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Saturdee
Opry Links # 80: Precious and Rare
 
Alexander Kipnis
Rosa Ponselle
Saturdee Opry Links Overture:
Johann Strauss Jr., "The Gypsy Baron." Invigorating!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJj9-91kxS8
1.
Today's edition of SOL is "precious and/or rare," meaning arias/selections that
are either rare gems, or just gems. Clear enough? Here is Enrico Caruso with "Quando
Nascesti Tu" ("When You Were Born"), from the opera, "Lo Schiavo," by the
Brazilian composer, Carlos Gomes. Gomes was the first "New World" composer
accepted in Europe. This is an SOL debut, by the way. It's chocked full of
lyricism and ardor.
Synopsis: Americo, an officer in the Lusitanian army, is in love with his
father's Brazilian maid, Ilara. He sings of his love for the girl. "When you
were born, the flowers were born, the sun was born."
Translation unavailable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPrdpeKXCvs
About the composer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant%C3%B4nio_Carlos_Gomes
2.
Not every aria is a knockout punch, an impassioned declamation topped off with
an earthshaking high note. Of course, you knew that. Didn't you? Here is a
lovely example of an aria that is essentially a lovely, understated song. Of
course, it would take a voice as naturally lovely as Tito Schipa's, to
underscore this quality. This is from the opera, "Mignon," by Ambroise Thomas.
It is the touching, gentle "Elle Ne Croyait Pas," or "She Did Not Believe."
Synopsis: Mignon has been rescued from a fire by Wilhelm and now lies
dangerously ill in the Cipriani castle. In her sleep, she is heard to mutter
Wilhelm's name, and he, struck by her innocence and beauty, gives tender
expression to his growing love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32Yg5HFWUJE
Translation:
Italian:
Ah! mieux que ma raison le coeur de ce vieillard
Console cet enfant par ses soins ranimée!
J'ai deviné trop tard le secret de Mignon;
Hélas! elle sommeille, et prononce mon nom.
Elle ne croyait pas, dans sa candeur naïve,
Que l'amour innocent qui dormait dans son coeur,
Dut se changer un jour en une ardeur plus vive
Et troubler à jamais son rêve de bonheur.
Pour rendre à la fleur épuisée
Sa fraîcheur, son éclat vermeil,
Ô printemps, donne-lui ta goutte de rosée!
Ô mon coeur, donne-lui ton rayon de soleil!
C'est en vain que j'attends un aveu de sa bouche,
Je veux connaître en vain se secrètes douleurs,
Mon regard l'intimide et ma voix l'effrouche,
Un mot trouble son âme et fait couler ses pleurs!
Sa fraîcheur, son éclat vermeil,
Ô printemps, donne-lui ta goutte de rosée!
Ô mon coeur, donne-lui ton rayon de soleil!
English:
Ah! better than my reason the heart of this old man
Comfort this child with his revived care!
I guessed Mignon's secret too late;
Alas! she sleeps, and pronounces my name.
She did not believe, in her naive candor,
May the innocent love that slept in his heart,
Had to change into a brighter heat one day
And forever disturb his dream of happiness.
To return to the exhausted flower
Its freshness, its ruddy radiance,
O spring, give him your drop of dew!
O my heart, give him your sunshine!
It is in vain that I await an admission from his mouth,
I want to know secret pains in vain,
My look intimidates him and my voice scares him,
A word troubles her soul and makes her tears flow!
Its freshness, its ruddy radiance,
O spring, give him your drop of dew!
O my heart, give him your sunshine!
3.
We all know the opera, "Rigoletto," or if we don't, we should. Sure you know
"Questa o Quella" (very un-PC today!) and "La Donne E Mobile" ("Women are
fickle!"), but the opera is just loaded with compelling melody (and drama),
start to finish. Not for nothing is it probably the most popular of Verdi operas
after "La Traviata." We all know the story, right? The hunchbacked court jester,
hell-bent on protecting his beautiful daughter from the womanizing Duke, and
from the "practical jokes" of courtiers. It's one hell of a dramatic role for a
baritone, and this is one hell of a dramatic aria. Right: not every aria is
"just" compelling melody---Verdi pioneered arias that were dramatic monologues.
One such is "Cortigiani, vil razza dannata," from "Rigoletto." The unique appeal
of the noble baritone voice is much realized here. The baritone is the great
Tito Gobbi in a wonderful clip from a film version of the opera. You get a sense
of the overall drama of the scene before the aria begins at 3:40.
Setting: A room in the Duke's palace
Synopsis: Rigoletto's daughter has been abducted by several courtiers and given
to the Duke. When Rigoletto tries to get through them to find his daughter, they
will not let him pass and he releases his fury upon them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAGkOMtdS-0
Translation:
https://www.opera-arias.com/verdi/rigoletto/cortigiani-vil-razza-dannata/
4.
Here is a mainline example of Verdi lyricism as written for baritone. There
really is nothing like a Verdi baritone aria in all literature, so imbued with
heartache they are. This is the great Ezio Pinza---correct, "Some Enchanted
Evening"---way back in 1929, with "Infelice! E tu Credevi" ("Poor Fool---you
believed!") from the opera, "Ernani." "What do I see here? In the most private
part of my house, with the one who was to be my bride,
two seducers I find!" Right. Not one, but two. Double your displeasure!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAAS0QeCd_U
Setting: Elvira's rooms in Don Ruy Gomez de Silva's apartments, Spain, 1519
Synopsis: Silva has entered his niece and fiancee Elvira's room to find both
Ernani and Carlo inside. He is shocked at this and expresses his sadness.
Translation:
http://www.aria-database.com/search.php?individualAria=417
5.
I said "precious and/or rare," so here is one that is anything but rare, but as
precious as can be. You all know the melody, of course, if for no other reason
Groucho Marx turning it into "He Lost his Shirt" in 'The Cocoanuts.'" But there
is a rare aspect here, in that the choice of singer is wonderful Rosa Ponselle.
She started out with sister Carmela as a Vaudeville act, The Ponzillo
Sisters---those Tailored Italian Girls," singing popular tunes and opera duets,
before being "discovered" and pitched to the Metropolitan opera by none other
than Enrico Caruso.
The late, great Martin Bernheimer wrote: "Ponselle's voice is generally regarded
as one of the most beautiful of the century. She was universally lauded for
opulence of tone, evenness of scale, breadth of range, perfection of technique
and communicative warmth." Here she is, later in her career when her voice was
richer and darker, with the habanera (in this case a popular tune stolen by
Bizet) from the opera, "Carmen." Also known as "L'amour st un oiseau rebelle"
("Love is a rebellious bird.") This is Ponselle's screen test for "Carmen," done
exactly at the point of her retirement in 1937.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_wmjUk234s
Setting: A square in Seville
Synopsis: After appearing out of the cigarette factory, Carmen seductively sings
about love and its unpredictable actions.
Translation:
http://www.aria-database.com/search.php?sid=b423519c313bbe3bb58bd&X=24&individualAria=42
About Ponselle:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Ponselle
AND HERE IS. . ."He Lost His Shirt," by The Marx Brothers!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__FpbqRnbio
6.
Here is a gem, and a rarity----sort of. The aria is anything but rare; in fact,
it is one of the great works of Puccini, "Visi d'arte," from "Tosca." But. .
.this is sung by Rosa Ponselle, who you saw in the immediately preceding post at
the end of her career. This recording is from the beginning of her career, in
fact---only two months after her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as a green
21-year-old. From Vaudeville to this, in just weeks. You'll have to turn it up a
bit to really appreciate her voice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GheszdYdArs
Synopsis: Tosca has just agreed to Harvey Weinstein's blackmail---I mean
Scarpia's blackmail---to have sex with him in exchange for the life of her
imprisoned beloved, Cavaradossi. She laments this horrific injustice, imploring
God to tell her why this is happening. "I lived for art. I never harmed a living
soul."
Translation:
http://www.aria-database.com/search.php?individualAria=302
7.
Back to the grandeur of the baritone voice, in this case, bass-baritone. . .Kipness
was too much! And what a righteous, beautiful aria this is by Mozart, who just
tossed these things off, apparently. "In Diesen Heil'gen Hallen" is from "The
Magic Flute," which is perhaps unduly thought of as a lighter work, especially
judging by this moving paean to brotherhood. Here, Sarastro, High Priest of the
Temple of Isis and Osiris, assures Prince Tamino that within the temple walls
there is no place for hatred and evil---that only love and brotherhood prevails
there. You know, like Washington. D.C.. This is a fairly astonishing
recording---a real gem---that we are lucky to have, by the great Alexander
Kipnis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUVtca7E470
Translation:
http://www.aria-database.com/search.php?individualAria=202
8.
"Cielo e Mar," from "La Gioconda," by Ponchielli (yes, he whose music was
wonderfully desecrated with dancing hippos and alligators by Disney) is one of
the "great arias," no question about it. Anything but rare---but precious, yes,
especially in this recording by tenor Jussi Bjorling. As the operatic tenor and
scholar Nigel Douglas explained: "To me, the most characteristic element of
Bjorling's singing is that hint of Nordic melancholy. . .which sets him apart
from his Mediterranean colleagues, and endows the voice with a beauty all its
own." Curious, these regionally based qualities, eh? What a glorious, inspired
melodic line. . ."Sky and sea! The airy curtain sparkles like a holy altar!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lBNA-WVseI
Synopsis: As Enzo stands watch on his ship, he awaits the arrival of his love
Laura. He sings of the sea and sky around him and his love.
Translation:
http://www.aria-database.com/search.php?individualAria=791
9.
A precious and rare gem, I say. The lovely, though poignant, song of the goat's
struggle with a wolf---from "L'Arlesienne," by Cilea. Sung with restraint and
art by the great Tito Gobbi. "Come due tizzi accessi" ('Like two lit embers. .
.") This is a great example of one of those arias that, even if you have no idea
what it is about, is lovely and affecting.
Synopsis:
A kindly old shepherd, Baldassare, has taken his employer's mentally impaired
son under his wing. The child loves to listen to him telling stories, even one
as sad as this tale of a goat fighting off a wolf throughout the night, only to
fade away with morning. (These events presage events in the opera itself.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw1iVIDgavA
Translation:
Italian:
Come due tizzi accesi,
dall'alto del dirupo,
vide su lei sospesi
gli occhi del lupo...
Non diede un gemito,
la disgraziata :
e non tentò fuggire :
capìche il lup l'avrebbe mangiata!
Ah! E il lupo sogghignò
Quasi volesse dire :
tempo a mangiarti avrò!
Il sol tramonta, scende la sera
e con la sera s'annunzia la morte
Ma lei da quella forte capra
ch'ell'era le sue corna abbassò
già esperte in altre lotte,
e il lupo attese, e col luppo lottò
tutta la notte!
Ma quando il sol spuntò
dimise a terra il corpo sanguinoso
e il sol negli occhi la baciò;
poi glieli chiuse all'ultime riposo!
ENGLISH:
Like two lit embers,
from the top of the cliff,
he saw her suspended
wolf eyes ...
He didn't groan,
the unfortunate:
and did not try to escape:
he understood that the wolf would eat it!
Ah! And the wolf grinned
As if to say:
I'll have time to eat you!
The sun sets, evening falls
and in the evening death is announced
But she gives that strong goat
that he was his horns lowered
already experienced in other struggles,
and the wolf waited, and fought the goat
all night long!
But when the sun came up
the goat put the bloody body to the ground
and the sun in his eyes kissed him;
then closed them to him for the last rest!
FINAL BOW:
I've always felt that the supreme melodist, Tchaikovsky, somehow failed to allow
this gift to serve him when it was most warranted: in opera. (Probably my
deficiency.) I love his symphonic work, but his operas put me to sleep. Here is
an exception, though: "Lensky's aria" from "Eugene Onegin." Here sung in German,
on stage, by wonderful Fritz Wunderlich, which is redundant. This is the
poignant and rhapsodic, "Wohin bist du entschwundern" ("Where have you gone,
golden days of my spring?") This footage is precious and rare, considering poor
Wunderlich died in an accident at 35.
https://vk.com/video-17382202_146475282
Translation:
Where have you gone, o golden days of my spring?
What does the day coming has in store for me?
It escapes my eyes, it is hidden!
Shall I fall to the deadly arrow, or will it pass by?
All for better, there is a pre-determined time
For life and for sleep
Blessed is a day of simple tasks
And blessed is the day of troubles.
Will the day beam shine in the morning
And the bright day shall reign
And I, well, will I, perhaps, will descent
Into mysterious darkness of my fatal tomb?
And the memory of a strange poet will fall into Abyss
The world shall forget me, but you, you, Olga!
Tell me, will you, the maiden of beauty, come to shed a tear
Over the early urn
And think "he loved me, he devoted to me
The gloomy dawn of a troubled life!"
Ah Olga, I did love you,
To you alone I devoted
The gloomy dawn of my troubled life
Yes Olga, I did love you!
Saturdee Opry Links ENCORE!
Just to cap things off with merriment, after so many sober offerings this
morning, here are Juan Diego Florez, Jonas Kaufmann, and (pregnant) Sonia
Yontscheva having a great time with the drinking song from Verdi's "La Traviata,"
also known as "L'biamo ne' lieta calici" ("Let us drink from goblets of
joy!"---good idea!) With the great Placido Domingo conducting---until Gustavo
Dudamel bumps him aside!
Setting: A late-night party at the house of Violetta Valery
Synopsis: Alfredo is convinced by Gastone and Violetta to show off his voice. He
sings (as this title suggests) a drinking song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1wsx3LW2jA
Translation:
http://www.aria-database.com/search.php?individualAria=311
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