Filippo's Italian American Experience: Ten Tenors

Sunday, October 22, 2006

Ten Tenors - And Not One of Them Italian

Ciao a tutti,

This week I was back to going out again, this time every single night. It's work I tell you. Now I understand when some of my "high profile" friends would be invited to like the party of the Century that I would have so much wanted to go to and they wouldn't go claiming, "I have been out every night this week, I just want to stay home." Stay home? Didn't they know who was going to be there, the opportunities they would miss...? Now I understand, but at this point of the game, I am going to go, tired or not, he, he, but I won't write about them all here, that would make me too tired, he, he.

I had to laugh. I was invited to the red carpeted, star studded debut of the Ten Tenors in Los Angeles at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. I was so looking forward to this because I had never heard of the Ten Tenors until I got the invitation and I do enjoy opera very much. I also was excited about the fact that I could interview for my Blog and my Filippo and the Chef Radio Show all the Italian tenors of the group.

Boy, was the joke on me. I figured, opera, tenors, Italian, right? So, I figured what are the odds that there are Italians in the bunch, pretty high, right? I was actually thinking I would be overwhelmed by trying to get all those interviews in on one night and one radio show. Well, as the Bee Gees song lyrics go, by the way are they Italian, he, he. As I was saying, the song goes, "but I didn't see that the joke was on me, oh no." Yes, why you ask? Well, not one, I say, not one of the tenors was Italian or of Italian decent.

How can that happen? How can that be? Well, this is the story, they are all from Australia! Yeah, who knew? So then I wondered, why was I invited? Don't the press people that invited me know that "Filippo and the Chef," is about all things Italian and Italian-American? So, then I thought, well, they invited me because it is opera and they will be singing Italian songs, right?

Well, I waited for the punch line all night. They didn't sing in Italian and they didn't sing opera, except for one aria, or maybe two. So, I guess I just went with the wrong expectations. When I look at it, my friend Barbara and I got to walk the red carpet, in orchestra seats, three rows back center, right behind Los Angeles Chief of police William Bratton and his wife, and we got to enjoy a nice show, and we got invited and enjoyed the gala party at Basque and got to meet the Tenors afterwards. What could be so bad?

By the way, I had meet Chief Bratton and his wife about a year ago at an Italian Lawyers Meeting and when I went to introduce myself to them during intermission his wife said she remembered me. I thought she was just being polite but she said that she remembered I was a singer and that she remembered me because of my hair. So, to all those who want me to cut it, what do you think of them apples? He, he. Little was I to know that I would see them two days later at the Police Academy, read on.

Despite the jokes I am making about the evening Barbara and I had a great time actually. And I will say that after I had found out that there were no Italian-Americans in the group, I was excited about the possibility of interviewing my first Italian-Australian. But that didn't happen because there were none of those either. The closest I got was one of the Tenors whose family was from Malta. That is really close, but no cigar.

Thanks anyway, he, he. Scattered around this Blog are pictures of me and a handful of the Tenors as I got to talk to them and get to know them at the party afterwards, all really nice guys. Barbara ended up taking all the pictures with her camera and is not seen in any of them, but here is the next best thing, the first picture at the top of this post are four of the Tenors, Brenda Dickson, and me!

Well, the next night I got my fill of so many things Italian. I was invited by the Italian Consul General's office, Diego Brasiolo, to an event at the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles. It was one of these Italian cultural events that only a few people go to and is presented very academically, from the olive oil tasting to the wine tasting later in the evening, to the presentation of the meal, to the lecture series, etc.

But it is unfortunate that so few people take advantage of these programs because this was so interesting and so informative that I wish people would just come out for these things and give them a try. You would be surprised how much fun you would have and how much you would learn about your culture and heritage. I am sure I will be writing a lot more about these events because, unfortunately, I too don't take enough time to go to these kinds of things except when I get a special invitation or something, like this one.

By the way, that is Consul General Brasiolo and Pompilio Fabrizi, Director of ENIT, Italian Government Tourist Board. Incidentally, it looks like we are standing in front of a wall but it is actually an art piece, a large sculpture, very interesting.

And speaking of artists, the Institute was exhibiting the work of noted photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher, specifically her collection entitled "Olive Grove," an exhibit of images taken in 2005 of the most evocative groves in Abruzzo and Tuscany, Italy. To the right is a picture of Rose-Lynn and I standing in front of one of her photographs. And below is one of her photographs. I found it funny to be taking a picture of a picture.

Oh, and getting back to the presentation, the lecture was on Cristoforo di Messibugo and Protestant Banquets. Luigi Ballerini, noted translator, poet and food historian, and Diane Ghirardo, distinguished architecture historian, spoke on the book Banquets, Recipes, and General Utensils for the Kitchen and the Table, by Cristoforo di Messisbugo (late 1400s - 1548), published posthumously in Ferrara in 1549.

Not only did I enjoy the program but I got to enjoy a reading by Sandro Carotti, a Florentine actor who studied at Vittorio Gassman's Bottega Teatrale and worked with the directors Giorgio Albertazzi, Gabriele Lavia, and Massimo Ranieri. He read from the book in Italian.

You might think, "read?" But, let me tell you, the energy, enthusiasm, antics, vocal expressions, hand gestures, etc., like only an Italian can do was so entertaining, I wish I could see that again. He could read an Italian phone book and make it interesting. Grazie Sandro for showing us some great live Italian acting here in the States. This is me and Sandro after the performance.

Well, the last Italian-American thing I want to tell you about this week is that I went to see my two friends, comedian Mike Marino and Actor/Singer Joey Gian, be honored by the Los Angeles Police Academy for their years of entertainment to the force. Mike as a comedian, and Joey as a singer have donated a lot of their time keeping the force happy and entertained and it was great to be there to see two of my Paisans, (Paisani in proper Italian), be recognized.

Here are some pictures of the event with them holding their trophies, with retired policeman, fellow Italian-American Art Grenci etc.