Join the Italian sing-along at Fonclea in Prati

Singer Luca Vicari covers Lucio Battisti songs at Fonclea.

It's not an easy task to find music in Rome that's neither contemporary rock (including rap, new age, electronic) nor classical. We've searched for every jazz club in town, and many, if not most, have disappeared over the years (as in Casa del Jazz, La Palma, 28 Divino; although we just discovered Alexanderplatz (in RST's Top 40) which had been closed for over a year and we feared forever, has reopened).

One mainstay of nostalgic rock is Fonclea, a club in Prati, not far from the Vatican. Fonclea started in 1977 as - per their Web site - a "cantina alternativa," an alternative cantina, where young musicians would have a chance to play in public.  Those young musicians have aged and now Fonclea is a 7-days-a-week music spot mainly for cover bands, which seem to be an even bigger phenomenon in Italy than in the U.S. That said, Fonclea is a great place to see and hear those bands.

Choose beer over wine.

The atmosphere is British pub.  As a result, the beer selection is much better than the wine selection.  There is a good-sized menu, and the Italians like to eat there, with their music.  We'd rate the food as fair.

They all knew all the words.

A sampling of Fonclea's schedule, from their Web site.

One night this spring, everyone in the room was singing along to the songs of pop singer Lucio Battisti, who, as Wikipedia says, "is widely recognized for songs that defined the late 1960s and 1970s era of Italian songwriting."  Something of a loner, he died at age 55 in 1998. Some of the songs sounded familiar to us, but we didn't know them well enough to sing along. Even so, it was great fun to be there and hear the music.  

One night another person joined us at our table.  A German tourist, she had wandered into Fonclea from a nearby hotel.  She wanted to know what was going on with the singing audience.  After listening for awhile she declared it was her birthday and the best way she could have spent it, confirming our sense that a night at Fonclea is terrific even if one doesn't know the language.

The cover band for Lucio Battisti's music that we heard makes frequent appearances at Fonclea.  They were founded in 1994 as "Anime Latine" ("Latin souls") by the singer Luca Vicari and drummer Francesco De Chicchis, dedicating themselves only to the music of Battisti.

Info at www.fonclea.it (if it doesn't work, try it another time). Via Crescenzio 82a. +39 06 689 6302.

Dianne

We hadn't realized until we looked in our photo files that we had seen the same cover band - from the other side
of the room - in 2015.

Piano Day at Villa Borghese - June 3

They call it "Piano Day" (using English only) and it takes place on a Sunday, usually in early June, in Villa Borghese, the enormous park on the city's north end, above Piazza del Popolo. This year it's on Sunday, June 3.

The basic idea is simple: grand pianos are placed at several locations in the park, and more than a dozen talented pianists are brought in to play them.  People gather around and listen, sitting on the ground (some folks bring cushions) or benches or fountains.  The music varies from classical (Bach, Chopin, Liszt, etc.) to Gershwin and Fats Waller.  Good people watching, too.

Luca Filastro, playing Fats Waller tunes. Little kids danced.  

Last year when we were in the park, there were six performance spaces: the Pincio, the Orologia ad Acqua (near Piazza Bucharest), the Laghetto, Museo Bilotti, Casa del Cinema, and Fontana Oscura (not far from the Borghese Museum).  The music began at 10:30 a.m. and ended about 9 p.m. This year's program features 5 spaces (minus Museo Bilotti) and runs from 11 a.m. until 8:30 or 9 p.m. - the last concert begins at 7.30 p.m..

At the Fontana Oscura.  The pianist is probably Stefano Andreatta.

There's a helpful brochure that lists time and locations; it's available at the park and on the website, www.villaborghesepianoday.it (all in Italian, but it's not hard to figure out the program). 

Aside from the music, we found some amazing roller skaters doing their thing in the park. Not an official event; that is, it doesn't appear in the brochure.

It's all free.  If you're going to be in Rome around the time of Piano Day, don't miss it!

The photos above and below are from Piano Day June 4, 2017.

At the Orologia ad Aqua, not far from Casina Valadier

Bill

Marilyn Horne: Masterclass with an Opera Diva

Among the pleasures of Rome are the world-class musicians and artists it attracts, often in unusual venues.  We were treated this past year to a masterclass by Marilyn Horne, the celebrated American opera singer.

World-renown opera singer Marilyn Horne encouraging a 35 year-old tenor  - at her masterclass in Rome - to get on with his career before it's too late.

Thanks to a note by Joie Davidow (www.inromenow.com), we discovered one could purchase a 20 Euro ticket to hear and watch Horne at the American University of Rome.  Not only had we never heard Horne, we had never set foot in AUR.  

The nondescript walls of the American University of  Rome;
one can see why we didn't know it was there.

AUR is tucked in, behind high walls, on the Gianicolo, near the American Academy.  We had walked by those walls many times, and didn't even know AUR was there.  Stepping inside, we realized it's an island of a US campus on the Gianicolo.  Usually eschewing all things American, we would - perhaps more so in the past - be aghast that students are so ensconced.  But this island of calm seemed totally appropriate, as AUR no doubt takes its in locus parentis seriously.  And we were warmly greeted by Timothy Martin, AUR professor and its Summer Vocal Institute Director, who seemed happy to see a couple of opera novices clamoring for the tickets.  

AUR's inviting, very California-looking patio.

At 80, Horne remains an imposing presence. She put four international singers through their paces, and I mean through their paces.  We thought she was very hard on them:  "Do you think THAT's what's going on in this piece?" "You are singing in so many different voices; which one do you want?" To a 35 year-old:  "You don't have a lot of time left; you better get on with your career."  And she ended by saying her classes the next day would be private, and then "I can really say what I think."

Horne, seated right, putting a soprano through her rigorous class.  The
masterclass was held in the American Academy in Rome's Villa Aurelia.

Horne knew every line and note the students sang.  She let them sing a piece all the way through, and then started to pick it apart note by note, syllable by syllable.  What sounded good to us didn't necessarily sound good to her.


One of her main lines of criticism was singing like one thinks an opera singer should sound - too far back in the throat. She coached the students to sing more in the front of the mouth. After a tenor tried it for a few bars, she said, "What do you think?" And he said, "I like it, but I'm not sure I can do it for the whole piece!"  I should point out, Horne did all of this with grace and a sense of humor.

Horne with AUR professor Timothy Martin - both were born in
Pennsylvania - who knew it was a hotbed of opera singers?

When we left this fascinating two-hour session, we wanted to run immediately to the nearest opera house (and one of us did). Since then we've seen a couple operas in Los Angeles, with its excellent opera company, feeling much more knowledgeable about opera - and enjoying it more -  thanks to Marilyn Horne.

Horne in 1961 with her husband, conductor
 Henry Lewis.  They lived in Echo Park, Los
Angeles, California

Dianne

More information on AUR, Horne, the masterclass at this link.

The Jazz Scene: Rome's New Bistros

Apericena jazz Sundays at Mithos

The many bistros in Rome now featuring jazz have opened up the Rome jazz scene for aficionados, like us.  We tried 6 new ones this spring, some of which have music into the summer.   Most of these we found on the easy-to-navigate and spruced-up Web site www.romajazz.it.

One of our most pleasant surprises is our favorite restaurant, Mithos, La Taverna dell’Allegria, that is hosting jazz most Sundays beginning at 6:30 p.m.  Calling it “Apericena” [before supper], the 10 Euro cover gets you a drink, an ample buffet, and on the night we were there, an excellent jazz trio.  Re the buffet – don’t expect Mithos’s regular menu on these Sunday evenings.  They serve only the buffet, which is quite nice; with good reason we were advised to rush over to the freshly fried fish when they came out of the kitchen.  The jazz evenings, as well as the many Vinoforum and other special events, are well publicized on Mithos’s Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/mithoslatavernadellallegria  They also have an improved Web site at www.mithostaverna.it.

Our second try was in what seemed to us an unlikely place – out on via dei Colli Portuensi, well south of Trastevere.  The bistro there is named for, and run by, the well-known wine shop in the center of Rome, Enoteca al Parlamento.  This locale is quite small, seating capacity inside about 20.  In fact, we sat outside--not our choice--listening in through open doors.  This “Aperijazz” is first rate, and, obviously, we recommend a reservation.  Bistrot is active on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/ILBistrotdellEnotecaAlParlamento

From the outside looking in.

At Vineria Litro.  Girlfriend at best table; the norm.

Prettiest bathroom.

We also heard an outstanding jazz guitarist at a relatively new bistro – open all day – on the Gianicolo, not too far from the American Academy in Rome and the American University of Rome.  Vineria Litro features “Un Litro di Jazz” on specified evenings, including through July.  The Web site, www.vinerialitro.it, seems not as up to date as its Facebook site – look for LITRO, not Vineria Litro.  And they might have the prettiest bathrooms in Rome – with windows over the washbasin looking out onto the Aurelian Wall (dear to RST’s hearts this year). https://www.facebook.com/LitroVineria

View from the bar at Oratorio Bistrot

Looking down into Anima Mundi

Two other venues that don’t seem to have such regular music offerings, but certainly have them, are the Oratorio Bistrot and Anima Mundi.  Oratorio Bistrot is, as you might guess, in an ex-oratorio, connected to the San Bernardo church a block from Piazza della Repubblica.  You’re in an ex-oratorio of a church built on the base of one of the bath halls of the baths of Diocletian.  Sweet!  On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OratorioBistrot and at www.oratoriobistrot.it.  Anima Mundi Lounge Bar is behind Bocca della Verita’.  It’s a very nice bar; the music was not as professional, I’d say, as the others.  But a nice locale, via del Velabro 1-2,  and in the heart of Rome.  No Web site and the Facebook site seems poorly maintained.  A fair amount of information on TripAdvisor.


A sixth sort-of bistro is Cafe' Meeting Place on Piazza Bologna, where we heard a good jazz trio one night.  We were completely shocked that the coffee bar we featured in our first Rome guidebook, Rome the Second Time, had a total makeover to a cafe' - and with music.  We'll write more about this transformation in a separate post.

Max Ionata, on sax, with his organ trio, at Grottapinta Lovnge

We also tried one new music venue – Grottapinta Lovnge [sic], a rathskeller-like place just off Campo de’ Fiori, at via Grotta Pinta 12.  No Web site; Facebook site not maintained.  Try Twitter.  Or, again, look for them on www.romajazz.it.  We were drawn to this venue because the Max Ionata Organ Trio was playing.  We had heard them at TramJazz (that might become a regular for us!) and wanted to hear them again.  Ionata has an excellent Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/max.ionata  Grottapinta Lovnge is a good music venue, but like most of them in Rome, don’t expect the music to begin until an hour or two after the listed time.

Opening act at Live Music Club, San Lorenzo

We tried a few new clubs, including l'Asino que Vola [flying donkey] in Appio Latino [not the club by the same name in Trastevere], and Le Mura Live Music Club in San Lorenzo at via di Porta Labicana, 24.  Both are serious music venues, though standing became the norm when the main act appeared at Live Music Club - not something we appreciate.  We also made a foray into a "cultural association"  off Piazza Navona - FEBO, where we heard some young, fledgling jazz musicians.  Fun for what it was. Vicolo delle vacche, 26a.  On Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/acfebo26

Young musicians at FEBO.  The clarinetist was quite good,
though not a well-developed stage presence.

The regular clubs seem steady – Alexanderplatz, 28 Di Vino Jazz, Charity Café, Gregory’s (now called Gregory’s Jazz Club), Cotton Club – only one of which we made it to this Spring. And we want to send a shout-out to TramJazz as well - we love this venue, which might be considered in the smaller bistro variety.  The auditorium venues also re active, though perhaps not as active as in the past – e.g., Parco della Musica (where we saw Diane Schur this Spring with an Italian big band) and Casa dell Jazz.   But it seems to us the expanded action may be in these smaller, bistro venues – which is fine by us.


Dianne

Music to our ears in Trastevere: Ombre Rosse

Musicians in the main room; art exhibit on walls

As most RST followers know, we are fans of popular music in Rome, especially the Italian brand of singer-songwriter and jazz.  One easy place to take in music is Ombre Rosse, a bar/cafe'/music venue in Trastevere, right off the main piazza (Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere), in Piazza San Egidio (with the quarter's Rome museum across the way).

Ombre Rosse - which means Red Shadows, but perhaps more to the point is the Italian name of the iconic John Ford Western, Stagecoach - has music every Thursday evening. Check out the Web site (in Italian only, but look under "Concerti" and it will be obvious).  They also have regular art exhibits on the cafe' walls. 

We noticed the October concerts are all Italians.  Often the performers are foreign.  We heard an excellent Canadian singer-songwriter here one year.  And, the music can be non-Italian as well.  An homage to Robert Johnson by an all-Italian group was fascinating (and we sat next to some Swedish tourists who were enjoying it as much as we were).

The most we've eaten here is the buffet that goes with the drinks for aperitivo hour.  The most recent TripAdvisor reviews are negative, complaining about the service and the food.  These reviews vary greatly from past ones.  We've always had good service.  And, as noted, we don't go to a bar/café/music venue for the food.

Ombre Rosse's atmosphere is sweet, especially in contrast to most of heavy-drinking Trastevere.  You can sit outside/inside and catch the music and do people-watching at the same time.

And for a two-fer, first go to the museum, called simply The Museum of Rome in Trastevere. Operated by the city, it often has nice exhibits that go beyond the usual in Rome.  Check out the Web site.

We're also devotees of Ombre Rosse's outside patio, complete with people watching

Dianne

Oh What a Night... out on the (Roman) town for the European Music Festival

at Teatro Coloseo (at least that's where we think
 we were)

The current Festa Europea della Music (European Music Festival), taking place in 100 European cities, has a very full Rome schedule for 4 days, through this Sunday.  Never ones to miss what might be free and somewhat improvisational events, we booked 4 on our calendar for Thursday night and jetted off on our Malaguti about 5.30 pm for an early one at 6 p.m.

We were in the right place at the right time for what looked like the right performers (woman on piano, man on violin).  As we waltzed into the space, festooned with posters that seemed to indicate we had it right, Bill pulled back a red curtain and whispered back to me (“there are only 3 people”).  I responded “well, now we’ll be 5,” fully expecting to sit in the back of a concert hall, or at least something resembling a theater, only to find 2 benches along a wall, the performers in between.  We took our seats, along with the 3 others - men- for a very intimate performance of familiar classics in this performance billed as a “Salut d’Amour.”  A couple other men joined us on the benches and within a few minutes, they started standing up, then getting instruments from back rooms, and then performing as a group – an accordionist, two vocalists, later a trumpeter.  It seemed only the man next to us was not performing (and us – “we could get up and dance,” said Bill, “that’s about all we can contribute”).

What a performance it was!  The singing was full-throated (there was even one “song” that was completely whistled), the playing passionate, and the pianist and violinist seemed “in” on the whole thing. 

In fact, we had come early for the performance we thought would take place after this one, at 7 p.m., of Italian and German songs from the intra-war period by what was listed as “Fratelli d’Italia” (“Brothers of Italy”).  But, after the 6 p.m. performance(s) ended, we were invited to come to the “real” show “with 10 people on stage, at 9 p.m.” And so it appeared that would happen, and that we had just been given the gift of an amazing rehearsal.

It would be hard to top those great, intimate performances we just witnessed, but we were on to our next event (since the 7 p.m. one clearly wasn’t going to go on until 9 p.m.) at the Brazilian Embassy in Rome’s enormous Piazza Navona… we were a bit early for that, and, as we parked our Malaguti,  we heard coming from the nearby courtyard of Palazzo Braschi – a Rome museum, a woman singing jazz in English. 

When we followed her voice inside, we saw free-flowing wine and even snacks.  Well, never shy about joining a party, we proceeded to experience healthy “tastes” of wine, even gelato, more music (violinists) and even a fashion show of sorts.  With some effort, we discovered this was a promotion for artisan workers in the centro and around Piazza Navona in particular – sculptors, basket weavers, dyers, you name it.

Borromini's Hall and Pietro da Cortona's frescoes

We dragged ourselves away because we weren’t sure if the Brazilian event (to which we had taken the immense effort of getting on the invitation list by sending an email earlier in the day) was at 8 or 8.30.  We walked a few steps over to the Embassy and found our names on the invitation list and walked up the grand staircase into some of the most beautiful rooms we have ever been in (The White House included). 

take two

Waiters in white jackets were serving Proseco and water and we weren’t turning it down, especially while gliding through rooms designed by Borromini and frescoed by Pietro da Cortona, with the best views one can imagine overlooking the bustle of Piazza Navona.  The Embassy is housed in the 17th-century Palazzo Pamphili, and the Brazilians seemed more than happy to open its most beautiful rooms to everyone in attendance.  After 30 minutes or so of this astounding visual treat, we went into the performance by Esdras Maddalon, one of Brasil’s young classical guitarists.  As we listened I thought how much the Buffalo Philharmonic director Joann Faletta – whose instrument is guitar – would have enjoyed it. 

And, so, as we know but constantly are delightfully reminded, Rome is never as billed.  One has to be ready for the unexpected.  And sometimes the unplanned and unexpected is the best.  Rock on Fratelli d’Italia.

Dianne

The Germans Occupy Rome--for an Evening

The Germans occupied Rome Thursday night. Yes, we were all, about 2,000 of us, occupied and entertained at Villa Massimo, the German cultural academy, just steps off Piazza Bologna. This year's rendition was special, a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Academy, a space that had hosted Richard Strauss, Sophia Loren, Ingrid Bergmann, Renata Guttuso, Pablo Picasso and Pablo Neruda, among other luminaries.

But first we had to get in, and that proved more difficult than we had imagined while reading the 2-page spread in La Repubblica, which announced "Porte Aperte" (open doors). Indeed, the doors were open, but only for the press and those with invitations. Like others in the small, disaffected group adrift outside, we complained--"it was in the newspaper" and the newspaper had said nothing about invitations, was our argument--but only when Dianne mentioned that we had written a book about Rome that included mention of the Academy did the guard relent and allow us to progress to the next challenge: the press table, manned by three young women. I explained that whatever policy they were applying was "bad public relations," but it was Dianne's Patton-like tactic--brandishing the book, flashing a card with the cover on it (one of the young women actually knew of it)--that brought success, and in we went.

Phase I (the Germans, we found out years ago, don't do free-for-alls), during the waning hours of the day and into twilight, took us into the dozen or so studios of the fellows of the academy, all lined up in row along a wide lane of small stones. This was a no-alcohol phase (though Dianne later claimed to have found some Martini Rossi at one of the drink tables),
but there was lemonade and other bottled drinks, and plenty of salty french fries and chicken fingers served in small, waxy paper bags.

The art and music offerings seemed on the minimal side, a recyling of the avant-garde, new music sensibilities of the German TV serial "Heimat" in more than one studio, a recording of birds singing in another. One woman, interested in what changes could be wrought in the public sphere, had decorated some picnic tables in blue and on them had put bowls of lemons (see photo). Another project involved printing and framing all the newspaper articles written about a 1938 Rome meeting between Hitler and the Pope that never took place, and then there was the decorated saw horse.

One studio was almost entirely taken up with a boxing ring, where at 9 p.m. two young men dressed in the vestments of priests duked it out for 3 rounds until the one dressed all in white knocked out the one with the black trim. When it was over, Dianne said she was surprised that the spectators had clapped.

Our favorite artistic moment was a seductive and complex video by 42-year old Christian Jankowski, which took a TV/newsreel ("Tableau Vivant TV") approach to introducing the artist's work, which involved living tableaus featuring real people "frozen" at their work.
One of the tableaus featured the artist being interviewed (or, should we say, talked about, since he was locked in that pose) in a bathtub where he was coming up with ideas for future tableaus. I hope that's clear. Later we met the artist; Dianne did her networking thing, suggesting that Christian might be interested in Favretto's the 19th-century tableaus (getting pretty esoteroic here). Christian took it all down on his Blackberry, and Bill took this picture.

Phase II was dinner and, at long last, beer and wine, in which we fully indulged, having left the scooter in the garage, all in the dramatic setting of the Villa's main courtyard, its pines and cypruses lit seductively from below. One section of the courtyard was set aside for specially important people, which we knew was not us. The food was served at an enormous oval-shaped table with waiters inside. It was soon mobbed, 3-deep, "pigs at the trough," said Dianne, and it was 40 minutes before we could penetrate enough to grab a few chicken legs and, finally, some white soupy stuff that may have been fish. We spent much of the dinner hour people-watching over a glass of wine, standing on a small podium and leaning against a giant granite column, telling each other how much in love we were and what a grand time we were having (I kid you not).

We had somehow missed dessert, but the evening was not over. For Phase III we ambled over to a make-shift outdoor disco with a classic disco ball overhead, where (after waiting for "qualche minuto" several times), we joyously danced in semi-darkness, first with a bevy of energetic children, then with two tall gay guys, then in a conga line, finally in the full density of the crowded disco (I've been told the current word is "club").

Seldom have we been more, or better, occupied. Nice work, Germany! But next time, make sure the "porte" are really "aperte."

Bill