On Saturday, I went with my tutorial to see the Met's broadcast of Donizetti's Don Pasquale. It was, not surprisingly, amazing. There is something quite satisfying about seeing the best opera singers of the age in a beautifully done high-level production. The opera itself is funny--I am not sure how funny it would have been with a different cast, but all four parts in this opera were played marvelously well. The moral: Old men should not get married. Wise words, those.
And, as long as the topic is Wisdom, I recently finished Robert Alter's new work of translations: The Wisdom Books. These are translations of Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. The Job translation is fantastic; it made Job, which has before now always struck me as a tiresome book, come alive. The poetry in it is incredible--I had never noticed that before. The translation of Ecclesiastes is also extremely good. Proverbs? Well, Proverbs is a rather tedious book to read straight through--it is like reading one of those quote a day books in one sitting--the mind numbs pretty rapidly. Alter's introductions to each of the books are good, but the notes within the text are not quite up to the level of his earliest books. The same thing was true of his last book (translations of the Psalms)--obviously, he had much more insight into the Books of Moses and the David story--but he has now become a translation machine. (It will be interesting to see how much of the Old Testament he eventually translates--I would guess that Ruth, Esther and Song of Solomon are next. And it is hard to imagine he won't do Isaiah and Lamentations at some point.) But, even with the weaker set of textual notes, the book is well worth reading, if for no other reason than that the book of Job will never seem the same again.
Wisdom, by the way, has really fallen out of favor in the modern age. We value intelligence and charisma, to be sure. But wisdom? When was the last time you heard a public figured being praised as being particularly Wise? Who is the Wisest person in the modern age--the equivalent of the Public Intellectual or Leader?
(Does Mick Jagger count as an answer to that last question?)
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Jim, how do you find out about the Met opera broadcasts? (And speaking of wisdom, I'd love an explanation as to why you find the moral so wise.)
ReplyDeleteThe Met in HD schedule is at:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/
Click on the Live in HD link and you can see the complete schedule.
And, as for why the moral of Don Pasquale is wise--well, you'll just have to see the opera sometime. Or, I suppose, you can read the plot summary here:
http://www.metoperafamily.org/uploadedFiles/MetOpera/watch_and_listen/hd_events/Pasquale.pdf
The moral is wise, if all old men are fools.
ReplyDelete