Russ Ohlson   Cape Cod, Massachusetts

One evening in late August, my girlfriend Sharon and I were watching WGBH, the PBS station in Boston, here at our house on Cape Cod. At 8PM, as a feature for their fundraising drive, they had a one hour special on this guy, Andre Rieu, and the Johann Strauss Orchestra in concert in Cortona, Italy. We had never heard of the orchestra or Mr. Rieu. By the end of the concert I was on the Internet, trying to find out more about this phenomenal showman. Low and behold, his website had information about another concert this year in Corona. The next day, I was on the phone with the ticket office in Cortona buying tickets. That’s how planning a fabulous 10 day vacation in Italy this past week and a half began, and of course, the concert was the highlight of our entire trip.

We arrived in Cortona early Friday evening and found that our hotel was a block from the Piazza della Repubblica, the site of last year’s concert. The square was half the size than it appeared in the TV special and we were amazed that it could hold the stage and the 800 people who attended last year’s concert. The next morning, we found out that this year’s concert was being held in a plaza in front of the San Margherita Monastery at the very top of this hillside, walled Tuscany town. At first we were disappointed but those feelings quickly disappeared when we ventured to the top of the hill mid-day for a sneak peak of the setting and the staging.

At 7PM, we took a mini-bus to hilltop, as most of the 2000 people who attended the concert did as well. It was a beautiful, starry night and the scene was spectacular. There was a small café on the side of the Monastery, and as we sat, we met Johann, the stage manager for the orchestra. Sitting and conversing with him was delightful, as he told us about his experiences with the orchestra. He explained to us that they have four separate stages and sets, including lights, music stands, etc., including one that now is kept in the US permanently. He told us that the orchestra does approximately 150 concerts a year, and that by having duplicate sets, they will have a stage set up in the next city before the prior night's concert even takes place. I got a sense from him that everyone in the company loves Andre and also love what they do, even though they’re on the road so much.

When Andre came on stage, it was electric. One could sense that he has a real love affair with the people of Cortona and the townspeople, I’m sure, feel the same towards him. The feeling that was captured in last year’s special on TV was certainly carried over to this year’s concert. Andre spoke to the audience in perfect Italian throughout the concert. I didn’t know what he was saying but sometimes words are unnecessary to understand what someone is communicating, and in this case, it was pure joy, love and appreciation towards the people of Cortona.

The entire concert was magical, full of zest, gusto, humor, romance and of course, great music. Instead of a classical performance, Andre makes his production feel like a rock concert. I’ve never experienced anything quite like it but I certainly hope I experience it again and again in the years to come.

If you would like to view more photographs from the evening, you may visit my website at  Russ Ohlson's Cortona Photographs