Tom

10
Oct
2020

Verdi!

Today is the birthday of Giuseppe Verdi (October 10, 1813), one of the most wonderful of opera composers. Even if you’re not a fan of opera, you will recognize some of his music and, by the time you finish this post, may even like it! Verdi was a strong supporter of the ‘Risorgimento’ – the Italian unification movement. Much of his music was in the spirit of the movement and Verdi himself was considered a representative of the ideals.

There are certain of his pieces that I like a lot. His third opera, Nabucco, is the story of the conquest of Israel by Nebuchadnezzar and their exile and enslavement. The chorus, Va pensiero, known sometimes as ‘The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves’ has, in my mind, a beautiful, haunting quality as they dream of their homeland. If you want to sing along, the text can be found HERE.

In 1851, Verdi composed ‘Rigoletto’, a tragic story revolving around the Duke of Mantua, his court jester, Rigoletto and Rigolleto’s daughter Gilda. One of the most famous aria in the opera is ‘La donna è mobile’ (woman is fickle) sung by the duke. I’m sure you’ve heard the melody:

Another of my favorites is from La Traviata which was first presented in 1853. It’s the story of a famous courtesan and a young man who falls in love with her even though she already has a wealthy lover. There is, of course, a duel and later, Violetta, the courtesan, falls ill and dies in the young mans’ arms. My favorite piece from this is, of course, the drinking song.

I don’t want to make this too long so I’ll close with ‘Aida’. The Khedive of Egypt commissioned Verdi to write an opera to celebrate the opening of the Suez canal. The result was ‘Aida’ and this triumphal march.

Happy birthday, Giuseppe!

Posted by Tom in opera
04
Oct
2020

Jean-François Millet

Today, October 4, is the birthday in 1814 of Jean-François Millet, French Realist painter. He was born into a farming family and, as a boy, worked on the farm mowing, making hay, binding the sheaves, spreading manure, threshing, winnowing and so forth. Much of his work reflects his life on the farm and the lives of peasants.

The Gleaners

This painting, The Gleaners, is one of his most famous. It depicts three peasant woman engaged in the backbreaking activity of gleaning – gathering the leftover grain missed by the farmer after harvest. Gleaning by the poor and homeless was a legal right in parts of Europe for many years. Millet tried to display the repetition and fatigue in the peasants’ daily lives. Contrast the meager amounts they have gathered with the farmer’s huge stacks of grain on the horizon.

I like this painting; I like the light and contrast of the women against the light background. I think he does a good job of representing their backbreaking labor and the miserable return they get. This particular painting is hung in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Go and see it next time you are there. You can find images of many of his other paintings in Wikimedia Commons by clicking HERE.

Posted by Tom in Art
02
Oct
2020

The Heart Goes Last

I just finished reading ‘The Heart Goes Last’, a novel by Margaret Atwood. Atwood is justly famous for her dystopian novels and that are rich in character but sometimes flow slowly. This one is different.

The Heart Goes Last can only be described as a rather kinky dystopian novel with some lead characters that have the internal monologue of a tape on an endless loop. It’s quite funny in parts and well-written and it’s clear she had some fun with this one.

Stan and Charmaine are victims of a vast economic collapse, living in their car and scrambling for gas and food money. When a prosperous planned community offers an escape from post-apocalyptic misery, they don’t question the details. That’s just as well, since the details of Consilience don’t follow any rational logic. The thriving city is built around Positron Prison, and residents like Stan and Charmaine are expected to alternate months as support staff and prisoners, with each group providing work and a rationale for the other. Consilience promises a meaningful life of luxury, in complete isolation from the outside world. The catch, of course, is that once you enter, you can’t leave; it’s the roach hotel of the postmodern world.

Charmaine and Stan love it at first. The months in the slammer aren’t too bad – Stan tends chickens and Charmaine has a job administering medicine. Things get complicated when Charmaine becomes obsessed with the guy part of the couple who inhabits their house when Stan and Charmaine are in prison. Also, she discovers that her ‘medicine administration’ is simply a death cocktail for the unlucky recipients.

Like all dystopias, there are big brothers spying on everyone and so forth but that’s not important. Things get a bit crazier when they get involved with an underground movement to bring down the rulers of the place and the ‘possibilibots’ which are basically very advanced sex robots. Stan escapes disguised as an Elvis sex robot and, if possible, things get a little crazier.

Atwood is a highly talented and gifted writer and she has fun with this. I imagine you will too even though it has its flaws. Give it a try! https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/30/books/review-margaret-atwoods-the-heart-goes-last-conjures-a-kinky-dystopia.html

Posted by Tom
30
Sep
2020

Good Grief!

After the debate last night we all need something else to think about and calm down a bit. So…today is the birthday of Sylvia Peterson, lead singer for The Chiffons. You’ll probably remember them by their first hit – ‘He’s So Fine’. Note that they are not referring to our idiot President.

They also did this song which was another international hit for them. Incidentally, one of the writers of this song was Carole King who later covered it herself. Listen to these songs and remember a time when we were respectful of each other.

Posted by Tom in doo-wop, Music
24
Sep
2020

If I Had Your Face

Book Cover

I just finished reading ‘If I Had Your Face’ a debut novel by Frances Cha. I very much liked it. It’s an interesting introduction to the lesser-known sides of South Korean culture.

It’s the story of four young women trying to make it in the brutally competitive world of modern Seoul. Covering everything from the unwritten rules of the country’s “room salons” to the excruciating pain one must endure following jawline surgery, the novel depicts South Korea’s oft extreme culture and obsessions through the lives of four young women in contemporary Seoul.

The story is narrated by the four women and is a fascinating introduction to the situations these women find themselves in as they try to find a life, and love, in a hyper-competitive world dominated by men. Rather than try to describe the book myself, here is a link to a NYT interview with the author. Give it a try – you’ll enjoy it! https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/14/us/author-frances-cha-on-achieving-the-feminine-ideal.html

Posted by Tom in Books, Literature