Web Log - Sep 6, 2008

Since Stonington is only an hour from home we couldn't pass up the opportunity even though the tickets seemed a bit pricey, but it seemed like an odd place for an operatic performance until we found out the details.

If you're as old as me you may remember the Italian-American tenor Mario Lanza (he was born in Philadelphia of Italian immigrants, and grew up speaking Italian as his first language) from the 1950s, but you may not remember one of his contemporaries, Sergio Franchi. Originally from Italy, he got his start in South Africa before gaining fame in the USA in the 1970s. He died of brain cancer in 1990, after which his wife Eva started a music foundation to provide scholarships for up-and-coming tenors. Each year the foundation sponsors a benefit concert at the family estate.

A few weeks before the concert we found out that Mario wasn't actually going to be there, but we decided to get the tickets and go anyway. Our friends 'with connections' said they would get us the best possible seats.

We duly arrived at the appointed date and time at a rather large farming estate in beautiful rolling countryside, very reminiscent of an English country manor. The concert was to take place on an expansive lawn at the end of a long driveway next to the house. Unfortunately we arrived just after the remnants of Hurricane Hannah had passed overhead, and although it was still windy and raining the forecast was encouraging.

The unfortunate part about it was that the tent roof that was supposed to be covering the orchestra had blown down during the night, and we were turned away at the gate as the concert was now cancelled altogether.

What to do? We backtracked to a Starbucks, got a coffee and a snack, then tried to call our friends from Canada - many thanks to whoever invented the cell-phone. It transpired they were stuck nearby in the local Hilton hotel not only wondering what to do themselves but also wondering what to do with the famous Italian soprano and her manager that they had in tow. We migrated to the Hilton, by which time Georgia and her manager had made further contact with Eva, who invited us all up to the house.

So we arrived in convoy back at the estate, only this time there was a brief holdup while the guards called the house and then we were let through, which sparked a furious row between the guards and the occupants of the car following us. It was still raining when we parked the car at the house and made our way into a huge drawing room. Eva sat Gina and I on a couch and served wine and champagne to her several guests, including all the performers, who were now meandering around wondering if or when they were going to perform.

Eva Franchi is from Hungary and once had a successful career as a model. She reminded me of Eva Gabor, a very bubbly personality and full of amusing anecdotes. By now about sixty performers and their guests had arrived in the house. So there we were, Gina and me, sitting amid an impressive array of show business aristocracy getting slowly sloshed on their hooch while Eva regaled us with stories and intermittently huddled with her staff. The royalty were actually totally unsnobbish and very good at mingling, and did not make us feel out of place even though by rights we had no real business being there - we were just unoffocial friends of the unofficial staff of an internationally-acclaimed singing star who happened to be performing there. We got to talk to several interesting characters and some of the performers, all of whom were well-known stars of Broadway if not the international scene. At one point Georgia, whom we had not met before, came over and chatted with us for quite a while. She had just returned from an engagement at the Beijing Olympics and told us of how nervous she was singing atop the huge ball with Sarah Brightman.

We also met and talked with the extremely likeable Alfio Bonanno, the Italian tenor who had come all the way from Australia, complete with Aussie humor.

He was a bit concerned over the sudden change in orchestration - I don't know why because he seems to be a very accomplished musician and supplied his own keyboard accompaniment; most of the other performers relied on outside help.

Eventually Eva explained that the musicians' union would not allow the forty-odd musicians to perform without a tent roof, and although she had hired enough riggers to repair the tent the insurance company wouldn't cover the risk, hence despite haggling all morning she hadn't been able to un-cancel the performance, due to start at 2 pm.

Just after midday she invited us all over to the garage ("Please fill your glasses and take them with you!"), where Sergio's collection of antique cars had been moved out. I only got a close look at the 1964 E-Type with 1,600 miles on it, but there was a Bugatti among several others. The riggers had arranged chairs for us all and Eva's staff had set out a lunch table. Trying to load a china plate without dropping it while balancing a semi-full wineglass, a woman I hadn't noticed before asked me where I got the wine from, since there didn't seem to be any in the garage. I explained we had brought it over from the house, to which she replied snootily, "Oh. You're one of the 'in' crowd."

Promptly at 2 pm an impromptu concert started, the MC duties being performed by the lead of The Redneck Tenors and orchestral accompaniment by virtue of an extremely impressive-looking keyboard, adorned with two huge indoor plants from the drawing room, being played mostly by the performers themselves, although one or two, including Georgia, sang arias totally unaccompanied.

After hearing Alfio sing Gina and I immediately decided we were going to collect his music, and fortunately his manager had some CDs in her briefcase! Other issues are available directly from Alfio's website.

It was an outstanding set of impromptu performances by really first-class singers, basically given by Eva Franchi for her friends and neighbors; an operatic jam-session to which we had been privy through no virtue of our own. In fact Gina and occasionally smiled at each other, knowing we really had no business even being there.

Afterward all the acts had sung we again mingled with the performers, finally leaving just as the rain stopped. All the way home we couldn't stop chuckling at what we had just experienced. What a day!