The music, composer by composer
Opera arias for first-timers in Taormina
Five composers are named for the Taormina opera evening. Where their best-known arias come from, who first sang them and why a recital of them works.
Reserve a seat for the opera ↗What an aria is
In opera an aria is a piece for one voice that stands complete in itself, usually taken from a larger work. Opera is its usual home, but arias are also lifted out and sung alone, which is what a recital does. In Taormina the accompaniment is a pianist. You hear the voice with only a keyboard behind it, and the story of each aria is carried by the words and the singer's face.
Mozart
Mozart lived from 1756 to 1791. His Le nozze di Figaro, with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786. It is based on a Beaumarchais comedy and tells how the servants Figaro and Susanna outwit their employer, Count Almaviva. Figaro's Non più andrai and the page Cherubino's Voi che sapete are among its best-known numbers, and either might turn up in a recital of well-known arias.
Rossini
Rossini was born in 1792 and died in 1868. Il barbiere di Siviglia, a comic opera with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini based on Beaumarchais, first played at the Teatro Argentina in Rome on 20 February 1816. Its hero Figaro, a barber, makes his entrance with Largo al factotum della città, which means Make way for the factotum of the city. Rossini wrote 39 operas, and he retired from large-scale composition while still in his thirties.
Donizetti
Donizetti lived from 1797 to 1848. L'elisir d'amore premiered at the Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan on 12 May 1832, with a libretto by Felice Romani. He wrote it in about six weeks and inserted the tenor romanza Una furtiva lagrima, a quiet piece that has a long performance history in the concert hall. The opera has three big duets for tenor and soprano, which suits a recital for two voices.
Verdi
Verdi was born in 1813 and died in 1901. Rigoletto premiered at La Fenice in Venice on 11 March 1851, and its tenor aria La donna è mobile was sung in the streets the next morning; Verdi had kept it from the cast until the last moment. La traviata, first performed at La Fenice on 6 March 1853, is based on a play by Alexandre Dumas fils and includes the drinking song Libiamo ne' lieti calici.
Puccini
Puccini lived from 1858 to 1924. Tosca premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900, and in Act 2 the heroine sings Vissi d'arte, which means I lived for art. Madama Butterfly was first given at La Scala in Milan on 17 February 1904 and was poorly received in its original two-act form. It holds the soprano aria Un bel dì, vedremo, which means One fine day we shall see.
How a recital uses them
The organiser calls the show a light-hearted evening aimed at anyone, newcomer or regular, with the most famous arias and duets of the Italian repertoire. The programme on your date is its choice, so none of the pieces above is promised. Read the plots in advance if you like, but you do not need to. The singers act as well as sing, and a duet tells its story in a few minutes. The notes above only help you recognise a tune when it arrives.
What the titles mean
Many arias are known by their first words, which are also their titles. Non più andrai means No more gallivanting. Largo al factotum della città means Make way for the factotum of the city. La donna è mobile means Woman is fickle. Libiamo ne' lieti calici means Let's drink from the joyful cups. Vissi d'arte means I lived for art. Knowing the translation helps when the singer begins, because each line of the aria usually carries one clear idea.
Duets and the second voice
The organiser's show is billed as arias and duets, so expect pieces for two voices as well as for one. Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore has three big duets between the tenor and the soprano, and the tenor and soprano roles in Verdi and Puccini give a recital the same pairing. A duet is a conversation or an argument set to music, and it is often the part newcomers remember best, because the two singers react to each other on a small stage.
A note on language
The arias are sung in Italian, including Mozart's Figaro, which has an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. You do not need to speak Italian to follow the evening. Opera is built to be understood through the voice, the music and the acting, and the plots are simple enough to hold in a sentence. If you like to prepare, read the one-line plot of each opera in advance, then listen for the tune when the singer begins.
Sources
- Italian Opera Taormina (the organiser's own site)
- Wikipedia article on Puccini's Madama Butterfly
- Wikipedia article on Puccini's Tosca
- Wikipedia article on Verdi's La traviata
- Wikipedia article on Verdi's Rigoletto
- Wikipedia article on Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore
- Wikipedia article on Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia
- Wikipedia article on Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro
- Wikipedia article on the aria as a musical form
- Italian Opera Live: about the association