Arrivederci, Il Coro Italiano
After 50 years, choir is singing its last show
Behind them, in homemade frames, hang photos of some of their most cherished memories as a choir.
“We drank a lot of wine on this trip,” Paulo Savio, 69, said as he pointed to a photo of 20 or so Italian men dressed in uniform and posing on a hill looking down on the St. John’s, N.L., waterfront.
“And ate the lobsters,” said maestro Angelo Nadalin, 82.
Besides singing for the Queen on that trip in 1997, the Windsor immigrant choir, named Il Coro Italiano, performed for a crowd of 5,000, whale-watched in the Atlantic Ocean and sang to complete strangers in pizza parlours and in the streets.
Savio and Nadalin agreed during an interview Sunday in Savio’s basement that singing in Newfoundland for the 500th anniversary celebration of Giovanni Caboto’s arrival in Canada was one of the choir’s proudest moments.
Besides celebrating their 50th anniversary, the choir members will reach another milestone this year.
On Nov. 4, Il Coro Italiano will stand together one last time and sing at its final show.
The men, who mostly gained their musical knowledge in churches in Italy, said they are folding because of a lack of interest from the younger generation. Members grow old and leave without new vocalists filling their shoes.
“We are sad that the Italian community is going to lose a little bit of the Italian culture,” said Savio, one of the youngest of the group. “It is sad, but what are you going to do?”
There are 16 active members today, ranging from 65 to 89.
Savio said singing was ingrained in their Italian culture. When the men moved to Canada they held on to the tradition, often prompted by a few glasses of wine.
“The most important thing is when we sing the words from the songs, they are the most meaningful. We sing with a passion with the meaning of the words,” Savio said about their repertoire of mostly folk and church songs that acted as a link to life in their homeland.
Savio said the younger generation has too much and are too busy to bother with singing.
“It can only last so long,” Nadalin said of the group which formed in 1962.
A combination of bricklayers and construction, cement and autoworkers, the men rehearsed every Sunday in the basement of St. Angela’s Church on Erie Street. Practice was usually followed by homemade wine, salami and sometimes some arguing.
Savio said the men, now retirees, were always like family.
They came from small towns from all regions of Italy, including Friuli, Calabria and Lazio. As choir members they travelled to Edmonton, Calgary, Banff, Montreal, Ottawa, Newfoundland, Vancouver, Toronto and Chicago.
In 1998, choir members received the Man of the Year award given by the Giovanni Caboto Club of Windsor, in recognition of their hard work and love of Italian lyrics.
In 2005, the group sang the national anthems at Comerica Park for the MLB All-Star Game hosted by the Detroit Tigers.
“It’s sad to see this stop,” a bittersweet Savio said.
Il Coro Italiano’s last performance takes place at Caboto Club Nov. 4. Doors open at 1 p.m. and dinner starts at 2 p.m. Tickets are $50; call 519-252-8383.