See Naples and Live... More – 10: Life and Death – On Stage and Off

 

   Photo©Nigel Summerley

A major claim to fame of Naples' splendid opera house, the Teatro San Carlo, is that it burnt down in 1816 and was rebuilt even more splendidly within ten months. It is also reckoned to be the finest opera house in Italy... so let's say the world.

Initially I'd thought of just visiting the building to see its marvellous interior – which one can do. But when I found that Madama Butterfly was being staged, I booked tickets and had the view from a box seen here.

Like Puccini's opera, it was a bitter-sweet experience. Just as the lights were going down and the curtain was about to go up, I saw, as I was silencing my phone, a text from a musician friend telling me that my musical mentor and drumming legend, John Marshall, had just died.

Although the news was not totally unexpected, it was a tearful moment and I felt a kind of guilt for being here in this dream setting. But in an instant I could hear John's voice telling me: "Just enjoy the music – it's the best thing there is."

And it was. 

An incredibly moving night that brought the curtain down on yet another life-packed visit to Napoli...

   Photo©Nigel Summerley

See Naples and Live... More – 9: The Vast Picture Show

Now you see it...   Photo©Nigel Summerley

The church of San Giorgio Maggiore in the heart of old Naples has a bizarre two-for-one offer. If you venture into the area behind the altar, there is, not surprisingly, a huge but fairly gloomy painting depicting St George.

However, if you wait until a small crowd gathers, one of the church's staff will appear and perform a minor miracle, pulling back this picture by means of a giant handle to reveal... another depiction of St George. But this one is a bright and vibrant fresco by the 17th-century Neapolitan master Aniello Falcone.

As with many things in Naples, there is a strange and almost impenetrable explanation for this curiosity. Falcone is said to have executed the fresco in the 1640s when the church was being rebuilt after a fire. The building work didn't actually get finished until the 18th century (a long delay even by builders' standards), by which time the fresco seems to have been covered over and the enormous painting of St George by Alessio D'Elia was put in place. It wasn't until the 1990s that the Falcone was discovered – during yet more building work.

Why the Falcone was forgotten about for 300 years remains a mystery – as does who came up with the idea of having two paintings occupying the same wall space, thus requiring someone to operate a very long pole to make them both visible.

The one certainty is that this oddity brings a constant flow of visitors to the church of San Giorgio Maggiore.

Photo©Nigel Summerley