Photo credit: Neshan H. Naltchayan
You didn’t have to be at Penn Station to be FLASH MOBBED, nor did you have to be a Supreme Court Justice, you just had to be at The Embassy of Italy where The Washington Chorus joined forces to celebrate the genius of Giuseppe Verdi for a week-long celebration of Italy’s treasured composer, 200 years after his birth in 1813.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Italian Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero
“We are extremely glad to partner with such an important institution as The Washington Chorus to celebrate Verdi’s genius,” said Ambassador Bisogniero. “In 2013, which was the Year of the Italian Culture in the United States, we had organized a number of events to honor Verdi in various cities of the country. It is truly wonderful to see that the legacy of the great Italian Maestro continues to be an endless source of inspiration and enthusiasm for so many important cultural institutions in America.”
Mr. & Mrs. Luca Franchetti Pardo, Deputy Chief of Mission, Nancy Pelosi and Mrs. Laura Bisogniero
The evening was far from average. Justices Antonin Scalia, Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr., Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elana Kagen put their frocks away and roamed freely amongst the guests.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and Martha-Ann Alito
Finding dinner was a challenge – guests were served with a map inside the program that looked like a Parisian subway that took you to regional Italian buffet stations found in the four corners of the Chancery as indicated on the map. If you went north you were treated to Gnocchi with Speck & Gorgonzola, Chicken with Pancetta & Sage.
Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Antonin Scalia
If you went central you picked up some Saffron Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms and Sliced Tenderloin with Truffle Sauce. We never made it to South and the Islands, but we’re sure it was comparable. We don’t know which direction the Supremes went in, our tracking devices were confiscated at the door.
Didi Cutler and Diane Flamini
Right on cue, while everyone was enjoying their Italian wines and cuisine, we were startled by a FLASH MOB consisting of chorus members. We would have loved to have seen the expressions on the faces of the Justices, but since we were video taping and can’t walk, talk and chew gum at the same time, we are not sure they were captured in the video – but you can try to find them.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Knight Kiplinger
The evening ended with a hilarious interview between Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and NPR’s Nina Totenberg.
“We’re fairly certain you won’t believe the Supremes were really FLASH MOBBED so we did what any good journalist would do, we put it ‘on the record’: See for yourself:
