Dante Today
Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary and Popular Culture
Music Archive
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Franz Liszt, "Dante Symphony" (1847-57)
"The Dante Symphony, by Franz Liszt, was written in two movements: Inferno, and Purgatorio - Magnificat. Liszt was told that he shouldn't attempt to write a movement for Paradiso, as this was a hopeless venture. Nobody can put true heaven into a song." (Kevin Williams)
Contributed by Kevin Williams (Luther College, '11)
Giacomo Puccini, "Gianni Schicchi"
http://www.alexwg.org/performing.html
Three Gianni Schicchi items:
1) From the last scene in Gianni Schicchi, one of Puccini's three operas comprising Il Trittico, recently performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. "Seeing the two lovers, he (Gianni Schicchi) is moved. He smiles, takes off his hat, and turns to address the audience in a spoken epilogue: 'Tell me, gentlemen, if Buoso's wealth could have gone to better ends than this? For this prank, I have been condemned to the Inferno, and so be it; but with all due respect to the great father Dante, if you have been amused, grant me extenuating circumstances!' "He makes a motion of applause and bows to the audience."
http://opera.stanford.edu/Puccini/GianniSchicchi/synopsis.html
2) The other two operas in Il Trittico also have Divine Comedy themes: "Puccini's last operas abandon realism. The Trittico rebuilds the old vertical, spiritual theater, encompassing all the gradations of nature. Puccini's original plan was to make the panels episodes from Dante; though that didn't happen, they still constitute a divine comedy. Il Tabarro is set in an urban inferno, Suor Angelica in a convent which serves as the heroine's purgatory, Gianni Schicchi in a mercenary Florence which from the heights of Fiesole looks like a radiant paradise. Because Dante's was a journey through the undiscovered country, all three works map Orphic voyages into the underworld." (Peter Conrad)
http://www.operainfo.org/broadcast/operaTeaching.cgi?id=500000000000122&language=1&material_id=500000000000470
3) For Tuscan sites connected with Gianni Schicchi see: http://www.pzweifel.com/music/gianni_schicchi_notes.htm
Contributed by Patrick Molloy
Radio Inferno
"In 1993, German artist Andreas Ammer teamed up with members of Einsturzende Neubauten and legendary DJ John Peel to produce a radio play of Dante's Divine Comedy. The result was Radio Inferno, with music by Einsturzende's F.M. Einheit, and starring Blixa Bargeld as Dante, Phil Minton as Virgil, and John Peel as "The Radio" (the narrator). Caspar Brotzmann played guitar, and the work includes guest appearance from Bootsy Collins and many others."
http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/02/radio_theater_v.html
Contributed by Jenny Davidson
Dante's (Portland, Oregon)
"Portland's home for live music, cabaret, burlesque, rock-n-roll and one of the best damned bars on earth..."
http://www.danteslive.com/index.html
Contributed by Lisa Peterson (Bowdoin, '07)
Rodney Atkins, "If You're Going Through Hell" (2006)
Country
Contributed by Alex Brasili (Bowdoin, '10)
Hell, the Musical
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/28/arts/dante.php?page=1
"The Vatican has challenged purist Roman Catholics by disclosing plans for a daring rock, punk and jazz opera version of Dante's Divine Comedy with a soundtrack written by an avant-garde priest.
"Monsignor Marco Frisina uses rock music as background for the Inferno, Gregorian chants for Purgatory and lyrical and symphonic classical and modern music for the advent of Paradise in the musical set to be staged in the autumn.
"After a premier in a leading Rome theatre sponsored jointly by the Vatican and Italy's two houses of parliament, the extravaganza will tour other major Italian and European cities 'to bring back the attention of the widest public to Dante's immortal poem,' Riccardo Rossi, director general of Nova Ars, the company producing the opera, told La Repubblica newspaper."
(John Phillips, The Independent, January 3, 2007)
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2121673.ece
See also: The International Herald Tribune, November 29, 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/28/arts/dante.php?page=1
Contributed by Gloria Smith; Patrick Molloy
Homepage for the opera: http://www.ladivinacommediaopera.it/
Canto 6
Thrash Rock, Metal
"Canto 6 began as Life of Hate, a hard-edged rock outfut along the lines of Metallica and Godsmack. After tiring of that style, the band began working with a producer, reorganized its sound and became Canto 6, taking the name from one of the layers of Hell in Dante's Inferno."
Aaron Yoxheimer, The Morning Call, October 6, 2005
http://www.canto6.com/HTML/morningcallpress.htm
Sepultura, "Dante XXI" (2006)
Speed Metal, Thrash, Hardcore
http://www.sepularmy.net/dante/#
Iced Earth, "Burnt Offerings" (1995)
Metal
http://www.icedearth.com/rel_detail.php?n=3
GM Grimm aka Superstar Jet Jaguar, "Digital Tears: Email from Purgatory" (2004)
Rap, Hip Hop
"A study in blatant subtlety? Maybe, just maybe? GM Grimm gives us "Digital Tears," the first album since his release from prison last year. Featuring production from J-Zone, X-Ray, Zero Point and Mas this album will probably be one of the most diverse and heavy sets released this year. With Grimm's ill rhyme flow and incisive lyrics you better buckle up and hold tight as Jet Jaguar the robot is gonna take you on a dark musical journey into the mind of Percy Carey."
http://www.wallysemons.com/ProdDtl.cfm?lid=24&cid=32&id=1074
http://www.daybydayent.com/releases/digital_tears.shtml
Contributed by Eric Goldwyn (Bowdoin, '04)
Essay by Eric Goldwyn: Download file
Eternal Cool Project, "Inferno: The Rap" (2005)
"This is a unique, never before done approach to Dante Alighieri's Inferno. Lyrics written in the 14th Century, as translated in the mid 1800s by H Cary, are rapped by MicPwr, over a music track composed by Mr Moe. It is a powerful depiction of a medieval Hell, performed by uban artists."
http://www.eternalkool.com/
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/eternalkool
Robert W. Smith, "The Divine Comedy"
Classical
Background Image: Domenico di Michelino, Dante and His Comedy, 1465
