[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 25, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H4076-H4078]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      HONORING THE LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF GIAN CARLO MENOTTI

  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 68), honoring the life and 
accomplishments of Gian Carlo Menotti and recognizing the success of 
the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina, which he 
founded.
  The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
  The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 68

       Whereas Gian Carlo Menotti was born on July 7, 1911, in 
     Cadegliano-Viconago, Italy;
       Whereas Mr. Menotti began writing songs at age 7, and at 
     age 11 wrote both the libretto and music for his first opera, 
     The Death of Pierrot;
       Whereas Mr. Menotti began his formal musical training in 
     1923 at Milan's Verdi Conservatory;
       Whereas after the death of his father, Mr. Menotti and his 
     mother emigrated to the United States, and he enrolled at 
     Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music;
       Whereas Mr. Menotti's first full-length opera, The Consul, 
     premiered in 1950, and it won both the Pulitzer Prize for 
     Music and, in 1954, the New York Drama Circle Critics' Award 
     for Musical Play of the Year;
       Whereas in 1951, Mr. Menotti wrote his beloved Christmas 
     opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, for the Hallmark Hall of 
     Fame;
       Whereas Amahl and the Night Visitors was the first opera 
     ever written for television in the United States and was 
     first aired on Christmas Eve in 1951;
       Whereas Amahl and the Night Visitors was such a success 
     that it became an annual Christmas tradition and remains Mr. 
     Menotti's most popular work to this day;
       Whereas in 1955, Mr. Menotti won a second Pulitzer Prize 
     for his opera, The Saint of Bleecker Street;
       Whereas in 1958, Mr. Menotti founded the Festival dei Due 
     Mondi (Festival of the Two Worlds) in Spoleto, Italy, as a 
     forum for young American artists in Europe;
       Whereas when the organizers of the Festival of Two Worlds 
     decided to plan a companion festival in the United States, 
     they searched for a city that would offer the charm of 
     Spoleto, Italy;
       Whereas Mr. Menotti and the Spoleto USA organizers decided 
     that Charleston, South Carolina, was the perfect counterpart 
     to Spoleto, Italy, because Charleston is small enough to be 
     dominated by nonstop arts events during the 17-day festival, 
     but also large and sophisticated enough to provide a 
     knowledgeable audience and appropriate theaters;
       Whereas the Spoleto USA organizers also observed that 
     Charleston has an extensive history of involvement with the 
     arts, from housing the Nation's first theater and ballet 
     companies to housing the Nation's oldest musical 
     organization;
       Whereas Mr. Menotti founded the Spoleto Festival USA in 
     1977, and the festival quickly became a haven for a large 
     group of artists, both traditional and experimental, who were 
     attracted to the mix of dance, theater, opera, music, and 
     visual arts;
       Whereas the Spoleto Festival USA has maintained traditions 
     of the Festival of Two Worlds, such as a dedication to young 
     artists, an enthusiasm for providing unusual performance 
     opportunities to recognized masters in their fields, and a 
     commitment to all forms of the performing arts, including 
     classical ballet, modern and post-modern dance, opera, 
     chamber, symphonic, and choral music, jazz, theater, and 
     visual arts;
       Whereas the Spoleto Festival USA currently claims an 
     audience of between 70,000 and 80,000 attendees each year; 
     and
       Whereas Gian Carlo Menotti died on February 1, 2007, in a 
     hospital in Monte Carlo: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring),  That Congress honors the life and 
     accomplishments of Gian Carlo Menotti and recognizes the 
     success of the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South 
     Carolina, which he founded.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
New York (Ms. Clarke) and the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. 
Wilson) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, I request 5 legislative days during which 
Members may insert material relevant to H. Con. Res. 68 into the 
Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  (Ms. CLARKE asked and was given permission to revise and extend her 
remarks.)
  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H. Con. Res. 68 honors the life and accomplishments of 
Gian Carlo Menotti, and recognizes the success of the Spoleto Festival 
USA in Charleston, South Carolina, which he founded.
  I would like to thank Representative Brown from South Carolina for 
bringing this important resolution to the floor.
  Gian Carlo Menotti was born July 7, 1911, at Cadegliano-Viconago, 
Italy. At the age of 7, under the guidance of his mother, he began to 
compose songs, and 4 years later he wrote the words and music of his 
first opera, ``The Death of Pierrot.''
  Following the death of his father, his mother took him to the United 
States, where he was enrolled at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of 
Music. There he completed his musical studies.
  His first mature work, the one-act opera buffa, ``Amelia Goes to the 
Ball,'' was premiered in 1937, a success that

[[Page H4077]]

led to a commission from the National Broadcasting Company to write an 
opera especially for radio, ``The Old Maid and the Thief,'' the first 
such commission ever given.
  ``The Consul,'' Menotti's first full-length work, won the Pulitzer 
Prize and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award as the best musical 
play of the year in 1954.
  In 1984, Menotti was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor of Lifetime 
Achievement in the Arts. He was chosen 1991 Musician of the Year by 
Musical America, inaugurating worldwide tributes to the composer in 
honor of his 80th birthday.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Concurrent Resolution 
68. This resolution honors the life and accomplishments of Gian Carlo 
Menotti, and recognizes the success of the Spoleto Festival USA, which 
he founded in my birthplace of Charleston, South Carolina.
  Born in Italy, near Lake Magiore and the Swiss border, Mr. Menotti 
began writing songs at the age of 7. By 11 he wrote both the story line 
and music for his first opera, ``The Death of Pierrot,'' and shortly 
thereafter began his formal musical training at Milan's Verdi 
Conservatory.

                              {time}  1245

  After the death of his father, Menotti and his mother immigrated to 
the United States, where he enrolled at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute 
of Music.
  In 1951 Mr. Menotti wrote his beloved Christmas opera, ``Amahl and 
the Night Visitors,'' for the Hallmark Hall of Fame. ``Amahl and the 
Night Visitors'' was the first opera ever written for television in the 
United States and was first aired on Christmas Eve in 1951. ``Amahl and 
the Night Visitors'' was such a success that it became an annual 
Christmas tradition and remains Mr. Menotti's most famous popular work 
to this day.
  In 1958 he founded the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy. This 
festival was intended to bring opera to a popular audience and helped 
launch the careers of such artists as singer Shirley Verrett and 
choreographers Paul Taylor and Twyla Tharp.
  In 1977 he founded its companion festival, Spoleto Festival USA, in 
Charleston, South Carolina. Spoleto Festival USA is an annual 17-day 
festival of the arts which produces opera, and it presents dance, 
theater, classical music, and jazz. The festival is held in late May 
and early June.
  Charleston was chosen as the location for the festival due to its 
wealth of theaters and other performance spaces. Each year the festival 
hosts over 100 performances by international artists in a variety of 
disciplines. Since its inception it has presented 100 international 
premieres and 93 American premieres, notably ``Creve Coeur'' by 
Tennessee Williams and ``The American Clock'' by Arthur Miller. World-
renowned artists who performed at Spoleto Festival USA early in their 
careers include Renee Fleming, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Joanna Simon, 
and Yo-Yo Ma. The festival claims an audience annually of between 
70,000 to 80,000 persons each year.
  In 1984 Menotti was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor for Achievement 
in the Arts, and in 1991 he was chosen Musical America's ``Musician of 
the Year.'' In addition to composing operas to his own texts, on his 
own chosen subject matter, Menotti directed most productions of his 
work.
  Gian Carlo Menotti died on February 1, 2007, at the age of 95 in a 
hospital in Monte Carlo, Monaco, where he had a home.
  I want to thank my colleagues, led by Congressman Henry Brown and my 
fellow members of the South Carolina delegation, for honoring the life 
of this great Italian American artist as well as his lasting legacy, 
the Spoleto Festival USA.
  I ask my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 4\1/2\ minutes to the 
gentleman from New Jersey, Bill Pascrell, Jr., member of the Ways and 
Means Committee.
  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman for 
yielding.
  I rise today in strong support of House Concurrent Resolution 68, a 
resolution honoring the life and accomplishments of Gian Carlo Menotti, 
who passed away earlier this year at the age of 95.
  As cochair of the congressional Italian American delegation, I am 
especially proud to be here today to honor Gian Carlo Menotti. This 
award-winning composer and champion of artists was one of the most 
significant composers to emerge after World War II.
  A native of Italy, he was the sixth of ten children. He began writing 
songs when he was 7 years of age. If you can flash back to when we were 
7 years of age, I know that maybe the Speaker was writing songs, but I 
wasn't. He wrote both the libretto and music for his first opera, ``The 
Death of Pierrot.'' He was an immigrant. So we are not only talking 
about his life, we are talking about all of those immigrants who came 
here with nothing and made something that everybody was affected by in 
his life.
  He came to this country in 1928. And his first full-length opera was 
``The Consul,'' which premiered in 1950. He won the Pulitzer Prize for 
Music and in 1954 the New York Drama Circle Critics' Award for Musical 
Play of the Year. The piece was translated into 12 languages and 
performed in no fewer than 20 countries.
  In 1951 he wrote the Christmas opera ``Amahl and the Night 
Visitors,'' the first opera ever written for television in the United 
States. It first aired on Christmas Eve in 1951, and it remains the 
most popular work to this day.
  In 1958 he founded the Festival dei Due Mondi, which is the Festival 
of the Two Worlds, in Spoleto, Italy, as a forum for young American 
artists who were in Europe. This was a place for them to go to really 
bevel their skills so that they can communicate to the rest of the 
world the beauty of music.
  When the organizers of the Festival of Two Worlds searched for a 
city, they went to Charleston, a great city which Congressman Wilson 
spoke of, and I think that is where he was born. So they gave us not 
only Congressman Wilson, but they also gave us great music. It is a 
beautiful city, and they saw what was in Spoleto, Italy, and they tried 
to replicate that.
  Mr. Menotti founded the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston in 1977, 
and it has since maintained the tradition, and you heard the speaker 
previously speak about how many people go to that festival.
  I am proud to lend my voice today to the chorus of those in support 
of this resolution.
  True, Mr. Speaker, there was no TV series or reality TV reflecting 
the genius of this man. Thank God. His music spoke for itself and 
sounded for itself. And when we talk about television and what goes on 
the tube and what passes for reality and the series that we see and are 
exposed to that are supposed to reflect to us the ethnicity of certain 
groups, it is shameful that we do not give presence to this beautiful 
immigrant who gave his life, as the individual we honored last year, 
who painted the inside of this Capitol and wound up with nothing in his 
pocket at the end of it. These are the people that made America. Not 
the people that get whacked on series. And thank God it is going to be 
over pretty soon.
  So we celebrate the accomplishments of Gian Carlo Menotti not just 
for Italians, not just for Italian Americans, but for all of us. We are 
all immigrants. We are all immigrants. And so we say that word 
respectfully as we move towards the discussion and the debate about 
what our immigration policy will be later on in this year. And 
hopefully we will come to salient solutions which reflect the best of 
our immigrant population, every group, regardless of which continent 
you came here from.
  So thank you, Madam Congresswoman, and thank you, Mr. Wilson from 
South Carolina.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the 
information enthusiastically provided by Mr. Pascrell, who is certainly 
one of the finest Members we have here, and I appreciate our long 
association.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from South Carolina (Mr. Brown).

[[Page H4078]]

  Mr. BROWN of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I thank my good friend Joe 
Wilson for yielding me this time and for those great remarks of Mr. 
Pascrell.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on H. Con. Resolution 68, which is 
a resolution honoring the life of Gian Carlo Menotti, who was the 
founder of the Spoleto Festival USA that happens every year in 
Charleston, South Carolina.
  Mr. Speaker, on February 1, 2007, Gian Carlo Menotti passed away. He 
was a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and champion of the arts in the 
United States and in Italy.
  In 1958 he founded the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, as a 
forum for young artists in Europe. In 1977 he decided to plan a 
companion American festival, and they searched for an American city 
that would offer the charm of Spoleto, Italy.
  Mr. Menotti and the Spoleto Festival organizers decided that 
Charleston, South Carolina, was the perfect counterpart to Spoleto, 
Italy. Charleston is small enough to be dominated by nonstop arts 
events during the 17-day festival but also large and sophisticated 
enough to provide a knowledgeable audience and appropriate theaters.
  Organizers also observed that Charleston, South Carolina, has an 
extensive history of involvement with the arts from housing America's 
first theater and ballet companies to housing the oldest musical 
organization in the country.
  The Spoleto Festival quickly became a haven for a large group of 
artists, both traditional and experimental, who found the mix of dance, 
theater, opera, music, and the visual arts.
  The Spoleto Festival USA has maintained traditions of the Festival of 
Two Worlds, such as a dedication to young artists and an enthusiasm for 
providing unusual performance opportunities to recognized masters in 
their fields and a commitment to all forums of the performing arts, 
including classical ballet, modern and post-modern dance, opera, 
chamber, symphonic, and choral music, jazz, theater, and visual arts.
  Spoleto Festival USA currently claims an audience of over 75,000 
attendees each year, and the festival continues its dedication to 
providing performance opportunities to young artists from across the 
United States and Italy.
  Mr. Speaker, H. Con. Res. 68 has been endorsed by the National 
Italian American Foundation and is cosponsored by the entire South 
Carolina delegation, including my friend and colleague who also 
represents part of Charleston, South Carolina, the majority whip, Jim 
Clyburn.
  I urge all of my colleagues to support H. Con. Res. 68 in honor of 
the father of Spoleto Festival USA, Gian Carlo Menotti.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I do want to conclude with 
thanking Mr. Brown for his leadership in bringing this to the attention 
of our country.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. CLARKE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Clarke) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 68.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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