As a child during the 1940s, my father would sometimes find himself enjoying dinner, when all of a sudden, a live, in-the-flesh, world-class opera singer (the legendary Licia Albanese, for example) would burst into a famous aria — from right across the street.  Incredibly, it was always the actual diva, or tenor, or baritone who had just sung – or was scheduled to sing – at a performance at the San Francisco Opera.  Sometimes Verdi, other times Rossini or Puccini, the heartbreakingly beautiful notes would waft through the windows of my father’s house from across Franklin street, where his neighbors were having a party.  The Vanuccis just happened to be friends with Gaetano Merola, an Italian immigrant and the founder, director, and maestro of the SF Opera from 1923 to 1953.   And what better hostess gift than to bring along a couple stars of the show?

(Licia Albanese as Madame Butterfly, singing Un Bel Dì)        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZINNVrgXec

More live opera touched my father’s world while at the Amici Club summer picnics he and his family would attend on a farm in Mountain View, with other members of their Genovese community.  After a few games of bocce ball, walks in the cherry orchard, and salami tosses (once again, more on this in a future post!), the party would end up under a grove of trees which canopied a dance floor framed by picnic tables.  The band was blaring, the dance floor was full, the wine flowed.  Then at a certain point in the festivities, the music would stop as the crowd begged my grandmother to sing an aria or two.

She apparently had the voice of a diva, and like most of her compatriots, was an opera fanatic; her favorite was Puccini’s La Bohème.  My father reminisces about how her glorious voice would thrill the crowd.

This accessibility and mainstream quality of live opera seems to be a trademark of the Italian-American communities of long ago.  While today, opera has a more exclusive feel (though opera companies do have some good deals to entice us ALL in the doors), it flowed more freely on the streets and in theaters where tickets did not have a high price tag.  For the Italian immigrants, opera seemed to be a necessary part of daily life, just like their pasta and wine – much like food for the spirit.  And no wonder, since it originated in Florence in the 16th century; it was in their genes.

Love of this art form touched every rung on the social ladder: poor fishermen could be heard singing and whistling favorite arias, as much as successful businessmen might hum a famous overture.  Perhaps opera’s broad appeal was, in part, due to its intense exploration of the human condition in its purest form.  (After all, where else but an opera house is one guaranteed a journey to the highest highs and the lowest lows that comprise the human experience?)

(Gaetano Merola in action)

Richard Dillon, in his book North Beach: The Italian Heart of San Francisco describes the palpable excitement when a highly anticipated diva was in town to perform in 1884.  He writes that, “For days and weeks, all the Italians in town sang arias as they worked, whether they were button sellers or florists, teamsters or tough oystermen out on the bay” (113).  He also writes of the audience in later years participating in opera performances held in the once-famed Circolo Famigliare Pisanelli (The Pisanelli Family Circle).  The riled and excited crowd would whistle and hum spontaneously and enthusiastically with the orchestra (117).  My guess is that this scenario played itself out in other Little Italies in the country as well.  One could never know when a little Rossini might burst forth from the barber’s mouth during a trim, or when a crew of vegetable peddlers might channel Verdi or Leoncavallo.  And let’s not forget the arias and overtures blaring from radios or phonograph players through open windows.

Below are some links to a few well known arias and overtures by Italian composers. Play them while you cook, eat, play, or work; play them to your children, to your friends, to yourself. Play them whenever you want to feel a slice of Little Italy in your own backyard!  I bet you’ll find yourself singing or humming along in no time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7O91GDWGPU    (Rossini’s William Tell Overture)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A3zetSuYRg           (Verdi’s La Donna è Mobile, from Rigoletto)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GucXt7eaWRI       (Puccini’s Nessun Dorma, from Turandot)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0-1sQ0XOGE  (Puccini’s O Soave Fanciulla, from La Bohème)

Andiamo!  Find yourself an opera festival to attend using the links below:

http://www.operabase.com/festival.cgi?

lang=en&http://www.operainstyle.com/festivals.php

Che gioia!