Local time: May 9, 2014
The last day was sunny and today was the last and first short drive of the trip.
Because we had already canceled the tour of beautiful villages.
We started with the ruins of Pompeii. This was my third visit to the site, and the third time by no means. It was a beautiful sunny day. The last two times it rained heavily, and the second time was just two weeks ago.
This may be the first time I’ve seen Vesuvius so clearly.
However, I had mixed feelings because I couldn’t go sightseeing when I came here with my wife because of heavy rain and thunderstorm.
Even so, it is a vast ruin. It seems to be as large as a big city even today.
The next stop was Naples. I’ve already been here many times, but I’ve never actually had a proper city tour, so I decided to take my time and look around.
After all the hardships I’ve had to endure, I’ve become quite proficient at driving in Naples, a major city in southern Italy. Forced interruptions, unfamiliar lane configurations, and sudden jumps out of the way don’t bother me so much anymore. If there is a gap, I can cut in.
Still, it is parking that worries me. After all, it is the car vandalism that worries me.
Fortunately, the hotel in front of the station where we stayed on the first day had a garage, and we knew exactly where it was, so we arrived easily using Google Navigation.
20 euros a night is reasonable considering the various risks.
Although I arrived at the hotel, because it was too early at 12 o’clock, I was told that the room was not ready yet, so I left the heavy luggage and headed for the city tour immediately.
First, we took the subway to the Archaeological Museum.
The museum is not very large, but it houses many valuable works collected from Pompeii and other ancient sites around Naples.
The best part is the mosaic of the battle between Alexander the Macedonian and the Persian kingdom of Darius.
If you are a student of world history, you must have seen this mosaic, which was excavated from Pompeii. Pompeii was buried by volcanic ashes in an instant after the eruption of Vesuvius, and it was destroyed and slept underground for nearly 1700 years. This mosaic of Alexander and Dalaias is one of the works that were well preserved.
The next stop is the Nuovo Castle, the Royal Palace and the San Carlo Theatre.
Anyway, I came in front of the San Carlo Theatre and found out that there was a concert tonight. We had to go and listen to it. A nice present at the last minute!
Debussy, Glazunov, and Tchaikovsky. Quite a good combination. The main piece, Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique, was the first time I heard it performed live. Glazunov played a concerto, and at first I thought it was a violin concerto, but when I looked closer I realized it was a saxophone concerto. I didn’t know Glazunov had written such a concerto. I’m looking forward to it. When I looked closer, I realized that Debussy had also written a rhapsody for saxophone, and I was thrilled to have been able to attend such a rare and valuable concert.
I went to the ticket office without hesitation. It was 60 euros.
After that, visit the Royal Palace. Visit the gorgeous Royal Palace.
Personally, I think I would have preferred Caserta.
It was past 17:00 at this point. We decided to go back to the hotel once because we had to check in and prepare for the next morning.
After a short rest at the hotel, we took the subway again to the San Carlo Theatre. We got there earlier than we expected and it was hard to kill time, but we arrived at the venue a little after 8pm.
My first time in San Carlo. Beautiful! Wonderful!
How’s the performance? I’m excited.
First, Debussy. As usual, I don’t understand Debussy, but I enjoyed this rhapsody from beginning to end with its moderate length. I think Debussy’s music goes well with saxophone.
The second piece is Glazunov’s saxophone concerto. It’s composed of strings and saxophone. Glazunov has quite a few romantic melodies, doesn’t he? I wonder if he was around at that time? The structure of the concerto is somewhat similar to that of the violin concerto, but the sentimental melody is as impressive as ever.
Now, how good is the saxophone? To be honest, I wasn’t sure. (laughs) I haven’t heard a lot of classical saxophones, so I can’t compare – I’m not sure. And it was a live performance.
As for the orchestra, well, to put it simply, it’s an « Italian » orchestra. The orchestra is light and clear, and when it comes to the fast phrases, the momentum and technique are there, but the vertical lines are not quite right, but the atmosphere is amazing.
On the other hand, the sensual phrases and amore phrases were as expected of an orchestra that plays Italian operas, and the flying bow in the strings was also very good. The wind instruments were also very « like ».
The Pathetique is what the orchestra is all about! In other words, it is like a « Pathetique ».
I wonder if this is possible. Do you skip the bow like that? Light, bright, and fun brass, etc. I was very satisfied!
By the way, the audience was already « Italian », I guess. First of all, there were many people dressed stylishly. Surprisingly, I had an image that there were many people dressed casually at classical concerts in Europe, but there were many people dressed up. But they seemed to be tourists.
It was a pity that some people talked a lot during the performance. Especially the guy behind me was talking all the time. This is not good.
I was also surprised that the break time was only 10 minutes. But this is a southern Italian specification (laughs), that is, their 10 minutes is like 20 minutes. In fact, it was like that (laughs).
Even so, the atmosphere is somehow light and cheerful, not stiff, and although I’m not saying all of it, it might be a good idea to incorporate some of it in Japanese classic meetings.
It is true that I wondered what it would be like to hear a storm of applause and bravos for the third movement of the Pathetique (as is often the case), but I thought that was the way it should be. But I wonder if that’s the way it should be. Japanese concerts are sometimes too rigid.
After the wonderful concert, I went home. I took a taxi from in front of the theater. It cost 10 euros to the hotel in front of the station. The driver was kind. It is true that the driver was much more gentle than me in Naples where is famous for rough driving.
I think what makes it seem rough is the acceleration feeling unique to MT cars, which is rarely experienced in Japanese cars, and the shaking caused by the cobblestones.
The way you choose the road is also the best route. In Europe, there are a lot of one-way streets and you often have to go around in circles to get to your destination, so for Japanese people who don’t understand that feeling, they feel as if they are being ripped off by being taken the long way around.
But this is also my experience of actually driving in various European cities including Naples, taxi drivers never do that, they always drive the best route. It’s almost as if they feel a sense of professional pride in finding it.
I was able to come back to the hotel more quickly and comfortably than I had expected, so after taking a shower, I slowly sorted out my luggage. Then I went to bed before 24:00.
And so the 2014 GW trip came to an end.
がしかし、日記はあと1回続きます。
