Dear List;
I am a half-Italian (Italian speaking) soprano who has spent some time in
Italy. I read John Blythe's message and he is right on the money with
regard to learning Italian from Rome northwards. I am certain that people
in any large city will speak to you in Italian and not dialect. I have
never been addressed in dialect in any place other than my husband's
parent's house in Pescara. Italian is the public language and regional
dialects are the home language. John's comment on Florence being the ideal
place to learn is interesting. Florentine's were initially upset about their
dialect being turned into the 'standard' Italian and created their own
dialect with they call vernacolo (vernacular). I have a lot of trouble
understanding their accent. The Florentine way of pronouncing c's really
confusing (they turn c's into h's, hence coca-cola becomes hoha-hola).
Rome, Milan, Siena, Orvieto, Torino, Genova, Parma, and Verona are all solid
choices for Italian learning trips. I learned to speak in Rome and am now
extremely partial to the accent in the south/central part of Italy. I know
some other singers who moved to cities where they knew there would be a good
teacher and then settled in to learn the language, take lessons and support
themselves by teaching English one on one with interested Italians. I
encourage everyone to go on a trip there. I remember on my first trip
encountering a gentleman with no teeth and about a grade five education who,
upon finding out I was a singer, started singing Verdi to me. He knew all
the operas of Puccini and Verdi. I remember feeling then how incredible it
must be to live in a culture so dominant that people in towns of 2000 with
no education to speak of could sing a Verdi duet with me. It really made me
see what I was missing here in Canada, where hockey culture is the dominant
influence.
I've written too much...ack!
ciao tutti,
Alexa Wing
Visit me on the web:
http://www.interlog.com/~aads/wing/
_________________________________________________________________________
|
