October 7, 2013

Verdi 200!  This is a very special occasion: on October 10 the great master of Italian opera, Giuseppe Verdi, turns 200 (he might have been born on October 9, but what does it matter!). We’re poor on Verdi’s music: opera houses don’t share their recorded operas with us, neither do the major labels, so all we can do to celebrate is borrow from YouTube.  We’ve previously written about Verid’s life, so today we’ll just present four magnificent selections from his operas Rigoletto, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, and Aida.   Rigoletto was composed in 1851.  Verdi was a well-known composer by then, but Rigoletto, written for and premiered at the Venetian theater La Fenice, was an unparallel success.  The next day people sung the Duke’s aria La donna è mobile on the streets.  Enrico Caruso, one of the most famous Dukes, and Nellie Melba performed the opera in 1902 in the Covent Garden.  The quartet Bella figlia dell'amore (Beautiful daughter of love) from Act III is one of the highlights of the opera.  Here it is, with Joan Sutherland, still in her prime at 61, as Gilda, Luciano Pavarotti, in great form as the Duke, Leo Nucci as Rigoletto and Isola Jones as Maddalena (we cut out most of the ovation, which ran for six minutes straight, more than the Quartet itself).

La Traviata was composed just two years later, in 1853.  It’s based on a then very popular novel by Alexandre Dumas fils, La Dame aux camélias (The Lady of the Camellias), a tragic love story of a courtesan suffering from tuberculosis and a provincial bourgeois.  The novel was adapted for the theater, and Verdi saw the play during his visit to Paris in 1852.  The libretto was written by Verdi’s favorite, Francesco Maria Piave (he also wrote the libretto for Rigoletto).  Margurite of Dumas became Violetta, and Armand – Alfredo.  Here is the famous duet from Act III: Parigi, o cara, noi lasceremo ("We will leave Paris, O beloved"). Alfredo is Jose Carreras and Violetta – the incomparable Renata Scotto.

The years 1851 through 1854 were incredibly productive for Verdi.  He worked on Il Trovatore and La Traviata practically at the same time: the former was premiered on January 19, 1983, the latter – on March 6.  Il Trovatore (The Troubadour) was based on a play by the Spanish dramatist Antonio García Gutiérrez.  Set in the 15th century, Il Trovatore tells a complicate story of Manrico, the troubadour; Count di Luna, a nobleman; Leonora, who is in love with Manrico but is pursued by di Luna, and Azucena, a gipsy.  In Act IV, with both Manrico and Azucena being imprisoned by di Luna, Leonora begs him to free them.  This duet, Miserere (Lord, Thy mercy on this soul) is performed by Maria Callas, La Divina, probably the most expressive soprano of the 20^th century and a perfect Leonora, and Tito Gobbi, one of the greatest Verdi baritones.

Aida was written almost 20 years later, in 1871. The opera was commissioned by Ismail Pasha, the Ottoman Governor of Egypt.  It was premiered in Cairo and then staged, to enormous success, in all major opera theaters of the world, from Teatro Colon in Buenos-Aires to the Vienna State Opera to the Covent Garden in London and Mariinsky in St-Petersburg.  The story is set in ancient Egypt.  Aida, the Ethiopian princess, is captured by the Egyptians.  Radames, Egypt’s military commander, falls in love with her. Unfortunately for both of them, the Pharaoh’s daughter Amneris loves Radames. In the end, Radames is put on trial for treason, then sealed up in a dark vault and left there to die.  There he finds Aida who, in longing to share his fait, hid in what would become their tomb.  They bid farewell to life and sing of their love.  On top of the vault, Amneris weeps and prays.   You can hear the "Tomb scene" as performed by the supreme singers, Montserrat Caballé and Plácido Domingo.  Fiorenza Cossotto is Amneris.  Riccardo Muti leads the New Philharmonia Orchestra.

The music in the four excerpts above runs for just 20 minutes, but it is 20 minutes of pure genius.  Viva maestro and Buon compleanno!

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