Beautiful story. I already loved music as a 5-year-old. But what really got the ball rolling was when I saw a concert in 1968 with the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta, with Itzhak Perlman performing Prokofiev's Violin Concerto. As a 12-year-old, I loved the music, but when we were going down the stairs on the way out, we were walking behind two men who were discussing the performance in detail and how Perlman did this and that with this theme and that theme etc. I was totally amazed that you could think and talk about complicated music (for me) that way and decided that was what I wanted to do.
I was infatuated with horses from the first time I saw the Junkman’s horse stop before my grandmother’s house when I was 4. When I was 8 I had a friend who was seriously training to be a Ballet dancer, and developed an appreciation of that art. In 5th grade I received a copy of Marguerite Henry’s “Album of Horses” which had a beautiful painting of a circus horse with a dancer on its back and wondered how I could do THAT? So began a life in an assortment of arts, drawing and painting horses, choreographer for a figureskating club. A songwriter who listens to Bach and “Va Pensaro” before sliding off to sleep. To dream about dancing, flying horses and beautiful music.
When I was 10 yrs. old I lived with my father and stepmother, who owned a nursing home (a place for the old and infirm to live until they died) in Cincinnati. One of the members of the nursing homes association had a facility on a bluff overlooking the Zoo, where during the summer operas would be performed and the animals at one point or another would join in. (I don't know if it was in concert or in protest.) That summer I spent many Sundays on the lawn at the nuring home, listening to the operas. My father was an opera lover and played opera records at home. In the 6th grade, living in L.A., All the 6th graders in the city were offered a free ticket and transportation to hear an opera at the Shrine Auditorium. I immediately signed up. The opera was Madame Butterfly. The first half was wonderful and in the second half, the cast came alive and I experienced my first moment of being caught up in the extassy of the performance. It remains my favorite opera.
Great story, Ted! After I read this, I googled a photo of Dana as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts giving an award to three honorees, one of whom was Leontyne Price! In his memoir, Dana mentioned discovering Verdi and falling for Price, his "first diva." How many dreamy intellectual kids get to grow up and give awards to their earliest heroes? I'm sure you've had similar experiences. What a life you two scions of a working-class family from an undistinguished small city have made for yourself! I love reading memoirs by you two.
I think it was more acceptable for men to be classical fans in an earlier generation. My dad, born in 1922, grew up in a small town and picked up classical music from the radio. He always listened to the Metropolitan every Saturday and carried the taste with him into the Navy, like your father. There must have been quite a few classical fans in the military, because AFRS made a point of carrying the Met and other concerts on its shortwave broadcasts to the soldiers and sailors overseas.
Whenever I read what Dana writes about our parents when he was young it's like he's writing about an entirely different family. I can't imagine dad singing or dancing, and I never heard mom recite a poem. I don't think I remember either of them even once playing a record. I wish I'd been around to see them when they were young.
Thanks for sharing this piece, which certainly brought back memories. I, too, was one of those youngsters who loved classical music (and hated Elvis, by the way). Perhaps I was more fortunate, though. My parents were both opera-lovers, and we always heard the broadcasts from the Met on Saturday afternoons. My father was a musician, and he sometimes sat me down to follow the libretto and a score (piano reduction).
My musical tastes remain attuned to the baroque, classical, and early romantic periods. However, I am by no means an opera fan, and in fact, I never really was. However, the awkwardness of my situation as a classical music-lover struck some sympathetic (if not symphonic) chords. Compliments and gratitude to your brother!
my dad was a classical music genius. perfect pitch, an encyclopedic memory. he could not only identify specific pieces of music right away when they were played on the local radio station, but then state the orchestra, conductor, and soloist. when the announcer would give all that info at the end of the piece, most of the time he was right. (my mom was tone deaf, I'm somewhere in the middle haha).
my dad took me to a movie featuring Artur Rubinstein's, probably mid 1970s. he played Beethoven's 3rd piano concerto, I was instantly hooked. that became the first one I played with an orchestra at the age of 11 or 12. still my fave after all these years. sometimes those proustian madelines get into you at a young age and forever remain. and music transported me to undescribable realms. none of my friends shared that in quite the same way, until I got older and discovered the wider world out there.
interestingly my sister, two years younger, never got the bug. we reminisce about dad's talents, he should have been a conductor. never got the piano lessons his sister did, but he could play fairly complicated pieces by ear. two cousins of his are accomplished soloists (Gil and Orli Shaham). frustratingly he'd hear every wrong note in a difficult passage I was playing when my teacher and conductor could not. that perfectionism from his innate talent was a serious obstacle for me that I didn't unravel until years later. especially when I moved onto rock and jazz and had to learn that there are only wrong notes if your next note makes it obvious. also, despite that early love affair with Beethoven's 3rd piano concerto, I never wanted to be a concert pianist. Jazz and rock. Genius dad never grasped that. Mom was at most indifferent, she was *proud* of my talent but never listened to music for pleasure herself.
I guess what I'm driving at in a long-winded way is that really good parenting matters. And it seems that the Gioia parents must have done a solid job nurturing both your talents. For too many it's simply outside their realm to let go and surrender, their dreams might not be yours.
I was struck by the parallels between Dana's childhood experiences and struggles to interpret his longings and joys, with those of C. S. Lewis in "Surprised by Joy". As someone who experienced similar challenges at that age with enjoying art & music (though not opera) I thoroughly enjoyed Dana's story. He is an engaging writer.
Wish I had known you back then! My friend Laura had ultra bohemian parents with a full LP collection of musicals, Gilbert & Sullivan, and opera available for us to discover as our own special world. No one forced it on us, no one else in my family shared this joy; it was just an enormous buffet that led to joy and language literacy later. My brothers and sister did not have that and thus they neither read well nor appreciate writing. But I had memorized the canon of Rodgers & Hammerstein by age 8 and couldn’t understand why others weren’t so captivated. If parents only knew how easy that was!
Well, this is timely for me! I've been doing my own deep dive into Opera. I'm long past elementary school and have been a classical music lover my whole life, but Opera has eluded me until recently. Glad your brother lived his life, even as a youngster!
Beautiful story. I already loved music as a 5-year-old. But what really got the ball rolling was when I saw a concert in 1968 with the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta, with Itzhak Perlman performing Prokofiev's Violin Concerto. As a 12-year-old, I loved the music, but when we were going down the stairs on the way out, we were walking behind two men who were discussing the performance in detail and how Perlman did this and that with this theme and that theme etc. I was totally amazed that you could think and talk about complicated music (for me) that way and decided that was what I wanted to do.
Prokofiev's Violin Concerto is absolutely sublime from start to finish..
I was infatuated with horses from the first time I saw the Junkman’s horse stop before my grandmother’s house when I was 4. When I was 8 I had a friend who was seriously training to be a Ballet dancer, and developed an appreciation of that art. In 5th grade I received a copy of Marguerite Henry’s “Album of Horses” which had a beautiful painting of a circus horse with a dancer on its back and wondered how I could do THAT? So began a life in an assortment of arts, drawing and painting horses, choreographer for a figureskating club. A songwriter who listens to Bach and “Va Pensaro” before sliding off to sleep. To dream about dancing, flying horses and beautiful music.
When I was 10 yrs. old I lived with my father and stepmother, who owned a nursing home (a place for the old and infirm to live until they died) in Cincinnati. One of the members of the nursing homes association had a facility on a bluff overlooking the Zoo, where during the summer operas would be performed and the animals at one point or another would join in. (I don't know if it was in concert or in protest.) That summer I spent many Sundays on the lawn at the nuring home, listening to the operas. My father was an opera lover and played opera records at home. In the 6th grade, living in L.A., All the 6th graders in the city were offered a free ticket and transportation to hear an opera at the Shrine Auditorium. I immediately signed up. The opera was Madame Butterfly. The first half was wonderful and in the second half, the cast came alive and I experienced my first moment of being caught up in the extassy of the performance. It remains my favorite opera.
Great story, Ted! After I read this, I googled a photo of Dana as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts giving an award to three honorees, one of whom was Leontyne Price! In his memoir, Dana mentioned discovering Verdi and falling for Price, his "first diva." How many dreamy intellectual kids get to grow up and give awards to their earliest heroes? I'm sure you've had similar experiences. What a life you two scions of a working-class family from an undistinguished small city have made for yourself! I love reading memoirs by you two.
The two of you should collaborate on a talking tour, “Gioia to the World “.
You writing style is similar to your brother's. Love it!
I think it was more acceptable for men to be classical fans in an earlier generation. My dad, born in 1922, grew up in a small town and picked up classical music from the radio. He always listened to the Metropolitan every Saturday and carried the taste with him into the Navy, like your father. There must have been quite a few classical fans in the military, because AFRS made a point of carrying the Met and other concerts on its shortwave broadcasts to the soldiers and sailors overseas.
I wonder when specifically classical listening started to thin out? Anyone knows?
I feel the same way about being a jazz aficionado as your brother did about being an opera fan.
Whenever I read what Dana writes about our parents when he was young it's like he's writing about an entirely different family. I can't imagine dad singing or dancing, and I never heard mom recite a poem. I don't think I remember either of them even once playing a record. I wish I'd been around to see them when they were young.
Thanks for sharing this piece, which certainly brought back memories. I, too, was one of those youngsters who loved classical music (and hated Elvis, by the way). Perhaps I was more fortunate, though. My parents were both opera-lovers, and we always heard the broadcasts from the Met on Saturday afternoons. My father was a musician, and he sometimes sat me down to follow the libretto and a score (piano reduction).
My musical tastes remain attuned to the baroque, classical, and early romantic periods. However, I am by no means an opera fan, and in fact, I never really was. However, the awkwardness of my situation as a classical music-lover struck some sympathetic (if not symphonic) chords. Compliments and gratitude to your brother!
Pursuit of beauty in whatever form(s) one favors is as high a calling as I can envision (says a seeker of beauty).
Wise words here
well the writing talent runs in the family.
my dad was a classical music genius. perfect pitch, an encyclopedic memory. he could not only identify specific pieces of music right away when they were played on the local radio station, but then state the orchestra, conductor, and soloist. when the announcer would give all that info at the end of the piece, most of the time he was right. (my mom was tone deaf, I'm somewhere in the middle haha).
my dad took me to a movie featuring Artur Rubinstein's, probably mid 1970s. he played Beethoven's 3rd piano concerto, I was instantly hooked. that became the first one I played with an orchestra at the age of 11 or 12. still my fave after all these years. sometimes those proustian madelines get into you at a young age and forever remain. and music transported me to undescribable realms. none of my friends shared that in quite the same way, until I got older and discovered the wider world out there.
interestingly my sister, two years younger, never got the bug. we reminisce about dad's talents, he should have been a conductor. never got the piano lessons his sister did, but he could play fairly complicated pieces by ear. two cousins of his are accomplished soloists (Gil and Orli Shaham). frustratingly he'd hear every wrong note in a difficult passage I was playing when my teacher and conductor could not. that perfectionism from his innate talent was a serious obstacle for me that I didn't unravel until years later. especially when I moved onto rock and jazz and had to learn that there are only wrong notes if your next note makes it obvious. also, despite that early love affair with Beethoven's 3rd piano concerto, I never wanted to be a concert pianist. Jazz and rock. Genius dad never grasped that. Mom was at most indifferent, she was *proud* of my talent but never listened to music for pleasure herself.
I guess what I'm driving at in a long-winded way is that really good parenting matters. And it seems that the Gioia parents must have done a solid job nurturing both your talents. For too many it's simply outside their realm to let go and surrender, their dreams might not be yours.
Caught Gil Shaham with National Symphony Orchestra at Kennedy Center last month. Dvořák's Violin Concerto.
I was struck by the parallels between Dana's childhood experiences and struggles to interpret his longings and joys, with those of C. S. Lewis in "Surprised by Joy". As someone who experienced similar challenges at that age with enjoying art & music (though not opera) I thoroughly enjoyed Dana's story. He is an engaging writer.
“...a foul and foreign vice only Catholics could have devised.” I love this! But that is also what I thought about Catholicism until 2005.
Wish I had known you back then! My friend Laura had ultra bohemian parents with a full LP collection of musicals, Gilbert & Sullivan, and opera available for us to discover as our own special world. No one forced it on us, no one else in my family shared this joy; it was just an enormous buffet that led to joy and language literacy later. My brothers and sister did not have that and thus they neither read well nor appreciate writing. But I had memorized the canon of Rodgers & Hammerstein by age 8 and couldn’t understand why others weren’t so captivated. If parents only knew how easy that was!
Well, this is timely for me! I've been doing my own deep dive into Opera. I'm long past elementary school and have been a classical music lover my whole life, but Opera has eluded me until recently. Glad your brother lived his life, even as a youngster!