My first solo trip to a recital

Monday February 4th, 2019:

Today is my fourth day in Italy, and I figured I'd find something to do, as orientation is still going on. I think to myself, there has to be shows going on, I'm in Italy. I start to search on Google "events tonight Florence." I get a couple link searches, but some look sketchy. I then click on this website called "GoGoFirenze.it" When the website loaded, it seemed like some sort of blog that updated daily their content. I start to search and read something along the lines of "teatro" or "musica." I eventually get to something that read "recital con Mark Padmore - tenore." I click on the post and it said that today, Monday, was the last day he would sing. I thought to myself, a concert on a Monday at 9pm? It's a little strange, but it's worth checking out. I tried to locate the website, but it would not let me click the link to the website where I could purchase the ticket. It did say the name of the theater, and with 45 minutes to spare, I quickly showered and hurried into fancy clothes to try to find this theater that was close to where I live, alone.

Inside of  "Teatro della Pergola" 

    Thankfully, I found the theater that only took me 10 minutes to get to. I was a little scared because the street that I was walking down of looked very weird, but I was not disappointed when I found the beautiful theater. I was so excited I had found it. But, another thought came into my mind... how the heck was I supposed to communicate with these people with my very poor Italian skills. By the power of Google, I was able to pull up a translation of saying that I would like to buy a ticket. The woman who was sitting behind the desk was very understanding of my situation, and my nervous laugh gave it away that I really couldn't speak. The woman asked me in Italian if I was a student, and I replied that I was a study abroad student from America. She then told me to show her my school ID, in which I did and scored a €10 ticket. I was trying to find programs that are usually for free back home, but when I asked a woman about the programs, she pointed to a table where I saw the sign "Program €1." I come to find out that you have to pay for programs. 


When I entered the hall to where Mark Padmore was going to sing in, I realized what I had done: found an event online, with my limited Italian skills, paid €10 for a ticket, and got to witness a well recognized tenor. I'm making my goals as I go, but I could not believe that I stepped outside of my comfort zone knowing that I can't speak the language fluently or even where the event was going to be held at. The songs that Mr. Padmore sang were a combination of a couple songs (lieder) by Beethoven as well as song by Schubert. I was at a lost of words as to how beautifully this man sang. His voice really captured your attention with how bright and how beautifully he executed his vocal lines. It was quite the treat for myself. When Mr. Padmore finished singing, the room sparked with excitement for the singer and pianist. The people in the theater clapped for over 5 minutes. My hands were becoming darker shades of red of how much we were clapping. It felt like the people could clap for an even longer period of time. Nonetheless, I had so much fun traveling by myself and really discovering how much out of my comfort zone I could go to watch a beautiful show. I will be doing this again.