Amira in Lecce

My all time favorite performance by Amira Willighagen is the one she did in Lecce, Italy at the age of 12, in 2016. Recently a gifted technician named George Cosimo restored the videos of the two songs she sang there, vastly improving the fidelity and even fixing the spelling of her name on the sign behind her. Here I'll do my best to tell the events leading up to this fantastic presentation, that I believe will one day be historic in the annals of classical singing.

The Festival della Vacanza is held each year in Lecce, in southern Italy, with multiple performances of art, opera, and even comedy.

On May 26, Amira and her mother Frieda arrived at the Lecce Airport, ready for the concert Amira was scheduled in. From the pictures, Amira looked a bit dazed or exhausted. 2016 was the busiest of her life.

The arrival of Amira, the by then famous in Europe Dutch ingénue, was broadly publicized and anticipated.

The following morning, Amira and Frieda had a chance to see the sites.

But the time came for rehearsals. Notice Amira is not using a microphone. She does not need it. Amira's talent is often questioned due to her use of a microphone. Here we see how strong her projection actually is.



The next day the stage was set. Amira once commented that one of the things that made her the most nervous was singing in Italian before Italians. Her name was even in lights over the stage - albeit misspelled.

The first song she sang was her signature song, O Mio Babbino Caro. This is the version with the improved sound and spelling fix. Her rendition of the song, in Italian, was one of the best she ever gave.



But it was her second song, the prayer of the Virgin, that brought down the house. Look at her expression as she sings, and how deeply absorbed she is. It is as if she has left the room and gone to the Heavens, and returns to her body at the end, something she herself has admitted experiencing.



At the end the anticipation was over, and Amira did not disappoint. I now think this concert in Lecce was the best she ever gave.

This was not the end of Amira's relationship with Italy. In November 2019, she was flown to Naples to receive the International Mediterranean best female opera star award, along side famous opera singer Fabio Armiliato, by the International Organisation for Diplomatic relations.