CURRENT MISSION

Being me

ABOUT ME

I am honest and not boring.

PHILOSOPHY

Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers (Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

As many Italian people, I still live with my parents. I love to host people but I cannot do it very frequently. (At least not with complete strangers, but my house is often full with musician friends: for my Don Giovanni I hosted 7 singers at the same time for 2 weeks!). When I will move out (at last), I will surely repay the world by hosting travellers.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have couchsurfed a lot in the past, mostly through GayRomeo. There is no better way to discover a city than talking with one who lives there. And generous and open-minded people such as those that love to help and get to know complete strangers are definitely my favourite type of people.

Interests

(so called "classical") music, art in general (theatre, visual art, cinema...), good food

• arts
• dining
• italian food
• movies
• music

Music, Movies, and Books

Mozart, Stravinsky, Ravel, Monteverdi, Debussy, Handel, Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Rossini, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Telemann, Verdi, Bononcini, Stradella, Cavalli, Alessandro Scarlatti, Domenico Scarlatti, Hasse, Traetta, Jommelli, Varèse

Allen (everything from Take the Money and Run to Mighty Aphrodite, then some of them), Anderson, Coen Brothers, Lubitsch, Billy Wilder, Kubrick, Fellini, Monicelli, Visconti, Risi, Almodóvar, Mitchell

Shakespeare, Shaw, Cechov, Goncarov, Dostoevskij, Sade, Ionesco, Jarry, Bulgakov, Quevedo, Goethe, Becquer, Ariosto, Metastasio, Leopardi, Tasso, Fielding, Queneau, Huxley, Herodotus, Sophocles

(and why not visual art and architecture?) Tiziano, Rubens, Andrea del Sarto, Michelangelo, Sebastiano Del Piombo, Raffaello, Pontormo, Correggio, Parmigianino, Veronese, Tintoretto, El Greco, Velazquez, Guido Reni, Guercino, Ludovico and Annibale Carracci, Caravaggio, Bernini, Giambattista and Giandomenico Tiepolo, Juvarra, Boucher, Fragonard, Degas, Beardsley, Klimt...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Creating and conducting KOMOS - Bologna Gay Men'Chorus, for sure.

Genée - Insalata Italiana (arr. Paolo V. Montanari) - with Jason Ferrante
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWZq_ma9kzk

Schubert - Ständchen (Grillparzer) D. 920 'Zögernd, leise' - with Tiziana Tramonti
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d1XUY3K3NU

Poulenc - Clic, clac, dansez sabots
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azuabCXO04I&feature=channel

Certainly not the greatest thing I've done but you can see me here with Placido Domingo (see at min 3.23) in recent "Rigoletto a Mantova"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWZ_XN69JfU

And you can look here at some of my shows as a director
http://paolovmontanariportfolio.blogspot.com

Teach, Learn, Share

Well, I can teach a lot of things (about music, theatre, art...) (if asked to). I have many interests and I love to listen and learn.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can also bring Italian food (Modena balsamic vinegar, for instance, or tortellini), if you ask me!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Russian Federation, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy