I just watched Charles Gibson's interview with Pete Rose.  It made me think about some things.

I remember watching Pete Rose play baseball.  I watched him for almost half my life.  I'm 49 years old.  There are few men in baseball whom I could say coincided more with my coming of age.  Pete Rose was the name in baseball which I associate with the Cincinnati Reds, not Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench or any other.  It's Pete Rose.

I remember watching him beat the record of Ty Cobb, and I remember living in the old apartment in front of a TV that didn't get good reception, and I watched it every night until the record was broken.

I also remember watching him slide head first and how that was the way I always liked to slide into base.

I also remember Pete Rose as a manager, his passion for winning and his command and knowledge of the game.

It really pisses me off that he bet on baseball, because he would truly be among the greatest of my generation in America's sport.  I do not know how I feel about him being reinstated. I do not believe he has gone far enough in his confession yet.  I haven't read the book yet, but in the interview he still seems like he's not coming clean.  It seems more like he's saying some things that he hopes will be taken well enough to get him what he wants.  I don't recall hearing him say he's sorry.  That's one thing I'd like to hear.

Do I hate Pete Rose?  Not on your life!  I just want him to complete the loop, run all the bases, and say it all.  He's a big enough man to do it...at least, I like to think he is.

10:25:02 PM    

The words to "Una Furtiva Lagrima" as translated by Stephen McCloskey.

Italian:

Una furtiva lagrima (A sullen and secretive tear)
negli occhi suoi spunto (That started there in her eye...)
quelle festose giovanni (Those socializing bright young things)
invidiar sembro (Seemed to provoke its envy)
Che piu cercando io vo? (What more searching need I do?)
M'ama, lo vedo. (She loves me, that I see.)
Un solo istante I palpiti (For just one moment the beating)
del suo bel cor sentir! (Of her hot pulse could be felt!)
Co' suoi sospir confondere (With her sighing confounding)
per poco i miei sospir! (Momentarily my sighs!)
Cielo, si puo morir; (Oh God, I shall expire;)
di piu non chiedo. (I can't ask for more.)

At this point in the opera, Nemorino has been taking an elixir to increase his attraction for love.  He has entered a party where the ladies are flocking around him, and he brushes them off arrogantly.  His true love, whose love he as wanted returned, runs away in sadness.  This aria is at the point where he realizes she really loves him.

The aria is written in B-Flat minor, and the composers instruction is "larghetto" or smooth or soft.  The introduction is mysterious and is extraordinary in its creation of the mood.  "Mood" in the music reigns supreme in opera.  My favorite recorded version of this aria is by Andrea Bocelli.  I have a fabulous video version of Pavarotti singing it at a recital.  It is equally good, but for everyday listening at the computer, I choose Bocelli.  It is definitely my favorite tenor aria.

9:09:09 PM    

Considering my audition with the Turtle Creek Chorale on January 18, I am about 90% sure I will be singing an aria from Gaetano Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore, "Una furtiva lagrima."  It reaches an A-flat which will test my upper range, but if done successfully, it should place me as a 1st Tenor, and that's what I want to be.  Why?  I enjoy singing the upper range.  For me, that's where the passion of classical voice is (Pavarotti, Bocelli, Domingo, Caruso).  I am almost 50 years old and before these past two years, I had not sung seriously since high school.  I'm not sure I'm adequately prepared for the aria, but I can reach the range.  The quality of it is not like Pavarotti, but it's in tune, there is ample vibrato, and most of all, I can sing it with a passion that only this upper range can give me.  My runner-up was from the musical "Les Miserables" and the tragic character of Javert, "Stars."  I can sing "Stars" comfortably, but I'm afraid it would place me in the baritone or II Tenor range.  The chorale needs more first tenors, and I think that's where my best shot is. 

I'm working up the physical stamina to do it, and getting my vocal chords ready for a good performance.

6:47:14 PM    

It took three tries, but I finally got the comments macro in the right spot.  Please, leave a comment on any of my pages, if you care to do so.

5:49:10 PM    

12:29:31 PM    

12:24:06 PM    

12:19:56 PM