April 19, 2008 The Barber of Seville: Overture Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) The Barber of Seville (1816) is the most enduringly popular of Rossini’s 35 operas. He had already used the piece we know as the Overture to the Barber of Seville to introduce two other operas, both of them dramas. Yet even although not a note of it recurs in the Barber, it captures the opera’s merry spirit to perfection. Gianni Schicchi: O mio babbino caro Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) Puccini’s Il trittico (The Triptych), a set of three one-act operas, premiered in 1918. The last of the three is the sprightly comedy Gianni Schicchi. In this brief aria, Schicchi’s daughter Lauretta tenderly expresses her love for her father. Così fan tutte: Smanie implacabile Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) In this 1790 comic opera, a cynical older man bets with two young fellows that their fiancées will prove unfaithful within 24 hours – and with each other’s mates! This mock-heroic aria is sung by one of the ladies. After her fiancé has gone off to war, she grieves his leaving to the point where she almost becomes hysterical. Aïda: Celeste Aïda Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) Aïda, one of Verdi’s most popular works, received its first performance in Cairo, Egypt, in 1871. The title character is an Ethiopian princess, held captive as a slave in Egypt. She is torn between her feelings of patriotism and her love for Radames, an Egyptian general. In this soaring aria, Radames sings of his love for her. Faust: Faites-lui mes aveux Charles-François Gounod (1818-1893) Gounod won his greatest operatic success with Faust (1859). Based on the familiar legend immortalized by Goethe, it revolves around a learned doctor who sells his soul to the Devil. The heroine, Marguerite, is wooed not only by Faust but by a youth, Siebel. Entering Marguerite’s garden, Siebel sings her this lovely serenade, imploring the flowers to carry his message of love. La Bohème: O suave fanciulla Giacomo Puccini In 1893, Puccini and Ruggero Leoncavallo both began composing operas based on Henry Murger’s novel Scenes of Bohemian Life. Puccini’s version reached the stage first, in 1896. The story is set in the Latin Quarter of Paris, home to starving young artists of all pursuits. In this ecstatic duet, the poet Rodolpho and the seamstress Mimi first declare their love for one another. Cavalleria rusticana: Intermezzo Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945) Cavalleria rusticana (Rustic Chivalry, 1890) was Mascagni’s first opera. The action takes place in a Sicilian village on Easter morning. The principal characters in this blood-and-thunder melodrama are Santuzza, a fiery young woman, and Turridu, a young soldier whom Santuzza suspects of being unfaithful. The Intermezzo, heard between the two scenes of this one-act opera, is an outpouring of lyrical emotion. La Bohème: Quando m’en vo’soletta (Musetta’s Waltz) Giacomo Puccini Act Two of La Bohème is set in a restaurant on Christmas Eve. The lovely Musetta sings this glorious aria to enflame the jealousy of her lover, the painter Marcello. In it, she describes how every man turns to marvel at her beauty as she passes by. Rigoletto: Signor nè principe Giuseppe Verdi When Rigoletto premiered in 1851, it signalled the arrival of Verdi’s maturity as the great Italian opera composer of the nineteenth century. Rigoletto is the embittered, hunchbacked jester at the court of the vain, pleasure-loving Duke of Mantua. The Duke has designs on Gilda, Rigoletto’s daughter, whom he has wooed by deception. In this aria, Gilda describes the handsome young man she has fallen in love with. Vanessa: Must the winter come so soon Samuel Barber (1910-1981) The romantic drama Vanessa by American composer Barber premiered at the Metropolitan Opera in 1958. In this aria, the character Erika sadly asks why winter must come so soon and last so long. La traviata: Parigi, o cara Giuseppe Verdi This popular opera premiered in 1853. It tells the story of Violetta, a Parisian courtesan, who nobly sacrifices her love for Alfredo, a handsome young man. This duet appears in the final act, as the lovers are reunited happily – but as it turns out, only for a short time. Hansel and Gretel: Brüderchen, komm tanz mit mir Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) With a plot drawn from the German fairy tale about a brother and sister who outsmart a nasty witch, this opera premiered in 1893. In this sprightly comic duet, Gretel tries to teach her clumsy brother Hansel how to dance. Nabucco: Overture Giuseppe Verdi Verdi’s third opera, Nabucco (1842) won his first great success. The story takes places in ancient Babylon, where King Nebuchadnezzar (or Nabucco, in Italian) holds Hebrew slaves in bondage. The overture is a rousing potpourri of melodies from the full score. Lakmé: Viens, Mallika…Dôme épais le jasmin (Flower Duet) Léo Delibes (1836-1891) The title character in Lakmé (1883) is the daughter of a Brahmin priest in India who falls in love with a dashing British officer. In this lovely duet, Lakmé and her servant Mallika describe the calm beauty of the garden located next to her father’s temple. Turandot: Nessun dorma Giacomo Puccini Left in a near-complete state at Puccini’s death, Turandot was finished by Franco Alfano. The title character is a beautiful but icy Chinese princess whose hand can be won only by a suitor who solves three difficult riddles. In this heartfelt aria Calaf, son of a Tartar king, expresses his confidence in winning her hand. |
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