LEEK/ESTE TWINNING NEWS

REPORT ON EUROFEST AND MESSIAH 1 TO 5 OCTOBER 2009

Following on from the visit of the Este Choir to Leek last May, to join with Leek Choral Society in their production of the Messiah, I said at the end of my article, in the August/September 2009 edition of Spark, that I would be reporting on the reciprocal visit by Leek Choral Society to Este.

After fifteen months of preparation for this event, the day for departure finally arrived. ?Thursday 1 October saw fifty-nine members of the Leek Choral Society, led by Keith Davis, fly out to Este, with the chair and secretary of the Leek Twinning Committee and also 2 staff and 15 students from Leek High Specialist Technology School for Este's annual Eurofest. Other people from Leek had travelled out earlier in the week.

The Eurofest in Este is held every year at this time and also attending the event were delegations from Este's other twin towns of Bad Windsheim, Germany, Pertuis, France and Tapolca, Hungary. Altogether there were one hundred and thirty-two visitors to Este, of which ninety two travelled from Leek.

Eurofest officially started at 9.00 am on Friday 2 October 2009 with students from Leek, Bad Windsheim and Este taking part in debates at the Patronato. Following the guidelines laid down by Europe for Citizens Programme the debate was titled New lifestyles for a sustainable future?. The debate continued the following morning with expert guests to discuss the findings of the students and answer questions.

After lunch there was a guided tour of Este.

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Members of Leek Choral Society when not rehearsing had the opportunity to do some sightseeing and visit the cities of Venice, Padua and Verona, which are in easy reach of Este.

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At 7 pm a photographic exhibition was opened by the Este deputy mayor, Stefano Stoppa.? The theme was again following the guidelines laid down by ?Europe for Citizens? Programme.? There were contributions from the twin towns, including displays by Leek Art College.

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After the debates on Saturday morning and a visit looking around the Este market, Eurofest continued with a welcoming meeting at midday in the Este Town Council Chamber by the mayor of Este, Giancarlo Piva.? At this welcoming ceremony there were short speeches from the mayors of Leek, Este, Pertuis, Tapolca and Bad Windsheim.? Leek was represented by Councillor Steve Povey.? Keith Davis, president of Leek Choral Society also made a short speech of thanks to the mayor of Este.? The twin towns then exchanged gifts with Este.?

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The welcoming meeting was concluded by Giovanni Comisso, chair of Este Twinning Committee, who thanked all his committee, all the hosts and all of the one hundred and thirty-two visitors who had travelled to Este.

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On the Saturday afternoon at 3.30 pm there was a meeting of the representatives of the twinning committees of Este, Bad Windsheim, Leek and Pertuis. There were three representatives from Este, two from Bad Windsheim, one from Pertuis and three from Leek.? The twinning delegations met to discuss ?an update on individual situations and agree a forward plan?.?

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The following dates for events in Este next year were confirmed ? Este Flower Festival 15 to 18 April, Atestiadi 29 April to 3 May, Eurofest 30 September to 4 October and Veterans weekend 4 to 8 November.? The French and German representatives agreed to look at entertainment for Eurofest 2010.

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All visitors to Eurofest were invited to a dinner on the Saturday evening at the Beatrice Hotel.? After the meal there were various speeches and Leek Choral Society sang for all those present.

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The Messiah

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Sunday, the day of the performance of the Messiah and the highlight of the weekend finally arrived.? Only two rehearsals were possible beforehand, with their counterparts in Este, on the Friday evening and early Sunday afternoon, prior to the performance on the Sunday evening.? However another rehearsal was held with the full orchestra late Sunday afternoon.

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At 8.30 pm the doors of the Este, Duomo Abbaziale di Santa Tecla were closed.? In the Duomo (Cathedral) to watch this reciprocal performance there was an audience of over six hundred and fifty.? The cathedral was full to capacity.? We were all welcomed by Don Luciano, the senior priest of the Duomo.

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Leek Choral Society were joined by the Choir and Orchestra ?Citt? di Piazzola Sul Brenta?, led by Marica Fasolato, along with four soloists, soprano Stefania Bellamio, contralto Daniela Battaglia Damiani, tenor Cristiano Didon? and bass Franco Lufi.? The combined choir was made up of twenty-eight sopranos, twenty-seven contraltos, fourteen tenors and nineteen bass.? There were twenty-six in the orchestra.? The conductor was Paolo Piana.

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The atmosphere in the cathedral was one to saviour as soon as the first note was struck, to all who were fortunate to experience and witness this memorable occasion.? The whole audience stood up at the first bar of the Hallelujah Chorus and stayed standing until the last note had finished.? This was a ?spine tingling? moment, and only one of many throughout the whole recital.

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At the end of the performance the applause continued for many minutes and the artists finally gave us an encore of the Hallelujah Chorus to the delight of all those present.

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The whole recital was sung in English and Leek Choral Society members were full of praise for their Italian counterparts as only a few could speak fluent English.

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As we left the Este Duomo visitors from Leek were saying, where in our own town is it possible to stage a similar event and have an audience of the same size present under one roof.

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The following morning visitors to Este had a final opportunity to do some last minute shopping and sightseeing, but the buzz in Este was of the wonderful performance the night before of the Messiah.

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Our return flight home was memorable as well.? We all spent an unexpected night (but only a few hours) in a hotel in Venice due to our evening flight home being delayed until the following morning.

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However, those who visited Este for their Eurofest this year will have arrived back home with many memories which will not be easily forgotten.

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