Germont's act 2 arias
Cub Driver
I saw a wonderful production of Traviata last night at Opera North, at
the Lebanon NH Opera House.
Sandra Lopez, who is an old hand at Opera North and a young one at the
Met, was notable as always, but--unusual for this organization--most
of the other roles were well sung also. Among the pleasant surprises
was Todd Thomas as Giorgio Germont.
In Act 2, after Germont does his self-righteous strut, Thomas sang a
sprightly little aria that I don't recall ever having heard before. I
don't know how to describe it, nor do I remember the words, but the
melody was so light that it seemed a bit out of place.
Is there an optional aria that might be thrown in for an especially
impressive or expensive Germont?
Thanks!
all the best -- Dan Ford
email: www.danford.net/letters.htm#9
see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com
Commspkmn
<< In Act 2, after Germont does his self-righteous strut, Thomas sang a
sprightly little aria that I don't recall ever having heard before. I
don't know how to describe it, nor do I remember the words, but the
melody was so light that it seemed a bit out of place.
Is there an optional aria that might be thrown in for an especially
impressive or expensive Germont? >>
Sounds like the cabaletta that follows "Di Provenza,"
"Non non udrai rimproveri." It's quite often cut in performance, usually
without complaint from the audience.
Best,
Ken
Andante teneramente
>
> I saw a wonderful production of Traviata last night at Opera North, at
> the Lebanon NH Opera House.
>
> Sandra Lopez, who is an old hand at Opera North and a young one at the
> Met, was notable as always, but--unusual for this organization--most
> of the other roles were well sung also. Among the pleasant surprises
> was Todd Thomas as Giorgio Germont.
>
> In Act 2, after Germont does his self-righteous strut, Thomas sang a
> sprightly little aria that I don't recall ever having heard before. I
> don't know how to describe it, nor do I remember the words, but the
> melody was so light that it seemed a bit out of place.
That's why it is usually cut, I guess ;-) .
Regards
A Tsar Is Born
"Commspkmn" <comm...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20030820074032...@mb-m05.aol.com...
It was customary in opera at that time (1853) for any aria (especially the
first one for a main character) to have a pendant cabaletta in a contrasting
mood and style, so the singer could show the variety of his talent. The
wildest variations in plot were often used to justify this convention:
messengers enter between aria and cabaletta with new information, a letter
or talisman is abruptly discovered, etc. Eventually Verdi got rid of it, and
his later arias tend to wander from mood to mood without pointless
interruption, kind of like thought (e.g. Tu che le vanita 1866, Ritorna
vincitor 1871).
In the final scene of Forza (1862), Leonora, having sung her gorgeous
cavatina Pace, pace, mio Dio, hears the sound of fighting and cries out,
"The curse!" A generation earlier, this would have justified a cabaletta and
ornamented repeat. Verdi has now boiled this down to three tremendously
exciting lines, perfectly integrated with what has gone before -- he HATED
wasting time, and this impulse grew on him as he got older.
Verdi's last cabaletta was the one Don Carlo sings in Act III of Forza, on
learning that the dying man to whom he has sworn eternal brotherhood is (a)
the slayer of his father whom he has sworn to kill, and (b) going to survive
the operation, permitting Carlo to kill him himself. Ghislanzoni, librettist
of Aida (1871), proposed that Aida sing a cabaletta after her father has
persuaded her to betray Radames -- Verdi was shocked -- not because the
convention was so out of fashion by that point, but because he imagined the
character would be too exhausted by her emotional ordeal at such a moment to
burst into song.
The baritone at the first performance of Traviata was already in a furious
ill temper because he did not appear in Act I. Verdi did not dare offend him
further by omitting a cabaletta, though he has nothing whatsoever new to
say. The words repeat the sentiments of Di Provenza without its grandeur.
Verdi also had to sneak the baritone into the concertato in the second scene
of the act, though it is very unlikely he would attend such a party at all.
Omitting the baritone cabaletta does nothing to harm the drama -- only
tightens it. It adds nothing to the character. He HAD to write it, but he
hated cabalettas by that point. He dropped Amelia's cabaletta in Simon B
(1857), and when a certain soprano wrote to him demanding to perform it, he
claimed to have lost the manuscript for it. (He hadn't -- I've heard the
original Simon B performed, including that pointless number.)
It is far more damaging to omit the tenor cabaletta in Act II of Traviata
because Alfredo's mood really has abruptly changed, and that explains why
he's off stage for the big scene that follows, having run off to Paris (and
back). But that one's usually cut too.
The baritone cabaletta can be heard on many recordings of Traviata. It's a
pretty dim tune, expressing quite clearly what Verdi thought about the whole
cliche.
Hans Lick
Leonard Tillman
seems that this is increasingly becoming the practice, as fans want to
hear their operas *complete* at each opportunity.
Best,
LT
"The bridges you cross before you come to them, are over rivers that
aren't there."
Evi
"A Tsar Is Born" <Atsarisb...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:XCN0b.21872$Cd2....@nwrdny01.gnilink.net...
Oh dear. I really like that little cabaletta. I'm lucky to have it on my
copy of Traviate. If you've ever dealt with errant teenage children you will
know exactly how Germont feels when he sings it.
Evi
PatO
a chance to wastch. In fact the whole production was fabulous and to
think it took place in Lebanon, NH. It was my first live opera and
based on this production I would go to another.
PatO
AnMeinKlav
It will be interesting to see if it is included in Renee Fleming's upcoming
Traviatas. At her performances in Houston this season both Alfredo's and
Germont's Act II cabalettas were cut, even as Violetta got both verses of Addio
del passato.
Cub Driver
Thanks for the primer!
Cub Driver
>For my money it was the best Act 2 of La Traviata that I have ever had
>a chance to wastch. In fact the whole production was fabulous and to
>think it took place in Lebanon, NH. It was my first live opera and
>based on this production I would go to another.
I'm glad you saw it. It was especially good. I have been going to
Opera North productions since 1995, and in recent years I'd felt that
either they'd slipped or I'd gotten more demanding, or possibly that
they were undertaking operas (Don Giovanni and Carmen of 2001) that
were beyond them. Usually they'd have one or three good voices and the
rest would be second-rate, and you can't put on DG that way. But in
this production of Traviata the good voices (and faces!) went all the
way down to Flora and Gaston, both of whom I would like to see again.
(Kendall Gladen and Hugo Vera.)
The orchestra was improved as well. There were 30 musicians, several
more than in the past I think, and Louis Burkot had lost his white
jacket in favor of a black jersey, which seemed to free him up a whole
lot. Plus I regard his concertmaster as one of the loveliest women I
have ever seen :) I had the great pleasure of holding the door for her
as we were exiting. Try that at the Met!
Matthew燘. Tepper
to be typed in news:tf89kv0ve1cr1557f...@4ax.com:
> The orchestra was improved as well. There were 30 musicians, several
> more than in the past I think, and Louis Burkot had lost his white
> jacket in favor of a black jersey, which seemed to free him up a whole
> lot. Plus I regard his concertmaster as one of the loveliest women I
> have ever seen :) I had the great pleasure of holding the door for her
> as we were exiting. Try that at the Met!
Met former concertmaster Raymond Gniewec may not be much to look at, but
I'd hold the door for his wife any time!
--
Matthew B. Tepper: WWW, science fiction, classical music, ducks!
My personal home page -- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/index.html
My main music page --- http://home.earthlink.net/~oy/berlioz.html
To write to me, do for my address what Androcles did for the lion
War is Peace. ** Freedom is Slavery. ** It's all Napster's fault!
Leonard Tillman
> were 30 musicians, several more than in the
> past I think, and Louis Burkot had lost his
> white jacket in favor of a black jersey, which
> seemed to free him up a whole lot. Plus I
> regard his concertmaster as one of the
> loveliest women I have ever seen :) I had the
> great pleasure of holding the door for her as
> we were exiting. Try that at the Met!
>Met former concertmaster Raymond Gniewec
> may not be much to look at, but I'd hold the
> door for his wife any time!
Mrs. Gniewec, a wonderful soprano, long on my list of most underrated
singers, retired much to early. What a great Violetta she would have
been! She (Judith Blegen) once said that she didn't undertake the
role, feeling that Anna Moffo, a favorite of her own, could never be
equalled in it.
Perhaps this is true, but Blegen would have been closely comparable.
Her various recordings are too few.
I'll never forget her tv-appearances some 23 years ago, including her
top-quality renderings of "O Holy Night", and "Vilia".
Her striking beauty of face and form extended to her personality, as
well as her speaking/singing voice.
-- A Diva to be remembered, hopefully enjoying her retirement or
whatever her current activities may be.
LT
--
>Matthew B. Tepper
Best,
LT
"Plain women know more about men than beautiful women do."
-- Katharine Hepburn
Leonard Tillman
Oopsie! That's "much toO early". ok.
Hans Christian Hoff
"A Tsar Is Born" <Atsarisb...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:XCN0b.21872$Cd2....@nwrdny01.gnilink.net...
>
> news:20030820074032...@mb-m05.aol.com...
>
> The baritone cabaletta can be heard on many recordings of Traviata. It's a
> pretty dim tune, expressing quite clearly what Verdi thought about the
whole
> cliche.
>
> Hans Lick
I rather like it, though. Merrill sings it gloriously on the Pritchard
version.
Regards
Hans
David7Gable
Hans Lick's post is interesting and not entirely ill informed, but the above
statement is false. Leaving aside the question of whether there are any
cabalettas in Otello--and there are reasons for claiming that "Si, pel ciel" is
one--there are certainly cabalettas in Aida. And not only "Si fuggiam da
queste mura," sung by Aida and Radames in the Nile scene. Indeed, the opera
ends with a cabaletta: "O, terra addio." ("O, terra addio" is exceptional but
not unique in being a slow cabaletta; there are earlier examples.)
Consisting of five movements, the final scene of Aida conforms point by point
to the standard traditional layout for the number as found in ottocento opera:
scena: "La fatal pietra"
tempo d'attacco: "Presago il core"
cantabile: "Morir! si pura e bella!"
tempo di mezzo, priests: "Immenso Ftha"/Aida & Radames: "Triste canto!"
cabaletta: "O., terra addio"
The terminology that I use here is the terminology used by Verdi and
Ghislanzoni in their correspondence. When an ottocento composer received a
libretto from a librettist, the verse forms used by the librettist prescribed
the formal layout of the number. The cantabile and cabaletta were the
movements with the strictest verse forms and rhyme schemes. (For many years
now, it has been common to refer to the cantabile as the cavatina. How this
tradition arose, I am not sure, but it is not historical. A cavatina is in
fact an entrance aria.)
If anyone wishes to pursue this further, they need only turn to Philip
Gossett's article, "Verdi, Ghislanzoni, and Aida: the Uses of Convention,"
Critical Inquiry v. 1, no. 2 (December 1974), pp. 291-334. Gossett
acknowledges precisely the reforms Hans Lick refers to but also demonstrates
the overwhelming extent to which Verdi still depended on the conventional
layout for the number in composing an opera even as late as Aida.
-david gable
David7Gable
>"Non non udrai rimproveri." It's quite often cut in performance, usually
>without complaint from the audience.
Certainly without complaint from me. The only bad music in Rigoletto,
Trovatore, and Traviata is the music in the cabalettas that used to be standard
cuts: the cabalettas for the Duke of Mantua, Alfredo, and Germont and the
cabaletta for Leonora following the Miserere. Nobody would dare cut "Sempre
libera!" or "Di quella pira!"
-david gable