The day opera sent a message to the government

So Silvio Berlusconi has finally stepped down. Recently, Alex Ross wrote about the indifference of the Berlusconi government to supporting the arts in Italy. (1)

Ross also makes reference to the unprecedented action by Riccardo Muti, conducting Nabucco halted the performance and spoke to the audience about the situation. The response from both the chorus and the audience was unprecedented. The entire auditorium joined in for a reprise of Va’ pensiero, Gerard Depardieu was amongst the first to stand and applaud; flyers rained down from the Loggione as a customarily conservative and reserved section of society defied the unwritten rules of the opera theatre to express their sentiments.(2)

The You Tube clip of Muti’s speech (3) is in Italian, but the link below the You Tube takes you to an English translation.(4)

(1)  www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2011/07/25/110725crmu_music_ross

(2) www.therestisnoise.com/2011/07/the-italian-opera-situation.html

(3) www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYcMRUu9lIw

(4) www.corriere.it/International/english/articoli/2011/03/14/cappelli-muti-nabucco-protest.shtml