Tu non vedrai nessuna cosa al mondo maggior di Roma!

Just a reminder that we are going in just 3 days to the greatest city in the world ROME!
As the title of my post indicates you will never see anything greater in the world.

Just last night I was looking at all our favourite restaurants, we wish to return too. We have now our tickets to the special exhibits we want to see and have made appointments to meet our friends for lunch or dinner.

Will last night was saying that he hoped Rome would be like he remembered it from two years ago. I told him not to worry Rome never changes it is eternal in its beauty.

I am posting this Hymn to Rome by Puccini, sung here by Beniamino Gigli, it says it all. Pictured is the Vittoriano or the Altar to the Italian Nation on Piazza Venezia. A little fact about this monument built in 1890, prior to its construction stood the hill on which was the ARX or Citadel of Rome with the sacred Geese. It was bulldozed to put this monument in its place, behind it is the Roman Forum. During our trip I will be updating regularly how things are going with pictures and description.
An excerpt from the Hymn; The rising sun on the chariot of the god Apollo streams across the sky. You will never see a greater city in the world as Rome.

21 Aprile, 753 A.C. Auguri Roma! Belleza Aeterna!

Today 21 April marks the birthday of Rome, the historical date marking when Romulus traced the Pomerium (Sacred boundary of the City) in 753 BCE. Making Rome 2766 years old.

In 1919 the Italian composer Puccini composed this Anthem to Rome (Inno a Roma). The Italian phrase ''Tu non vedrai nessuna cosa al mondo, maggior di Roma'' says it all. You will never see anywhere in the whole world a City as great as Rome. I can honestly say that this is true, nothing compares to it, a City both beautiful and eternal.

The anthem is sung here by Apollo Granforte on a recording which is at least 85 years old.




The story goes that Aeneas Prince of Troy fled the fallen city at the end of the Trojan War and sailed the Mediterranean Sea and finally landed near Laurentum just south-west of the actual site of Rome, married the daughter of a King and his son Ascanius established the Julio-Claudian line which would give us the first Emperor of Rome, Octavian Augustus nephew of Julius Caesar. Augustus claimed direct descent from Aeneas and his mother the goddess Venus.

The story of Aeneas had to be reconciled with that of Romulus and Remus who are said to be the sons of the god of war, Mars. One has to remember that Mars was the favourite god of Augustus and that the Aeneid of Virgil was written under his reign. The date of 21 April is the Feast day of Pales, the goddess of Shepherds. It was a shepherd Faustulus who found Romulus and Remus being nurtured by a she-wolf, the exact spot is in the Roman Forum near the Senate of Rome.

How many cities do you know in this world who have such a founding story.

Altar to the Nation, Piazza Venezia, Rome

Porta Pia, Rome 

La Rondine

This air from La Rondine by Puccini was playing on CBC radio 2 as I drove back to our home on  another bright sunny but cold day in Ottawa. Renée Fleming was singing, the first word  CHI which in Italian is pronounced KI, the ch letters together make a hard K sound, it is difficult to start this way for any singer. Reviewing it, I noticed that many singers jump the chi and start at the IL instead, it can be difficult to get it right.
Here is a recording by Montserrat Caballé, one of the great divas of another age, they do not make them like this anymore singing Chi il bel sogno di Doretta from La Rondine by Puccini.



Of course you guess it, I am thinking of Rome and the Teatro del'Opera di Roma where we went at least once a month for years. The staff knew us and greeted us each time, what a wonderful place it was, then walking back home after the show through Piazza Repubblica and Porta Pia. Even after the show walking through Rome at night was so romantic and beautiful, everywhere greeted by magnificent monuments of ages past. It is so true when Puccini said:
Tu non vedrai nessuna cosa al mondo maggior di Roma. (You will never see in the world anything as great as Rome).

Arrivederci Roma!

My last weekend in Rome, on Wednesday I fly to Canada for a new chapter in our life. I never thought that leaving la Citta Eterna would be so difficult. Had a wonderful lunch yesterday with colleagues to say goodbye and tonight had a wonderful dinner with colleagues and tomorrow Sunday lunch with Simonetta and Renato.
We always say we will return, but life is funny and one never knows if we will be able to come back one day and even if we do,  will it never be quite the same. As I write this, I am listening to the Opera Madama Butterfly by Puccini. To me this is by far my strongest memory of Italy, of Rome. The music brings me back to that evening at the beginning of our stay in Rome, Will had mentioned many times the summer opera season at the ancient baths of Caracalla and we went quite a few times. But on that warm summer evening as we sat in the open air amongst the majestic ruins and the great Roman Pines listening to the music, I remember suddenly seeing this gigantic full moon raising slowly in the evening sky on the right of the stage, it was magical, the light of the giant full moon casting a glow on the old stones. I suddenly thought this is what is wonderful about Rome, this mixture of music, of the ancient, of history, the setting, thinking of all the great operatic artists who sang at Caracalla. It simply speaks to you. For a moment we were alone, Will and I, with the moon, the singers, the music of Puccini, and Rome.  You will never see in the world anything like Rome!


Here is the production we saw that evening.

                                    a recent picture at Caracalla

power and corruption

It is the first time in my life that I see an embattled Pontif who is more and more isolated in his Apostolic Palace in Rome. Everyday fresh revelations of this horrible pedophile scandal become public. It is very disturbing to see how the protection of status and property and the reliance on antiquated notions from the Middle-Ages appear to guide those very few people around the Pope and the Bishop of Rome himself. I was at the Teatro del'Opera the other night, the opera Tosca was featured, the plot line is easy, a love story between an artist painter who believes in a free Rome and an Italy free of Papal domination and a singer Tosca who are pitted against the Secret Police of the Pope who is desperately trying to hold on to power by arresting and executing anyone who is promoting the Roman Republic. The story is staged around 1810 at the time of Napoleon's march and liberation of Italy. Scarpia is the all powerful Police Chief and is lusting after Tosca, in the final scene of the first act while a Te Deum is being sung in the church of San Andrea della Valle in Rome, Scarpia sings, while surrounded by all the symbols of the Church's power, of his lust and how he will use his powerful office to get Tosca into his bed. In the context of today's news I could not help think how the Opera Tosca is a mirror reflection of absolute corruption. Being in Rome to see this unravel is unsettling especially during Easter week.