Chaos in Composing!

Friday ~ The Art of Listening – A Musical Discovery
“Be thinking of what experience during the week affects you most. We’ll pull together stories and our favorite moments to create a Da Vinci Capers’ composition!” Barbara, Founder of Da Vinci Capers, announces on the first day. Now, I don’t know much about composing music, but I thought this might be the most ambitious activity of the week!

But, then again… Richard Wagner was ambitious when he visited Ravello and was inspired to write Parsifal, his last and greatest opera performed in 1882. Wagner changed the face of Ravello – the city has since been named, The City of Music. He was about our age, breathing the same air, seeing the same views… Perhaps surrounded by this creative spirit, we can write a little ditty…

We gather in the Living Lounge of the Hotel Caruso, a beautiful, five-star luxury hotel sitting at the very top of Ravello overlooking the sea and two small villages, Minori and Maiori. Frescoes don the ceilings, crystal chandeliers hang 15 feet above, tall draped windows allow the fresh air to gently wave the scent of lilies. A polished baby grand piano sits in one corner and overstuffed chairs and settees are in small groups. We are suddenly transported back in time to a gilded music parlor of the 19^th century.

Fabrizio Soprano arrives. He has jet black hair and wears jeans and a jacket and tie. Fabrizio lives in Naples, and the first time we met, he wore a black cloak looking very Bohemian – so the tie surprises me, I’m sure to add a professional flair. He is a concert pianist, Artistic Director for the month-long Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival, a composer, and a jazz aficionado. His credentials are long and he’s a serious musician; so when he tells the story of being in Manhattan and a sales clerk from Tower Records thought he was the Mr. Soprano and showered him with gifts, we all laugh and relax. No, if anyone can pull this off, Fabrizio can!

We start by hearing a combination of Fabrizio’s playing and a recording of Franz Liszt – his famous, Mephisto Waltz No. 1 – The Dance in the Village Inn (1859-62). A Romantic composer and inventor of the principle of “free form,” Liszt took an episode from Faust, written by Nikolaus Lenau. It’s an amorous story about Mephisto entering an inn where a wedding party is taking place. He picks up the fiddle and plays an intoxicating waltz theme. Faust takes full advantage of this moment and dances and woos the beautiful bride then elopes into the woods. Liszt builds the music until the couple is “swallowed up by the impetuous waves of amorous rapture” (N.Lenau).

Fabrizio uses this example of how music can be inspired by literature. He picks it apart so we can understand how Wagner wrote the measures following the story (Wagner dedicated his composition to Lenau, who died young). Compositions can also be inspired by other arts, such as painting – Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.” By now, we are starting to understand that feelings (such as, eroticism, sadness, passion, mystery, etc.) are the inspirations of a composition.

Now the big challenge is how can sixteen people who have a mixture of musical experiences create one composition? We have a professional jazz pianist and two other serious musicians. The rest of us love to listen to a variety of music and attend concerts, but have not seriously studied an instrument or even taken a music appreciation course in college.

This didn’t stop us! We had strong opinions that became louder with increased enthusiasm to meet this challenge. Jan and I were on the same page – start with a lightness, have some romantic music, sprinkle in the hilarity of the language day, add a promenade of the photo workshop, add motifs of Italian music… (sounds more like a recipe!) Judy, the professional, said, “We need to start in a minor chord…” We all look at each other quizzically. You could tell David was waiting for this day – he was prepared and already downloaded examples on his I-Pod as a jumping point. The Rickster doesn’t want to leave out the possibility of Pompeii erupting again and Maura feels we should include sounds of the pazzo Italian drivers.

There is mayhem! The interactions are fever-pitched. Dale feels empathy for Fabrizio and decides to go next door to the bar and orders a $36 brandy. Judy thinks Fabrizio will have a stroke, while Barbara keeps saying , “let’s just give Fabrizio the emotions and let him put it to music…and, by the way, I love Mussorgsky’s passagiata – can we use something like this to tie the days together?!”

While we are voicing our opinions, Fabrizio is quietly jotting notes on a staff, and writing the words that are flying around. He then announces that he will write a piece using the first few measures that everyone has agreed upon. We all know that this was an exercise of trial and error and one that we’ll all remember! On the plus side, we now have a better understanding and appreciation of how music is created, we are more familiar with Liszt and Mussorgsky, and we had the gift of hearing Fabrizio play!

After a rest, we gather for our farewell party in the Hotel Caruso with the musical entertainment of the famous Neapolitan folk music and dance the Tarantella! A perfect ending to an incredible week!

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Break the Rules!

Thursday ~ Taking Spectacular Photos

After breakfast, we walk into the next room to meet with Massimo Bassano. Massimo is one of Italy’s top travel photo-journalist. His words and photos appear regularly in magazines around the world.

Some participants are already familiar with Massimo and we all are anxious for this day of photography. A slight man with a huge smile, we take a liking to him immediately. We start by looking at some of his photos and analyzing what makes a good picture and what can destroy one. He’s very honest – no glossing over (including his own work)… we’re here to learn!

Light – I always heard: sun to your back. Today, we are told, “Shoot in the shade. The colors are very rich and not hazy.” Then, he added, “Turn the camera to WB, white balance.”

Shooting people – “Emotion-driven, that human feeling”, this is our goal for the day. Look for people and relationships. Can we read their minds? Seek expressions – see their “character.” And, whatever you do – don’t be lazy! If it means we need to walk up and around or down… experiment!

Shooting landscapes – use telephoto lens and shoot early in the morning or at twilight. “It’s a nightmare!” This is an expression which he loves to use with a big grin. “You may not get many hours of sleep!” continues Massimo, “but, this is the only way to shoot a great landscape.”

Questions are raised about compositions. “I’m a maniac for shooting horizontal. We see horizontal!” Maniac! (Another word Massimo loves to use!) His English is excellent. We could just stay and listen to him talk; but, this is Da Vinci Capers! We are not in a lecture, we are a doing adventure.

Massimo gathers his digital cameras, his 35 mm camera and 50, 95 and 135 mm zoom lens, tripods… He looks like a donkey with packs draping over each shoulder and on his back. He smiles widely, “We are maniacs for best quality.” First, a short drive to Amalfi.

As the mini-van shifts from side-to-side down the mountain, we’re still asking questions. “Where do I find WB?” Suddenly, cameras are being passed back and forth getting them ready for the walking workshop in Amalfi. “Turn off the pop-up flashes!” This is not a “how to turn on your camera” workshop, but there are some of us that need a little help on basics.

Those who want to just play with their camera, take off in Amalfi. Those who want side-by-side instruction, stick with Massimo. I’m soaking up every word so I stay with Massimo. He loves his wide angle to shoot close-up and when there’s a relationship between location and people.

Then the rules are broken. I hear it as clear as a bell, “Don’t worry about ‘framing.’ Use this mostly for architectural shots. But, for people – non preoccupato!” Don’t worry! I remember seeing in his presentation feet were cut off, even part of a head to get the expression, the character – the emotion of the photo. All of a sudden, I’m set free – no longer boxed in with putting something in the foreground, framing a tree on one side, or making sure I have a whole body including the feet. I want to spread my wings and just fly!

Hearts start to flutter when the men see Ms. Janet, the knock-dead beautiful representative from the Hotel Caruso, on the wharf to help us board of their boat “Ercole.” I decided then and there that I was going to lose a few pounds and practice my wiggle in stilettos!

It’s a prefect day – our cheeks warmed by the sun, blue sky, crystal water as we chug along the coast an hour toward Positano – a vertical village known for its mosaic domed church, chic shops cradled in a valley resting on a blanket of white sand.

“Hard to get great shots from the water – everything looks flat, gray and huge. It actually can be rather boring. To see the blue water, you need to be above,” Massimo speaks above the soft murmur of the engines.

We arrive and the die-hards stick with Massimo and the shoppers take off another direction. He’s like Leonardo da Vinci with his observation skills. He grabs opportunities as he sees them. A group of men playing cards are around a small square table near the beach. Others hang around and add their opinions. Colorful clothes and towels are hanging opposite them from a line high above. There’s lots of action: laughing, exclamations of disbelief, challenges being made while cigarettes dangle… Massimo gently steps forward and asks if he could take their picture. Of course!! (Maybe we’ll see this in the next National Geographic Traveler!)

Suddenly, I feel like I am in Velazquez’s painting, “Las Meninas” – I am shooting a photo of someone taking a photo of someone painting on the beach who was painting someone walking on the beach… we are surrounded by art, beautiful colors, perfect weather. I want to freeze this moment.

But, alas we have to board the boat and return to Amalfi. A little way down the coast, we decide that the water is just too good to pass up, so we put on our bathing suites and jump in. This was my first time swimming, so I was nervous. Immediately, I recalled the side-stroke my mother taught me as a pullet (this must be equivalent to the dog-paddle for dogs). My splash was so hard, that I lost my tail feathers! Proud and bare butt, for me, this was the most challenging and rewarding experience so far! Sfumato!!!

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Please don’t throw me in the soup!

Tuesday ~ Sensazione – Paying Attention to our Senses
Later in the afternoon, we return to the villa for our cooking lesson. I have my personal expression memorized: Non buttarme nella zuppa per favore! (“Please don’t throw me into the soup!”) This was a bit of paranoia since I’m not your ordinary chicken. The Ancona chicken is Italy’s most beautiful chicken. A verifiable Sofia Loren with beautiful black plumage tipped with silver, a rose-color comb and plump breasts. No, we are for show – not for stew.

Still, peering through the canvas Whole Foods shopping bag makes me uneasy. I manage to wiggle out and join the small group of cooks. Professor Falcone appears, the esteemed Chef of Villa Maria and culinary historian. Dressed in a white chef’s coat with assistants in tote, we all head to their organic garden.

We pick tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins and squash. In one corner, I see a chicken coop with Italian Galline. I sit on the fence and have a little chit-chat. Golden in color, they have very long slender necks. Despite a weird waddle, they are beautiful and remind me of an elegant Modigliani painting. Ahhh…this is what Italy is about – slowing down, letting the sun warm your back while you make new friends.

Meanwhile, everyone is having fun – tasting raw hot peppers and tomatoes off the vine, balancing baskets on the head and our feet on dirt paths. With our bounty we head for the kitchen at Villa Eva.

Now, I’ve been to cooking schools in Lucca, Liguria, Paris, Manhattan and Colorado. Here, in Ravello, we don’t have our own stations and set of knives, but it is hands-on and we learn a ton.

We start with a light squid antipasto, followed by an ancient recipe – Ndunderi – from Virgil. This recipe won Professor Falcone a prize in Italy. (I don’t understand how it’s taken over 2,000 years for this recipe to come to light!) It resembles gnocchi but made with ricotta cheese and served with a porcini mushroom sauce (like Virgil’s poetry, it seems a little heavy to me). The filleted monkfish in a fresh tomato sauce is exquisite and the vegetable of eggplant with local buffala mozzarella and basil is light and flavorful. And, the dessert of lemon puffs is to die for.

Some of the things we learn:

• Oil is Felice - happy, when it is shimmering and ready to fry quickly. Add more oil if it becomes too happy (too hot) in order to cool it down
• Don’t have water to wash hands? Use flour! (Then throw it away, of course!)
• Oregano and Rosemary – never together; Oregano and Basil – happy together
• Add parmigiano “far from the fire” and all the problems of the world disappear!
• Always put parsley in warm oil, and basil at the very end
• Use only one hand to dip in egg, and the other to dip in bread crumbs
• Monk fish thinly filleted is much tastier than the fat hunks (and prettier)
• Extra virgin oil should not go above 180 degrees
• Never put oil over salt (it will attach to itself and not dissolve)
• Use lemon juice to liquefy salt – wait 2 minutes
• Where does extra virgin olive oil come from? Ugly olives! (Thanks, Maura!)
• Use a cheese grater to make bread crumbs and potato peeler for celery
• Look with your eyes – always pay attention!
• When you make pasta dough – kneed it to look and feel “like a baby’s bottom!”
• Thomas Jefferson loved pasta so much, that he hid a pasta maker in his pants when he left Naples for the United States! “Wow! Thank you, Mr. President!”
• I never had to use: “Non buttarme nella zuppa, per favore!”

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In Italian: “May I have a discount?”

Tuesday ~ Learning Italian

It is morning and I’m full of pep. We will spend the day at Villa Eva, a two-story white Moorish building surrounded by lush gardens accented with an ancient olive press and a wood-burning stove, overlooking the sea. This morning is dedicated to learning Italian with Elena and Luana, teachers from the Sorrento Lingue; the afternoon, we will pick vegetables from the organic garden and have a hands-on cooking lesson with Professor Falcone, an award-winning chef from Villa Maria.

Now, I was searching my brain – why should a chicken learn Italian? I recall the stories passed down about Leonardo da Vinci teaching himself Greek and Latin. Leonardo was curious about everything and if he needed to know something to continue his work, he would stop and learn it. (This drove everyone crazy since it took him forever to complete a project.) And then I realized, for me learning Italian means honoring my heritage, being able to mingle socially and possibly, self-preservation – I must learn how to say, “Please don’t throw me in your soup!”

We divide into two small groups: (1) people who have had no foreign languages and (2) people who have had some experience. I place myself the first group since clucking doesn’t count. We remain on the main level. The more advanced group moves to the second floor.

A breeze flows through the tall French doors and arched windows as we sip sparkling water and suck on exquisite little Italian candies to get our mouths going. Elena makes us feel comfortable immediately – she is young, hip, gorgeous, funny and so Italian! She’s not daunted by our limited vocabulary of “ciao” and “pasta.” We learn expressions that will help us during the week: ‘How much does it cost?’, ‘Where is the bathroom?’, ‘May I take your picture?.’ We speak all together, individually, we laugh and we sing! How could learning a language be so much fun?

Above us, Luana is so vivacious and has everyone roaring! (We learned later that she used to be an actress!) Both groups finally merge and language certificates are handed out.

We all feel encouraged and so confident that we decide to make a quick trip to the market in Ravello to test, ‘May I have a discount?’ Merchants are packing up their wares when I spy, dangling from a hanger under a tent, a cool wool sweater in aubergine – a beautiful eggplant color. I ask, “Quanto costa?” The vendor replies, “Venticinque” (€25). “Posso fare uno sconto?” “Va bene, Venti!” (€20) It’s magic! It works! At this moment, I decide to study Italian when I return home!

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Painting the Love Nest of Greta Garbo

Monday ~ Sapere Vedere – “Knowing how to See”
I arrived in Italy with my head cocked to one side, my four tail feathers fluffed (a beautiful black plumage with silver tipping) and my rose-colored comb – all distinctive features of our breed called “Anconas”, named after the small village on the Adriatic Sea.

My name is Leona. I was the runt of a large flock. But today, my chest expands and I feel big! My heart pounds with excitement for I am about to experience a new adventure called Da Vinci Capers ~ A Personal Renaissance Journey in Ravello, the jewel village on the famed Amalfi Coast. I’m ready to have some fun and add a little zest in my life.

My enthusiasm suddenly wanes on this first day as we gather in the gardens of Villa Cimbrone. Not because we are on a sheer precipice looking down upon crashing waves (Gore Vidal called this the Terrace of Infinity – where heaven and earth meet); but, because I immediately notice that I am the only black chicken on the trip. Yes, I was hoping that I could just blend in. After all, I never studied a foreign language, had cooking lessons, used a camera, composed music, or painted watercolors!

All my fears melt away when we meet Leo, our painting instructor. Leo was born in Canada, lived in Ireland and moved to Italy a decade ago. He became smitten with the Amalfi Coast like so many artists before him – from Boccaccio to Gore Vidal, Wagner to Bernstein, Turner to Escher… Leo is young, tan and handsome. He is like a Leonardo da Vinci, curious about the sciences and the arts, and talented in both.

“How fortunate! Non c’e` nebbia” Leo announced. No fog, just blue sky with views stretching down the coast south of Salerno. We all settle in the shade under the pergola. We feel the different types of watercolor papers, the squirrel and sable brushes and see a colorful palette of paints before us. We are a small group of 16 and range from novices to people who have their own studios.

Leo does a demonstration: determine the scene, what is the center focus, “block out” the composition, then fill in the blocks – light colors to dark, big strokes, don’t be afraid… He squints (a “soft-eye” technique) to block out details in order to really “see” the angles and large planes. A tree is a “triangle” – see in shapes. Leonardo said, “People look without seeing.” Stand back from your work, move up close – this is fun! It feels like a dance!

“Oh, the joyride in a paint box!” I begin to understand Churchill’s quote. We just play – “wet-on-wet” (water on the paper and then add paint). We experiment with smooth papers, papers with “tooth,” and use sepia watercolor pencils to avoid dark carbon smudges (an idea Leo tripped upon years ago while sketching in sepia ink).

I decide to paint Villa Cimbrone, where Greta Garbo and Leopold Stokowski vacationed in 1937, and for the first time, I realize that it’s all about contrasts – light against dark colors – that makes the picture “come alive” or “pop!” as Leo says.

Some paint the umbrella trees, and some go impressionistic. “What do you think, an octopus or a sailboat?”, Carolyn asks as she laughs. Jan is fearless and tackles a seascape. She smiles and is impressed with what a little one-on-one instruction can do. Mike, Paul and the Rickster just don’t want to stop! They’ve discovered a whole new world!

We finish up and walk a short distance to the villa’s terrace overlooking the shimmering Tyrrhenian Sea. All encouraged – all with a new level of appreciation for painting. We make a toast to Leo, to us and to a perfect day with Da Vinci Capers!

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