GRGR(6): two POW questions

[Nicole Slagter]

Jeremy Osner asked:

<<on page 132 we read, "If these Eyeties sing now and then you can bet
it's not "Giovinezza" but probably something from *Rigoletto* or *La
Boheme"". I don't know from opera; what does this mean?>>

The reference to *Rigoletto* is a rather sinister one. The previous 
sentence to the one quoted above starts off: "Italian P/Ws curse 
underneath the mail sacks ..." *Rigoletto*'s ending features the title 
character carrying a sack containing the body of his (almost) dead 
daughter. He thinks it contains the corpse of the Duke of Mantua, his 
master, who had seduced his daughter, for which reason he, Rigoletto, 
had hired an assassin to murder him. Of course he finds out when going
to dump the body that his daughter has been murdered instead, because 
the Duke is heard to sing his signature song offstage, "la donna e 
mobile" (women are fickle). That would probably be the tune the 
Italians are whistling, while ogling the lady evacuees. It is one of 
the best known opera melodies of all time. It is a very lighthearted, 
catchy tune.

I don't know about *La Boheme*; that is, I know the opera, but I don't 
know why it would be on the list of Nonacceptable Songs. Anybody?

Nicole