Weep, Shudder, Die: On Opera and Poetry

by Dana Gioia

"Looking at opera from the standpoint of its texts, as only a gifted poet and librettist can do, Dana Gioia examines why a surprisingly small number of operas have attained a secure place in the repertory. His insight into the workings of this uniquely lyrical fusion of the arts makes Weep, Shudder, Die not only a definitive assessment of the importance of poetry to the operatic undertaking, but a gift to opera lovers everywhere. Read…Reflect…Delight!"
—Ted Libbey, author of The NPR Listener’s Encyclopedia of Classical Music

“Weep, Shudder, Die should be read by anyone who enjoys opera, or who cares about its place in today's world. Dana Gioia explores, with imagination and insight, the relationship between the libretto and the music. I learned a great deal in reading it, and at the same time enjoyed the experience immensely.”
—Henry Fogel, Former President, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and League of American Orchestras

A unique book about opera—personal, impassioned, and provocative.

Weep, Shudder, Die explores opera from the perspective by which the art was originally created, as the most intense form of poetic drama. The great operas have an essential connection to poetry, song, and the primal power of the human voice. The aim of opera is irrational enchantment, the unleashing of emotions and visionary imagination.

Gioia rejects the conventional view of opera which assumes that great operas can be built on execrable texts. He insists that in opera, words matter. Operas begin as words; strong words inspire composers, weak words burden them. Ultimately, singers embody the words to give the music a human form for the audience.

Weep, Shudder, Die is a poet’s book about opera. To some, that statement will suggest writing that is airy, impressionistic, and unreliable, but a poet also brings a practical sense of how words animate opera, lend life to imaginary characters, and give human shape to music. Written from a lifelong devotion to the art, Gioia’s book is for anyone who has wept in the dark of an opera house.

Genres: Poetry, Music, Nonfiction

220 pages, Paperback

Published December 3, 2024

About the author

Dana Gioia is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning poet. Former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Gioia is a native Californian of Italian and Mexican descent. He received a B.A. and a M.B.A. from Stanford University and an M.A. in Comparative Literature from Harvard University. (Gioia is pronounced JOY-uh.)

Gioia has published four full-length collections of poetry, as well as eight chapbooks. His poetry collection, Interrogations at Noon, won the 2002 American Book Award. An influential critic as well, Gioia's 1991 volume Can Poetry Matter?, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award, is credited with helping to revive the role of poetry in American public culture.

Gioia's reviews have appeared in many magazines including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Washington Post Book World, The New York Times Book Review, Slate, and The Hudson Review. Gioia has written two opera libretti and is an active translator of poetry from Latin, Italian, and German.

As Chairman of the NEA, Gioia succeeded in garnering enthusiastic bi-partisan support in the United States Congress for the mission of the Arts Endowment, as well as in strengthening the national consensus in favor of public funding for the arts and arts education. (Business Week Magazine referred to him as "The Man Who Saved the NEA.")

Gioia's creation of a series of NEA National Initiatives combined with a wider distribution of direct grants to reach previously underserved communities making the agency truly national in scope. Through programs such as Shakespeare in American Communities, Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, NEA Jazz Masters, American Masterpieces, and Poetry Out Loud, the Arts Endowment has successfully reached millions of Americans in all corners of the country.

The Big Read became the largest literary program in the history of the federal government. By the end of 2008, 400 communities had held month-long celebrations of great literature. Because of these successes as well as the continued artistic excellence of the NEA's core grant programs, the Arts Endowment, under Chairman Gioia, reestablished itself as a preeminent federal agency and a leader in the arts and arts education.

Renominated in November 2006 for a second term and once again unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Dana Gioia is the ninth Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Gioia left his position as Chairman on January 22, 2009. In 2011 Gioia became the Judge Widney Professor of Poetry and Public Culture at the University of Southern California where he teaches each fall semester.

Gioia has been the recipient of ten honorary degrees. He has won numerous awards, including the 2010 Laetare Medal from Notre Dame. He and his wife, Mary, have two sons. He divides his time between Los Angeles and Sonoma County, California

Reviews

[Joanne Gass]

Well, I loved his unabashed love of both poetry and opera; I especially loved his wonderful chapter on Stephen Sondheim, and I hope his foray into opera libreto results in a successful Nosferatu.

[Vanessa]

Very solid, if often uneven, essay collection. I couldn't really claim that the personal and critical aspects of Gioia's writing mesh all the time, nor is the literary criticism on display particularly strong at any point. The best parts were for me the chapters on the dual Americans and Sondheim, as well as the final one which best combines Gioia's personal reflection and artistic insight. Outside these exceptions, it's a willfully ecstatic torrent of names and adoration for said names (adoration I and any potential reader share, making it far easier to stomach), with the central thesis of "libretti matter" tacked on at the end of each. That thesis was one I already agreed with going in, which made me somewhat disappointed to see very little actual analysis of libretti going on to support the author's particular claims, but it's a thesis argued for well enough all things considered, and it gets the book from points a to b and c sufficiently that the real centre of the book (love and history of opera at first worldwide and then in America) can keep moving.

[Eric Chevlen]

When one thinks of opera, it is the music which usually comes first to mind. That is as it should be. But Dana Gioia, in this charming book, points out the importance of the libretto in opera. The creation of an opera is a collaborative work even before it is brought to production. The librettist must create a work which inspires the musical composer, can be sung by performers, and will appeal to the audience. The poet who writes a libretto must call into play skills not used in ordinary writing of poetry.

Gioia is a music critic with experience in both poetry and libretto writing. I recommend this book to readers interested in opera, the queen of arts.

[Ron Kastner]

Not your standard consideration of opera; but a welcome book on an underappreciated of opera. Im not sure Verdi would agree with Mr. Gioia on the qualities of Piave as a librettist, except to say he taught him everything he knew.

[Scott]

I don't know much about opera, but this was a great introduction for me: a well-written, personal, and opinionated series of reflections from a poet who loves opera, considering the relationship between words and music, librettists and composers.

[cc]

I'm getting into opera, and using my love of poetry as an entry point is making it less intimidating.