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to make Samson succumb to her charms. Once
he appears, she works her wiles in the opera’s most
famous solo passage. This is the last of her three
arias, known to English-speaking audiences in earlier
decades as “My heart at thy sweet voice.” In the
aria’s repeated voicing of “Réponds à ma tendresse”
(“Give an answer to my tenderness”), the singer
can exert a spell not only on her tenor, but on her
audience as well.
Puccini,
Gianni Schicchi
, “O mio babbino caro”
The rascal Gianni Schicchi, a character who appears
in Dante’s
Divine Comedy
, is also the title hero of
Giacomo Puccini’s only comic opera. A one-act
work,
Gianni Schicchi
premiered as part of a trio of
one-acts,
Il trittico/The Triptych
, at the Metropolitan
Opera in 1918. The three pieces are frequently
presented together, and each has also found an
audience on its own, but
Schicchi
remains the most
popular by far. Much of the public’s affection for it
has to do with the aria of young Lauretta, Schicchi’s
daughter. “O mio babbino caro” has had a life beyond
the opera house, thanks to its prominent use in one
of the most memorable films of the 1980s, Merchant-
Ivory’s
A Room with a View.
Immediately upon the death of a distinguished
Florentine, Buoso Donati, his relatives search his
home for his will. It is found by Rinuccio, who hands it
over only on the condition that, if he comes off well in
the will, he will be given Lauretta’s hand in marriage.
None of the relatives are happy with the will as it
stands, so Rinuccio suggests that Gianni Schicchi
be enlisted to use his wiles in altering the will in their
favor. Schicchi, when sent for, refuses to help until
Lauretta pleads with him in one of Puccini’s most
endearing arias.
Verdi,
Il trovatore,
“Vedi! Le fosche notturne”
(Anvil Chorus)
The early 1850s found Giuseppe Verdi proving
his greatness as never before, with three works
which have never lost their hold on the collective
imagination of operagoers the world over.
Rigoletto
came first, then
Il trovatore
, and finally
La traviata
. Of
the three,
Il trovatore
most specifically defines “grand
opera” in the stereotypical sense of the phrase – so
much so that the Marx Brothers chose a
Trovatore
production as the setting for their antics in
A Night
at the Opera
! This work’s emotions are painted in
primary colors, and Verdi’s prodigality as a tunesmith
results in nonstop melodic glory.
In 14th-century Spain, Manrico is an officer in
the army of the Prince of Urgel. He is in love with the
noblewoman Leonora. Manrico, who has been raised
by the gypsy Azucena and believes her to be his
mother, does not know that he and his enemy, Count
di Luna – himself in love with Leonora – are actually
brothers. Act Two finds Azucena and Manrico in
a gypsy camp in the Biscay mountains. As the act
opens, dawn has just broken. The men swing their
hammers and crash them down on the anvils, to a
spirited refrain: “Who makes the gypsy’s life beautiful?
The gypsy girl!” The so-called “Anvil Chorus”
remains one of opera’s most popular choral numbers,
165 years after it was first introduced at the Rome
premiere of
Il trovatore
.
Mozart,
Idomeneo
, “Placido è il mar”
Mozart’s operatic maturity began in 1781 in Munich
with the premiere of
Idomeneo
, his tenth completed
opera (not bad for a composer who celebrated his
25th birthday only two days before the premiere).
Suddenly he was bringing vivid personalities to life, in
music conveying a wrenching emotional power. For
sheer beauty, this work can stand comparison with
any other Mozart stage work. In addition, the private
agony of public personalities is communicated as
powerfully and sincerely as would be the case with
Verdi decades later. Emotions throughout affect the
listener profoundly, unlike those of so many works in
the era of
opera seria
, of which
Idomeneo
is both the
summit and the turning point.
More than any other Mozart opera,
Idomeneo
gives prominence to the chorus, who portray the
people of Crete where Idomeneo is king. He is
returning home from the Trojan War when a storm
endangers his ship. He begs Neptune to allow
him a safe landing, but the god agrees only when
Idomeneo promises to sacrifice the first person he
sees upon his return. This turns out to be his son,
Prince Idamante. The king’s minister, Arbace, advises
him to send his son away. Idomeneo determines that
Idamante will serve as Princess Elettra’s escort for
her voyage home to Argos. Elettra is ecstatic at the
thought that, once away from the captive Princess
Ilia – her rival for Idamante’s affections – she will
succeed in making him hers. She joins the people of
Crete as they wish for a calm sea and gentle breezes
for the couple’s journey.