DownWithTyranny!: Sunday Classics: Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci" and the woman who understood the birds' song

Elizabeth Futral does her best at singing while she histrionicizes Nedda's recitative and Balatella. The chunk of recitative below, the first of three, occupies the first 57 seconds of the clip.

(1) "Qual fiamma avea nel guardo!"

How his eyes did blaze! I turned mine
away for fear he should read
my secret thought!
Oh, if he should catch me,
brutal as he is! But enough,
these are frightening nightmares and silly fancies!

Claudia Muzio (s). Edison, recorded Jan. 21, 1921

Gabriella Tucci (s), Nedda; Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, cond. Decca, recorded 1958

"Nedda is at best an unthinking creature who allows her basic desires to get the better of her."

-- from the booklet for the 1967 Decca Pagliacci

by Ken

Now it could be that our commentator means that in describing Nedda as "at best an unthinking creature" he has in mind a comparison with her husband, Canio, the master of their little troupe of itinerant players (or pagliacci), who is well known as a student of the dialogues of Plato. Or it could be that he has simply embraced the popular view of the function of art as a medium for making people even stupider.

We've been working our way through the opening scenes of I Pagliacci, starting several weeks ago ("On our way to focusing on Nedda's scenes with the two baritones of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci") with some attention to the statement of the "author" in the Prologue and to Canio himself and then venturing into the monologue Nedda sings when the rest of the troupe goes off with a band of villagers to enjoy a drink or two, leaving her alone -- except, importantly, the hunchback clown Tonio, who's now off grooming the little donkey. Then in Friday night's preview ("'He said, she said' in the opening scenes of I Pagliacci") we began taking a closer look at Nedda's monologue, starting with the chunk of recitative we heard again above.

If it's fully imagined and experienced, it already tells us an awful lot about the character, I think: about the closed-in, fearful way Nedda lives; about her husband's brutality (whose exact form we're left to imagine for ourselves, though there seems to me no doubt that she fears the worst); about the dangerous secret she's keeping; and then about her way of dealing with all the above.

THIS SETS THE STAGE FOR --

(2) "O che bel sole di mezz'agosto!"

Do you suppose it could be Nedda's close rapport with her physical surroundings -- as witness this remarkably musicalized awareness of the fine mid-August sunshine -- that qualifies her as "an unthinking creature"? All the indications in the opera are that she's twice as smart as Canio, and it's hard to find in anything he says or does a remotely comparable awareness of the subject of life choices.

Oh, what a beautiful mid-August sun!
I'm brimful of life
and all languishing
with mysterious desire -- I don't know what I wish!

Victoria de los Angeles (s), Nedda; RCA Victor Orchestra, Renato Cellini, cond. RCA-EMI, recorded Jan. 10-29, 1953

Teresa Stratas (s), Nedda; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Georges Prêtre, cond. Philips, recorded 1983

(3) "Oh! che volo d'augelli, e quante strida!"

We come finally to the birds. And as you'll see, I've cheated in putting that "woman who understood the birds' song" in the post title -- the woman in question isn't Nedda, but her mother, who used to tell fortunes. Nevertheless, this is part of her heritage, part of her "who am I?" One reason I've chosen Maria Callas and René Fleming for this chunk of the recitative is that they both produce some version of the trills requested by the composer on those "Ah!"s. There are various ways around them, though one I don't recommend is the one employed by Gabriella Tucci in her generally admirable 1958 Decca Nedda: simply omitting the "Ah!"s. (We'll hear this performance later.)

Oh! how the birds fly up, and what a screaming!
What are they asking? Where are they going? Who knows?
My mother, who used to tell fortunes,
understood their song,
and to me as a child she would sing:
Ah! Ah!

Maria Callas (s), Nedda; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Tullio Serafin, cond. EMI, recorded June 12-17, 1954

Renée Fleming (s), Nedda; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, cond. Decca, recorded July 3-9, 1999

LET'S PUT THE RECITATIVE BACK TOGETHER

(1) - (3) "Qual fiamma avea nel guardo!" (complete recitative)

Victoria de los Angeles (s), Nedda; RCA Victor Orchestra, Renato Cellini, cond. RCA-EMI, recorded Jan. 10-29, 1953

Maria Callas (s), Nedda; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Tullio Serafin, cond. EMI, recorded June 12-17, 1954

Teresa Stratas (s), Nedda; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Georges Prêtre, cond. Philips, recorded 1983

And now let's listen to Nedda's little aria

Our 1967 Decca commentator seems to say that the Ballatella is an effective set piece, though his highest praise for it is that it represents Leoncavallo being "unpretentiously tuneful." I don't think I'm imagining things when I suggest that slight as it is, the aria tells us a great deal about who Nedda is.

Ballatella, "Stridono lassù liberamente"

They scream away up there to their hearts' content,
hurled into flight like arrows, the birds.
They defy the clouds and the fierce sun,
and go about the paths of the sky.
Let them roam the air,
these creatures thirsty for blue skies and bright splendor!
They too follow a dream, a mirage
and soar among the gilded clouds!
Wind may pursue and storm bray,
with wings outspread, they can defy all;
rain, the lightning flash, nothing ever stops them,
and they soar above the abyss and the sea.
They fly far off there to a strange country
of which perhaps they dream, and seek in vain.
But the gypsies of the sky follow the mysterious power
that drives them on, and go! And go! And go!

Victoria de los Angeles (s), Nedda; RCA Victor Orchestra, Renato Cellini, cond. RCA-EMI, recorded Jan. 10-29, 1953

Maria Callas (s), Nedda; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Tullio Serafin, cond. EMI, recorded June 12-17, 1954

Teresa Stratas (s), Nedda; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Georges Prêtre, cond. Philips, recorded 1983

NOW LET'S LISTEN TO THE WHOLE OF NEDDA'S MONOLOGUE

But first let's back up a bit to the atmospheric choral interlude with which Leoncavallo transitions from Canio's charismatic sales pitch to the villagers, as they disperse and leave Nedda alone to ponder.

"I zampognari!" . . . Bell Chorus, "Don, din, don"

[The sound of bagpipes offstage.]
BOYS: The pipers! The pipers!
MEN: They are on their way to church.
[The church bells sound vespers.]
OLD PEOPLE: They are accompanying the happy train
of couples as they go to vespers.
WOMEN: Come, everyone. The bell
calls us to the Lord.
CANIO: But be sure to remember,
at eleven tonight.
CHORUS: Let’s go, let’s go!
Bell Chorus
CHORUS: Dong, ding-dong!
Ding-dong, vespers sounds,
girls and boys, ding-dong!
In pairs let's hurry to the church,
ding-dong, yonder the sun
kisses the western heights.
Our mothers watch us --
look out, companions.
Ding-dong, the world is gleaming
with light and love.
But our elders keep watch
over bold lovers!
Already the world is gleaming
with light and love.
Dong, ding-dong, etc.
[During the chorus, CANIO has gone behind the theater to take off his Pagliaccio costume. He returns, nods a smiling farewell to NEDDA and leaves with BEPPE and five or six villagers. NEDDA remains alone.]

Franco Corelli (t), Canio; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Lovro von Matačić, cond. EMI, recorded 1960

Plácido Domingo (t), Canio; Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Georges Prêtre, cond. Philips, recorded 1983

Recitative, Nedda, "Qual fiamma avea nel guardo!" . . . Balatella, "Stridono lassù liberamente"

Claudia Muzio (s). Edison, recorded Jan. 21, 1921

Gabriella Tucci (s), Nedda; Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, cond. Decca, recorded 1958

Renée Fleming (s), Nedda; London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, cond. Decca, recorded July 3-9, 1999

STILL TO COME

Nedda's successive scenes with the two baritones of Pagliacci. Maybe next week, maybe not.