It’s vacation time at the pope’s summer residence, and that means it’s time to tickle the ivories:

Pope Benedict XVI was so impressed with the piano skills of Brazil’s Vatican representative that he invited the apostolic nuncio to give him a private concert in Italy.

After a dinner with a few guests Aug. 7 at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italian Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri played for 50 minutes on the pope’s Steinway piano.

The archbishop told Catholic News Service by phone from Brazil that he played classical compositions by Frederic Chopin, Claude Debussy, Isaac Albeniz and others, including the late Brazilian composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos.

The pope “was very pleased, very happy” and praised him for providing a “tranquil, serene musical interlude,” Archbishop Baldisseri said.

The nuncio said he felt very nervous before playing. “I almost wanted to flee” from the scene, “but then, once the program began, it went very well,” he said.

Among the handful of people present for the dinner and concert was the pope’s brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, who for decades had directed the boys choir of Regensburg, Germany.

The archbishop said the pope made the invitation after he heard him play some challenging piano compositions during the May 9-13 papal visit to Brazil.

“As apostolic nuncio I was with the pope and accompanied him (during the Brazil trip), and there was a moment when I just played a few pieces. The pope heard me play and invited me to Italy to Castel Gandolfo,” he said.

The archbishop was unable to give the pope his first and still-untitled CD, due to be released in October.

What next? A concert at Radio City?

Photo: Pope playing piano on vacation, from AP