Signor Fazzobaldi is the Mayor of Santa Schifezza. (loosely translated: filthy disgusting town) Lucky guy. Actually, it has turned into a pretty good gig. By the time we meet him, Fazzobaldi is pretty happy with the mix of bribery, graft, fraud and racketeering that makes up his life. He must have taken this backwater town
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The Inspector, Scene 5: Municipal Mayoral Day!
In the village square, after the Santa Schifezza anthem is mangled, the Mayor enters and announces he will be accepting a position in Rome and that their daughter is engaged to The Inspector. Bobachina and Bobachina stumble on with startling news. They have opened and read Tancredi’s letter to his mother. He is not an
Read MoreThe Inspector, Scene 4: Ciao Mamma, Ciao Pappa
Municipal Mayoral Day, the next morning. The Mayor and Sarelda are both now convinced that Tancredi will offer the Mayor an important post in the new regime. But, just to secure the deal, they ask Beatrice to “be friendly” to Tancredi, a notion that inexplicably offends their daughter. As the Mayor and Sarelda prepare for
Read MoreInternal Monologue: 04.08.11
4:45 pm – Home: My Music Room What good fortune to have the opportunity to crawl inside music that teaches me about the world and about myself. On top of that, I get to do it with and for other people. Here, alone, the music flows clearly and effortlessly, and I promise myself that when
Read MoreThe Inspector, Scene 3: Flirtation, Celebration, Suspicion
At Villa Corrizone, the Mayor’s wife Sarelda prepares for “Inspector” Tancredi’s visit and dresses down her daughter Beatrice (at left, literally trapped in Santa Schifezza) for not dressing up for him. Beatrice, silly thing, is more concerned about a certain dictator’s rise in Italy. Cosimo enters ahead of Tancredi, and Sarelda extracts information from him,
Read MoreThe Inspector, Scene 2: White Lies
At the hotel, Cosimo and Tancredi also bemoan their dreary existence in Santa Schifezza and the circumstances that have stranded them there, lira-less, on their way to Palermo. A knock at the door. The Mayor enters. Tension. Cosimo and Tancredi are terrified of the Mayor because they believe he’s there to arrest them for not
Read MoreThe Inspector, Scene 1: Damage Control
It’s a tough morning for the Mayor of Santa Schifezza. The town anthem is being rehearsed in preparation for tomorrow’s Municipal Mayoral Day—a day he instituted in honor of himself—and it sounds awful. But worse, far worse, he learns that an inspector from Rome may soon be visiting his town, incognito, undermining the very way
Read MoreWelcome to Santa Schifezza
*Santa Schifezza: a fictional, small town that would be near Palermo if it existed. Some parts of Sicily are known for their visual splendor, verdant vineyards on cliffs overlooking an azure Mediterranean or quaint fishing villages charmed by Greek, Roman, Moorish and/or Norman architecture. This is not one of those parts. SS is dusty. SS
Read MoreMusic Worth Listening To Is Worth Listening To
The second half of Kate Lindsey’s April 8 concert includes five songs from Miss Manners on Music, a cycle by Dominick Argento. The texts for these songs are by Miss Manners, excerpted from her etiquette columns with their signature combination of truth and humor. In addition to a Prologue (from which the post title is
Read MoreJeder Mensch
These days, I alternate world premiere prep by day with dusting off my piano chops by night. Artists for The Inspector arrive this weekend, and the show opens on April 27. But before that, I’ll have the privilege of taking the stage with mezzo Kate Lindsey for a recital at The Barns. On that recital
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