Lindsay Perigo
The Politically Incorrect Show - 03/11/1999
Music - Die Fledermaus
Good afternoon, Kaya Oraaa & welcome to the Politically Incorrect Show on the free speech network, Radio Pacific, for Wednesday November 3, proudly sponsored by Tuariki Tobacco Ltd, the show that says bugger the politicians & bureaucrats & all the other bossyboot busybodies who try to run our lives with our money; that stands tall for free enterprise, achievement, profit, & excellence, against the state-worshippers in our midst; that stands above all for the most sacred thing in the universe, the liberty of the human individual.
Music up, music down!
Yesterday, as I'm sure you all noticed, I had the day off on account of the Melbourne Cup. I had every intention of using the unexpected time to start clearing away my huge backlog of boring paperwork & to break the back of the next issue of my exciting magazine. In the event I did neither, for my copy arrived of a book called "Be My Love: A Celebration of Mario Lanza." Now most of us have our own gallery of artists who "do it for us" - trigger those Politically Incorrect emotions of awe & joy & propel us into a state of ecstasy. Of the many who "do it for me," Mario is primo. So needless to say, my day was skewered. Do I regret that? Is the Pope a protestant?
I was honoured to contribute a chapter to this book. Inspired by the title of one of his songs, "Non Ti Scordar Di Me" (don't forget me), I titled the chapter Non Ti Scorderemo, Mario" (we won't forget you). And what beautiful memories & sentiments are captured throughout this celebration. Here is La Scala diva, Olivia Stapp:
"The legacy that Mario Lanza has left, from a singer's viewpoint, is enormous. Almost every young singer of my generation was inspired to become an operatic artist by listening to Lanza & was compelled by their first impact with Lanza to continue in the tradition of his great expressive singing. His voice was so perfectly produced, but more importantly he sang from his great sense of inner poetry. He meant it! ALL OF IT! And that instantaneous communication, encased in the perfect human voice, shot right through the listener. Just as the Cathedral of Notre Dame thrills & inspires young architects today & will continue to do so in the future, Mario Lanza will do the same for young singers for centuries to come."
Here's Jose Carreras, proving the point:
"That wonderful voice & the charismatic appeal of his personality had a profound effect on my life & I decided then & there that I too would one day sing the great operatic roles so persuasively portrayed on the screen by the young American tenor."
And Metropolitan Opera tenor Enrico Di Giuseppe:
"Even now when I play Mario's records I am continually amazed at the excitement of his voice. He sings with such tremendous passion! There is a word in Italian, 'slancio.' It means : he sings with such abandon, with such thrust - it means throwing, casting, hurling, the letting go of all inhibitions & expressing complete emotion."
And from the up-&-coming generation, here's Mario Lanza Institute prize-winner, Michael Sommese:
"Studying Mario's passionate vocal style, I was able to embody the spirit of classical singing that Mario's power & great outpouring of emotions express. He sang like a team of horses! His recordings inspired me."
Mario himself observed, in an article he wrote in 1952 & reproduced in this book, that "Love must be deserved to be worth anything." He sure as hell deserves the great love that is still being heaped upon him & his extraordinary voice, forty years after his death. What a potent antidote to the willful wallowing in talentless mediocrity that otherwise characterises OUR ghastly, Politically Correct age.
Politically Incorrect Show, saluting brilliance!
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