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March 22, 2005
Language Immersion
Ian had the following as his away message:
giovanni withdrawal:
nel veder i miei bocconi
gli par proprio di svenir
Which I read and asked, "is that from the finale?" And indeed, Google reveals that it is. I don't know a word of Italian in real life, but yet I read that and knew where in the opera it was from. And it's not like it's a repeated chorus line or something, it's said by Don Giovanni once as a stage aside (incidentally, I also knew that before I googled it).
Strange how automatically we pick up language. I also got pretty good at reading the projected supertitles backwards (since that's how they appeared from the orchestra). For a while it was really puzzling and then all of a sudden there were bits I could just read like you read, you know, normal text. Bizarre. I also started understanding bits of Italian.
The show closed Saturday, but I definitely still have it in my head 24/7. Withdrawal, indeed.
Posted by David Richmond at March 22, 2005 10:41 PM EST
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Comments
i also find myself humming it all the time. the opera was undoubtedly one of the best musical experiences i've had at harvard, which is saying a lot. and i recall something james buswell once said in a masterclass, which is that he never really understood mozart until he played in the operas. when one is very young (he was a child prodigy, remember) one thinks of mozart as pure and pristine - but he only changed his mind when he listened to the operas because they give you the whole racy and sensual side as well.
thankyou also for the xanga reference.
Posted by: ian at March 23, 2005 7:58 AM
also, from john harbison:
Moreover, writing operatic comedies is extremely difficult, Mr. Harbison said, pointing out how few truly great comic operas exist. Next to their large tragic and romantic output, Verdi's "Falstaff" and Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi" are exceptions, he said.
Mozart, he added, was a gifted comedic writer. "Mozart comedies are really about sex and the force of eros in the world, which is a comic subject, but very serious and very immediate," Mr. Harbison said. "The reason that Mozart was able to do it was because it was his subject, above all."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/24/arts/music/24harb.html
Posted by: ian at March 24, 2005 10:34 AM