A History Lesson from the Opera

Last night, I had the privilege of attending the Washington National Opera performance of Verdi’s Nabucco. It was terrific! It was true, traditional, opera, the way that Italians especially know and do: short bursts of confusing plot development mixed with long, emotive, arias and ensemble singing and beautiful music that doesn’t quite mesh with the story.

Nabucco isn’t Verdi’s most famous opera. It’s far from his best or most mature work. It really cemented him, though, as a great Italian opera composer. This was his 3^rd opera. His first was a minor success, which got him a contract for 2 more. While writing the second, Verdi’s wife and two children died. The second opera closed after a single performance, a miserable flop. Verdi not surprisingly sank into depression. Somehow, someone convinced him to take this quirky libretto, a rather fanciful extrapolation of the biblical story of Nebuchadnezzar and the fall of Babylon, and compose on it.

What comes out is beautiful and tuneful, and it’s easy to see why the Italians love it so. It’s also a huge production, requiring whole choruses of Hebrew slaves and Assyrian priests and soldiers. And the soprano and baritone leads (Abigaille and Nabucco) are extraordinarily difficult, the former known for wrecking the voices of sopranos who take it on too early in their careers. As such, it’s not performed with nearly the frequency of many of Verdi’s more famous operas.

I had two very favorite musical moments in the opera. In the first act, we discover that the younger Assyrian Princess (Fenena) and the young leader of the Hebrews are former lovers, which tortures the older, more power-mad Assyrian Princess (Abigaille). Three very talented younger artists, including a wonderful young tenor I’m privileged to know, Sean Panikkar (http://www.seanpanikkar.com/_/Home.html), played these roles and sang a beautiful version of this trio. It was stunning, more beautiful and well-balanced than this recording, but at least you can get an idea.

The real core of Nabucco, though, is in its history, and the WNO’s staging was designed specifically to present this in a blatant way that would never have been part of this production in its early years. You see, when Verdi wrote Nabucco, Italy was largely occupied by Austrians, and Nabucco became a rallying cry for the young Italians interested in “Risorgimento”, literally “the resurgence,” but, more accurately, a revolution eliminating foreign rule and creating a unified Italy.

What’s most interesting to me is that Verdi probably didn’t intend for this to be the result of his interpretation of this story. Historians think, and I’m inclined to agree, that he was just setting this strange story, hopefully in a way that would give his fellow opera goers some great tunes to sing. Inadvertently, he fortified a movement, and it in turn fortified him as the opera was performed constantly across Italy in its first couple of years, which brings me to my second favorite moment (and third, though they’re the same music.)

“Va pensiero” is also known as the chorus of the Hebrew slaves. It’s a brilliant, warm lament about oppression and a dream of freedom. Perhaps Verdi knew full well what he was doing, but to this day, this chorus is a (not “the”) national anthem for Italy. When the opera is performed, traditionally, the audience erupts into thunderous applause and cries of “Viva, L’Italia!”, and the performance often recycles to the beginning of the chorus for a reprise. Here’s a beautiful example:

Last night’s staging featured no immediate reprise, and in the end, the reason was clear. During the overture and at each intermission, a group of people dressed in mid-19^th century garb danced or processed across the stage to a replica of an opera box, set up along the stage right wing. For the most part, these people just took their places and watched the opera. Occasionally, I wondered why the singers appeared to be sinning to them fairly directly.

When it came time for “Va pensiero”, the stage changed completely. The sets were turned around so that we in the audience were made to feel we were sitting behind the stage, and there were a number of people in 19^th century clothes downstage, between us and the sets – so these people were supposed to be backstage staff at a 19th century Italian opera house. The Hebrew chorus took their places and sang “Va pensiero”, and most of the people “backstage” stopped in the moment, plaintively singing along. After the chorus, and the thunderous applause, and a few cries of “Viva, L’Italia!” everyone cleared the stage, and the sets were moved for the next scene, by crew dressed in that 19^th century style. No reprise.

In those moments, I realized that the director had seized on his opportunity to tell the story of Verdi, Nabucco, and the Risorgimento by creating this little opera within the opera. The fancy people and soldiers were Austrians, granted the good boxes at the opera and the protection of soldiers by virtue of their rule. Nabucco was a gentle but effective poke at the political situation in Italy at the time.

During the bows, when Abigaille took her initial bow, she quieted the audience, and the entire cast sang “Va pensiero” again, holding the colors of the Italian flag. During this rendition, several of the “Austrian” soldiers appeared on the stage, threatening, but the cast merely finished their singing, and then finished their bows, and the show ended.

What a brilliant idea, this little opera within and opera. It was a very special homage to this de facto Italian anthem, composed, almost incidentally, but a 27-year-old Italian just hoping that his third opera wouldn’t be his last.

What an honor it is to learn things everywhere I go, and a blessing to learn while wallowing in this kind of beauty.

Beginnings and Endings

I am stuck today thinking about the future and my kids and their beginnings and endings. My girls will sing tonight, in a performance whose theme is "beginnings and endings", and it will be wonderful, and I will probably weep a bit - mostly in joy, but perhaps tinged with sadness at the inexorable march of time - and wallow in their moment as best I can.

I hope they can relish it, soak in it while it’s happening, because it’s just a fleeting moment, an ending of sorts, connected as all endings are to the beginning of something else. I think they can see this continuum more clearly than I. I also think we all have a tendency to wallow in the endings and forget to celebrate the beginnings. And I understand that this is because the endings are things we know and the beginnings are usually things we don’t, and it's hard to celebrate not knowing.  

So, tonight, I will wallow a bit, while thinking a lot about what may be next, and I will celebrate both the ending and the beginning in the company of my wonderful family and friends, and I will raise a toast that all our beginnings and endings continue to be entwined.

Now, I give thanks for this moment. And I work humbly.

On the Brighton Schools Bond proposal: Vote Yes May 8

A bunch of thoughts, after reading the proposal cover to cover and hearing a bunch of arguments from people who haven't:

So, the no voters put their signs up and got a couple of comments and editorials in the papers. I probably shouldn't start here, but I was absolutely appalled to see an editorial from John Conely online. He’s a school board member. He should be drummed off the board for using his position to advocate against the bond. Why on earth should he be allowed to publish widely an opinion piece promoting a position he couldn’t convince half-a-dozen fellow board members was the best course of action?

Second, if you’re going to vote no, why don’t you skip the election and put your house on the market? If you won’t pass this bond, that’s probably a better use of your time, since you don’t want to wait to sell until your property value erodes further!

Third, if you’re going to call this a sneaky election, you should do it while acknowledging that the school board superintendent has gone out and done everything in his power and within election law to make sure you’re aware there’s an election and to offer you a chance to ask your questions. There are also a gazillion signs up for both sides all over town. What about this is sneaky?

If you’re using “sneaky” as your argument, you should have called the superintendent or one of the board members and discussed with them why they wanted the election now. It isn’t, of course, because they thought they could pass the bond if they held the election in a low turnout moment. It’s because they can borrow the most for the least cost right now. Trailing averages and existing debt levy will mean higher borrowing costs in the fall, especially if property values fall further.

If the amount and duration of the bond is your issue, I understand completely. I agree that we’re encumbering ourselves for a while for a lot of money, though it won’t actually be much at a time. Restructuring old debt (a part of what the new bond does), means your increase is capped at the equivalent of about $150 per $100,000. That’s why they’ve used that number. If the bond doesn’t pass and your home values continue to fall, the current bonds will cost more than that within two years. Please folks, have a look at the math. It’s complicated, but really beneficial. (See here for a pretty simple, cogent explanation: http://bit.ly/JYoS14) 

Next. If it’s just that you don’t want to pay more taxes, please just go home and put your house on the market, because your self-interest is really going to get in the way of your self-interest here. If you don’t pass this bond you may save yourself $150 next year. But you’ll continue to lose property value, the district will continue to lose students, the board and superintendent will not be able to balance the budget as they’ve done this year, the buildings will deteriorate further, the kids and teachers will still have to use 1997 technology in an age where learning with technology is advancing to rapidly, etc. etc. So that $150 you’ll save yourself will probably cost you half again the value of your home in the long run. How can you be so selfish and short sighted? How can you be so short sighted that you can’t see how this bond benefits you while it’s benefitting our kids and community?

I agree that there is some merit to the “frivolity” argument. There are $16 million in athletic facility upgrades in the bond. That’s pretty substantial, and, in my opinion, maybe more than is necessary. However, as we all know, athletics brings the community together and attracts families and students. We’ve all admired someone else’s facilities. Here’s our chance to catch up.

As for keeping up once we’ve caught up? The more important part of the frivolity argument, if you’ve read the bond, is that it’s structured to set aside some maintenance reserves going forward. There’s actually thought and foresight here.

I have a lot of confidence in our current superintendent. The guy has done what so many boards and superintendents before him didn’t: he balanced the budget. We all understand what effort that took. We have teachers who are working just because they love our kids and not because they’re getting decent remuneration for what they’re doing. We have buildings that, while they may not be falling down, they’re not in good shape because we’ve penny pinched on maintenance. And, most importantly, we have technology in the district that is pretty much an embarrassment, albeit cobbled together as best as possible with available resources by some very dedicated people.

Folks, please, recognize that our frustration with the short sighted prior management of our schools has brought us here, and that this is the best way out at the moment. A better way isn’t going to suddenly present itself.

And realize just how fabulously our students have done to date with current facilities and funding and technology. Think about the amazing success of these students and teachers. Then remind yourself that, AFTER we pass the bond, we'll still have the lowest tax and debt rates of any district in the county. 

The sinking fund and private bonds that Mr. Conely suggests would be a lovely idea if there were a current market and investors who would back us; unfortunately, our existing credit history as a district would probably make private bonds far more expensive than the current bond proposal, wouldn’t guarantee the availability of funds, and would ultimately place the same or greater encumbrances on the district’s taxpayers, probably greater because of the positive environment that we now have for borrowing more dollars at a lower cost and taking care of more of our issues at once.

Please vote yes tomorrow, if not for our kids, for our property values. But really for our kids, and the kids who aren't even in the system yet.

(You can read the whole thing yourself, too! Here: http://www.brightonk12.com/files/1477857/120119%20brighton%20complete%20bond%20app.pdf)

Take a music bath...

"Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what a water bath is to the body." - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.