This past Thursday was the 150th anniversary of L'Unita Republic of Italy. I wanted to celebrate, but there was hardly a whisper of festa in Syracuse- though everyone seemed happy to have the day off work. There was a lot of passagiating con bambini (walking around with the kids) who had the day off school and were generally running the town.
They're not crazy about the central government here in Sicily, never have been. ...And what with Burlesconi's affairs and his cozy relationship with Khaddafi, patriotism- never prominent in post-fascist Italy- seems to be at a low ebb. And the radio and news were full of gripes about this and that aspect of the federal government. One of the biggest political parties- I think it's actually to the right of Burlesconi's Populi dell'Libero party is the Northern Front- or League, which is pressing for greater autonomy for the regional governments...
It's all a little sad, and it just feels a bit besides the point to the outside observer. After all, the Unification of ITaly is a remarkable achievement and this chance to honor the nation only comes once every fifty years. Garibaldi was one of history's only truly admirable men- some historian said that, I can't remember who. He's great- and I'm always quick to remind and sometimes inform my ITalian acquaintances that the Generallisimo lived in NYC for a year or two-e vero, in Staten Island in fact, at some inventor's house... not Marconi, but someone like MArconi whose name escapes me now. And Abraham Lincoln offered him command in the Union army during the Civil War, but he begged off and eventually returned to Italy to effectively unite and liberate the country from foreign occupation... He DID eventually turn the whole think over to a monarch from Turin... and I think history is still out on that one, and that's part of the historical grievance here in the south- which viewed the Lombardy king as just another in a long string of foreign occupiers.
But ... it IS besides the point because Italy is not a country united by a government in Rome or Turin or anywhere else. Everyone gripes about the government. That's a given. In fact, that's one of the traits that you'll find throughout Italy. The cuisine and dialects might vary, but everyone hates the government.
Italy is an IDEA- of a country united by beauty and CULTURE- and an artistic legacy that is a gift to the world. Which is why I- not Italian in any way shape or form (except possibly aspirationally)- alone among my Sicilian friends found myself in tears that night watching Verdi's Nabucco on the National tv station.
THe opera, Verdi's third, is tedious. It's long- and there's a lot of war and martial sounding music. But then... in the beginning of the third act is "the lament of the Hebrew slaves" which begins "Va pensiero, sull'ali durate..." Fly (or go) thoughts, on golden wings... It is a lament for a lost homeland, a song that (some claim) was taken up by the Risorgimento troops and supporters as an anthem in support of Italy's Unification. There's some historical debate on whether this is true- or whether that was ever Verdi's intention- there are various stories attached to it. It IS true that graffiti V.E.R.D.I was scrawled on walls by supporters of unification signifying "Vittorio Emmanuel Rei D'Italia" (pretty cool) and the song "Va pensiero" has since become an unofficial national anthem. It's a beautiful sweet song in the middle of a loud, bombastic (and VERY long) opera.
But what was most moving was Ricardo Muti- who directs the Chicago Symphony now I think- but who was on hand to conduct the orchestra. He'd just undergone surgery and had a pace-maker installed- and I think he just won a prize, the sort of lifetime achievement prize they give you when they're not entirely sure you're going to make it.
Well Muti turned to the audience, which was full of politicians (I don't know if Burlesconi was there or out dancing with the party girls) before "Va pensiero" and criticized the drastic cuts in national funding for the arts which has sent so many italian musicians abroad and reduced others (so he said in an interview) to itinerant troubadours with a can in their hand. Awful! and particularly so in a country whose PRIMARY export/ import or attraction- is ART, beauty, and the artistic aspiration to create something so awe-inspiring that it seems touched by the hand of a god.
Then the audience erupted into applause and demanded an encore of "va pensiero" and the camera panned the audience where everyone was in tears, on their feet singing along with the chorus... from the floor to the mink and jewelry wearing crowd in the boxes were tossing thier tickets or invitations into the air. It was VERY moving to an outsider. Because it would never happen in the U.S. ... ONLY in Italy does opera still have the power to do that- to unsettle the status quo. So here are the words to "va pensiero" and a link to see this performance on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_gmtO6JnRs
Get out your hankys. Bravo! Encore!
Lyrics
Va', pensiero, sull'ali dorate;
Va, ti posa sui clivi, sui colli,
ove olezzano tepide e molli
l'aure dolci del suolo natal!
Del Giordano le rive saluta,
di Sionne le torri atterrate…
Oh mia Patria sì bella e perduta!
O membranza sì cara e fatal!
Arpa d'or dei fatidici vati,
perché muta dal salice pendi?
Le memorie nel petto raccendi,
ci favella del tempo che fu!
O simile di Solima ai fati,
traggi un suono di crudo lamento;
o t'ispiri il Signore un concento
che ne infonda al patire virtù!
English Translation
Hasten thoughts on golden wings.
Hasten and rest on the densely wooded hills,
where warm and fragrant and soft
are the gentle breezes of our native land!
The banks of the Jordan we greet
and the towers of Zion.
O, my homeland, so beautiful and lost!
O memories, so dear and yet so deadly!
Golden harp of our prophets,
why do you hang silently on the willow?
Rekindle the memories of our hearts,
and speak of the times gone by!
Or, like the fateful Solomon,
draw a lament of raw sound;
or permit the Lord to inspire us
to endure our suffering!
