Italian dignitaries attending the opening ceremony for EXPO Milan were startled to hear the children's choir sing a different version of the Italian national anthem. In the last line of the chorus, written by 20 year old patriot Goffredo Mameli in 1847, the phrase we are ready for death was substituted for we are ready for life.
Choir master Stefano Barzan, who arranged the music for the choir, said he did not have the heart to let such young children sing they were ready to die and transformed the anthem into a hymn to life. The proposal was approved by both the musical director and the event manager, as well as (apparently) the government in Rome.
The initiative did not please many traditionalists, who voiced their scandalized disapproval on the web. However, the word switch, which transforms the sentiments expressed in the anthem from a battle cry of the Italian Republic into a positive message for the future, mirrors the spirit of the inaugural speech by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi at the EXPO opening. Perhaps life will triumph over death as far as the anthem is concerned!
