{"id":956,"date":"2016-08-04T06:34:49","date_gmt":"2016-08-04T13:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/?p=956"},"modified":"2016-08-03T17:36:48","modified_gmt":"2016-08-04T00:36:48","slug":"trump-the-tenor-and-fascism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/trump-the-tenor-and-fascism.html","title":{"rendered":"Trump, The Tenor, And Fascism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9fYvVRLPVcs\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Over on Slate this week Brian Wise posted <a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/articles\/arts\/culturebox\/2016\/08\/donald_trump_s_favorite_aria_by_puccini_nessun_dorma_is_sort_of_fascist.html\">a piece about Donald Trump and his playing of Puccini&#8217;s <em>Nussun Dorma<\/em><\/a> at campaign events. Trump had been using a recording of Pavarotti singing the aria and the singer&#8217;s family had contacted him to ask him to stop.<\/p>\n<p>Musicians have been complaining for years about politicians using their music at events without permission, and it&#8217;s always fun to ridicule a pol with whom you disagree when the artist whose work they&#8217;ve chosen to associate themselves with repudiates the &#8220;honor.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>So Wise writes:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Trump\u2019s use of it might read as yet more evidence for those who already view the bombastic businessman as a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/articles\/news_and_politics\/interrogation\/2016\/02\/is_donald_trump_a_fascist_an_expert_on_fascism_weighs_in.html\">fascist in the making<\/a>&#8230;\u00a0Not only is <em>Turandot<\/em> an opulent, Orientalist fantasy set in imperial China by a composer who never set foot in Asia; Puccini also held a sympathetic spot in his heart for the fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. The composer\u2019s late-career admiration for Mussolini\u2019s policies has prompted a new generation of historians to see his operas\u2014especially <em>Turandot<\/em>\u2014through a political lens.<\/p>\n<p>It is \u201cquite easy to read <em>Turandot<\/em> as a political allegory,\u201d writes <a href=\"http:\/\/www.birmingham.ac.uk\/staff\/profiles\/music\/schwartz-arman.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">Arman Schwartz<\/a> in the book <em>Puccini\u2019s Soundscapes<\/em>, \u201cone consistent with fascism\u2019s own narrative of the degradation of post-World War I Italy and of Mussolini\u2019s heroic rise.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>While I applaud the urge to dump on Trump (for so many reasons), trying to associate him with fascist sympathies because his campaign plays one of the most famous arias on the planet is a yuge overreach. Trump is essentially historically context-free. He grabs things and uses them (facts, images, music, ideas, tweets) because they are shiny objects that caught his attention in that jumbled stream-of-consciousness river that flows through his head. The backstory is irrelevant to him.<\/p>\n<p>He uses a Star of David in an ad on Hillary Clinton because it&#8217;s a star and he didn&#8217;t stop to think it might have more specific meaning. He thinks US obligations to NATO allies are dependant on allies&#8217; behavior because he&#8217;s unaware of the history. And he uses Puccini because it sounds heroic to him. Powerful. Not because it resonates with the fascist child within. Debates about connections between artists&#8217; political views and their work have raged for years. But when you&#8217;re as devoid of context as Trump is, a song is but a song&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over on Slate this week Brian Wise posted a piece about Donald Trump and his playing of Puccini&#8217;s Nussun Dorma at campaign events. Trump had been using a recording of Pavarotti singing the aria and the singer&#8217;s family had contacted him to ask him to stop. Musicians have been complaining for years about politicians using [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-956","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-politics","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/djt.jpg?fit=300%2C255&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4ePZm-fq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1009,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/08\/is-naked-trump-bad-satire-and-do-we-care.html","url_meta":{"origin":956,"position":0},"title":"Is Naked Trump Bad Satire? (And Do We Care?)","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"August 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In this week's AJ highlights I included some of the stories we found about the naked Donald Trump statues that appeared in five American cities last week. One reader was unhappy: Vile & disgusting. This is not art nor it is political commentary. This is the second time in as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;arts and politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"arts and politics","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/arts-and-politics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/160818215915-naked-trump-statue-01-full-169.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/160818215915-naked-trump-statue-01-full-169.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/160818215915-naked-trump-statue-01-full-169.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/160818215915-naked-trump-statue-01-full-169.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/160818215915-naked-trump-statue-01-full-169.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1625,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2019\/12\/are-the-arts-to-blame-for-donald-trump.html","url_meta":{"origin":956,"position":1},"title":"Are The Arts To Blame For Donald Trump?","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"December 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A few months ago I was at a conference of administrators of large arts institutions when a leading researcher in cultural trends made a bold claim: The election of Donald Trump is a result of the failure of the arts and culture sector.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;arts and politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"arts and politics","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/arts-and-politics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/trump-1350044_640.jpg?fit=608%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/trump-1350044_640.jpg?fit=608%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/trump-1350044_640.jpg?fit=608%2C640&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1293,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2017\/01\/five-highlights-from-this-weeks-aj-the-big-ideas-you-need-to-know-says-mit.html","url_meta":{"origin":956,"position":2},"title":"Five Highlights From This Week&#8217;s AJ: The Big Ideas You Need To Know, Says MIT","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"January 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This Week: Trump, the arts, the culture budget and protest... Harvard ART school gets suspended...MIT's list of 10 things you need to know... Writers and money - the straight dope. Trump Inauguration And Artists: Obviously the biggest story this week was the American inauguration and the demonstrations the day after.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weekly AJ Top Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weekly AJ Top Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/weekly-aj-top-stories"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Portrait-Theaster-Gates-Max-McClure-3-1050x663.jpg?fit=800%2C341&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Portrait-Theaster-Gates-Max-McClure-3-1050x663.jpg?fit=800%2C341&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Portrait-Theaster-Gates-Max-McClure-3-1050x663.jpg?fit=800%2C341&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Portrait-Theaster-Gates-Max-McClure-3-1050x663.jpg?fit=800%2C341&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2006\/12\/john_your_tree.html","url_meta":{"origin":956,"position":3},"title":"John: Your tree","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"December 15, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Doug: Geez, with all due respect to Art, I would think a tree, a storm, a roof, power and family safety might just for the moment trump this conversation. I'll respond to the rest of your 3 a.m. posting in a bit. Looking forward to your next message, but take\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1240,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2016\/11\/this-weeks-aj-highlights-hamilton-teaches-the-art-of-protest-at-last-some-real-data-on-orchestras.html","url_meta":{"origin":956,"position":4},"title":"This Week&#8217;s AJ Highlights: &#8220;Hamilton&#8221; Teaches The Art Of Protest, At Last Some Real Data On Orchestras","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"November 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This Week: That Mike Pence goes to \"Hamilton\" story? A textbook protest... Finally - some real data on the health of orchestras... Arts criticism is either being reborn or it's in dire shape... Pop culture is getting to be only for the rich... The myth of the outsider is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weekly AJ Top Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weekly AJ Top Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/weekly-aj-top-stories"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/%E2%80%98Hamilton%E2%80%99-Had-Some-Unscripted-Lines-for-Pence.-Trump-Wasn%E2%80%99t-Happy.-The-New-York-Times.jpg?fit=1200%2C607&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/%E2%80%98Hamilton%E2%80%99-Had-Some-Unscripted-Lines-for-Pence.-Trump-Wasn%E2%80%99t-Happy.-The-New-York-Times.jpg?fit=1200%2C607&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/%E2%80%98Hamilton%E2%80%99-Had-Some-Unscripted-Lines-for-Pence.-Trump-Wasn%E2%80%99t-Happy.-The-New-York-Times.jpg?fit=1200%2C607&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/%E2%80%98Hamilton%E2%80%99-Had-Some-Unscripted-Lines-for-Pence.-Trump-Wasn%E2%80%99t-Happy.-The-New-York-Times.jpg?fit=1200%2C607&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/%E2%80%98Hamilton%E2%80%99-Had-Some-Unscripted-Lines-for-Pence.-Trump-Wasn%E2%80%99t-Happy.-The-New-York-Times.jpg?fit=1200%2C607&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1273,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/2017\/01\/five-highlight-reads-from-this-weeks-aj-did-originality-steer-the-arts-wrong.html","url_meta":{"origin":956,"position":5},"title":"Five Highlight Reads From This Week&#8217;s AJ: Did Originality Steer The Arts Wrong?","author":"Douglas McLennan","date":"January 15, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This Week: The Trump era is a challenge to America's arts institutions... Artificial intelligence is teaching us how to better-design concert halls... How originality has failed art... The Metropolitans Museum and Opera are struggling... Is Canada becoming the first \"post-nation\" state? The Role Of Arts Institutions In The Era Of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Weekly AJ Top Stories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Weekly AJ Top Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/category\/weekly-aj-top-stories"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/canada.jpg?fit=600%2C278&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/canada.jpg?fit=600%2C278&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/canada.jpg?fit=600%2C278&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=956"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":959,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/956\/revisions\/959"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/diacritical\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}