I thought I was writing a book about the baritone roles in the operas of Giuseppe Verdi. But it became increasingly clear that I was writing a book about myself. So I turned it into a memoir, the story of my mid-life coming out, the refashioning of my marriage, my coming to terms with misogyny and toxic masculinity, all told from the perspective of opera. This chapter is about one of Verdi’s rare baritone good guys, Simon Boccanegra. I use his story to explore the death of my mother and my relationship with my children.

This is an excerpt from a longer essay that can be read in full at https://tahomaliteraryreview.com/selections/daddy-baritone/

Mark Mazullo is Professor of Music at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, where he has been teaching piano and courses in the history of music since 1999.

Mark Mazullo, Daddy Baritone, nonfiction

Davon Loeb reads "Like Gladiators," first published in Tahoma Literary Review, Volume 3, Issue 1.

Davon Loeb, "Like Gladiators"

Janet Bowdan lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, with her husband, son, and sometimes a lovely stepdaughter or two.

Tahoma Literary Review actually started me thinking about the challenge of the long poem: what could sustain a poem, a poet, a reader for that amount of time? I thought a letter could be both friendly and expansive. Obviously this poem has its soundtrack. The Broadway musical has conventions, like the “I want” song, but it also follows a story form (exciting beginning, neat wrap-up) that comes full circle.  But the poem is now, where we have no clear path or outcome, so it must go forward.

Mark Mazullo, Daddy Baritone, nonfiction

TahomaLiterary

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