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June 4, 2018 I had free time this morning so I joined people from the Florida choir on a golfcart tour - which is exactly what it sounds like. They put 4 people on a golfcart and drive you around Florence with a narration of the sights. Quite enjoyable.
Next we had a tour of the Santa Croce church at 14:00 (where we are performing tonight). Galileo, Michaelangelo, and Rossini are buried here.
From Wikipedia: The Basilica is the largest Franciscan church in the world. Its most notable features are its sixteen
chapels, many of them decorated with
frescoes by
Giotto and his pupils, and its
tombs and cenotaphs. Legend says that Santa Croce was founded by
St Francis himself. The construction of the current church, to replace an older building, was begun on 12 May 1294,
possibly by
Arnolfo di Cambio, and paid for by some of the city's wealthiest families. It was consecrated in 1442 by
Pope Eugene IV. The building's design reflects the austere approach of the Franciscans. The floorplan is an Egyptian or
Tau cross (a symbol of St Francis), 115 metres in length with a
nave and two aisles separated by lines of octagonal columns. To the south of
the church was a
convent, some of whose buildings remain. In 1966, the
Arno River flooded much of Florence, including Santa Croce. The water entered the church bringing mud, pollution and heating oil. The damage to buildings and art treasures was severe, taking several decades to repair.
At 15:30 we had our rehearsal with the orchestra, and had a break for dinner at 17:00. Unfortunately there was a big thunderstorm and we had to wait awhile till it was done to find a place to eat.
At 20:30 we went back to the church for our performance. A choir from Southwest College performed the Ave Maria Mass before us. I was sitting next to an Italian woman and she said she came to hear the Rutter Requiem because she had a CD and loved the music. Our performance went really well. The audience was very attentive and not fidgity like American audiences. John Rutter got surrounded by people for photos & autographs after the performance. It was stunning to perform is such a big space. The far end of the church was pretty far away and when we sang forte it would bounce off the wall. Something I'll never
forget.
We will be getting a link to the performance and photos from our director, so I'll put the link up and photos when I get them.
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