Sunday, June 24

Mountain views from the bus trip to Como

Madrigals checking out the web site

Rest stop

View of como from hotel room

Outside of the Chilsa Parrochiale church in Canzo -- location of the final concert in the tour

Concert poster

Rehearsal in the baroque style church which was built in the sixteen hundreds

Madrigals giving the benediction at the end of the concert

We left Bern for Como Italy which required a six hour bus trip. After morning devotions on the bus, we had lunch at an unconventional rest stop with an incredible variety of food selections for a great lunch.

We arrived in Como with some free time to explore the city around the hotel.

We took the bus to the Chilsa Parrochiale church in Canzo. This beautiful Baroque style church was built in the seventeenth century and was restored in 1984.

The final concert was wonderful which was held in the Chiesa, Parrochiale, a huge Baroque style church. The Madrigals performed three encores! One of the English speaking Italians told Mrs. Bauchspies that the Madrigal's sound was "astonishing" and that he had nerver heard anything like it.

Following the concert, the Madrigals were honored with a wonderful and delicious reception at the church.

Our journey through Swiss mountains, past lakes and rivers is a happy six hours, though everyone feels depleted from the previous night’s concert.

At first we don’t really like Como. Having just left Switzerland, land of pristine beauty and admirable efficiency, where we never saw a dead tree, or a rusting car, or a layer of dust, we find Como somewhat uninteresting. However unpacking and settling into our elegant rooms, and visiting each other to exclaim over the beauty of the hotel’s lavish furnishings, tall windows shuttered against the hot afternoon sun, and beautiful, lustrous linens, we feel refreshed. Our bus ride to Canzo for the final concert takes only half an hour.

The church is beautiful butter yellow exterior on a wide piazza with curved steps. Inside we see the most ornate Baroque style church, with dramatic ceiling murals of Christians, gilded arches, lavishly carved woodwork, marble polished to shine.

The villagers enter the church asking in Italian if the music will be sung in Italian. They stay anyway, and are rewarded when the music begins. Their sound in this church is unique. Todd explains that there is a natural reverberation. It sounds like an echo; that lovely sound floats on and on up above. Several singers shed tears as they perform, and as we have come to hope for in Europe, the audience responds with a warm enthusiasm. The program is shorter, since they had been told to perform only sacred music. After rousing applause, the Madrigals return for their encore and joining hands this time, sing the blessing.

Though they leave the stage, everyone continues to clap. Several minutes pass and though the clapping subsides, the audience remains. Expectancy fills the air. No one wants to leave.

The Madrigals return and our tour guide, Suzanne, announces in Italian that the choir will finish their program by performing the secular songs listed in the brochure. I must admit I am overjoyed, since I had resigned myself to not hearing my daughter sing her solo again, this feels like a special gift. And indeed, the sound of the haunting melody of Tall Trees in Georgia reverberating in those ancient, lofty spaces fills the senses and strikes my heart.

After the concert, the Madrigals and company are again treated to a reception, with savory Italian pastries, rich in cheesy flavor, and the warm fellowship of our hosts. Our host tells Cindy, “Your sound was astonishing.” It’s true, but it is an understatement. God has done astonishing things with this choir.