THE DIFFERENT SIDES OF EDWARD M

It is incredibly expensive to bring in an art exhibition featuring an international star. Decisions are made years in advance. Then it is the actual transportation of priceless paintings across borders and setting up the whole exhibition. In this light, it is exciting that  the city of Genoa and the Foundation of Palazzo Ducale have decided to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the most famous Norwegian artist, Edward Munch, at Palazzo Ducale where 120 of his paintings and lithographs are on display until April. 

  If there ever was an artist who has suffered from over exposure of one piece of work, it has to be Munch's painting "Scream". Thankfully, the original painting is not on display among the works selected for this exhibition, however, it is featured in the parallel exhibition of Andy Warhol's works titled  "After Munch". These are on show for the first time in Europe. 

 I have recently read Munch's biography by Atle Naess. Munch had a very stormy life full of dramatic events, such as being involved in a shooting incident where the other participant was his over jealous and totally obsessed girlfriend who would have been classified as a stalker, if it would have happened today. Munch's life story fresh in my mind, I was curious to see the works. 

  But I have to say, the exhibition left me lukewarm. There was a whole room dedicated to portraits of the family of Max Linde, Munch's supporter and someone who commissioned him when nobody else would. These were sweet and presumably the likeness was praised by everyone, but a whole room of these portraits? In general, there were a lot of portraits. There were very few works from his early years. Most of the lithographs did not speak to me at all. 

   If I compare this to last year's blockbuster at Palazzo Ducale, the Miro exhibition, it was not half as interestingly put together as the Miro was. There was one particularly delightful surprise at the end though: music by an English composer Frederick Delius, who met Munch in Paris around 1896. We are told that they both influenced each other and wanted to collaborate by creating a work which would combine painting with music. This never happened. We can only guess what kind of a painting would have accompanied the beautiful piece of music by Delius, "Aqvarelles". In any case, it is a very fitting tribute to Munch. 

OLLI MUSTONEN SHINES AT CARLO FELICE

If you love classical music, there is one particular place you cannot possibly miss in town: Teatro Carlo Felice, the local opera house and concert hall ( www.carlofelicegenova.it ) conveniently located at the Piazza de Ferrari. 

I recently went to a concert there by the Finnish pianist and conductor Olli Mustonen. 

 The concert started with one minute's silence to honor the much loved Italian conductor Claudio Abbado, who died last week at the age of 80. Abbado performed at Carlo Felice only last year and Mustonen's concert was dedicated to his memory. 

  I especially loved Mustonen's own composition Three Mysteries. Not sure, if the Italian audience was totally convinced of its qualities though: an elderly lady sitting quite close to me made her feelings known by saying loudly "I don't like it" in Italian. I choose to believe that she was in the minority, judging by the very warm and long applauds Mustonen received at the end of the concert, which also featured Mozart's piano concerto 20 (K466) and Tsaikovski's symphony number 4. Mustonen is one of those very few musicians, who can conduct the orchestra at the same time as performing the concerto as a soloist. It was quite fascinating to watch Mustonen in action: he lives the music with his whole body. 

  For many years Carlo Felice has been in financial difficulties and last year there was a real threat of bankruptcy. There was a lot of talk in the papers about the possibility of Carlo Felice being closed down altogether. But luckily they seem to have survived the rocky waters. It is worth keeping an eye on their current programme. You can even try to get a cheaper ticket one hour before performances, if you are not too bothered where your seat is. There are some free concerts on offer on Sundays and aperitivos with jazz on Thursdays or Fridays. Stuffy place it isn't, this Carlo Felice. 

NO SALT PLEASE, THIS IS A MICROBIOTIC MEAL

For the first time ever, I was asked to present an ID when I went out for lunch with a friend this week. We had agreed to meet at the macrobiotic restaurant in Nervi  (Via Commercio, close to the end stop of bus #17). I was not aware about this in advance, but this restaurant is for members only. If you want to eat there, you have to become a member. That is easily said and done, there are no particular requirements for becoming a member, but you have to have your ID when going there for the first time so that a membership card can be issued.
  The restaurant is run by volunteers. The menu is written on a board and you get what is available on that day - not from a long list of dishes. Around lunchtime the place was full of Italians enjoying a different kind of an eating experience and many of them had brought containers to take food home as well, in case there is too much to eat. Wasting food is strongly discouraged. There was also a notice on the table that cellphones must be switched off. Another first in a restaurant. 

   I had never tasted microbiotic food before. My friend explained that microbiotic diet is based on a whole philosophy about how you should eat food that is in season and locally grown, mostly grains and vegetables and avoid anything that is processed. It is all about balance, ying and yang. This balance can be achieved by eating whole grain cereals (brown rice, barley, millet, oats, quinoa, spelt, rye) together with cooked or raw vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and fish. So, not totally vegetarian then. But not all vegetables qualify as microbiotic food. For example, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, spinach and eggplant should be avoided altogether. But on the other hand, using cabbage and carrots is a highly recommended combination. 

   As a starter, we were given a vegetable soup with small pieces of wholewheat pasta in it. I am not wild about pasta in a soup, even though it is common in a minestrone. The soup was quite thin and there was no salt. Good news for those who suffer from high blood pressure (as I do) but I could not taste any other spices either, such as herbs. The main meal consisted of a tasty risotto, which had olives in it (very good) and a nice relish made out of cabbage and carrots combined with cooked beans and a wholewheat pasta with a sauce. The risotto, veggies and beans were tasty and nice, but I have to say that the wholewheat pasta was totally overcooked and did not look very appetizing either. All this was washed down with a glass of warm japanese bancha tea. 

  Afterwards we went to the macrobiotic shop, which is right next door to the restaurant. I stocked up with honey, bisquits, cabbage and the bancha tea. There was a good selection of all kinds of organic and natural products, including freshly baked whole wheat bread. 

 Would I go back? Perhaps. I felt really good for many hours after the meal. However, I don't think that I would be able to follow a totally microbiotic diet - too restricted. And I do need some salt. Tomatoes also appear on our dinner table every day.  But every now and then, why not? 

RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING ON THE FLOOR

Back in Genoa after the holidays! Feels good. We went to Finland for Christmas and oh boy, it was dark, dark, dark - no snow whatsoever, quite unusual for this time of year and very depressing too. Normally, I would expect Helsinki to be closer to the temperatures currently experienced in Chicago. It was a quite a relief to arrive to Genoa, where we  enjoy at least a short periods of blue sky and rays of sunshine on most days, even though it is quite cloudy and rainy too. The temperature has been between +9 to +14 C this week, not bad at all. 

On New Year's eve we went to a party in Nervi with friends and staggered home at 4 am - something I have not done for about 30 years! Seriously. The first day of the year 2014 was a very quiet one... 

But last week it was time to get back into action.

For quite some time - almost a whole year actually - we have had a problem on the wall in the lounge area. Structurally, this wall faces outside and is therefore open to the elements. First, it was only a little stain on the wall, but last winter was quite stormy and with time this developed into proper rain damage and the plaster started peeling off at an alarming phase.We alerted the landlord early on, but apart from a visit to assess the damage, nothing has really happened for months. I have to say, that we have very good landlords and I mean it. If ever there has been the tiniest thing wrong in the apartment, they have repaired and fixed it in record time.They definitely have tried to get some action on this. But it is a bigger problem and clearly involves negotiations with other people who own properties in the same building. Essentially, it is probably a question of how to share the cost of structural repairs.

The whole thing got a little bit more urgent last week, because - apart from the peeling plaster - we also had a proper leak on the ceiling. There were couple of days of rain and clearly the weight of the water sitting on the roof became a bit too much. I went to the lounge and was surprised to get my socks wet, which made me to look up to the ceiling and notice the very big drops of water happily coming down to the parquet floor. A bucket and a large bath towel were on constant duty for hours. Luckily, the rain eventually stopped and we have been able to assess the seriousness of the latest problem a bit better. 

This week we have had a committee of people coming to see the damage. Measurements have been taken. The outside wall and roof has been inspected. Everyone is in agreement that it is a big problem. No promises have been made but the general consensus is that speedy action is necessary. We have been told that there is a plan to repair this, but it will take time.

This has also made us think one other issue: if  we ever decide to buy an apartment, the top floor may not be ideal. These old houses are clearly built for sunshine only. Farewell to my dreams of a roof top terrace. 

In the meanwhile, I have a bucket and a towel ready.