Gustav Mahler
Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen

THE REVIEW

Blame it on the radio.

And on Sant'Ambrogio, and the fog, and the damp and dreary weather here. And naturally, blame it on a film, on a scene, those that keep running through my head.

So, this morning I wake up early, ready for my daily dose of Lester Young (have I already told you that Mr. Pork Pie Hat is - these last days - rather likable to me?) and - as always - I turn on the radio. I know there's a classical music program. I expect Fidelio. Which I am not ready for. I've only heard it once in my life, on the radio, I was little, I don't remember. Obviously, tonight I'll watch it all. And try to understand.

On television, of course. I can't go to La Scala. My mom made me hyperkinetic. Chronic. The only time I set foot in the Temple, I was fourteen. They were showing the twenty-third opera of Verdi. Not live, there was a screen on the stage. From my childlike memories, the KING was singing. After less than half an hour, the guy next to us kicked us out. I was breathing too loudly. Tapping my fingers on the railing. This was when I was calm.

But there was no Fidelio on the radio. There was a woman's voice. Singing. Something beautiful. And when the other tenant of this honest abode approached and asked me verbatim: what is this beautiful Christmas song? without even knowing why I answered: Ich bin die welt abhanden gekommen. A lieder by Mahler.

From this, it follows:

• that in my opinion, I graduated from the Conservatory (no, I know Al Di Meola)
• that German is not my strong suit
• that there are certain things you haven't heard in at least twenty years, but as soon as you hear them, they awaken something inside you that you didn't remember. And that thing is a beautiful thing.

So here I am, listening to a showcase of mezzo-sopranos singing this beautiful lieder, waiting for Fidelio, and for a few hours, I don't hear Lester Young.

And I think of a scene from a film, I won't tell you which one, I've already mentioned it.

Of a character who says:

I never knew what that woman was singing. I never understood the words. But it doesn't matter. I believe she was singing something so beautiful that it can't be expressed in words.

If you're in the mood, you can find it here