Verdi's long and
tempestuous "Don Carlo",
currently being performed at The New York Metropolitan
Opera, reminds one of what the concept of freedom
meant to 16th century Europe. As Verdi saw it,
and as it indeed was, the kings of Europe were
often arrogant, cruel, unreasonable and absolute
tyrants, owning the lives of the members of their
kingdom, prizing these lives not at all, treating
women as possessions and guaranteeing death to
anyone who disagreed with their ideas. Verdi's
soaring, dark-toned music observed the cruelties
of King Philip, and I observed to myself that genocide
is not particularly a 20th-century innovation...
it is as old as the human brain. This particular
genocide was sponsored by the Catholic Church in
Spain, first against Moors and then against Jews.
Conform or die, that was the motto of the Spanish
Inquisition.
Spain
in 1560, according to Verdi, still had a grand
inquisitor, and Verdi portrayed him in this case
as an old man, blind and with hands stained red
from all the blood spilled in the Church's name
The prince, Don Carlo, had been engaged to Elizabeth
of Valois (France) but his father, decadent King
Philip, had seized her and married her himself.
Verdi was a champion of liberty, and he responded
positively to the plight of honorable men and
women caught up in personal and national turmoil.
The music carries the plot forward to its ultimate
mixed-up ending: Don Carlo gives up Elizabeth
and disappears, presumably going off to help
free the starving beaten people of Flanders from
the despotic rule of his father, and the Spanish.
A night at the Metropolitan
is magic and, along
with the music in many
of Verdi's operas,
is a message, if you
pay attention, of what
America might have
meant to the struggling
European inhabitants
of the 16th, 17th and
18th centuries... a
new chance, no more
cruel kings, land of
your own, maybe, and
a right to decide your
own future in or out
of the Church. Verdi,
writing in 1872, was
aware that the notion
of personal freedom
barely existed in his
time, but he, himself,
cared greatly about
the relationships between
the ruled and the tyrants
who ruled them, and
personal freedom is
exalted in the libretti
of many of his operas.
So the World Economic
Forum is following
in the right footsteps,
coming from East to
West, but for obviously
different reasons...
coming to New York
City instead of returning
to beautiful Davos
in democratic Switzerland
has nothing to do with
escaping tyranny. But
it does give New York,
the recent scene of
a fanatic's villainy,
a chance to celebrate
our freedom with the
several thousand conferrees.
The WEF has made a
significant statement
of solidarity that
is impressive. New
Yorkers do indeed need
you NOW. While we can't
offer snowmobiles or
skiing, we can offer
ice-skating in Rockefeller
Center and Central
Park. We are glad you
came and we hope you
will have a richly
wonderful conference.
And there is great
music, at Lincoln Center,
when day is done.
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