Re: L'alba Separa Dalla Luce L'ombra Pdf Download
Bernd Manison
First the lyrics and their translation:L'ALBA SEPARA DALLA LUCE L'OMBRAL'alba separa dalla luce l'ombra,
E la mia volutta' dal mio desire.
O dolce stelle, l'ora di morire.
Un piu' divino amor dal ciel vi sgombra.Pupille ardenti, O voi senza ritorno
Stelle tristi, spegnetevi incorrotte!
Morir debbo. Veder non voglio il giorno,
Per amor del mio sogno e della notte.Chiudimi,
O Notte, nel tuo sen materno,
Mentre la terra pallida s'irrora.
Ma che dal sangue mio nasca l'aurora
E dal sogno mio breve il sole eterno!
E dal sogno mio breve il sole eterno!
THE DAWN DIVIDES THE DARKNESS FROM LIGHTThe dawn divides the darkness from light,
And my sensual pleasure from my desire,
O sweet stars, it is the hour of death.
A love more holy clears you from the skies.Gleaming eyes, O you who'll ne'er return,
sad stars, snuff out your uncorrupted light!
I must die, I do not want to see the day,
For love of my own dream and of the night.Envelop me,
O Night, in your maternal breast,
While the pale earth bathes itself in dew;
But let the dawn rise from my blood
And from my brief dream the eternal sun!
And from my brief dream the eternal sun!The lyrics are by the writer/poet/politician Gabriele D'Annunzio, who
also wrote the words for Tosti's 'A Vucchella. D'Annunzio certainly
had a well-developed sense of the dramatic (his extraordinary life
seems to have been equal parts melodrama and adventure), and in
Tosti's magnificent setting he found a worthy musical collaborator.This song is certainly as taxing as many an aria to pull off,
especially if one takes the tricky B-flat (on e-TER-no") at the end.
Most Lanza aficionados I know feel that this is the one weak point on
Mario's recording; some of them regard the note as "terrible". It
actually doesn't bother me. While it's not one of Lanza best B-flats,
it's the poor recording quality that makes it sound worse than it is.
When Mario initially hits the note, everything distorts, but then (if
you listen carefully) there's an improvement of sorts and the note
becomes cleaner, almost as if (or quite possibly because) the startled
Cinecitta' engineers have quickly adjusted their dials.But getting back to the rest of the song...The defining moment in Lanza's delivery, for me, is from "Chiudimi, O
Notte" onwards. There's an extraordinary majesty in his singing here,
aptly described by James Kilbourne in his essay Visiting a Dying
Friend (the link for which is in our Pages section):"Some of the crescendos are haunting in their impact, even reminiscent
of the other-wordly, nearly spiritual sound of the final note of his
earlier Passione."They most certainly are. But while I have plenty more to write about
this recording, at this point I'd rather hear what others have to say.
So feel free to jump in and join the discussion, folks...
This is one song that speaks to me but I cannot explain why at this
moment. It is about dying and I am currently emotionally drained after
having today attended the funeral of one of my closest friends.None of the harshness present here bothers me at all. I also love
"Chiudimi, O Notte" et al, as it seems to flow from Mario's inner
being. That's all I can write for now.....
I find Mario's interpretation of L'Alba Separa decidedly Carusoesque
in its marvelous combination of passionate energy with dignity and
restraint. In fact, I am hard put to choose between this recording and
Caruso's 1917 version, said to be one of the most thrilling examples
of his fully developed vocal powers. I have to take your word that
Lanza's B-flat at the end of the song sounds distorted because to my
untrained ear, it is only a tad less thrilling than Caruso's. (By the
way, is it true that that B-flat was not written by Tosti? If so, I
thank whoever was responsible for the interpolation. I can't imagine
L'Alba Separa without it.)It has always struck me as an uncanny coincidence that only a few
months before Mario Lanza's demise, his dream of an operatic career
almost but not quite within reach, his character sings movingly about
preferring death to a dream unfulfilled. (Is it me or does Lanza
emphasize "Morir debbo", albeit ever so slightly, whereas Caruso
gives it the run-of-the mill treatment?) But not for him a loser's
death. In "Ma che dal sangue mio nasca l'aurora, e dal sogno mio
breve il sole eterno," he expresses a yearning for immortality in
gripping, powerful crescendos that always leave me shaken, as if Mario
has just given vent to his own cri de coeur. Perhaps it is this hint
of prescience that gives Lanza's take on "Chiudimi O Notte" onwards
the almost other-wordly quality described by James Kilbourne in his
essay.Talking about coincidences, both Tosti and D'Annunzio came from the
Abruzzi region of Italy, as did Lanza's mother.
To be honest, it's been nearly 10 years since I heard Caruso's version
of this song, and I'll have to reacquaint myself with it. (I don't
have that particular CD any more, but I imagine the recording's
available on the net.) Of course, it almost seems cruel to compare
Lanza's version with that of Caruso, knowing that the former had
suffered a heart attack only weeks before the recording was made. In
fact, given how poor Lanza's health was in 1959, it's extraordinary
that he managed to sing at all during those final months - let alone
deliver a handful of his most compelling renditions!But I will compare them soon and report my comments. Incidentally, I
recall that Steve Bell of the Parlour of Opera Lovers group - the
Lanza enthusiast who attended Mario's Manchester concert - opined that
this was one instance in which Lanza was "a mere mortal" compared with
Caruso's "godlike" rendition. We shall see...:-)I'm pretty certain, by the way, that Tosti wrote the B-flat on
"eterno", but left it optional. Armando and others will know for sure!Yes, it's uncanny how many of the lyrics in Mario's last recordings
seem to be torn from the circumstances of his own life. In One Alone,
for example, he longs to "rest awhile"; in the Vagabond King, he
sings, "For if I die as I hope to die/Then I'll never be sober again,
not I!"
Lou: I agree that Caruso's handling of "morir debbo" (I must die) is
pretty "run of the mill" compared with the emphasis that Lanza puts on
it - or on "debbo", in particular. It's a most appropriate emphasis
too! I find Caruso a little careless with the words here and in one or
two other places. Part of the problem, though, is the tempo: he's in
such a rush that the song loses some of its haunting quality. (I'm
sure there was no need for such a fast tempo; after all, it's hardly a
long song.) Carreras also takes it quite quickly on his Tosti album.But Caruso's in great voice here, and I can understand why this
recording is so highly regarded. His beautiful legato on "Chiudimi, O
Notte, nel tuo sen materno" and the sheer energy of his singing are
impressive. Great B-flat too. But the bottom line for me is that his
rendition simply doesn't move me - certainly not in the way that
Lanza's does.Would I be as moved by this recording if I didn't know that the singer
had only months to live? I think I would.
On Nov 13, 2:38 pm, "Derek McGovern" wrote:
> Inspired by Lou's magnificent post above, I've reacquainted myself
> with Caruso's version of this song.
>
> Lou: I agree that Caruso's handling of "morir debbo" (I must die) is
> pretty "run of the mill" compared with the emphasis that Lanza puts on
> it - or on "debbo", in particular. It's a most appropriate emphasis
> too! I find Caruso a little careless with the words here and in one or
> two other places. Part of the problem, though, is the tempo: he's in
> such a rush that the song loses some of its haunting quality. (I'm
> sure there was no need for such a fast tempo; after all, it's hardly a
> long song.) Carreras also takes it quite quickly on his Tosti album.
>
> But Caruso's in great voice here, and I can understand why this
> recording is so highly regarded. His beautiful legato on "Chiudimi, O
> Notte, nel tuo sen materno" and the sheer energy of his singing are
> impressive. Great B-flat too. But the bottom line for me is that his
> rendition simply doesn't move me - certainly not in the way that
> Lanza's does.
>
> Would I be as moved by this recording if I didn't know that the singer
> had only months to live? I think I would.
>
Yes, there's no doubt about Caruso's musical line. I'd also have to
acknowledge that he's in fresher voice than Lanza here. Though it's
definitely exaggerated by the poor recording quality, there is a hint
of harshness in Lanza's timbre here - a slightly worn quality - that
isn't present on some of the other tracks on the Caruso Favorites
album. It's simply that he's ill, and terribly tired. But whether a
first-time listener would even pick up on that is a moot point. What's
important - and immediately apparent - here is that Lanza believes the
words, and is *living* them, and when he gets his second wind, as he
does on the first "E dal sogno mio breve il sole eterno!", his energy
level is certainly equal to that of Caruso.I forgot to mention earlier that I particularly like Lanza's phrasing
of "Veder non voglio il giorno,
Per amor del mio sogno e della notte." He's heartbreaking in his
expressiveness here.Joel: Since you're a big Caruso enthusiast, I'd be very interested in
knowing your thoughts on his Luna d'Estate as well. We've recently
been comparing Caruso's and Lanza's renditions of this song in our
Lanza Sings Tosti thread, and no doubt more comparisons will follow as
we continue to discuss some of the other Caruso Favs. (I'm looking
forward to discussing things like Senza Nisciuno and the Caruso-Bracco
Serenata at some stage!)