Thursday, April 2, 2009
Viva La Liberta!
Unless you're already an opera fan, it may be difficult to watch the whole thing. The subtitles might help. But, I can assure you, in this short 8-minute piece there is absolutely everything from murder and vengeance to rousing calls for freedom. There's that strange religiosity on the part of the vengeance seekers, asking God to bless their efforts. There's the famous seduction on the part of the protagonist as well as its associated infidelity and jealousy. At the 6-minute mark begins one of the greatest ensemble numbers in all of opera. It was written by Mozart and his librettist Da Ponte during the period leading up to the French Revolution. "Viva La Liberta!" which they translate as "Let Freedom Reign," is repeated about fifteen times.
Now, that's a timeless political message. What do you think?
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How IRONIC,
ReplyDeleteLet Freedom Reign.....yet you want to take away people's freedoms.
Fabulous, my father was a proper tenor and sang opera professionaly and as an amateur. I was raised listening to opera...
ReplyDeleteI think I genetically inherited his voice, but destroyed it by singing (screaming) punk rock for 17 years, of course, that doesn't stop me now...That's one of the joys of not having neighbors!
Mozart was brilliant, revolutionary and in my mind, timeless. I keep hearing pieces of his operas and having a flash of inspiration of rearranging it to create Mozart Heavy Metal or Punk...or much more realistic. Mozart as hip-hop....
Viva La Liberta!
Poor Bob, everybody's always taking away his 'freedom.' I know a grand adventure for Bob and his pro-gun buddies- Somalia! There they will find FULL gun-toting freedom and a pirate's bounty as well!
ReplyDeleteJust bring some black face paint and your arsenal of weapons and have a go at the pirate's life. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to capture a Saudi tanker and then you'll have enough oil to last a lifetime.
MudBrain....I mean MudRake,
ReplyDeleteI have a grand adventure right here with my life in America.
I don't need to go to Somalia and become an criminal as you suggest. Which by the way, why is it a common tendency for you anti-freedom, pro-ignorance gun banners to suggest people break the law?
Is it because you don't see the law as something to follow, but just as a guideline? Something to obey when you feel like it?
MikeB suggested on another blog that if he lived in NYC and rode the subway that he might go armed.
And didn't MikeB also state elsewhere that he carried legally and illegally when he lived in the USA?
See, some of us don't view the law that way. If we don't like the law, we aren't free to violate it at will - we change the law.
That way, we have our freedom and obey the law.
You act like a little child that hasn't grown up yet Mud. Wanting to be included in the adult's conversation but every time you open your mouth, you show your immaturity.
How exactly does the above Moddy-ism conform to your commenting policy, Mike?
ReplyDeleteWeer,d, Mud's comment wasn't even close to being rejected, nor was Bob's first one in which he sarcastically said I was being ironic. Also yours, questioning my policy for the second or third time passed muster.
ReplyDeleteOk, so maybe you are just randomly deleting comments after all!
ReplyDeleteWhy bother with a policy in the first place if it has no meaning?
Micro, I've been meaning to get back to this one for days but I guess all that comment moderation has interfered. I wanted to tell you how envious I am of your opera-drenched childhood. My first exposure was at 36 years of age. I saw Turandot at the Met in New York. I knew nothing at the time, but later that year I moved to Rome and spent the next 10 years as a passionate opera-goer. I made friends with a couple people who were life-long fans, we went frequently to the Rome Opera house as well as more amateur performances. They were beautiful days. After that family, work, life in general interfered. I re-expanded my musical interests to include other things, especially the rock and roll I had loved as a teenager and a 20 something ne'er do well. Is music great, or what?
ReplyDelete