Sunday Classics snapshots: A fountain, a harp, and a mind in distress

No, this isn't the fountain of "The Siren" referred to in the stage direction, but it's a reasonable guess that the Ravenswood fountain might have been based on the Fontana della Sirena in the Piazza Sannazaro in Naples. Just imagine it on a lonely Scottish estate fallen nearly to ruins, like so --

A park in the ground of the Scottish castle of Ravenswood. We see the fountain called "The Siren." Once it was covered by a beautiful structure decorated with all sorts of Gothic details; now only the ruins of this structure remain. It is nightfall.

[All translations in today's post by William Ashbrook]

RAI Turin Symphony Orchestra, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, cond. Broadcast performance, Oct. 10, 1967

RCA Italiana Orchestra, Georges Prêtre, cond. RCA-BMG, recorded July-Aug. 1965

Orchestra of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Richard Bonynge, cond. Live performance, Nov. 12, 1975

by Ken

Here we hear three takes on a lovely 2½-to-3-minute musical snapshot -- Molinari-Pradelli decisive and sympathetically straightforward; Prêtre similarly decisive but a little more individual in some of his phrasing choices and, surprisingly (at least to me), turning out to time out a little quicker; and Bonynge more romantically discursive.

The music, which is sometimes described as an "interlude" between the scene preceding and the one about to take place, is pretty clearly indicated in the score as an orchestral lead-in to what follows -- though of course it's up to the stage director to decide where exactly to raise the curtain on Scene 2. In the meantime, I'm delaying identifying this piece of musical mood-setting (in the event that you don't know) to give you a chance to just allow it to wash over you and maybe sink in a little, to maybe set a mood. It's clearly the harp that dominates the music, and the fountain that dominates the scene, but I don't think anyone can say how exactly they're expected to relate.

And here I think we can jump ahead just a bit to our next snapshot, to add this vivid response to mention of the aforementioned fountain. In fact, since it's only 11-12 seconds, we're going to hear it three times.

That fountain! Ah! never
do I see it without trembling.

I think we clearly have three interesting, and interestingly, different renderings of this extraordinary moment, but one thing I think we can also say is that, from the purely vocal standpoint, singer B handles it with greater assurance, and singer C handles it with astonishing assurance -- producing a sound of amazing fullness that doesn't strain or curdle at all on the upward leap for the "Ah!" in "Quella fonte! Ah! mai."


PROCEEDING NOW TO THAT NEXT SNAPSHOT --

Enter our heroine, Lucy of Lammermoor as Sir Walter Scott created her, or Lucia di Lammermoor as she would be known to librettist Salvatore Cammarano, composer Gaetano Donizetti, and operatic audiences since 1835, accompanied by -- who else? -- her faithful companion Alisa.

We're going to hear just the orchestral introduction and the initial dialogue between Lucia and Alisa. And yes, this is our singer A from above, Maria Callas -- from her first studio recording of Lucia. I really had no choice here, since the various other Callas performances, even as early as 1954, already show distressing vocal problems, however keen the dramatic projection. (Note that if you don't want to listen to the orchestral introduction again, you can click on the forward button to advance to the separate track with the recitative.)

So, here we are at what's left of Ravenswood, the ancestral home of Lucia's beloved, Edgardo, where she's waiting nervously for a secret assignation with him.

A park in the ground of the castle of Ravenswood. We see the fountain called "The Siren." Once it was covered by a beautiful structure decorated with all sorts of Gothic details; now only the ruins of this structure remain. It is nightfall.

LUCIA comes out of the castle, followed by ALISA. Both of them are in a state of great agitation. LUCIA glances around, as though expecting someone, but glancing at the fountain, she forces herself to look elsewhere.

Recitative, "Ancor non giunse"
LUCIA: Still he hasn't come.
ALISA: Rash girl! To what are you dragging me?
To venture out now that your brother has come here
is silly boldness.
LUCIA: You speak wisely. Edgardo knows
what dreadful danger surrounds us.
ALISA: Why do you glance around, terrified?
LUCIA: That fountain! Ah! never
do I see it without trembling.
Ah, you know it: A Ravenswood,
burning with jealous rage,
there stabbed his beloved,
and the unfortunate woman fell in the water,
and there she remains buried.
Her ghost appeared to me!
ALISA: What are you saying?
LUCIA: Listen.

Maria Callas (s), Lucia; Anna Maria Canali (ms), Alisa; Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Tullio Serafin, cond. EMI, recorded Jan.-Feb. 1953


NOW LET'S HEAR LUCIA TELL HER STORY

Aria, "Regnava nel silenzio"
LUCIA: In the silence reigned
the night, deep and dark.
A faint ray
of gloomy moonlight fell upon my brow.
When a subdued moan
was heard on the breeze.
And here, here on that ledge,
the ghost showed itself.
The ghost showed itself to me. Ah!

[She covers her face with her hands.]
As one who speaks, I saw her move her lips,
and with her lifeless hand
she seemed to beckon to me to her
She remained one moment motionless,
then quickly vanished.
And the water that was so clear before
was tinged red with blood.
Recitative
ALISA: Clearly, oh God! Very clearly I hear
in your words dire omens!
Ah! Lucia, Lucia,
turn back from such a frightful love!
LUCIA: He is the light of my days.
He is the comfort to my suffering.

Renata Scotto (s), Lucia; Anna di Stasio (ms), Alisa; RAI Turin Symphony Orchestra, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, cond. Broadcast performance, Oct. 10, 1967


AND YES, THERE'S A CABALETTA

We'll talk more about what happened in Act I, Scene 1 -- the scene that's bridged to Scene 2 by the orchestral introduction we heard at the outset -- but for now let's just note that we're continuing to listen to "double arias," or scenes in the format of aria-and-cabaletta. As I mentioned last week, my first thought in backing up from the way Verdi used this inherited format was to bracket perhaps the two most notable examples, the scenes that introduce us to Bellini's Norma (built around the immense aria "Casta diva," which we heard last week) and to Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. And I would say that Donizetti's scena achieves the special feat of having a cabaletta just about equal in memorableness to the main aria.

You'll recall that a normal condition of the aria-and-cabaletta is some sort of alteration in the dramatic circumstances to justify the dramatic change in mood, and we heard above how librettist Cammarano accomplished this for Donizetti. And the musical snapshot of Lucia we encounter in the cabaletta seems almost of a different person from the Lucia of the recitative and "Regnava." Now let's hear it sung -- quite stupendously -- by singer C, from the season of her breakthrough to superstardom at Covent Garden in this very role. Is it any wonder that the nickname La Stupenda attached to Joan Sutherland?

Cabaletta, "Quando, rapito in estasi"
LUCIA: When, wrapped in ecstasy of burning rapture,
he swears eternal faith to me, eternal faith,
in ecstasy of burning rapture,
speaking from his heart,
he swears eternal faith,
I forget my sorrows, my tears turn to joy.
It seems that with him at my side
as if heaven opens for me,
as if heaven opens for me,
as if heaven opens for me.
ALISA: Ah! Days of bitter weeping
are approaching for you, yes, yes!
Days of bitter weeping etc.
LUCIA: Ah! When, wrapped in ecstasy of burning rapture, etc.
ALISA: Days of bitter weeping etc.

Joan Sutherland (s), Lucia; Margreta Elkins (ms), Alisa; Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Tullio Serafin, cond. Live performance, Feb. 26, 1959


NOW LET'S HEAR THE WHOLE THING

And from all three of our singers. I think that among them they have a lot to show us about the way Donizetti laid the groundwork for his creation of this remarkably vibrant, endearing character. A character who, I think we can say rather obviously, is already under fairly severe mental strain as we first encounter her. When we proceed, we're going to the monstrous pressures added to this load -- chiefly by the brother mentioned by Alisa in the opening recitative, whom we have in fact met in that opening scene we skipped over.

DONIZETTI: Lucia di Lammermoor: Act I, Scene 2, Recitative, "Ancor non giunse" ("Still he hasn't come") . . . Aria, "Regnava nel silenzio" ("In the silence reigned") . . . Cabaletta, "Quando, rapito in estasi" ("When, wrapped in ecstasy")

A park in the ground of the castle of Ravenswood. We see the fountain called "The Siren." Once it was covered by a beautiful structure decorated with all sorts of Gothic details; now only the ruins of this structure remain. It is nightfall.

LUCIA comes out of the castle, followed by ALISA. Both of them are in a state of great agitation. LUCIA glances around, as though expecting someone, but glancing at the fountain, she forces herself to look elsewhere.

Recitative, "Ancor non giunse"
LUCIA: Still he hasn't come.
ALISA: Rash girl! To what are you dragging me?
To venture out now that your brother has come here
is silly boldness.
LUCIA: You speak wisely. Edgardo knows
what dreadful danger surrounds us.
ALISA: Why do you glance around, terrified?
LUCIA: That fountain! Ah! never
do I see it without trembling.
Ah, you know it: A Ravenswood,
burning with jealous rage,
there stabbed his beloved,
and the unfortunate woman fell in the water,
and there she remains buried.
Her ghost appeared to me!
ALISA: What are you saying?
LUCIA: Listen.
Aria, "Regnava nel silenzio"
LUCIA: In the silence reigned
the night, deep and dark.
A faint ray
of gloomy moonlight fell upon my brow.
When a subdued moan
was heard on the breeze.
And here, here on that ledge,
the ghost showed itself.
The ghost showed itself to me. Ah!

[She covers her face with her hands.]
As one who speaks, I saw her move her lips,
and with her lifeless hand
she seemed to beckon to me to her
She remained one moment motionless,
then quickly vanished.
And the water that was so clear before
was tinged red with blood.
Recitative
ALISA: Clearly, oh God! Very clearly I hear
in your words dire omens!
Ah! Lucia, Lucia,
turn back from such a frightful love!
LUCIA: He is the light of my days.
He is the comfort to my suffering.
Cabaletta, "Quando, rapito in estasi"
LUCIA: When, wrapped in ecstasy of burning rapture,
he swears eternal faith to me, eternal faith,
in ecstasy of burning rapture,
speaking from his heart,
he swears eternal faith,
I forget my sorrows, my tears turn to joy.
It seems that with him at my side
as if heaven opens for me,
as if heaven opens for me,
as if heaven opens for me.
ALISA: Ah! Days of bitter weeping
are approaching for you, yes, yes!
Days of bitter weeping etc.
LUCIA: Ah! When, wrapped in ecstasy of burning rapture, etc.
ALISA: Days of bitter weeping etc.

Maria Callas (s), Lucia; Anna Maria Canali (ms), Alisa; Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Tullio Serafin, cond. EMI, recorded Jan.-Feb. 1953

Renata Scotto (s), Lucia; Anna di Stasio (ms), Alisa; RAI Turin Symphony Orchestra, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, cond. Broadcast performance, Oct. 10, 1967

Joan Sutherland (s), Lucia; Margreta Elkins (ms), Alisa; Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Tullio Serafin, cond. Live performance, Feb. 26, 1959

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