September 23, 2011

Courage.  I wanted to wait a while after September 11 to write about courage.  We cannot be reminded enough of the courage of the first responders on 9/11, and especially of the courage of the passengers and crew of Flight 93, who with no prior knowledge, or training, or psychological support, gave their lives to save others with only minutes of warning.  And it is the duty of the true artist to be courageous, and to inspire.  Puccini , Picasso, all the great artists inspire the noble.  Wednesday I saw the opera Heart of a Soldier, which tells the true story of Rick Rescorla, a British born Vietnam vet, who as head of security for Morgan Stanley saved 2,700 lives in the South Tower on 9/11.  It is also the story of his lifelong friendship with fellow soldier Dan Hill, who converted to Islam and fought with the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan.  And it is the story of Rick's late life romance with his second wife, Susan.  A beautiful opera, the best in this new century so far.