My Impromptus column today begins with a very controversial subject: whether Governor Ron DeSantis should address the question of the 2020 presidential election. Did the Democrats steal it, as Donald Trump and a nation of Republicans claim? Did Joe Biden win fair and square? Is he a legitimate president?
These questions have roiled our country. And I think leaders — those worthy of the name — should deal with them, honestly and forthrightly.
What else is in my column? A variety of things, as usual. I mention Il trittico, by Puccini. I reviewed a performance of this opera at the Salzburg Festival last week. Actually, the “opera” is three operas in one — three one-acters. The last is Gianni Schicchi, a brilliant comedy.
(Well, Gianni Schicchi usually goes last. In Salzburg, they put it first, which is another issue.)
While I was watching, and listening to, Gianni Schicchi, I had a couple of thoughts, not related to opera, or theater. I thought I would say a few words about them here. One thought relates to the material progress of mankind. The other relates to societies, open and closed. What makes a society, or civilization, great? That sort of thing.
Gianni Schicchi is based on The Divine Comedy, and the story takes place in the Florentine republic, in the year 1299. Buoso Donati, a very rich man, has kicked the bucket. His relatives are in his bedroom, licking their chops, waiting to get their hands on the will.
When they get it, they are dismayed: Donati has left his entire fortune to an order of monks.
“They will grow fat!” say the relatives. “They will have to loosen their belts, while we will have to tighten ours! Their pantries will burst; ours will have little. They’ll chow down on thrushes, geese, quails! With their fat, rosy faces, they’ll laugh at our gaunt ones!”
I have paraphrased, but I have communicated the basic idea.
If people came into a fortune today, how would they spend it? What fancies would dance through their heads? Would they think about food? In “advanced” countries, that is? Would they not instead think about foreign vacations, houses, sports cars, jewelry? (The paying off of student loans!)
I am making a simple point, but one to ponder, I think. Our present age is one in which a major problem of the poor is obesity. This is a sharp departure from the long, miserable, hungry history of mankind.
We’ve come a long way, baby — certainly in material terms.
In Gianni Schicchi, Rinuccio wants to marry Lauretta, daughter of Schicchi. But Rinuccio’s aunt, Zita, is dead set against it. Schicchi is not a Florentine, you see — not a native. He has come from away. He’s a newcomer. And what a disgrace it would be, to have such a person linked to an established Florentine family!
Here is what Zita sings: “Someone come up to Florence from the country! Imagine being related to newcomers! I will not have him here! I won’t!”
Then it’s Rinuccio’s turn to sing. “He’s from the country? Well, so what? Enough of this petty, small-minded prejudice!”
His aria goes like this:
Florence is like a tree in flower,
whose trunk and branches are found in the
piazza dei Signori,
but its roots bring new strength in
from the fresh fruitful valleys.Florence grows and solid palaces
and slim towers rise up to the stars!
Before the Arno runs to the sea,
singing, it kisses the piazza Santa Croce,
and its song is so sweet and resonant
that the streams chorus in to join it.In this way artists and scientists have joined
to make Florence richer and more splendid.
And from the castles of Val d’Elsa
welcome Arnolfo, come down to build his beautiful
tower. And Giotto came from leafy Mugel,
and Medici, the valiant merchant.Enough of narrow-minded malice and spite!
Long live the newcomers and Gianni Schicchi!
Them’s fightin’ words, at least where I live. I thought of Reagan’s final speech as president. Have you ever heard or read it?
Other countries may seek to compete with us, but in one vital area, as a beacon of freedom and opportunity that draws the people of the world, no country on earth comes close. This, I believe, is one of the most important sources of America’s greatness. We lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people, our strength, from every country and every corner of the world, and by doing so, we continuously renew and enrich our nation.
Reagan continued,
While other countries cling to the stale past, here in America we breathe life into dreams, we create the future, and the world follows us into tomorrow.
Just a little more, of this old-time religion:
Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we’re a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier.
This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever close the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.
That would be fine with some — with many, in fact. But it would not be fine with all.
Anyway, there is no new issue under the sun, is there? No new anything! Mankind has been wrestling with these things for eons, and will wrestle on . . .
P.S. Here is Rinuccio’s aria sung in English, by Jon Vickers. (Above, I linked to the aria in its original tongue, sung by Plácido Domingo.)