Palazzo Polignac far right; Salute Church far left - Photo: Cat Bauer from Accademia Brid

(Venice, Italy) It has become a happy tradition to kick off the New Year in Venice with a late morning concert at Palazzo Contarini Polignac on the day of New Year’s Eve when an international crowd is here. Music keeps the palace alive and humming — as it did during the days of the salon of the American heiress Winnaretta Singer aka Princess Edmond de Polignac, one of the heirs of the Singer sewing machine fortune (Isaac Singer had 24 kids!). Winnaretta's protégés included Debussy and Ravel. Both composers were on the program today. It was the best of all cultures.

Call me old-fashioned, but I’m grateful that Venice remains a civilized city despite all the nastiness and deceit confronting the world these days. (Especially from those who still try to cyber-influence Venice’s narrative from afar by way of social media. Suggestion: get yourselves resident visas and actually come and live here or get yourselves real lives.)

Today's invitation was worded like the good old days when people were cordial even if they disagreed:

This year there were two pianos, eight hands and a string quartet. The palace responded with applause and goodwill. Here is the program: