The Song of the Day is:
Maria Callas – “O Mio Babbino Caro (Giacomo Puccini)”
From the opera Gianni Schicchi (1918), this 1965 recording available on many compilations
O mio babbino caro
Mi piace, è bello, bello
Vo’ andare in Porta Rossa
A comperar l’anello!
Sì, sì, ci voglio andare!
E se l’amassi indarno,
Andrei sul Ponte Vecchio,
Ma per buttarmi in Arno!
Mi struggo e mi tormento!
O Dio, vorrei morir!
Babbo, pietà, pietà!
Babbo, pietà, pietà!
Giovacchino Forzani – Giacomo Puccini
I struggled a bit in finding an ideal song to play for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the occasion of her passing. There are original songs from both recent movies that she was a subject of: the dramatic On the Basis of Sex (“Here Comes the Change” by Kesha) and the documentary RBG (“I’ll Fight” by Jennifer Hudson). However, neither of them truly struck a chord with me. So rather than play a song about her, I decided to play a song that she would like. Ginsburg was a noted opera lover and she has expressed her admiration for Maria Callas. RGB had a deep knowledge of the form, and my knowledge of opera is superficial, so while “O Mio Babbino Caro” translates to “Oh My Beloved Father” and thus not thematically relevant, I am still playing this because I think it is gorgeous. I’m honoring RBG with today’s song on behalf of my wife, who broke down in tears upon yesterday’s news. Ginsburg is a feminist icon, and thus a major hero her. In fact, today my wife told her traumatic birthing story in great detail to another women’s advocate in order get her story published and to hopefully prevent other women from having to go through the mistreatments that she suffered which nearly cost her her life. It was an immediate catharsis for my wife and her interviewer to share their own stories with a backdrop of the shared loss of RBG just hours prior. I certainly have my own admiration for the fallen justice, but it would be disingenuous of me to suddenly treat her with the same devotion that my wife had. My grief really stems from the fact that the greatest hypocrisy of the modern-era GOP will unfold before the US as our Senate Majority Leader will force a replacement into the Supreme Court just weeks before an election, when he wouldn’t do the same for the previous party just four years earlier over a much larger timeframe. It’s hypocrisy, plain and simple, and I hope America condemns this behavior. My choice of music today is the great Maria Callas, probably the greatest female icon of opera over the past century. She was a Greek-American singer who established her reputation during the Second World War, and reigned supreme as opera’s greatest draw until her premature death at age 53 in 1977. While I’ve read both positive and negative criticisms of her voice, it is way beyond my novice ears to disagree with either appraisal. I do know that composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) is considered to be one of two of Italy’s most important composers, along with Giuseppe Verdi. Puccini’s most famous composition is easily “Nessun Dorma” from his opera Turandot (1926), but “O Mio Babbino Caro” from the Dante’s Inferno-inspired Gianni Schicchi should be nearly as familiar to casual listeners. Giovacchino Forzani wrote the libretto. I would hope that Justice Ginsburg would find this to be a suitable choice.
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