The distinguished guest is Giacomo Puccini, the Italian maestro whose operas had delighted the whole of Europe and beyond. Puccini had been diagnosed with a cancer in his throat and only two clinics in Europe at the time had the suitable equipment for treating malignant growths: Berlin and Bruxelles.

The specialists who had diagnosed Giacomo Puccini’s cancer in Italy  knew the Brussels doctors who had also trained in Italy and had the advantage of speaking Italian. So the private clinic of Dr. Felix Sluys in Ixelles was chosen by the specialists who had treated Puccini in Florence.

Puccini arrived in Brussels on November 5^th, accompanied by his son  Antonio. Dr Sluys had been a pupil of the specialist in Florence who had diagnosed Puccini’s cancer. Subsequently he had moved to London where he specialised  in the radiotherapy of cancer growths. It was Dr Sluys who welcomed Puccini in Brussels.

The maestro  was confident: he was determined to finish his opera “Turandot” and in his suitcase there were his notes for the final duet of the opera to be completed while recovering from the operation.

The clinic was located in Place de la Couronne and the radiology clinic was at n° 13 (now Place Raymond Blyckaerts). Two rooms had been reserved for the Maestro and his son in the clinic and two nuns were to look after him day and night after the operation. In a letter written by Puccini to a friend  he explains why he had arrived in Brussels: “I had been suffering from pain in my throat when my doctors advised me to have a course of radiotherapy. I had to choose between Berlin and Brussels and as you can see the choice has been made. I already knew Brussels and I loved it: but imagine how much more will I love it if I find my health again here!”

On November 13 he met with an Italian journalist, Nino Salvaneschi, who had travelled to Brussels to interview the Maestro. In his article Salvaneschi writes that Puccini is determined to complete “Turandot” which he considered almost finalised : “It is a wonderful story – he told the journalist – I did my best with it and the final duet will be the triumph of love on cruelty and death. It is the  song of songs, a song that Liu’  (the name of the female protagonist) had always sang: the song of love. I am convinced it is good but it is still not completed. What could I do?”.  

The radiotherapy continued and Puccini was ready to undergo surgery by November 24^th. The operation lasted three hours and 40 minutes. No food could go through his mouth: he was fed with chilled champagne through his nose.

Four days later Puccini daughter, who had also travelled to Brussels, writes to a friend that the patient’s condition “has considerably improved” and her brother Antonio writes a telegram to the family at Torre del Lago: “Very good news, all is going well” referring to his fathers health.

Father and son were even toying with the idea of returning to the hotel and eventually return to Italy before Christmas. But one evening Puccini was sitting in his armchair and he fainted. The doctors arrive, he is moved to the bed, he is clearly in pain and has only the time to scribble a few words on a piece of paper “I feel worse than yesterday, I feel the hell in my throat, I’m about to faint, give me fresh water”. During the night the condition of the Maestro deteriorates but he is still alert: a doctor comes, looks at the patient and calls Antonio out of the room: “there is nothing else we can do” he tells him.  The night goes on. In the morning Puccini asks his son for another sheet of paper and writes what will be his last hand-written note: “I am finished: I am sorry for your poor mother”.

In the morning of November 29^th the Ambassador of Italy and the Papal Nuncio go to visit Puccini: the Nuncio performs the last rites. Puccini looks into the void, absent. At 11.30 a last deep breath and his heart stops for ever.

The news of his death spread immediately all over Belgium and down to Italy and to the rest of Europe and the world. The Royal Families in Italy and Belgium were informed, the Italian government decided that the funeral would be paid by the state. The King of Belgium, Albert I, sent a message to Ms Puccini: “The Queen and I share the pain of your family, which is also the pain of Italy for the loss of one of it most famous maestros. This loss will be felt deeply also in the whole of the Kingdom of Belgium”. 

The funeral was celebrated on December 1^st  in the Church of Ste Marie. Along the three kilometers from the clinic to the church people lined the streets in silence. Inside the church the authorities of the two countries  and the religious community led by the Papal Nuncio Mons. Micara stood around the coffin. When the first singer of the Theatre Royal de La Monnaie, Mme Laure Berge’ sang  Gounod’s “Ave Maria” -as described by Aldo Villani, in a pamphlet published years later – there was a wave of emotion also among the crowd outside the church and along the street leading to St Marie as if the public wanted to share their sorrow for the loss of a famous and very loved Maestro.

The coffin was then escorted to Gare du Nord where a special train had been prepared to take Puccini back to Italy, accompanied by many of the Italian authorities and guests while those gathered on the platforms waved their salute to “their”  Puccini.

L’article 29 November 1924. The day Giacomo Puccini died in Brussels est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.

A group of 60 young talented musicians and singers from 28 countries in 24 cities all over the world have found a new way. NexTus is a kind of cooperative of performers who decided to get together and create a festival of classical music together, offering the public 16 hours of concerts and a series of online talks where they can engage with the artists. 

This is their aim: “to present classical music online in an innovative way and connect with audiences through our art while creating a new future together. Above all, our wish is to engage actively with audience members through open conversation, offering everybody a safe environment to share ideas of what music, art and creativity means to them!”

The festival will be streamed online over four consecutive weekends launching on April 17th. Each weekend of performances has a different theme. NexTus Festival will be hosted and presented on the BYOM (Be Your Own Manager) Academy platform. Besides musical performances, guest talks and panel discussions will also be included in the festival program. And last but not least, works by more than 25 female composers will be performed at the festival.

1. Programme overview 

 Weekend 1: Tradition and Tango – 17th-18th April

The first weekend starts with a bang – a party tour through South America! Your ears will be transported through the Argentinian Tango houses, the Venezuelan folk dances in the mountains, the Samba-filled beaches of Brazil, and dropped off back in France and Spain – just in time for our exploration of European musical traditions and memories on Sunday. We begin by connecting the golden streets of Istanbul with J.S. Bach, while working our way back through the folk dances of Eastern Europe, before ending introspectively following the link between our deepest traditions and most personal memories.

Weekend 2: The Sands of Time – 24th-25th April 

Occasionally in the Egyptian desert, the winds blew the sands away to reveal long-lost pyramids, sphinxes or treasures of untold beauty. In the world of Classical Music some of these treasures have been long known: the three most played composers in concert halls – Beethoven, Mozart or Bach, for instance. However, many nearby musical gems lay hidden till quite recently: Marin Marais, Francesco Barsanti, Benedetto Marcello to name but a few. The splendour of these musical jewels is just as grand as the more well-known pieces, if not more so because of their freshness. We mix the novel and the known so you can get just the right balance for an equally surprising and soothing listening experience among the sands of time!

Weekend 3: Together Alone – 1st-2nd May 

Corona has made this last year difficult for everyone. We have all had our social interactions restricted, leaving many feeling isolated and we have spent more time alone than ever before. The sea-change in how we all interact with other human beings has raised important questions about our sense of self and our relationship with the rest of society: how can we embrace this loneliness? If we are all alone, does it become more bearable? How can we connect with each other once this is all past? Connection and harmonisation is also a crucial part of Sunday’s topic: Improvisation. The big questions facing us and our society are encapsulated in our work as improvisers. We work as individuals to spontaneously build a beautiful piece of art while constantly interacting and adapting in the moment, never losing sight of our own qualities. Let’s improvise a more cooperative, interactive, productive society together!

Weekend 4: nexTus Legacy – 8th-9th May 

Before the festival and our performers sail off into the sunset, we want to leave you with our festival legacy: a spotlight on two themes, which if given more attention, could make the world a better, fairer place! Female composers for many reasons have been kept out of the limelight. This final Saturday of the festival is dedicated to these female composers and voices who have striven to be heard in what is still a male-dominated artistic world. Female composers will be presented, alongside important feminine stories, and BYOM’s own composer Antonija Pacek will play her compositions emphasising the plight of the world’s oceans and paving the way for Sunday’s theme – nature. The environment and our swift destruction of the planet deserve our urgent attention. The programmes dedicated to birdsong, woods, and oceans remind us of our responsibility to care for and guard our beautiful, natural world. With the end of the festival, our work does not end here; no, our work is only just about to start!

2. Green Mission 

Here at nexTus festival we are invested in expanding our impact on the world not just by making music but by taking care of the environment. A universal team effort towards a healthy, conscious and flourishing planet gives our work and lives more meaning. As musicians and artists, we believe in kindness, community and empathy. So, this year we’re taking action by partnering with two amazing organizations – Harmonic Progression and OneTreePlanted – and we invite our audiences to join us in building new habits and providing a better future for our planet.

L’article NexTus: a new way to attend a classical music concert in Covid times est apparu en premier sur Travel Tomorrow.