My Friend “Ace” Sang in Trieste

I call a friend of mine 'Ace' Ikeda, as he doesn’t mind being called by a nickname. He is multi-lingual and a multi-talented person. I have questioned him as to why he is so erudite in ancient European history, the Mediterranean in particular. He just modestly told me he was very fortunate in his younger days to travel Greece, Italy and Turkey a little longer than the average traveler. I know he has belonged to a chorus group for some time, singing “An die Freude” at each year-end from Beethoven’s No. 9 for Kyushu Symphony Orchestra.

Last summer, he told me he is singing for Italian operas, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, to commemorate the 150th year of diplomatic relations between Japan and Italy. Wow, that’s quite a relationship! It traces back to the Meiji Restoration! Alei-a-lei! I bought a ticket for the special occasion and enjoyed a competitive and harmonized opera production by an Italian/Japanese combination.

His New Year’s card read that he would be in Trieste, Italy in mid February and singing at the Verdi Theater. Wait a minute! The privileged Verdi Theater in Trieste? I can’t be indifferent to the glorious undertaking he is trying to accomplish. I congratulated him on a great opportunity to be at a rare destination, where Hapsburg Kingdom once reigned. I asked him to bring back as many photos as possible.

Trieste sounded close and friendly, first, because of Atsuko Suga’s famous essay “Upward Slope of Trieste”. I didn’t meet Atsuko in person but T. Suga, her uncle, was the boss at my freshman work. He often spoke of her proudly, promising to introduce her to me. I changed jobs and lost the chance. Second, the Irish James Joyce connection - I know Joyce wrote his “Dubliners” while he was an English teacher at Berlitz school in Trieste.

The NPO “Kitakyushu City Opera (KCO)” has existed since 1990, including years under its nascent Kitakyushu Music Association. The troupe launched its first production “La Traviata” by Verdi in 1993 and grew to win a Group Citizen Culture Award of Kitakyushu in 2013, thanks to Gudo Hasui, KCO Chief Director, as well as Sakuyo University visiting professor, well-known baritone singer, who had won a number of competitions not only in his soloist days in Italy but in other European countries; and thanks to the local fans, contributors, and business supporters. In 2015, the troupe performed Madama Butterfly in Lecce, southern Italy. The above mentioned 2016 operas I attended in Kitakyushu were jointly performed under an Italian conductor with major Italian singers.

I met with Ace Ikeda yesterday, who just returned from Italy and I learned that the KCO’s Trieste performance was a big success. The participating party consisted of about 40 members, including tea ceremony performers, and he is already looking forward to the next collaborative performance to be held either in Japan or Italy, which continues for the next three years.