On February 22, over eighty students along with ten staff and faculty members of ISI Florence attended Puccini’s immortal opera Tosca, at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence. The singers’ vocals ran together with the live orchestra, directed vibrantly by Daniel Oren, leaving audience members awe-struck. Despite the language barrier – even native speakers do not always understand the words of Italian opera – the students enjoyed the plot and the music. The evening prior to the performance, students participated in a formal introduction to the opera led by Riccardo Riccardi (Composer and music professor at Florence’s Conservatorio Statale di Musica Luigi Cherubini). His audio-visual presentation provided an overview of the technical aspects of an opera: the aria, the differences between a basso and a soprano, and opera composition. Students were intrigued by the opera and many questions came the staff’s way during the intermission. Visiting the opera is a quintessentially Italian experience, another experience, indeed, that will add depth to our students’ time in Italy.

Alessia Palanti
Student Services Coordinator at ISI Florence