Moonstruck

Lyrics:  When a moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie/ That’s amore/ When the world seems to shine like you’ve had too much wine/ That’s amore.

Let me tell you about “my boys.”  Not my three biological sons but rather three young Italian men I discovered on a PBS Special and whom I delighted in seeing last month in Las Vegas.  I mentioned them in the previous blog post.  You may already know them or of them: Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto, and Gianluca Ginoble, each with their own marvelous voice but together they are Il Volo and beyond fabulous.  Gianluca, of the sexy lips, has a rich baritone and a delivery that would make a Sunday hymn steamy and seductive.  Ignazio, of the beautiful brown bedroom eyes and ridiculously adorable mustache, is a Lyric Tenor and hearing him sing the aria from L’Elisir d’ Amore brought me to tears like Cher at the opera in Moonstruck.  Piero, of the Pavarotti voice and beguiling smile, captures and holds notes so long that you marvel in disbelief at what you’re hearing.  You could ride to Boston, coast-to-coast, on the last notes of No Puede Ser.  Their Notte Magica album is currently #1 on the Classical Albums chart.

Did I mention that they are excitingly handsome?  Italian girls adore them like rock stars. But so do their mothers and grandmothers.  The younger crowd in the USA hasn’t really discovered them yet, not being regular PBS viewers, so the audience in Vegas was, I would guess, mostly an over fifty crowd, men and women.  We sat between a woman from Japan attending her 18th Il Volo concert, and a lovely middle-age couple from Los Angeles attending their third, with plans to see them again in Verona in May.

The guys first got together as a group eight years ago when they were ages 14, 15, and 16 after competing as singles in a big voice contest in Italy.  It’s lovely to watch them work together, giving one another affectionate support.  They have bonded as close friends, know how to be silly, have fun, and yet grow as artists.  The grandfathers of two of them were responsible for discovering and nurturing their very young talent.  Ignazio was heard singing arias in his room at age three.  Now they are mentored by one of the great voices of our time and one of their idols, Placido Domingo.  Mentoring, after all, is a sacred trust given to most elders.

We almost didn’t make it to the concert.  A mentally ill man shot and killed an innocent tourist from Montana and wounded another and then escaped into a bus in front of our hotel.  We were on lock-down all of Saturday.  No one could go out or come in.  I spent time resting on the bed watching the SWAT team out front on TV.  The Strip was shut down and traffic was backed up for miles.  They eventually captured the man late afternoon and we got a taxi to take us to the theater via a circuitous back route.  Whew!

In February the House and Senate passed a new bill, signed by Trump, revoking Obama-era regulation which required gun checks for people with mental illness.

Lyrics:  When the stars make you drool just like a pasta fazool/ That’s amore/ When you dance down the street with a cloud at your feet/ That’s amore.  (Music and lyrics by Harry Warren and Jack Brown, 1953.  Signature song for Italian/American, Dean Martin.)

SOULUTION

Lyrics: There’s a song in every silence/ seeking word and melody/ there’s a dawn for every darkness/bringing hope to you and me.

When I was a teenager in the 50’s I was in love with Eddie Fisher.  A favorite activity was to hang out with my friend at Sherman & Clay in downtown Seattle where we listened to records in a private booth.  One time I shared a booth with a musician in one of the Big Bands of the day and listened to his music selections.  I felt like I was in the presence of royalty.

Music has always been an important part of my life as it is for most people.  Over the years I’ve acquired new tastes but music from the 50’s generates a lot of memories.  I went through a western phase then thanks to Texas Jim Lewis, Jack Rivers, and Fiddlin’ Neil, local TV entertainers.  Music of every decade recalls moments of our lives during those times.

Twenty-seven years ago I was excited by the operatic music of the Three Tenors: Pavarotti, Carreras, and Domingo, and years later my husband indulged me with a trip to New York to see Domingo sing Siegfried in one of Wagner’s operas.  Today I’m in love with the voices of Il Volo, three young Italians: two tenors and a baritone whose idols were/are the Three Tenors.  Thanks to PBS for showing their Notte Magica program filmed in Florence last year and, thanks to Youtube, I can watch them anytime I want and because they make me happy and give me goosebumps I watch them often.  And, thanks to my dear daughters-in-law, I will see “my boys” live this month.  Another item to check off the bucket list.

Music connects us with our emotions, with our soul.  It IS the Universal language.  Another PBS favorite is Andre Rieu, the Dutch violinist with an entourage of gorgeously gowned female musicians and tuxedoed male musicians.  In one of his programs (also on Youtube) he introduced an Argentinian musician, Carlos Buono, who played Adios Nonino (farewell father) on the bandoneon.  It hit on every emotion with the camera zooming in on many tears.  For me, it’s the goosebumps.

Cost of security for Trump Tower = $183 million/year.

Budget for the National Endowment for the Arts/Humanities = $148 million/year.

Lyrics: In the cold and snow of winter/ there’s a spring that waits to be/ unrevealed until its season/ some-thing God alone can see.  (In the Bulb There is a Flower by Natalie Sleeth.)