Episode · EconTalk · 2025-01-20
Books mentioned on Weep, Shudder, Die: The Secret of Opera Revealed (with Dana Gioia)
How can opera, with words we rarely understand, make us cry? Why does opera, filled with melodrama, move us?
Russ Roberts recommended Madam Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini, The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and others, and Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and discussed La Boheme by .Giacomo Puccini and others and Anthem by Ayn Rand. Dana Gioia discussed Anna Karenina by Лев Толстой and others and War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy and others.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Madam Butterfly
Madam Butterfly is a renowned tragic opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini that tells the heartbreaking story of a young Japanese geisha named Cio-Cio-San who falls deeply in love with an American naval officer.
Recommended“when I was about um 25 years old my dad in desperation disappointed that I had never really caught the bug uh sent me a cassette of Madam butterfly with leontin price and he said look just listen to it for 20 minutes ... put on Madam butterfly”
Where to get it
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La Boheme
Discussed“I was in my 20s and I would listen to F by guno labm by Pini Madam Butterfly by Pini”
Where to get it
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The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is a renowned two-act opera composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder, celebrated for its enchanting blend of whimsical fairy-tale elements, Masonic symbolism, and sublime vocal pyrotechnics.
Recommended“watch bergman's movie The Magic Flute try to see Don listen to Dan Giovani by Mozart”
Where to get it
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Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an iconic opera composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart that explores the dramatic downfall of a legendary libertine.
Recommended“watch bergman's movie The Magic Flute try to see Don listen to Dan Giovani by Mozart”
Where to get it
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Anthem
Anthem by Ayn Rand is a dystopian novella that explores a collectivist future where individuality has been eradicated and the word "I" has been erased from human language.
Discussed“and he said well it's a musical uh of Ein Ran's no Nolla Anthem”
Where to get it
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Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy is a sweeping nineteenth-century masterpiece that examines themes of love, infidelity, social class, and the pursuit of meaning within Imperial Russian society.
Discussed“certainly Anna corena you know having read novels for over 60 years Anna corena is the best novel I've ever read”
Where to get it
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War and Peace
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy is a sprawling Russian epic novel that chronicles elite society and military conflict during the Napoleonic era.
Discussed“and War in peace is the the most ambitious uh successful novel”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (3) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“our topic for today is his latest book weep shudder die on Opera and poetry”
“next my my title is from vinchenzo bini the one great Sicilian opera composer who said uh the the purpose of Opera was to make the listener weep shudder and and die through singing”
“this book the B called you know weep shut or die it has a scene from Lao M on the cover and I'm talking about Italian opera and German Opera”