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FLORENCE (May 2006)

represented by

Synergy Team

Micaela Haslam, Rachel Weston, Heather Cairncross

"I had a concert in Glasgow the night before the first rehearsal in Florence, so had to fly out very early on the day.  It was an arduous day, starting with a 5am alarm call and followed by a journey of many legs and a considerable amount of waiting around - taxi, plane, bus, taxi...
Knowing that our first rehearsal was at 3.30pm, and having arrived on a boiling hot day wearing clothes suited to a cold, rainy Scotland, I was pleased to get to our hotel in good time to have a shower and a rest for an hour or so.  I hadn't thought it through.  I was now in Italy! - so our hotel (a sort of lodge with no reception) was of course locked and there was no-one around.  And of course it's only in Italy that you have to dial the "0" of the area code, as well as the international code - I'd forgotten, so couldn't get through to Tempo Reale.  Thankfully, the taxi driver finally guessed where I'd gone wrong and help was summoned.  I eventually got into my room half an hour later.
Synergy vocals
Locked out

 Rachel and Heather arrived from London at about the same time that our lift presented itself to take us to the rehearsal. So we raced to get our things together and scurried off to the Rai Studios, only to be told that we should go and have a coffee for an hour or so and come back after the break!  Ah, Italy - it was nice to be back!

It was very exciting for Rachel and me to be doing a new piece, Laborintus 11, but it was a bit scary knowing that Mrs. Berio was over-seeing the rehearsals.  Fortunately, the conductor, Danilo Grassi, was excellent.  He knew the piece extremely well and was wonderfully clear.  The players were brilliant too.  That all made for a very good start.  Mrs. Berio sat listening to the rehearsal making many notes on "post-its" and sticking them in her score.  We were very relieved in the break to discover that only one of them was for us, and it was a minor detail.  

As we were all rather tired, it was a huge relief when Danilo decided that the evening rehearsal was unnecessary.  It also meant that we could go out for a leisurely dinner.  We found a little place near our hotel which didn't look much, but the food was fabulous.

The venue, Stazione Leopolda, used to be the Porta al Prato station in the 1850's, linking Livorno to Florence when it was the capital of Italy.  Some of the track remains alongside the building and it doesn't seem to have changed at all since it closed in 1861.  Even on entering the building, it's the most unlikely looking concert venue.

Stazione Leopolda
Stazione Leopolda

Inside the Stazione
Inside the Stazione

It was a bit like a giant version of The Tramway in Glasgow, and was equally "arty" inside.  

Stazione dressing room
Glamorous dressing room

Just before the general rehearsal we had a very entertaining interview with a reporter (with photographer) who, only after talking with us for about 15 minutes, realised that his minidisc player wasn't in record mode!  So, we did it all again....

Anyway, the concert was a triumph.  I really enjoyed doing a new piece, and one with such variety of vocal requirements.  The ensemble, the conductor, the speaker and the actors were all excellent so it couldn't have been an easier introduction to Laborintus.  I can't wait to do it again now....!"

Micaela