In the corner of a walled garden overlooking the vine laden plains of Piedmont on a stone patio, sat a grand piano. When I arrived at Castello Reale, a classy villa hotel in a tiny village of Verduno, residents were sitting at their al fresco dinner tables in the evening sunshine and the garden was filling up with locals coming in to hear Kozma István Levente, a young Romanian pianist for one of a dozen or so free concerts on the programme of the Alba Music Festival . With a babe in arms, the hostess, welcomed the gathering and thereafter the virtuoso piano mingled with the sounds of birds and other assorted animals floated on the evening air. The programme was substantial, Beethoven Chopin, Schubert and Saint Saens, the local audience a mix of young and old .In the dimly lit garden, more restless patrons were free to amble around the fringes without disturbing the more fervent gathered around the piano. On departure there was a glass of wine compliments of the house. Famous for it's truffles and the wines of nearby Barberesca and Barolo, Alba made for a pleasant bucolic stop. It was so tempting to stay longer with a concerts of zarzuela and jazz in Alba scheduled for the following evening but onward to the coast in search of Puccini.
Have a listen to apres concert buzz at Castello Reale Verduno . Magic!
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