Those of us fortunate enough to have employment in our chosen field should have (in theory) a pension / superannuation plan to take care of us
in our autumn years. Sadly, some professions including ones that
bring us most joy don’t always look after the practitioners. Opera
composer Giuseppi Verdi knew that so he did something about it.
Welcome to episode 134 of See Hear Podcast.
It’s our first episode back after a hiatus, and what a film we have to
talk about. Kerry and I were thrilled to have film producer Christine
La Monte join us. She and director Yvonne Russo have brought into the
world a film guaranteed to bring happiness to all who see it – Viva
Giuseppi Verdi seems to have been a rare beast in the arts world – he was
financially secure into his later years. He realised that many of his
fellow travellers however (composers, musicians, singers) did not
have a pension in their later years when they could not work. Verdi
had a philanthropic background, and so he decided to develop a
retirement home for musicians.
The documentary Viva Verdi takes a look at the residents of Casa Verdi
over the last few years. All these musicians (mostly in their 80s and
90s) are still vital and have stories to tell and work to do. Keeping
musically active in the retirement home helps keep dementia at bay,
and makes the residents feel as important as they ever were.
Christine tells us about her childhood love of opera when her peers
were into rock and roll, the wonderful people she and Yvonne met,
Verdi’s generosity….and Kerry and I agree that Viva Verdi was
We also briefly explore another opera related documentary Christine
produced “Ai Weiwei's Turandot”. As opposed to Viva Verdi which
celebrates the individual, the Aiweiwei documentary looks at the
themes of opera to celebrate the collective. It’s social commentary
At the time of posting this, Viva Verdi is only available for streaming
in North America, though, Christine is working on a wider
distribution method. It's having limited cinema screenings in the US,
or it can be streamed at https://www.jolt.film/ (if you're outside
the US, you'll need to turn on your VPN...don't get me started on
these archaic region rules....) It's a wonderful film and worth the
effort. Our conversation, however, is self contained, so you can
listen and enjoy without having seen the film.
See Hear is proudly part of the Pantheon Network of music podcasts.
Check out all the other wonderful shows at http://pantheonpodcasts.com
Send us feedback via email at [email protected]
Join the Facebook group at http://facebook.com/groups/seehearpodcast
You can download the show by searching for See Hear on whatever podcast app you favour (except Spotify).
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices