Gigli
by James Kilbourne
As most people know, Hollywood released a movie, starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, called “Gigli.” It was recently released to cable, and I, like many people I am sure, watched it to see if it could really be as bad as the reviewers had said. My verdict: it’s not very good, but I’ve seen a lot worse. However, it is not with the movie that I want to spend our time. There is another “Gigli” you should know. I’ve been surprised to discover that few people I meet have heard of him -- which reveals a great void in our education. He is a man you want to know. This Gigli should bring a smile to every face and a sense of comfort to every human heart. He understands what inhabits the deepest recesses of the human spirit.
In order to meet my Gigli, you will need to travel beyond the range of your own lifetime. Let me explain. Gustav Mahler’s “Das Lied von der Erde” paints a bleak portrait of life and provides a juxtaposition that will help me make my point. In its first movement, “The Drinking Song to Earth’s Misery”, the tenor sings, “O man, how long will you live? Not one hundred years may you enjoy yourself with all the rotting trifles of this earth!” Well, that’s one way to look at life. Another way is see that the food is not spoiled and that life can be a magnificent banquet, if only we realize that the banquet hall has many tables, indeed, many rooms.
We have not discovered how to live forever, but we know how to live our life with richness and meaning. The great lesson in life is to get beyond the “rotting trifles” and our “hundred years”. The glory of being human is that we are not locked into the moment. We don’t experience only the things around us; we can contemplate them and the knowledge we gain for the sheer joy of the contemplation. We can separate the great from the average, the inspiring from the boring, the meaningful from the indifferent. We have history to learn from and great hearts and souls from the past to be our teachers. We have yesterday to help us savor today, and the hope of tomorrow as our dessert.
It is from these contemplations that we form the values of our lives. Perhaps the term “values” has become tied to a preaching morality. Perhaps we should use the word “valuables”. If we think of them as objects to cherish and save, we might better see contemplation’s worth.
My point is this: don’t create your valuables in the isolation of your hundred years. We have been bequeathed gems from past times that need to be polished by each new generation. And now, allow me the joy of presenting to you a polished pearl.
Beniamino Gigli lived from 1890 until 1957. He was Enrico Caruso’s successor at the Metropolitan Opera, and was known for his high intelligence and sensitivity, as well as for his passionate, innocently direct interpretations of popular Italian songs and operas. From the flickering films that remain, we can see that he was not an actor. He seems not to know what to do with his hands; sometimes he appears bored, and, frequently, almost lost; he never moves unless he has to, and then he appears to be looking for the exit. But close your eyes, or, better yet, forget the few films that exist of his performances. Listen to his recordings. His involvement with the words he sings is total, and the sweetness of his approach makes you ache to know him. He never misses an opportunity to shade the meaning of a phrase in order to give the listener the deepest possibilities the composer and librettist envisioned.
Most people alive today have never shared a breath of air on this earth with Beniamino Gigli, but everyone alive, thanks to the wonders of our technology, can go to his concerts, revel in his mind and heart, and revisit at will his wisdom, simplicity and compassion. In seeking intimacy, solace, and emotional support in life, we have a treasure chest filled with Gigli gems.
Gigli helps me release my tears when I feel pain. But just as importantly, he helps remind me that if I let pain flow unobstructedly through me, it will fail to inflict permanent damage. And while facilitating my tears, he reminds me of life’s capacity for joy, as he easily travels to the heights and depths of the human emotional capacity. Such is the power of this great artist; such is the power of great art.
Sink back in your chair and meet Beniamino Gigli. Listen to the gentleness of the man’s spirit, and experience how his simple depth can help you find the secrets of your own heart. A great voice can inspire you. And sharing time with a good and great man can remind you in the midst of tragedy that through all its struggles, life is a feast. If all that Gigli is to you is a bad movie, you have a wonderful world of discovery ahead of you. Finding happiness in life requires the effort of discovering what really is valuable. Many of the richest treasures are buried in other lands and were left there in other times. Get out of your own times. The greatest rewards are found in the broadest searches.
Discuss this Article (6 messages)
|
