Incantato Highlight: Private Vatican Visit & Sistine Chapel Recital on Tuesday, July 8

What better place for the final performance of the 2014 Belcanto Performance Tour than the Sistine Chapel? On Tuesday, July 8, the 100+ voices under the direction of Mr. Bruce Koliha will be heard in this amazing venue during an exclusive private recital. 

Perhaps you have visited the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel once before and, like everyone else, had to endure the countless tour groups, the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, the guards barking “no pictures”, the fight for seats, and the shove to move on to make room for the masses behind you. Afterward, perhaps you were left feeling more like you had just completed a sprint past 500 years of art and history rather than having actually seen anything. There is, however, a way to experience the place where popes are elected with all the intimacy and spirituality that one could hope for in order to truly appreciate its significance: a private after-hours visit to the Vatican Museums, culminating in a special recital in the Sistine Chapel. 

The Vatican Museums are indisputably one of the finest collections of art in the world. As seen today, the Musei Vaticani consist of 13 pontifical museums and galleries that began under the patronage of the popes Clement XIV (1796-1774) and Pius VI (1775-1799). They were among the first to open collections of art to the general public for viewing and thus promoting culture among the masses. As time passed, more popes added to the already impressive collection of various art and artifacts on display in the Vatican. The museums include some of the most important sculptures from the ancient world, such as the Laocoon and the Apollo Belvedere. Moreover, papal patrons commissioned renowned works of art such as the stunning frescoes of Michelanglo in the Sistine Chapel and those by Raphael in his stance.

The Sistine Chapel, which takes its name from its founder, Pope Sixtus IV, is the main chapel in the Vatican Palace and has been covered with frescoes by some of the finest artists of the 15^th and 16^th centuries. There are 12 paintings on the side walls depicting episodes from the life of Christ and Moses by artists such as Perugino, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Signorelli. Completed between 1534 and 1541, the treasure of the Vatican Museums is the works by Michelangelo, including the fresco The Last Judgment, on the altar wall. His magnificent ceiling masterpiece depicts scenes from the Old Testament and is one of the world’s most famous works of art, attracting up to 20,000 visitors a day.


In order to fully be able to enjoy this truly magical and memorable place, you have the opportunity to take advantage of Incantato Concert Tours’ unique connections which make it possible for us to organize a special private visit, offering you the opportunity to see these works as they were originally viewed and contemplated by the Popes themselves. This after-hours visit is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It means that you will have the chance to admire this historical collection only in the company of your own group and not with the never-ending crowds that normally are part of the public viewing process. This private visit will be led by a specialized docent/expert guide and offers an exceptional opportunity for an intimate visit and lecture on the Vatican and its impressive collection. As a highlight of this private experience, your choir will be allowed to perform in the Sistine Chapel. It is only during these private visits that singers are granted permission to give a 25 minute sacred recital – a truly unforgettable experience both for the performers and the exclusive audience of fellow group members. 

May we introduce you to British Cuisine?

Nothing screams more Great Britain than a 5 o'clock tea in London. Enjoy the famous British pastries such as scones with cream and jam or finger sandwiches. From high-class hotels like the Ritz to The Savoy, you will find the top afternoon tea addresses here. 

Since Great Britain is with 395 people per sq km the most crowded country in Europe, followed by Netherlands and Belgium, the British cuisine has multi-cultural influences from all over the world. You will find a lot of so-called hybrid dishes such as chicken tikka masala or goulash on British restaurant menus.

British cuisine has traditionally been limited in its international recognition to famous fish and chips, and the Christmas dinner including the traditional Christmas pudding. Other famous British dishes include Sunday roast, steak and kidney pie, shepherd'spie, and bangers and mash (bangers and mash are potatoes that have been mashed up). British cuisine has many regional varieties within the broader categories of English, Scottish and Welsh cuisine. Each have developed their own regional or local dishes, many of which are geographically indicated foods such as Cornish pasties, Yorkshire pudding, Arbroath Smokie, and Welsh cakes.

Although some traditional dishes remain popular, there has been a significant shift in eating habits in Britain. Rice and pasta have accounted for the decrease in potato consumption and the consumption of meat has also fallen. Roast beef is still the national culinary pride. It is called a "joint," and is served at midday on Sunday with roasted potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, two vegetables, a good strong horseradish, gravy, and mustard.

"And then to breakfast, with what appetite you have." 

William Shakespeare

The great British breakfast is famous (or notorious) throughout the world. The typical English breakfast is a 19th century invention, when the majority of English people adopted the copious meal of porridge, fish, bacon and eggs, toast and marmalade, that has now appeared on English breakfast tables for 100 years.
The annual consumption in the United Kingdom is 450,000 tonnes of bacon, 5,000 tonnes of sausages and millions of eggs. It has retained its popularity as one of the country's favorite meals, and survived a whole series of eating trends and food fads.
 

An Incantato Favorite: Florence

Located in Tuscany, the city of Florence is one of the greatest artistic capitals in the world. It is a monument to the Renaissance and the artistic and cultural reawakening of the 15th century. 

The city began as a Roman colony in 59 BC and grew to a trading hub and independent city. In time, power passed to leading noble families of the city, the most influential of which were the Medici, a hugely wealthy banking dynasty. Both Florence and Tuscany remained under the family's rule for three centuries until 1737, and the mark they left can be seen throughout the city even today. It was during this time that Florence was at the cultural and intellectual heart of Europe. 

There are so many sights to see in one of Italy's most visited cities, that it is impossible to present them all here. Therefore, just a few highlights are mentioned, and the rest is left to own exploration. 

The historic part of Florence is a compact area, and the river Arno bisects the city. The oldest surviving bridge in the city that crosses the Arno is the Ponte Vecchio, built in 1345. It is almost exclusively jewelers and goldsmiths that offer items for sale in the shops that line the bridge, a tradition that started back in the 16th century. The Ponte Vecchio is also the only bridge in the city that escaped any destruction during World War II. 

Perhaps the most famous of Florence's landmarks and historical buildings is the richly decorated Duomo, the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore with its orange-tiled dome. The city's geographical and historical focus, the Duomo rises above the heart of Florence and to this day remains the city's tallest building. It has become Florence's most famous symbol and the cathedral is Europe's fourth largest church. The dome was finished by Brunelleschi in 1463 and was the largest of its time to be built without scaffolding. 

The Academy of Fine Arts, the Galleria dell'Accademia, was established in 1563. It was the first school in Europe specifically to teach the techniques of drawing, painting, and sculpture. The art collection displayed here today was formed in 1784. Its most famous work is Michelangelo's David, a colossal nude of the biblical hero who killed the giant Goliath. Created in 1504, it established Michelangelo as the foremost sculptor of his time at the age of 29. Another one of Michelangelo's masterpieces found here is the Quattro Prigioni, the Four Prisoners, a sculpture created between 1521 and 1523 and intended to adorn the tomb of Pope Julius II. 

Built from 1560 to 1580 to house offices, the Uffizi are now one of Italy's leading art galleries. Originally, the upper story was used as a gallery to display the Medici art treasures. Today, it houses the world's greatest collection of Italian Renaissance art and a priceless collection of paintings, including the Birth of Venues, painted by Botticelli in 1485. 

Across the river Arno, the vast Pitti Palace is second only to the Uffizi in its art collection. It was constructed in 1457 and in 1550, it became the main residence of the Medici family and subsequently all rulers of the city of Florence lived here. The Palace's richly decorated rooms exhibit countless treasures from the Medici collections and contain galleries with works by great Renaissance artists including Raphael and Titian. 

Vatican City: an Incantato Favorite

Vatican City, officially the State of the Vatican City, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the capital city of Italy. It has an area of approximately 44 hectares, and a population of just over 800.

Vatican City is a city-state that came into existence in 1929. It is distinct from the Holy See, which dates back to early Christianity and is the main Episcopal see of 1.147 billion Latin and Eastern Catholic adherents around the globe.

Ordinances of Vatican City are published in Italian; official documents of the Holy See are issued mainly in Latin. The two entities even have distinct passports: the Holy See, not being a country, only issues diplomatic and service passports; the state of Vatican City issues normal passports. In both cases the passports issued are very few.

Vatican City is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state, ruled by the bishop of Rome - the Pope. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergymen of various nationalities. It is the sovereign territory of the Holy See (Sancta Sedes) and the location of the Pope's residence, referred to as the Apostolic Palace. The Popes have resided in the area, that in 1929 became Vatican City, since the return from Avignon in 1377.

Incantato Welcomes You to St. Peter's

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter is located within the Vatican City. St. Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world, holding 60,000 people. It is the symbolic "Mother Church" of the Catholic Church and is regarded as one of the holiest Christian sites in the world. It has been described as "holding a unique position in the Christian world" and as "the greatest of all churches of Christendom".

In Catholic tradition, it is the burial site of its namesake Saint Peter, who was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus and, according to tradition, first Bishop of Rome and therefore first in the line of the papal succession. Tradition and some historical evidence hold that Saint Peter's tomb is directly below the altar of the basilica. For this reason, many Popes have been interred at St. Peter's since the Early Christian period. There has been a church on this site since the 4th century. Construction of the present basilica, over the old Constantine basilica, began on April 18, 1506 and was completed on November 18, 1626.

St. Peter's is a famous place of pilgrimage, for its liturgical functions and for its historical associations. It is associated with the papacy, with the Counter-reformation and numerous artists, most significantly Michelangelo diLodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475-1564), an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer. Michelangelo took over a building site at which four piers, enormous beyond any constructed since the days of Ancient Rome, were rising behind the remaining nave of the old basilica. He also inherited the numerous schemes designed and redesigned by some of the greatest architectural and engineering brains of the 16th century.

Incidentally, there are over 100 tombs within St. Peter's Basilica, many located in the Vatican grotto, beneath the Basilica. These include 91 popes, St. Ignatius of Antioch, Holy Roman Emperor Otto II, and the composer GiovanniPierluigi da Palestrina. Exiled Catholic British royalty James Francis EdwardStuart and his two sons, Charles Edward Stuart and Henry Benedict Stuart, are buried here, having been granted asylum by Pope Clement XI. The most recent interment was Pope John Paul II, on April 8, 2005.