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FACING DEATH
To The Best of Our Knowledge
from Wisconsin Public Radio
"Opera allows us very safely, from a distance,
to experience death." Tosca jumps off a cliff, Blanche goes
to the gallows, and Butterfly stabs herself. Opera doesn't shrink
from the void. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, why
opera may be the perfect way to come to terms with death. Also,
a tour of Woodlawn. We'll get to know one of New York's oldest cemeteries
and get acquainted with some of the sleepers in its quiet earth.
SEGMENT 1:
Lucille Marchand is a physician specializing
in integrative, palliative and family medicine. She tells Anne
Strainchamps that we should pay close attention to the approach
of death whether it's our own or a loved one's and try to let
death make life meaningful. Also, Linda and Michael Hutcheon
are the co-authors of "Opera: The Art of Dying." They
tell Jim Fleming that opera lets us experience death at a safe
distance and give several examples of how different operatic composers
have approached the subject. And we hear lots of music.
SEGMENT 2:
Tom Pyszczynski is the co-author (with Jeff
Greenberg and Sheldon Solomon) of "In the Wake of 9/11: The
Psychology of Terror." He talks with Steve Paulson about
TMT - Terror Management Theory. Pyszczynski says people's fear
of death is so primal that it has all kinds of secondary effects.
Just raising the topic of death causes people to become hostile
to people they perceive as being different from themselves, and
politicians use this.
SEGMENT 3:
Fred Goodman is the author of "The Secret
City." He tells Steve Paulson about Woodlawn Cemetery in
the Bronx. It's the final resting place of some famous people
and some 19th century celebrities who are forgotten now, and we
learn about some of them.
Cassette copies are available
at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 04-09-05-B.
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Books:
- Linda & Michael Hutcheon, Opera:
The Art of Dying (Harvard)
- Fred Goodman, The Secret City: Woodlawn
Cemetery and the Buried History of New York (Broadway)
Music:
- Qual fiamma avea nel guardo...Stridono
lassu/ Mirella Freni, soprano/Gravdi Voci (London)
- Out of This World/ Freakwater/ Old Paint (Thrill
Jockey)
- IN HUTCHEON INTERVIEW Selections from:
- Dialogues Des Carmelites/ Poulenc/ Opera de Lyon,
Kent Nagano, cond./(Virgin Classics)
- Tristan und Isolde: Isolde's Liebestod/ Wagner/
Jessye Norman, soprano/EMI
- Madama Butterfly/ Puccini/ Mirella Freni, soprano/
Grandi Voci (London)
- Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo/ Mascagni/ Berline
Phil., Herbert von Karajan, cond./ (DG)
- Church of Logic/ Medeski, Martin & Wood/ Combustication/
(Bluenote)
- Blue in Green/ Miles Davis/ Kind of Blue/ Columbia
Distribution dates:
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Questions and comments can
be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org
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