rewarding, happy and worthwhile experience. For the first time I've returned from a tour not thinking "never again", rather wondering "where next....?".
Dr Tim Ridley
Director of Music
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