I was resting on my sofa when "Nixon in China" by John Adams came on the tv. Woke me right up. I still like that one, now nearly 40 years later, especially when they find a proper soprano for "I am the Wife of Mao Tse Tung". That's a good aria.
I worked at a mainframe computer manufacturer starting in 1974 so Menotti's overrated and overplayed work will always be "Amdahl and the Night Visitors" to me. Those of you who know, know.
Thank you for sharing this. I'll be getting a copy. I had the excellent fortune of meeting your brother in his Marketing life. He was my client at General Foods during the earliest stages of my advertising career. I had accidentally wound up in advertising after getting a BFA in theater. Dana's departure from the Corporate world to the Arts world was a real inspiration. Fast forward, over 30 years later, I went back for an MFA in writing and reconnected with Dana as a writer. I am grateful to know about his upcoming book. And, to close, I am also grateful for your Substack, to which I subscribe and refer others. It is another source of inspiration and intelligence - a rare but necessary combo.
You are ver fortunate to have a family member who has talent and shared it with you. Do not sell yourself short. Not sure but did Dana write a poem called “Summer Storm?”
Bitchin’ car . . . now I can appreciate how Dana and Jim were doing the real American Graffiti, but with Mozart or Wagner on the radio! Way to pick up chicks. . .
This reminds me of the early days of the internet, when you had to be curious and persistent to find what you were looking for—in the best way. The effort made you appreciate even mediocre music because it felt so precious to discover. Since I was born in 1993, that’s as nostalgic as I can get.
By the way, I really enjoy hearing stories about your family.
If you bought an album back then, especially as a teenager (the nineties for me), you really had an incentive to listen to it multiple times and more than multiple times. So even the stuff that wasn't your favorite you paid closer attention to.
Great to see this. I am about to write on my Substack a bit about this book too. I had the privilege of having Dana give me one of the few early release copies he got of Weep, Shudder, and Die last night. It was at the Launch Party for his From California, the fine press book collaboration that features his California poems with California engravings by wood engraver Richard Wagener, and the fine press prominence in San Francisco is a whole other experience I plan to write about. In the opera book, I expected to find Dana's essay Imaginary Operagoer, since I'd read it before and thought his unique account of the beginnings of his passion for opera as a child would illuminate the book, and I was right. The essay is in the middle of the other essays in the book. Here it is at Hudson Review: https://hudsonreview.com/2024/02/the-imaginary-operagoer-a-memoir/. BTW, I met the other Ted Gioia yesterday at Arion Press tour and at the Book Club of California Launch party, as you said he's sometimes called, Ted the Younger! You Gioias rock!
It's so interesting hearing about driving around California to find free concerts. In the '90s, I was jumping on the London Underground with my £4 travel card, looking for free music—mainly jazz, but I’d sometimes catch student recitals of contemporary classical music too. Wherever it was free, we’d hunt it down.
Yes! I actually remember gasoline at 19.9 (cents) per gallon!
Opera is, of course, an acquired taste, and contemporary works have so much "competition" from the masterpieces of the 19th and late 18th centuries. I won't comment further, since it seems Dana has taken the job off my hands...
The writing is inspiring. I will buy Dana's book when I'm able. As an aside, it's wonderful how Ted's writing is a compass in my own life when coming up with ideas of what to do in my own hobbies and personal philosophies. This text is pushing me further into a pretty cool mental space.
By golly, Jim might have heard me somewhere along the way. I was active in new music in LA starting in 1974 when I played the LA premiere of Sequenza VII by Luciano Berio. Hundreds of concerts and recordings thereafter.
I will be purchasing the book. writing today brought back memories of Music History classes at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. I remember Dr. Gerald Darrow quizzing the class by dropping the needle on a 33 1/3 vinyl album and asking us to name the composition, movement and composer. I can only imagine what resources there are today....!!!
Thank you for sharing this excerpt from Dana's book — can't wait to have a copy in hand and dive in. This brought back so many memories of my teenage years in the '90s as I slowly refined my classical music tastes based on what I could access in central Connecticut. It really was an expedition in those days!
Two things helped me immensely, and I'll be forever grateful. First, I worked in the music section at a Borders Books & Music for three years in high school. We were allowed to open any CD to play in the store (we had a shrinkwrap machine for repackaging the product), so when things were quiet, that was my way of taking a chance on composers I didn't know.
Second was getting to spend three years devouring recordings at the Eastman School of Music's famous Sibley Music Library. Every Saturday, while my fellow students were nursing hangovers, I'd spend a few hours in the record room making many of the same discoveries Dana spoke of. The hunt for new music is such a rush!
I was resting on my sofa when "Nixon in China" by John Adams came on the tv. Woke me right up. I still like that one, now nearly 40 years later, especially when they find a proper soprano for "I am the Wife of Mao Tse Tung". That's a good aria.
I worked at a mainframe computer manufacturer starting in 1974 so Menotti's overrated and overplayed work will always be "Amdahl and the Night Visitors" to me. Those of you who know, know.
Amahl and the Night Visitors? It has its points.
\(*_*)/ Ted, your family's talents are truly inspiring! I'm also a follower of Mike's Substack on AI:
https://intelligentjello.substack.com/
I'd love to hear more about your upbringing and how your parents nurtured your gifts.
Your insights would be invaluable!
Thank you for sharing this. I'll be getting a copy. I had the excellent fortune of meeting your brother in his Marketing life. He was my client at General Foods during the earliest stages of my advertising career. I had accidentally wound up in advertising after getting a BFA in theater. Dana's departure from the Corporate world to the Arts world was a real inspiration. Fast forward, over 30 years later, I went back for an MFA in writing and reconnected with Dana as a writer. I am grateful to know about his upcoming book. And, to close, I am also grateful for your Substack, to which I subscribe and refer others. It is another source of inspiration and intelligence - a rare but necessary combo.
You are ver fortunate to have a family member who has talent and shared it with you. Do not sell yourself short. Not sure but did Dana write a poem called “Summer Storm?”
Bitchin’ car . . . now I can appreciate how Dana and Jim were doing the real American Graffiti, but with Mozart or Wagner on the radio! Way to pick up chicks. . .
Lovely 💕🎶💕
I always love Dana guest piece. Could it be The Honest Broker's version of a BOGO? Who else loves a BOGO?
This reminds me of the early days of the internet, when you had to be curious and persistent to find what you were looking for—in the best way. The effort made you appreciate even mediocre music because it felt so precious to discover. Since I was born in 1993, that’s as nostalgic as I can get.
By the way, I really enjoy hearing stories about your family.
If you bought an album back then, especially as a teenager (the nineties for me), you really had an incentive to listen to it multiple times and more than multiple times. So even the stuff that wasn't your favorite you paid closer attention to.
Great to see this. I am about to write on my Substack a bit about this book too. I had the privilege of having Dana give me one of the few early release copies he got of Weep, Shudder, and Die last night. It was at the Launch Party for his From California, the fine press book collaboration that features his California poems with California engravings by wood engraver Richard Wagener, and the fine press prominence in San Francisco is a whole other experience I plan to write about. In the opera book, I expected to find Dana's essay Imaginary Operagoer, since I'd read it before and thought his unique account of the beginnings of his passion for opera as a child would illuminate the book, and I was right. The essay is in the middle of the other essays in the book. Here it is at Hudson Review: https://hudsonreview.com/2024/02/the-imaginary-operagoer-a-memoir/. BTW, I met the other Ted Gioia yesterday at Arion Press tour and at the Book Club of California Launch party, as you said he's sometimes called, Ted the Younger! You Gioias rock!
It's so interesting hearing about driving around California to find free concerts. In the '90s, I was jumping on the London Underground with my £4 travel card, looking for free music—mainly jazz, but I’d sometimes catch student recitals of contemporary classical music too. Wherever it was free, we’d hunt it down.
<< Gas was twenty cents a gallon. >>
Yes! I actually remember gasoline at 19.9 (cents) per gallon!
Opera is, of course, an acquired taste, and contemporary works have so much "competition" from the masterpieces of the 19th and late 18th centuries. I won't comment further, since it seems Dana has taken the job off my hands...
The writing is inspiring. I will buy Dana's book when I'm able. As an aside, it's wonderful how Ted's writing is a compass in my own life when coming up with ideas of what to do in my own hobbies and personal philosophies. This text is pushing me further into a pretty cool mental space.
By golly, Jim might have heard me somewhere along the way. I was active in new music in LA starting in 1974 when I played the LA premiere of Sequenza VII by Luciano Berio. Hundreds of concerts and recordings thereafter.
I bought the book.
I can’t wait to read the full book. I wonder how unknown composers would be able to produce an opera during this era?
I will be purchasing the book. writing today brought back memories of Music History classes at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. I remember Dr. Gerald Darrow quizzing the class by dropping the needle on a 33 1/3 vinyl album and asking us to name the composition, movement and composer. I can only imagine what resources there are today....!!!
Thank you for sharing this excerpt from Dana's book — can't wait to have a copy in hand and dive in. This brought back so many memories of my teenage years in the '90s as I slowly refined my classical music tastes based on what I could access in central Connecticut. It really was an expedition in those days!
Two things helped me immensely, and I'll be forever grateful. First, I worked in the music section at a Borders Books & Music for three years in high school. We were allowed to open any CD to play in the store (we had a shrinkwrap machine for repackaging the product), so when things were quiet, that was my way of taking a chance on composers I didn't know.
Second was getting to spend three years devouring recordings at the Eastman School of Music's famous Sibley Music Library. Every Saturday, while my fellow students were nursing hangovers, I'd spend a few hours in the record room making many of the same discoveries Dana spoke of. The hunt for new music is such a rush!