SO just what is it with all this noise making at New Years Eve ?  Apparently it goes back to pagan concepts of making lots of noise to scare away the evil spirits lurking around. Evil spirits hate loud noise and hence people explode fireworks and cheer aloud to send the evil spirits away. It is for this reason that church bells are rung at midnight. People want to begin the New Year free from evil spirits. Not sure just how many people up at the Duomo this evening had pagan thoughts in their head but still it was a spectacular show anyway.

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Click on the link below to get some idea of just what it was like standing in the crowd looking out across the valley as the fireworks went off almost blocking out the sound of the bells from the Duomo.

Then as the last of the fireworks finally fizzled out over the city, the crowd started to move back down the hill to the Barga Jazz Club where once again they had organised il “dopocena” di capodanno with Electrovisions – Andrea Guzzoletti, Simone Venturi, Renato Cantini and Giuseppe Jos Venturi, followed by a healthy helping of Miz Dior and his DJ set.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKa2ProWnxw

Traditionally, the main focus of Christmas decorations in Italy is the presepe (the word presepio is also used), meaning Nativity scene or creche. Nearly every church will have a presepe and they are often found outdoors in a square or other public area as well. Displays often go beyond just the nativity scene and may even include a representation of the entire village or a part of the town. Presepi are usually set up for about a month, starting around December 8, the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception.

Many people set up a small Christmas crib in their house and figurines . Although the presepe is usually set up before Christmas, the baby Jesus is added to the nativity on Christmas Eve.

The Nativity scene or Christmas crib is said to have originated with St. Francis of Assisi in 1223 although he may not have been the first to construct one, he started the tradition when he constructed a nativity scene out of straw in a cave in the town of Greccio and held Christmas Eve mass there. Carving figurines for nativity scenes started in the 13th century.

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Il termine presepe (o più correttamente, come riportato nella maggior parte dei dizionari, presepio) deriva dal latino praesaepe, cioè greppia, mangiatoia, composto da prae = innanzi e saepes = recinto, ovvero luogo che ha davanti un recinto. Nel significato comune il presepe indica la scena della nascita di Cristo, derivata dalle sacre rappresentazioni medievali – source

These night time images are part of a continuing project which he has called a visual phenomenological research exploring ‘home’ and what we consider ‘homeliness’” and is for his MA in photography at the University of Cumbria in the UK.

Photography was, is, and will remain my huge passion. – Hamish Scott-Brown

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Hamish Scott-Brown’s site with a gallery showing many of his images can be seen here

Well a bit more than 18 months later and a quick survey of the street lights in Barga Vecchia this morning reveals that maybe the scepticism from some of the residents might actually have been warranted. It would appear that there is a design fault in the new lights which in certain conditions allows rain water to enter inside but not to drain out of the bottom. Back in November it was said that all of the lights were to changed over but for some reason that has not happened and there are still quite a few old lamps lighting the narrows roads of Barga Vecchia. These luckily do not suffer from the design fault in the newer versions as the bottom of the lamps are open – if rain does manage to get it then it just simply drips harmlessly away to the street below.

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We now have a situation where a number of the lanterns are gradually filling up with water until the level reaches the bulb and the electric wires – you would have thought, with obvious results but look at the images below and what can you see? Yes, the bulb still lights even when half under water.

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So maybe you think it might just be a series of photoshopped images ? hmmm, what about the short film below recorded as the light is actually switched on at dusk. Its the first 5 seconds of the film that is important as you can clearly see just what is going on.

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Some wags in the city have already thought about playing a trick on unwary visitors by dropping goldfish shaped pieces of carrot into the water filled lamps but after climbing to the top of a ladder to reach them were unable to open them and so were thwarted in their cunning plan.

Hopefully the technicians from the Comune or from the “Idea Luce” lighting company will not have the same problem getting into the lamps as at some point the water will have to go. Watch this space.

From the barganews archives – November of 2007 – Out with the old – in with the new. Technicians from the “Idea Luce” lighting company started work in Barga Vecchia this morning renovating the street lighting system.The ancient wrought iron lanterns needed constant maintenance and although they looked very pretty their days were numbered.

All 45 lanterns in Barga Vecchia will be replaced by a new, smaller lanterns which give out a warmer light and consume far less energy. Within the next couple of weeks all will be revealed, and the scepticism that some residents have about the changeover will be put to the test for all to see. – full article here

This is the last this year of a series of articles with the title “Barga at night” – the hidden side of Barga that people generally don’t see. The idea is to follow and document people who are working while most of us are sound asleep in our beds.
We finish the series on a sweet note following Paolo Lucchesi making some traditional fare ready for Christmas – Torrone and Panforte, down at the Pasticceria Lucchesi in Barga Giardino.
Panforte is a traditional Italian dessert containing fruits and nuts, and resembling fruitcake or Lebkuchen. It may date back to 13th century Siena, in Italy’s Tuscany region.

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Documents from 1205 show that Panforte was paid to the monks and nuns of a local monastery as a tax or tithe which was due on the seventh of February that year. Literally, Panforte means “strong bread” which refers to the spicy flavour. The original name of Panforte was “panpepato” (pepper bread), due to the strong pepper used in the cake. There are references to the Crusaders carrying Panforte, a durable confection, with them on their quests, and to the use of panforte in surviving sieges.

According to legend, Torrone – nougat was born in Cremona in 1441, during the sumptuous banquet which followed the marriage between Francesco Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti. The latter brought the town of Cremona with her as a dowry.

The bride and groom were offered a sweet made with honey, almonds and egg white, in the shape of Torrazzo, the thirteenth century tower which still today stands alongside the town’s cathedral, and from which the Italian word for nougat, Torrone, would seem to take its name.

Click on the link below to hear a short interview with Paolo Lucchesi as he talks about how he makes his Torrone and Panforte and the future for pastry and sweet makers in Italy (in Italiano)

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One of the most vital parts of Barga Jazz Festival which finished this week was not to be found in the piazzas or as part of the concerts in the Teatro dei Differenti but during the late night jam sessions that took place each evening at the Enojazz Club.
The musicians who spent each day rehearsing as part of the Barga Jazz Orchestra and then performing in the evening at the concerts with David Liebman would then at the end of the show towards midnight all move across to the EnoJazz After Hours Club and carry on playing until early in the morning … only to rise bleary eyed later on that day and repeat the whole process all over again.

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A feat of endurance that only the strongest can survive as the Barga Jazz festival moved into the second week.

On the final night of the Festival, the EnoJazz Club was full till bursting from midnight onwards as they played the last jazz session of the year together … and this time tradition demanded that the session carried on until dawn. And that is just what happened this year, as in all the other years, at dawn they staggered out of the club for breakfast at the Giardino before falling into bed to catch a few well earned hours sleep.

Each year there is strong competition for the EnoJazz prize awarded to the musician who showed his heart, spirit (and stamina) during the enojazz marathon sessions.

In 2007 to commemorate the passing of Silvano Togneri the outsider musician (articles about Silvano Togneri can be found here) who was a key member of many of the after hour sessions in the past, the prize was renamed the Silvano Togneri prize and instead of a nominal award an actual award was handed to the winner – a bottle of spumante and a 45 rpm disc from Silvano’s own collection ( an article about Silvano’s record collection here)

This year it was a close fought affair with the counting (and subtraction) of votes taking place right through the night. Andrea Guzzoletti was doing well but had many points deducted once he changed over from his normal instrument the trumpet and instead played to less than his usual high standard on a series of saxophones – towards the end of evening sound more like a foghorn at Livorno than an accomplished jazz musician

The final votes were in just as light of dawn started to come through the enojazz club windows and the prize for 2008 was awarded to Stefano Onorati (site here) for his continued energy and good musical sense and what could only be described as his “heart”.

To celebrate his win he played a piece of music entitled “ST” – an improvisation on keyboards and two glasses of beer.

Click on the link below and listen to this improvisation followed by an interview with JJ Carde and Stefano recorded just after the prize giving where he explains some of the reasons behind “ST” (in Italiano)

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Barga Giardino was full of bustling people this evening all enjoying the balmy July evening air as they slowly walked through the market stalls shopping, chatting and generally enjoying themselves.
It was a just another market day in Barga except that this one was slightly different.
It was midnight and this was the Mercato Sotto le stelle – The Market under the Stars. Traffic was backed up down the main road into Barga as people thronged through the streets trying on necklaces, buying hats or shoes or candyfloss and all with an almost full moon up above lighting up the whole busy scene.

Last years midnight market can be seen hereand if anybody missed tonight’s market then the next Market under the Stars for those who still think that shopping IS a leisure activity can be found on the 23rd July, the 30th July and the 6th August.

This is the fourth in the series of articles with the title “Barga at night” – the hidden side of Barga that people generally don’t see. The idea is to follow and document people who are working while most of us are sound asleep in our beds. We started the series on a sweet note following the Lucchesi brothers in the Pasticceria Lucchesi down in Barga Giardino. We continue that theme by calling back on the Fratelli Lucchesi, this time as they prepared some of their famous hand made chocolate ready for Easter.
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The award-winning barganews photographer O’Connor lost yet another  night’s sleep as he closely followed the Lucchesi brothers through their working day which started once again with a strong black coffee at 3 a.m. and continued till dawn, into the day and right through until 3 pm the following afternoon.

In the week running up to Easter, every single minute of the day counts and they are using all of them – working non stop with just a couple of hours break for some snatched sleep before once again getting back in the kitchens.

In the 48 hours before the photographer arrived to document their work, they had already prepared and shaped 120 kilos of top quality Belgium Callebaut chocolate* into eggs, figures and objects all ready for sale in their adjacent pasticceria.

The two brothers Paolo and Fabio Lucchesi have been in this business for many years following on a family tradition started by their father and uncle who used to run the Onesti bar back in the early 70s. They then moved their operations twice over the years before finally starting up the present Bar and Pasticceria Lucchesi five years ago in 2003 (that article can be seen here) where they make chocolate and pastries in their own bakery and specialist kitchens.

Last year the City of Barga gave its highest honour, the Premio San Cristoforo d’Oro to the Lucchesi brothers. (article here) Named for Barga’s ancient patron, Saint Christopher, the award is presented to celebrate extraordinary contributions to the town and its people.   On a far more frivolous note – they also won the Best Toilet of the year award 2004 (article here)

*Callebaut is a Belgian company and a major producer of chocolate for consumers and for professional chocolatiers – their site is here

For the third in the series of articles with the title “Barga at night” – the hidden side of Barga that people generally don’t see, we have something of a surprise. The artist Richard Clare read the first two articles, the bakery “Regio Bello” (article here) and the Pasticceria Lucchesi (article here) and decided that he too wanted to join the project with an idea that he had been thinking on for some time – painting Barga at night. So for the past week, he has been out and about with his easel and paints in various places in Barga Vecchia painting in the dark using just the available ambient street lighting.

The award winning photographer O’Connor ran into him at 2 am last night in Piazza Garibaldi as was working on the penultima of the series of small canvases. Today he finished his remarkable series with the last one just further down Via di Mezzo. He is now looking for a suitable place to exhibit these canvases before they are taken out of the country and split up.

Richard has often appeared on these pages since he moved to Barga with his family 6 years ago – In 2002 English landscape artist Richard Clare and his family came to Barga just for a holiday, but the magical beauty of Barga seduced them into buying a property here. Richard can often be seen wandering around Barga’s alleyways with his box of paints, sketching and painting plein-air. complete article with many images of his very colourful landscapes can be seen here

So how well do you know Barga? Can you name all of the places in his paintings? if so, maybe you can give Richard a hand as he wants to name the paintings, but is unsure what each location is called.  Use the comments section at the end of this article.

The images of the paintings “Barga at Night” can be seen in larger format on the flickr site here and the Richard Clare site can be seen here

There is also a fairly lengthy interview with Richard recorded in Barga in the podcast – click below to listen.

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Fabio Bacci, Brunello Marchi and Marco Mazzon spend each and every night right through till dawn making 200 kilos of bread, assorted pizzas and focaccia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ6MsjbwE7k

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This is the first of a short series of articles with the title "Barga at night" – the hidden side of Barga that people generally don't see. The idea is to follow and document people who are working while most of us are sound asleep in our beds. We start the series on a sweet note following just what happens in the Pasticceria Lucchesi down in Barga Giardino. The award-winning barganews photographer O'Connor lost a night's sleep as he closely followed the Lucchesi brothers through their working day which starts with a strong black coffee.at 3 a.m. and continues right through to dawn and well into the day. 

The two brothers Paolo and Fabio Lucchesi have been in this business for many years following on a family tradition started by their father and uncle who used to run the Onesti bar back in the early 70s. They then moved their operations twice over the years before finally starting up the present Bar and Pasticceria Lucchesi five years ago in 2003 (that article can be seen here) where they make chocolate and pastries in their own bakery and specialist kitchens.

Their whole operation now employs a dozen people, but the bulk of the work during the small hours in the pasticceria is done by just three; Paolo, Fabio and Marco Bertolini. Fabio at a certain point disappeared from view after preparing focaccia and returned shaved and with a freshly pressed shirt and tie ready to take on the early morning shift in the bar leaving Paolo and Marco to carry on preparing the many different sweet pastries that later filled the glass cabinets in the bar. Marco and Paolo, with a combined experience of over 50 years in this business, take this in their stride.

Apart from the machine which now rolls out the pastry, replacing the work once done by rolling pins, all the other tasks in the process are done by hand and in the traditional manner. An incredible time consuming process, and one which unfortunately is no longer being taught as the Master Bakers all over Italy gradually retire and their place is taken by a machine.  In fact, there is only one school of Pasticceria remaining in Italy – the time-honoured experience and know-how is generally passed from father to son while they work.

Last year the City of Barga gave its highest honour, the Premio San Cristoforo d’Oro to the Lucchesi brothers. (article here) Named for Barga’s ancient patron, Saint Christopher, the award is presented to celebrate extraordinary contributions to the town and its people.   On a far more frivolous note – they also won the Best Toilet of the year award 2004 (article here)