{"id":12439,"date":"2016-09-05T17:06:29","date_gmt":"2016-09-05T15:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=12439"},"modified":"2016-09-05T17:06:29","modified_gmt":"2016-09-05T15:06:29","slug":"my-mother-meets-a-famous-italian-tenor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/my-mother-meets-a-famous-italian-tenor\/","title":{"rendered":"My Mother Meets A Famous Italian Tenor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Often, whilst working at the telaio<\/strong> (loom, see this post<\/a><\/strong><\/span>), I find myself daydreaming. And so it was that, weaving and dreaming, a memory came back to me, a story from my mother’s <\/span>childhood<\/span> that she used to tell us when we were kids. <\/span>This<\/span> story would bring tears to my<\/span> eyes every<\/span> time I heard it. Here it is<\/span>, in my mother’s own words<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"sea<\/a>

“Cielo e Mar” Photo CC by nachans<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Era l’estate del ’41 o ’42, durante la guerra. La mamma e il babbo erano in Africa<\/a><\/span>, la nonnina era morta e noi quattro sorelle eravamo in collegio a Pesaro. Siccome non avevamo parenti vicini che ci potessero ospitare, durante le vacanze scolastiche restavamo dalle suore.<\/b><\/p>\n

It was the summer of 1941 or 1942, during the war. My mum and my dad were in Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, grandma was dead, and we four sisters were at a boarding school in Pesaro. During the school holidays, as we didn’t have any relatives nearby who could put us up, we used to stay with the nuns.<\/p>\n

In estate, quando il collegio era normalmente vuoto, le suore ospitavano delle ragazze cieche per fare le vacanze marine. Io avevo fatto amicizia con alcune di loro, e le suore mi avevano dato il permesso di portarle fuori a fare una passeggiata.<\/b><\/p>\n

In the summer, when the boarding school was normally empty, the nuns used to have some blind girls staying with them for a holiday by the sea. I had made friends with some of them, and the nuns had given me permission to take them out for a stroll.<\/p>\n

Un giorno portai tre o quattro di queste ragazze a passeggiare sulla spiaggia. Era il tramonto, e io stavo facendo toccare loro delle conchiglie mentre gliele descrivevo, quando vidi un gruppetto di persone venire verso di noi. Davanti a loro c’era un signore di una certa et\u00e0, ben vestito e dall’aria importante, a braccetto di una signora.<\/b><\/p>\n

One day I took three or four of these girls for a walk along the beach. It was sunset, and I was getting them to touch some seashells as I described them, when I saw a small group of people coming towards us. At the front was a middle aged gentleman, well dressed and important-looking, with a lady on his arm.<\/p>\n

\"<\/a>

“Conchiglie” Photo CC by labete<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Avvicinatosi, il signore mi chiese chi fossi e cosa stessi facendo, cos\u00ec gli raccontai la mia storia, dei miei genitori lontani, e gli spiegai che cercavo di descrivere alle cieche la spiaggia, il mare, le conchiglie. Il signore si present\u00f2: era Beniamino Gigli<\/a><\/span>, il famoso tenore, insieme ad alcuni suoi colleghi!<\/b><\/p>\n

Coming closer to us, the gentleman asked me who I was and what I was doing, so I told him my story, about my parents who were far away, and explained that I was trying to describe the beach, the sea, and the shells to the blind girls. The gentleman introduced himself: he was Beniamino Gigli<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, the famous tenor, together with some of his colleagues!<\/p>\n

Commosso dalla mia storia, Beniamino Gigli per ringraziarmi si mise a cantare. Le ragazze cieche applaudirono tutte felici e chiesero il bis. Gigli cant\u00f2 un altro paio di arie, e poi fece un duetto con la soprano, ma purtroppo ora non mi ricordo pi\u00f9 i nomi delle canzoni. L’unica che mi ricordo con sicurezza \u00e8 ‘Cielo e Mar’.<\/b><\/p>\n

Moved by my story, Beniamino Gigli began singing to thank me. The blind girls applauded happily and demanded an encore. Gigli sung another couple of arias, and then he did a duet with the soprano, but unfortunately I can’t remember the names of the songs anymore. The only one I can remember for sure is ‘Cielo e Mar<\/strong>‘.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Often, whilst working at the telaio (loom, see this post), I find myself daydreaming. And so it was that, weaving and dreaming, a memory came back to me, a story from my mother’s childhood that she used to tell us when we were kids. This story would bring tears to my eyes every time I…<\/p>\n

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