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Marathon Concert Set for Sunday, October 10, 2 p.m., in Warner Concert Hall. Students from All Over the World Fly Into Town to Reprise Performances from the Oberlin in Casalmaggiore Program
Story by Rhiannon Giddens
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On Sunday, October 10, 2 p.m., in Warner Concert Hall, 33 students from the Oberlin in Casalmaggiore, Italy program for lieder, opera, soloists and chamber music will perform in a four-hour marathon concert in celebration of the summer's 3rd annual festival. The bulk of those performers will be flying into town from all over the world, at their own expense, to relive the Casalmaggiore experience for just one day. The four-hour marathon concert will showcase chamber music, lieder, opera arias and concertos, and students will reprise the pieces they performed for the summer festival.
At first glance, the Oberlin in Casalmaggiore, Italy program, held over three weeks each summer, seems like any other international music festival: intensive coaching, workshops, language classes, practicing and concerts. But a closer inspection points to dramatic differences. Where else does the festival director dress up like Bach and light the candles at an evening of Brandenburg Concertos? Where else is each audience member offered a glass of wine after the early evening concert? Where else can participants hear the ringing of cathedral bells every hour of every day?
There are many other factors that make Oberlin in Casalmaggiore special. One is the spirit of co-operation not often seen in the highly competitive world of music. Yoon-Sun Choi, an Oberlin student who attended two years ago, recalls the feeling of team work that pervaded the festival. "You play with friends who are really good," she says, "and who are willing to work together and have fun instead of competing." She still has a very tangible reminder of this spirit: a permanent trio formed at the festival and named, naturally, the Casalmaggiore Trio, which will perform a movement from the Shostokovich Trio at the marathon concert.
Casalmaggiore is a lovely city nestled in the center of the musical triangle of Stradivarius, Verdi and Monteverdi. The Oberlin in Casalmaggiore program, which attracted 88 students from 11 countries, takes place in magnificently restored 17th and 18th century buildings, including a classical Italian-style opera house, two concert halls, numerous practice and teaching studios and modernized living quarters. Participants live in a former convent.
The beautiful Italian location and
people also set Casalmaggiore apart. Students have the
opportunity to perform in wonderfully restored opera houses,
halls and churches, and can visit the many great cities
nearby. Since Italy is a music-loving country, the audience
was always loud and boisterous; they clapped after every
movement. "After each piece, we would get called back on
stage three or four times," remembers Sarah Biber, a cellist
who studied last summer. Biber is slated to perform at the
marathon. She loved the support of the audience and the
boost it gave her to feel so appreciated. Choi also
reminisces about the first time her trio 
played
in public and the intangible rapport a performer can have
with a knowledgeable and receptive audience: "I can't really
explain it; it's just this feeling that you have. But we
can't forget it."
And what about the bells? Poe must have had Casalmaggiore in mind when he wrote of the 'tinntinnabulation of the bells, bells, bells, bells.' They sounded every day, through every concert, and are inextricably woven into the Casalmaggiore experience. A poem and music piece were written about the bells especially for the festival. The last concert of the program is a two hour gala held al fresco. For this one special occasion, the bells are silenced, as if to remind the students of what they will miss when they return home.
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