O MIO BABBINO CARO (E ANCHE LA MAMMA)

Alton has an Old Cemetery that's worth a visit. It is very hilly (most of the town is) and  some of it is in poor condition. We were looking for the grave and monument of Elijah Lovejoy (more about which later) and came across this. The stones are hardly bigger than my shoe. The scene looked sorrowful and dejected.

It has been said that I have loose associations (something I'm happy about). The loudspeaker in my head immediately began to play one of the great moments in Western music, O Mio Babbino Caro (O My Dear Daddy) from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (https://youtu.be/uFLVKaFVGag). Mamma doesn't get nearly enough credit.              

TE DEUM LAUDAMUS

Okay, the reference is a little obscure, but bear with me. It's how I roll.

The Latin Catholic mass (my background) has a section referred to as the Te Deum, or, more completely, Te Deum Laudamus: we praise you, God. Not that I'm at all religious but I'm filled with such feelings of gratitude and joy today that it almost rises to such a level. 

I was thinking all afternoon of the finale of Act 1 of Puccini's Tosca. (Sure, melodrama, potboiler, but of unsurpassed beauty.) The bad guy, Baron Scarpia, had the most intense lust for the heroine, Tosca, while wanting the life of her S.O. and his political opponent, Cavaradossi. Scarpia is Trump. Scarpia craves sex and power. Trump craves adulation and power. In the opera, the congregation rings out with the Te Deum while Scarpia bellows that Tosca makes him forget God. Make your own comparison. https://youtu.be/0euYKIMfV4I