Notte Tricolore (Tricolor Night)

This year is the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy (1861).  It's ironic that their unification happened the same year as the US's dis-unification.  So this year they decided to celebrate Italian Unity Day (its a brand  new holiday).  Now, if you know anything about Italy, it's not really all that unified, so the name "Italian Unity" is pretty much an oxymoron.  The different regions of Italy speak different dialects, particularly in the unindustrialized south, and have had different historical trajectories, so unity is much more nebulous than in the States.  But after much controversy, it was decided to celebrate this year.

One things that has been surprising about Unity Day is the large number of Italian flags that are being displayed.  There's even one hanging from our courtyard.

In past visits to Italy it's been rare to find a flag; Tre tried to buy a little one for Dan some years ago and there were none to be had.

The official day of celebration chosen was today, March 17.  So today there's no school.  Stores were supposed to be closed, too, but most seem to have ignored that.  We're getting a much needed rest today after participating in last night's Notte Tricolore (Night of 3 Colors) festivities.  Most museums were open free in the evening (and so were mobbed) and everybody was out on the streets and piazze to celebrate and listen to music or watch different groups parade by.

After dinner last night we walked down to the Piazza della Signoria, probably the most well-known piazza in Florence, where the Palazzo Vechhio is and the giant statues of Neptune and David and more.

Palazzo Vecchio at night with tricolor lighting (hard to see)

Neptune fountain in P. della Signoria at night

There under the Loggia, amid Roman and Renaissance statues the "Philharmonic Orchestra of Giaocchino Rossini" - actually a concert band by our definition - played music from the Risorgimento, the period of cultural resurgence that accompanied the unification of Italy in the mid 1800's.

Band under the Loggia amid statuary

They were a top-notch band and while the weather wasn't the greatest - chilly and threat of showers - the spirits and the music were great and we listened for quite a while.  Of course, the high point of the concert was Verdi's "Va, Pensiero" from his opera "Nabucco". This is a kind of unofficial national anthem for at least the northern part of Italy.  I recorded a part of it on the movie below.  It was quite stately and moving, and you could hear an undercurrent of people singing to it.

 We asked one man how he knew all the words to the song and did he learn it in school.  He told us that if he loved his homeland, he felt he had to be able to sing "Va, Pensiero".  "I love this land.  I know the song."

There were also marching groups playing jazz, American pop songs, and drums.  One group was dressed in renaissance costumes with a flag twirling contingent.  In Florence we think that as many tights are sold to men as to women thanks to dressing up in medieval dress.

Here's  video of the same group:

We treated ourselves to some gelato and walked back to another musical event, this time indoors and sitting down (thank heavens!).  We entered the Palazzo Bastogi which is along the street next to ours, went up to the "first" floor (European numbering starts one above ground floor) and were ushered into a fabulous salon with an enormous chandelier and painted walls and ceiling. I didn't think photos were appropriate, but you can see a few interiors at:

http://www.consiglio.regione.toscana.it/istituzione/palazzi/Palazzo/bastogi.asp

since it's now the home of the Tuscan Regional Tourist Council.  The second, third, and fourth photos on the site are from this room when music wasn't being played. The music turned out to be quite modern and challenging and again, superbly performed by a group of 7 performers: soprano, violin, cello, clarinet, flute, percussion, and piano.  Something we had never seen before.......the soprano, a lovely young woman, was having to sing a very difficult and dissonant piece nowhere in the key of the musicians.  She held a tuning fork up to her ear before she started each part of her solo.  She often had to sing long stretches unaccompanied and with great emotion which she did extremely well.

There were many other kinds of music at other venues around the city - rock, classical guitar, chorus, swing, and given the proximity to St Patty's Day, Irish.  These went on until all hours (we didn't!) and there were fireworks at 12:30 AM.  It was quite a bash and I'm sure we'll have to be prepared to try to describe our experiences in Italian class tomorrow.  But today we rest.

 Not all purses are created equal.  There is a store on our block that has these furry purses in the window and they are truly butt ugly. (Much worse than this picture looks!) All of them look like something that would crawl away if you put it down.  Just goes to prove that even in beautiful Florence there is something that quite doesn't cut it.