Gorbachev’s Leadership

Where is Verdi now that we really need him?

Watching the angry crowds marching through the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, their battle cries demanding the obliteration of the remnants of communism, resembles the revolutionary events of 1848 Europe. At that time, the battle hymn for of Garibaldi’s marching battalions was the stirring chorus from Giuseppe Verdi’s “Nabucco”--” Va, pensiero, sull ali dorato ,” sang the enslaved Hebrews of their homeland. The political aspirations if the Hebrews were quickly identified with those of the Italians.

As we witness 70 years of stifling frustrations coming to a close, it seems only appropriate that the end to Karl Marx’s Utopia be melodic and rousing. “Arise workers of the world, throw off your chains of communist slavery. The society in which all are equal, only some are more equal than others, lies on its operatic deathbed.” He has the words, Gorbachev now deserves the background music that only the genius of Verdi can provide.

I. MONTE RADLOVIC

Claremont