[Oct. 2021] Soon after we started staying in Seregno, a small town in Lombardy, Italy, we noticed a sign that announced an outdoor piano concert.
It said they would light candles and include some dances.
That sounded very attractive.
It was written that it was from 5 pm to 9 pm, but we wanted to see the effect of the candle light, so we went out after dark.
The main street of Seregno is called Corso del Popolo, and the venue was two squares facing this street.
When we went to the first one, the performance was just over, so we asked the staff and went to another square.
Here, there was a piano performance with a dance performance.
Probably the dancers were the students of the local ballet school.
Four couples were dancing at will.
It was fun, but I think it would be better if they organised it a little more.
At this time, it was a male pianist who was playing, but after that, a girl about 12 years old and a woman who seemed to be her teacher performed alternately.
There were many famous pieces such as Chopin and Bach, but there were also modern ones that I didn’t know.
However, there was no one who was moderating the event, and the performers just went up to the stage and played.
At least I wanted to know the names of the music.
Even so, I was impressed that such a cultural event was being held in such a small country town.
The weekend after, we saw a notice that there would be an international piano competition.
I was a little surprised to find out that Seregno is hosting the Ettore Pozzoli International Piano Competition.
Pozzoli was a pianist and composer and above all, a world-renowned music educator born in Seregno in 1873.
After his death, apparently his wife started an international competition with his name.
Famous pianist Maurizio Pollini is said to be the first winner of this competition.
It seems to be held every other year, and this year was the 32nd.
We wanted to see it, and my husband looked it up, but it was too late and all the tickets were sold out.
When I checked on the internet later, it was written that Mr. Yuto Takezawa of Japan came in 2nd place this year.
No one was awarded the first place.
Beyond the piano, this small town seems to be focusing on events, and one night a beer garden was open.
Seregno is an old-fashioned town with a fur shop, a yarn shop, and a hobby stamp shop, which are rare to see nowadays, but there are also many fashionable cafes where you can relax and enjoy cocktails.
For some reason, we didn’t find many typical old-fashioned Italian restaurants there, though.
