Peter Gage Furlong, Tenor (and lovely bloke)

I wrote of having ’ exciting news’ over here and then became caught up in living the news ... I’m sorry.  I didn’t actually explain afterwards.

We had had Kathleen come stay with us for a night the weekend before and that was delightful in itself.  Afterwards we had accepted her invitation to come photograph her audition in a place near Viareggio and it was there that we heard this talented soprano sing in real life.  It was stunning!

But then last weekend, ‘the news’ was that Peter and little Miss B were wandering over to visit with us.  You see, one of the more amazing things about any of these visits is that Madrid-based American soprano, Kathleen, and American, now Berlin-based tenor, Peter ... Gert and I, Antwerp-based, manage to find ourselves in the same country at the same time. 

You can read of Peter and his career as a tenor over on his website, although it doesn’t quite capture the lovely guy that Gert and I came to love during the hours we spent together.  The same goes for Kathleen ... perhaps I should be writing their websites.

Anyway, we spent a few hours with these extraordinarily talented generous people and we are surely the better for it.

To Via Reggio and Back...

Never before have I been behind the scenes of that operatic world but Kathleen invited us to Viareggio to hear and photograph her audition ...

A 2.5 hour train ride along the Ligurian coast, past Carrara ... with some of its fabulous marble stacked next to the railroad line.

Returning, we had the surreal experience of sharing a 6-seat train cabin with 2 Catholic nuns, one of whom was reading aloud from a book in the most exquisite Italian.  It was superb ... without a word of exaggeration.

Kathleen Berger, Opera Singer

Kathleen arrived on a train from Pisa yesterday ...

We introduced her to Genova and she, of course, fell in love with this exquisite Italian city.

Last night we had appertivo before eating the most fantastic pizza ... much wine and laughter.

Today it was Nervi before saying goodbye.  A lunch eaten at the edge of the Ligurian Sea ... pesto and gnocchi of course. 

And tomorrow?
Tomorrow we will race off to a place near Pisa to do this photo-shoot with the lovely opera singer we know.