21 May 2009

These are operatic times

Via my mother, I give you a guide to the little-known opera L’Obama, ossia L’Avvento del Messia
La Piazza del Cattedrale di Washington.

It is the day after the election. Outside the Washington Cathedral, the People and La Media Elite celebrate the victory of Barracco Obama over his adversary, Giovanni Maccheno (Coro: “Esultate! Il Messia è venuto!”). The World enters and joins The People in their celebration, singing their own chorus rejoicing in the fact that Obama’s election will hasten the demise of American power and influence (“America è in debolezza, evviva!”) The two choruses swell and merge in a powerful contrapuntal choral episode. As the chorus reaches its climax, trumpets herald the arrival of Lord Obama the Most Merciful, who enters with his wife, Santa Micaela della Revoluzione and his retinue. The crowd becomes frenzied, with some falling in a swoon (“Obama! Obama! Redentore del Mondo! Io manco!”). Obama heals two lepers and resurrects the dead daughter of a Washington policeman. He then addresses the crowd (“Nel posar sul mio capo la corona”). At the sound of his voice, the crowd falls silent, gazing up at him with adoring, vacant expressions. In an eloquent aria, Obama promises that the dark days of the Tyrant, Giorgio Secondo, are over (“Dopo si lunga notte”) and a new Golden Age will dawn for the world under his rule (“Un siglo d’oro è venuto”): the economy shall heal, America’s enemies shall beat their bomb jackets into plowshares, the lame shall walk, there will be a chicken in every pot, the whole world shall have universal health care, all the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay will be released, and planes shall arrive and take off on schedule. Each stanza of this great aria is punctuated by the chorus (“Ohmmm! Salvatore!”) At its conclusion, Obama invites The People and The World to a celebration at which he will personally change the water into wine and feed the guests with seven croissants and five grande lattes ...

Lots more if you follow the link; it's worth reading for the character names alone. The arch-conservative freeper author reports in dialogue with a lefty dkossack:
“I doubt the freepi are all that well-versed in the conventions of opera seria... or Italian, for that matter.” I am the author of the Obama Opera, and I am — Orror! Orror! Orror! — a conservative (in Texas, BTW) who while not exactly thrilled that Obama won is nonetheless relieved that McCain/Palin lost. Hence, my Equal Opportunity Slams at both sides. Let's face it, that whole crowd is kind of funny, and Sarah Palin in particular just begs for parodistic treatment. And if one can't sense the inherent absurdity and laugh factor in Rush Limbaugh — well, you're a pretty dour specimen. So, you see, SOME “freepi” ARE well-versed in both the conventions of Opera Seria and Italian. We occasionally pick our dragging knuckles up off the floor to read a book or listen to some music. Cheers — James Calvert

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