4 and 5 October: Caserta and Rome

After a 400k bus trip from Siena, the Orchestra arrived in Caserta ahead of the night's performance. For this concert, the Orchestra was playing at a stunning outdoor venue - Cortile dei Serici: Belvedere di San Leucio. The weather looked ominous all the way into Caserta with rain on and off for the whole trip but as we arrived in Caserta, the rain clouds parted and the concert was going ahead.

The Orchestra arrived at the venue at 7pm for a quick rehearsal before visting a local restaurant for dinner.

As the concert started at 9pm the temperature had dropped to around 10 degrees but with scarves on, the musicians soldiered on to the delight of the audience all of whom had braved the conditions to see the performance of music by Beethoven and Ravel. The musicians were delighted at how appreciative the audience was, giving the Orchestra a standing ovation at the end of the performance.

The next day, Sunday 5 October, it was time for the Orchestra to make its way to Rome. Approximately 80 musicians opted to leave Caserta early and spend the day in Pompeii, while the rest of the tour group opted for a sleep in and to get to Rome around lunchtime.

By 7pm, the whole tour party had arrived in Rome.

The feeling among the group is upbeat and there is an air of excitement in anticipation of the concert in Rome on Monday 6 October at the Teatro dell'Opera with invited guests including the Australian Ambassador to Rome, Amanda Vanstone.