Italy Fermata 01: Firenze

falling in love with a street musician’s classical cello bangers

Just off the Uffizi gallery square, where you get your prebooked tickets, I heard a familiar sound. A few years back I got it into my head that I wanted to learn to play the cello. And what I heard now was the sound of a lone cello, but played by a professional.

Maybe it was the scene: the late afternoon sun reflected in the narrow alley, the bicycle against the wall, perhaps it was his colourful shirt or the way his bow danced lightly on the A string, or could even have been his vibrato. Maybe he was my first Italian street musician, but. I. was. smitten.

I sat on the street leaning against the opposing wall and listened through his repertoire. And they were all bangers, from the theme from Schindler’s list to his effortless version of Bach’s prelude. I was there, time passing, hoping somehow to absorb his skill. At one point he made eye contact, nodded and smiled at me. I blushed and got up to leave - broken from the reverie. The sound of his cello reverberated for a few more blocks, before resting only in my ears.