We're Sorry-the Composer You Were Calling Is No Longer In Service

When I got my new cell phone this summer (A Motorola Q, if you must know,) I finally had a phone that could play real sound files as ringtones. I thought it would be fin to have ringtones made from songs that were about, or mentioned, telephones, or telephone rings, etc. There's no shortage of those, and I found a few that I thought could make real nice ringtones. I'll get around to using some of them eventually. I haven't yet, because I got sidetracked in my search with a memory. It was a memory of one of the first operas I was ever involved with in my career. It was called, appropriately, "The Telephone." It tells the story of Ben and Lucy. Ben wants to propose to Lucy, but he's leaving town. However, Ben's attempts are constantly being thwarted by Lucy's addiction to -- her telephone. It's always ringing and interrupting, and she always answers it. Finally, in frustration, Ben leaves, hatching a plan. He stops at a phone booth on his way to the station, and calls Lucy. She answers, he proposes, she accepts. Now Ben must catch his train. "Don't forget," Lucy reminds him. Ben wonders what he shouldn't forget. Her eyes, her face....no. Lucy then tells him what Ben shouldn't forget.....

"My number!"

And there it was...my ringtone. I took the first 30 seconds or so of this rousing finale to the opera, and now whenever my phone rings, I am greeted by the delightful strains of this composition.

All of which brings me to why I am writing this. The opera, "The Telephone" was written by Gian Carlo Menotti, who died yesterday in Monaco. The 91-year old Menotti was one of the finest composers of the 20th century.

You may know him as the composer of the perennial Xmas favorite "Amahl and the Night Visitors." He was so much more, and he will be missed. His music, at least, will live on. Go and listen.

There's little need for me to list all his accomplishments-you can read all about them simply by Googling his name.

From the Wikipedia entry on Gian Carlo Menotti, you can discover his rich legacy.

Addio, Gian Carlo.

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