Making a difference through the power and beauty of choral singing

From Orchestralist:

Va Pensiero: Muti & Berlusconi
Posted by: "Peter Perret"
Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:20 am (PDT)

[Translation: PP]
A superb performance-moment and a cultural revolt! Take the time to
read the translation from Italian and watch the YouTube Video
from the Rome Opera. Last March 12th, Silvio Berlusconi was forced
to face an unusual reality during the celebration of the 150th
anniversary of the Republic, at the performance of the work which
most symbolizes the unification of Italy: Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi,
conducted by Riccardo Muti. Nabucco is a political work as well as a
musical one, evoking the enslavement of the Jews in Babylon, and the
famous song "Va pensiero" is the chorus of the oppressed slaves. In
Italy, this song is symbolic of the quest for freedom, which in the
1840 (when the opera was composed) was oppressed by the Hapsburg
Empire. This quest grew until the creation of a unified
Italy. Before this particular performance, the mayor of Rome, Gianni
Alemanno, had addressed the audience denouncing cuts in the Cultural
Arts budget, this despite his membership in the ruling party and his
being a former Minister in the Berlusconi government. This political
intervention, in a symbolic moment of Italian culture had unexpected
consequences - all the more so because Sylvio Berlusconi himself was
present at the performance...

As told by the Times, Riccardo Muti, the conductor, said: "Before
the curtain there was a huge ovation in the audience. Then we began
the opera and all was going well. But when we came to the famous
song Va pensiero, I immediately sensed that the atmosphere had become
tense in the audience. There are things you can't describe, but can
feel. Before, silence reigned, but at the moment that the audience
realized that Va pensiero was about to start, that silence became
charged with fervor. One could feel the visceral reaction of the
audience to the slaves singing "Oh, my Fatherland, so beautiful [but] lost!"

When the Chorus came to an end, some members of the audience shouted
for an encore ["Bis!"]. Others shouted "Long live Italy" and others
"Long live Verdi!" From the "peanut gallery" patriotic messages
came fluttering down, some asking for "Muti, life-time
senator." Although he had once done so, at La Scala, in 1986, Muti
hesitated to repeat Va pensiero. For him, an opera must progress
from start to finish, without interruption, "unless there is
particular intent." But the audience's patriotic fervor had been
aroused. In a theatrical gesture, Muti faced the audience and
Berluconi and waited, hand outstretched to calm the clamor. When the
calls for an encore had subsided, someone shouted "Viva l'Italia."

Muti: "I agree, long live Italy" [Applause]
Muti: "I'm no longer 30 and I've lived my life, but as an
Italian who has circled the globe, I am ashamed of what is happening
in my country. So I accept your request to repeat Va pensiero. Not
only for the patriotic reasons, but also because this evening while I
was conducting the chorus singing "Oh, my Fatherland, so beautiful
[but] lost," I thought that if we continue as we are, we will kill
the culture that Italy's history is based upon. In that case, our
fatherland will be truly "beautiful [but] lost!" [Applause.]
Muti: "Since the reign of an 'Italian climate' [Forza
Italia?], I, Muti, have been silent for too many long years. I would
now like... We should give meaning to this song - since we're at home
here, the capital's theater, and with a chorus which sang
magnificently and an orchestra which accompanied magnificently - if
you will, I propose that you all join us to sing - all
together... But in tempo!"

Then the maestro invited the audience to sing with the Chorus of
Slaves: "I saw groups stand up, then the whole Rome Opera stood
up. And the chorus stood up. It was a moment of magic in the
opera. Not only was it a presentation of Nabucco, but a declaration
to politicians by the opera house of the capital."

YouTube Video

Peter Perret
Conductor Emeritus
Winston-Salem Symphony