Catania, May 27-29

In the year, sixteen-hundred and seven, composer, Claudio Monteverdi, more or less, invented the operatic form. In Mantua, in a relatively small room in the ducal palace, Monteverdi's Orfeo premiered.  Commencing with blazing trumpets and bacchanals, he told the story of Orpheus. In another opera, The Coronation of Poppea, he wrote aching and dazzling and rapturous arias about the inner circle of a head of state. In one aria the head of state expresses, "if my actions are against the law, then I will change the law to suit my actions".  The Roman Emperor, Nero was the subject, though it could be about today's world poltics. A century and a half later Rossini, wrote operas, which even today, give us snapshots of how the world turned in his day.  Then Verdi and Puccini filled out the repertoire with enough material to please a world hungry to see it's emotions expressed in song, in italian, with sets and costumes. Our visit to Catania is entirely about opera. It is to see and hear a performance of La Sonnambula by Vicenzo (Salvatore Carmelo Francesco) Bellini at the Teatro Massimo Bellini.

CATANIA is a challenging city. It has many outstanding aspects. They are in fierce competition with it's urban detritus. Aside from the usual urban stuff—frightening traffic, (if you drive which we did); graffiti, ("no fracking", "stop fascism")—there are buildings, half-demolished from the bombs of World War Two, which have not been repaired or removed. They are scars of a brutal encounter, yet where they are located has become fertile ground for creative young people. They use the drama of the destroyed as a cool backdrop for their bars and eateries. Destruction and creation, side by side.  We had dinner late at night on a small, misshapen piazza fronted by a half-building where two businesses overlapped. One was young and hipster and jammed. The other, Trattoria La Pentolaccia, was old fashioned with abrupt service and lots of slicked back black hair. Do not cross them, at least, it felt that way. I had Penne alla Puttanesca. It hit my palate with a wallop. The tomato sauce was dense and rich. The olives and the pile of capers were way salty. It was not subtle. It was not refined. It was bold and confrontational. "You want salty, I'll give you salty!" "You want thick sauce, I'll give you thick sauce". It was an outstanding five euro experience. The neighborhood was appropriate to the pasta. It used to be one of the largest red-light districts in Italy.

When you say CATANIA, everyone says, "you gotta visit the fish market". We visited the fish market. It is on steroids. It makes the ORTIGIA fish market—the one with the heavy guy staring at my lens, holding his gleaming cleaver between a massive bluefin tuna and a swordfish still wearing his sword—look kind and gentle. In CATANIA, they want you to feel the life and death struggle that brings the fish to market. The market is crowded and wet. It is outdoors on streets of rough and uneven stone. Part of it is under a railroad bridge. It is a manic and aggressive bustle. Fish is sloshing in buckets of water, pink with blood. Many of the fish are still moving.  If looked at as a gladiator event, the sellers are the victors, the fish are the vanquished and we are the spectators who have chosen to witness their demise. Of course, it is not really that. It is a fish market where you buy what you want to cook. But it is not a pretty sight.

The flip side of that overt rawness is the opera house. The interior of Teatro Bellini is exquisite. Shaped like a horseshoe, it has five tiers of boxes and a sixth tier of port-holed viewing spaces. I think it seats about twelve-hundred guests.  The front of every box has a plaster angel with arms outstretched holding a glass lantern globe. Around the circumference of the round ceiling mural are fourteen chandeliers, each composed of one-dozen glass globes. The orchestra pit is entirely exposed and the sound is thrilling. The vibrations of the strings are palpable. Our performance featured a soprano, Gilda Fiume, who sang like an angel. The virtuoso aspects were perfect and effortless. Her high notes were like the beauty of a colorful sunset: they hovered and floated and wafted full of delicious tone and color. The rest of the company was very good, but she thrilled me. She is at the start of her career and we wish her well. It was a joyous night. We were mesmerized and entertained and we smiled and laughed and at the end applauded like mad. The opera is a wonderful contrast to the urban energy of the city. That said, I wish good luck to anyone who drives a car into CATANIA during evening rush-hour.

Wes and Marlow
Catania, Italy
May 27, 2016