...most of the creatures who have been described as gentlemen in the past. Most of those never showed ladies any proper respect, and they generally had some exceedingly unpleasant habits.
This week has been a particularly busy birthday week in the ethereal musical world. Mr Bach on Monday mentioned to me that he was rather amused that the Australian government decided to make his birthday into a Harmony Day.
The Harmony Day website
Mr Johann Sebastian Bach was not considered to be a gentleman during his compositional career, mainly because he was considered to be an employee rather than an employer. He believes, as I do, that the anniversaries of births, marriages and deaths should always be celebrations of the life and achievements of the person in question. However, all of this celebrating can be rather time consuming.
A true gentleman, like a true celebrity, should be a person worthy of celebration in the eyes, ears and minds of others, long into the future. Monday was also the birthday of Mr Modest Mussorgsky, while today is the birthday of Mr Béla Bartók. They were not born this week in the literal sense, even though saying it is their birthday may cause some confusion amongst those who are aware that some composers begin their musical careers at a very early age. Are you familiar with their work?
Some other more modern musical personalities are worthy of mention today, some of whom are still active in the material world. Maria Malibran also would like everyone to know that it was her birthday yesterday. She has a unique way of singing "Happy Birthday to Me, from a low to high C". And she has very little tolerance for any male personage who does not behave like a true gentleman in her presence.
The pseudo-gentlemen who employed Mr Bach rarely have anyone to celebrate their birthdays with them nowadays. Maria Malibran thinks that is quite hilarious. She has even said so to Caterina Benincasa, who is celebrating her own birthday today. You may know the latter by the name of Catherine of Siena, dear reader. Do you believe her to be a woman of more importance than La Malibran?
Maria Malibran and I would especially like to wish a happy birthday today to Magda Olivero, a wonderful singer who is celebrating her 101st birthday. You may know of her as one of the greatest ever performers of the role of Puccini's Tosca, and I am told that she may still be in strong voice today.
Magda Olivero as Tosca
The character of Tosca did not receive very much respect from a man called Baron Scarpia, who was supposed to be an upholder of the law as a royalist police chief. He was certainly someone I would never consider to be a gentleman.
Another lady of song who is having a birthday today is Aretha Franklin, a person very well known for her advocacy of respect. I am also told that a quite musical gentleman by the name of Mr Reginald Dwight is celebrating his birthday today, though he prefers to be known as Sir Elton John. Mr Bach tells me that Sir Elton has a rather interesting keyboard technique for a knight of the realm, though his tunes are often too easy to remember for my taste, especially when played over and over again in my local supermarket.
In view of this, I am especially involved in celebrating the birthday of another true gentleman. He is someone I consider to be the greatest musician of recent times and his name is Mr Arturo Toscanini. He is also someone who truly knows the difference between life and art, which I believe to be the most important distinguishing feature of a gentleman, or a lady.
Whose birthday will you be celebrating today?
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