ON TOUR WITH ALBERTO AND TANIA

Maddalena Borea & Maria Marigliano cut their birthday cake

On Saturday September 8, AMHS members and their guests were treated to a concert at Casa Italiana by soprano Tania Buccini, accompanied by Alberto Ortolano on the piano. In their private lives they are husband and wife, having met in their home choir. Both were born in Abruzzo and currently live in Francavilla al mare (Chieti) and both teach their respective talents in the local high school. They have performed both in Europe and in England for other groups of Abruzzese and that is what brought them to Washington and AMHS. This was their first visit to the Nations’ Capitol.

While in DC they toured the US Capitol Building, attended legislative sessions of both the Senate and House, and toured the Library of Congress (LOC) Madison building. At the LOC, when the tour guide discovered they were Italian, he began pointing out all the Italian influences and features of the Grand Staircase and Central Hall. On that first day in DC, they even learned how to navigate the Metro system. The next day they visited several of the Smithsonian buildings, Arlington National Cemetery, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and saw a performance on the Millennium Stage. On Friday, they toured the White House and visited Ford’s Theatre, its Museum and the House Where Lincoln Died. Tania shared that her favorite US Presidents were Kennedy and Lincoln, and on Saturday morning they visited the Lincoln Memorial.

Saturday night’s concert was superb, beginning with Tania performing several short works by Francesco Paolo Tosti. Alberto explained that Tosti was born in Abruzzo and was a master of the ballad and is known for his distinctive style. Following Tosti, Tania performed works by Rossini, Mozart and Puccini. Alberto performed a solo piano work that was Liszt’s paraphrasing of Rigoletto by Verdi, which has been called a great concert piece. Alberto followed this with another Liszt variation on Gounod’s Valzer dal Faust. The concert closed with Tania performing Je Veux Vivre from Gounod’s Romeo and Juliette. A reception with light refreshments followed. We also took the opportunity to wish two long-time AMHS members Happy Birthday, Maria Marigliano and Maddalena Borea.

We are grateful to Alberto and Tania for visiting AMHS and sharing their talents with us. We hope they can return in the future.