A few years ago, I had the pleasure of being invited to dine with a great conductor. He is one of those reserved, difficult men who live in a coherent, all-embracing relationship with their art; one of those who cannot bear compromises. Just because of this, he avoids them and when he has to deal with compromises he pretends not to understand. A talented conductor who after a life dedicated to music, during which he has directed important orchestras, also abroad, has decided to buy a delightful farmhouse hidden in the countryside of the neighboring Florentine Chianti. Maestro Piero Bellugi organized a small group a few years ago and called it ‘Orchestra of the Chianti’. He was assisted by his son David, a talented flutist who has taught for more than twenty years at the Florentine Music Academy. The orchestra made its first appearance… and was immediately successful. The concert was recorded and a CD was made for the future memory of a unique event. Strangely enough, nobody wanted to continue this courageous undertaking of Bellugi which had been created outside the complicated, pompous mechanisms of opera houses. Even if the project was a fiasco, it remains indelible in our memory. Now classical music is sponsored by funds from private sources and musical events of varying importance are organized independently. Among them, I wish to mention the concerts of San Polo in Rosso supported by music lovers. These concerts are sponsored by Katrin Canessa, the cultured owner of the splendid estate who surprises everybody by inviting famous musicians as her guests to San Polo in Rosso. This is also the case of the concerts organized on the farms Nittardi and Badia a Coltibuono, famous all over the world for their wines but also for the short musical season that they hold every year.
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See also:

The Markets of Chianti, Meeting a Stranger, Tuscan Antique Furniture, Portrait of a Land, Chianti Artists, Chianti at The Bar, Chianti Theatrical Festival, Chianti by Bike, Villa Le Barone, The Art of Hospitality at Podere Terreno, Chianti English Style, The Legendary Millemiglia in Chianti

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