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Sunday, May 31, 2015
Sunday Classics snapshots: Look, it's Violetta!
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Joan Sutherland as Violetta in Act I of La Traviata
Act I of La Traviata ends with Violetta's great solo scene
[in English] Valerie Masterson (s), Violetta Valéry; John Brecknock (t), Alfredo Germont; English National Opera Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, cond. EMI, recorded Aug.-Oct. 1980
by Ken
Last week I tried to explain that in order to continue with the second example I promised of Verdi depicting a conspicuously aging parent, we really needed to give some attention to the composer's triumphs and tribulations with the "double aria" form carried over from the bel canto period. It's what always used to be known as an "aria and cabaletta" -- the first aria typically situational and often reflecting on that situation; the second aria, in reaction to the first, ususally with some additional circumstances tossed in to alter the situation or the perception of the situation, typically more declarative, often energized for pyrotechnical display.
While Verdi was capable of using the format brilliantly, we have a pile-up of evidence that even as he was making his historicthe "breakthrough" into his middle period with the overlappingly created masterpieces Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, and La Traviata, all three operas contain evidence that cabaletta-for-the-sake-of-cabaletta was something that didn't much stimulate his creative juices. By way of demonstration, last week we took as our musical snapshots the celebrated arias for tenor and baritone with regrettable cabalettas tacked on at the start and finish of Act II, Scene 1 of Traviata, the scene in Violetta's country house (where she and Alfredo have been living idyllically), the cabalettas for Germont fils and père, respectively.
I did point out last week, though, that "if we think of the form as 'double aria' rather than 'aria and cabaletta,' then Violetta's "Ah! fors'è lui" plus "Sempre libera" at the end of Act I of Traviata may be the supreme example of the format." And having dropped that loaded statement in, even though we did listen to this great solo scene, which so starkly rounds out an act that began with perhaps opera's most rousing party scene in February 2011, we can hardly escape "snapshotting" it now.
Sunday Classics snapshots: Verdi at peak power soars and slumps
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Thomas Hampson as Germont at Covent Garden, 2009
GERMONT: No, you won't hear reproaches from me;
let's bury the past in forgetfulness.
The love that guided me
can pardon everything.
Come, see your loved ones
in joy with me again;
do not deny this joy
to one who has suffered long.
A father and a sister --
make haste to console them.
No, you won't hear reproaches from me, etc. ALFREDO: A thousand serpents devour my breast! GERMONT: Are you listening to me? ALFREDO: No. GERMONT: A father and a sister --
make haste to console them.
No, you won't hear reproaches from me, etc. ALFREDO [arising and suddenly finding Flora's letter on the table]: Ah!
She's at the ball!
I must fly to avenge the offense.
[He rushes out.]
Thomas Hampson (b), Giorgio Germont; Rolando Villazon (t), Alfredo Germont; Vienna Philharmonic, Carlo Rizzi, cond. DG, recorded live, August 2005
by Ken
About a month ago I started what was intended to be the first part of a two-part series with a post called "The sound of aging, Verdi-style (1)," in which I suggested that the whole structure of "Di Provenza il mar, il suol," the elder Germont's celebrated aria in La Traviata, is built on fatigue -- or rather this father's struggle to overcome his fatigue in his enormous effort to not only console his boy but to lure him back to the comfort and wholesomeness of his native Provence. My suggestion was that Germont is not only fighting his fatigue but milking it, showing it off to Alfredo as he throws everything he can at the shell-shocked young man.
Our other example of "aging, Verdi-style," tidily enough, will involve a mother's exhaustion, an exhaustion that sounds to me not just physical but spiritual -- as if she's just barely on this side of. I admit that it's a case so extreme, and one that exerts such dreadful force on me, that I'm probably stalling a little. Nevertheless, I really would like to get to it, and regret that before we can get there, we have some gaps to plug, in part because we left a dangling end in our consideration of "Di Provenza": its usually missing cabaletta, which is hardly more welcome when it isn't omitted. And then, once we get into the baritone's cabaletta, how can we not broach the subject of the tenor's, an even feebler piece?
The "aria and cabaletta," which recent usage seems to prefer to call a "double aria," is a carry-over from the bel canto era, when it was common to arrange dramatic situations in which a character might sing an aria typically of moderate pace and temperament followed -- with some tweaking of the circumstances -- by a more excited second aria, or cabaletta, which by happy chance for the performer tends to lend itself to the character of a showpiece.
Sunday Classics snapshots: The sound of aging, Verdi-style (1)
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An aging Renato Bruson sings "Di Provenza" (to a here unseen Alfredo) at Ravenna in 1991.
[Some noise is heard outside.] ALFREDO: There's someone the garden. [About to go out] Who's there?
[A MESSENGER appears at the door.] MESSENGER: You're Monsieur Germont? ALFREDO: I am, yes. MESSENGER: Here's a note from a lady for you. I said I'd bring it. Her coach drove off for Paris.
[He gives ALFREDO a letter and leaves.] ALFREDO: From Violetta! But why am I so nervous?
Does she want me to join her in Paris?
I'm trembling! O God! Have courage!
[He tears the letter open and reads aloud.]
"Alfredo, as soon as you have read this letter --"
Ah!
[Turning, he finds himself face to face with his father. ALFREDO falls into his arms.]
Father, father! GERMONT: Alfredo! I know you're suffering!
Come, no more sorrow!
Return and cheer your father, beloved Alfredo!
[ALFREDO, in despair, sits down and buries his face in his hands.] Aria GERMONT: In Provence, your native land,
we still long for your return.
We still long for your return.
in Provence, your native land.
Oh, how happy you once were --
not a trace of grief or pain!
Not a trace of grief or pain --
oh, how happy you once were!
For you know that only there
peace will shine on you again.
For you know that only there
peace will shine on you again.
God hear my prayer! God hear my prayer! God hear my prayer!
How we missed you, dearest boy,
you will never, never know!
You will never, never know
how we missed you, dearest boy!
How we hung our heads in shame
when you left without a word.
When you left without a word,
how we hung our heads in shame!
But I've found you once again,
and I will not let you go
If your honor still can claim
to instruct you what do do!
Now I've seen you once again,
I will never let you go!
God led me here! God led me here!
God led me here! God led me here!
-- singing translation by Edmund Tracey
(used in the ENO recording)
[in English] John Brecknock (t), Alfredo Germont; John Kitchiner (b), Messenger; Christian du Plessis (b), Giorgio Germont; English National Opera Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, cond. EMI-Chandos, recorded Aug.-Oct. 1980
[from "My son"] Riccardo Stracciari (b); piano. Fonotipia, recorded 1906
by Ken
In the booklet for RCA's 1960 recording of Verdi's La Traviata with Anna Moffo, Richard Tucker, and Robert Merrill, then Met Assistant Manager and prized raconteur Francis Robinson tells this story about a celebrated Merrill Germont from 11 years earlier:
The elder Germont is the first role Robert Merrill undertook at the Metropolitan. His performance is recorded as having been "polished and powerful" but he was soon to face an ordeal more grueling than a Metropolitan debut. He was chosen by Arturo Toscanini for the historic broadcasts of La Traviata, a performance happily still available on RCA Victor records.
At one of the early rehearsals the Maestro fixed Merrill with a scathing eys.
"Have you ever been a father?" he demanded.
"No, Maestro," Merrill stammered.
"It sounds it," the old man said.
When Merrill did become a father the first telegram went to Toscanini, but before the Maestro had finished with him he was singing Germont with the compassion of a distressed parent.
Ghost of Sunday Classics: I have a song to sing, O!
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Luciano Pavarotti and Joan Sutherland sing the "Brindisi" from Act I of Verdi's La Traviata, with Richard Bonynge conducting, at the Met in October 1970.
ALFREDO: Let’s drink, let's drink
from the joyous chalice where beauty flowers.
Let the fleeting hour
to pleasure’s intoxication yield.
Let’s drink to love’s sweet tremors –
to those eyes that pierce the heart.
Let’s drink to love -- to wine,
that warms our kisses. ALL : Ah! Let’s drink, let's drink to love --
to wine, that warms our kisses. VIOLETTA [rising]: With you, with you
I would share my days of happiness.
Everything is folly in this world
that does not give us pleasure.
Let us enjoy life,
for the pleasures of love are swift and fleeting,
as a flower that lives and dies
and can be enjoyed no more.
Let’s take our pleasure!
While its ardent, brilliant summons lures us on. ALL: Let’s take our pleasure
of wine and singing and mirth,
till the new day dawns on us as in Paradise. VIOLETTA [to ALFREDO]: Life is just pleasure. ALFREDO [to VIOLETTA]: But if one still waits for love -- VIOLETTA [to ALFREDO]: I know nothing of that --
don’t tell me -- ALFREDO [to VIOLETTA]: But there lies my fate. ALL: Let’s take our pleasure
of wine and singing and mirth,
till the new day dawns on this paradise of ours.
by Ken
Extra credit if you saw the title of this post and sang back, "Sing me your song, O!"
In a moment we'll come back to "I have a song to sing, O!," but first, by way of sort-of-explainaton of what we're up to today, it's not exactly a rarity in opera where one character or another is asked to sing for the entertainment of a gathering, often with drinking involved. Nor is it a rarity for one character or another to offer a song to a gathering for their entertainment. I have such a scene in mind, and to get there I thought we'd hit some of the more notable specimens, and we've started with perhaps the most famous of all, the "Brindisi" (drinking song) sung by Alfredo, and joined by Violetta, at the start of Act I of La Traviata.
In fact, we're going to hear the full setting of Alfredo's "Libiamo," but first --
Sunday Classics "extra": " 'La Traviata' at the foot of Masada" -- say what?
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"La Traviata at the foot of Masada"
VERDI: La Traviata: Prelude and Opening Scene
(through Alfredo and Violetta's Brindisi)
[You can find an Italian-English libretto for La Traviata
at "DM's opera site."]
[in English] Valerie Masterson (s), Violetta Valéry; Della Jones (ms), Flora Bervoix; Denis Dowling (b), Marquis d'Obigny; Geoffrey Pogson (t), Gastone, Viscount of Létorières; John Brecknock (t), Alfredo Germont; John Gibbs (b), Baron Douphol; English National Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, cond. EMI, recorded Aug.-Oct. 1980
[clip 1: Prelude; clip 2: Opening Scene] Rosanna Carteri (s), Violetta Valéry; Lydia Marimpietri (s), Flora Bervoix; Leonardo Monreale (bs), Marquis d'Obigny; Glauco Scarlini (t), Gastone, Viscount of Létorières; Cesare Valletti (t), Alfredo Germont; Arturo La Porta (b), Baron Douphol; Rome Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Pierre Monteux, cond. RCA-BMG, recorded 1956 (mono)
by Ken
I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't go just because the idea strikes me as a tiny bit, er, peculiar. It's certainly an amazingly dramatic as well as historic site -- there in the Judean desert, at the foot of the towering plateau of Masada, in range of the Dead Sea.
But "dramatic" in rather particular ways, I would think. I imagine that when the Israeli Opera Festival did Verdi's crypto-Old Testament epic Nabucco, much of which takes place outdoors in the ancient Near East, with scenes of definite blockbuster character, the site may have enhanced the experience. Ditto with Verdi's Egyptian epic, Aida.
The Opera Festival
We witness here the realization of the vision of an international opera festival in one of the most meaningful sites in our history, proving that the State of Israel can become a centre for culture tourism from all over the world. And indeed more than 4,000 tourists will attend these performance of Nabucco in tandem with thousands of Israelis coming to Masada from all corners of the land.
Many partners have joined us in this cultural, historic grandiose cultural celebration including the Tamar Regional Council, The National Parks Authority, The Ministry of Tourism, The Ministry of Culture, The Dead Sea Hotel Association, Discount Bank, IDB who enable thousands of spectators from the periphery attend the performances, The Meitar Family Fund and others. We thank all of them and many others without whom we would not have been able to be here today and enjoy a production that will not be easily forgotten.
I thank you dear guests that you have chosen to enjoy with us Nabucco at the footsteps of Masada. I wish you a unique operatic experience and already am looking forward to seeing you here next year for Aida.
Hanna Munitz
Israeli Opera General Director
But La Traviata?
"La traviata at the foot of Masaada" was the actual legend on the online promotional something-or-other that caught my eye. And what could say "19th-century Parisian demimonde" more surely than the Judean desert, Masada, and the Dead Sea? Not to mention that, while Traviata has party scenes that are crucial to the drama, the heart of the thing is the scenes among the three principals -- Violetta and Alfredo and, later, papa Giorgio Germont.
YouTube caption: For the second year running Eyal Lavee and his production team at The Design Group in Israel returned to the purpose built site they carved out of the desert last year for the Israeli Opera at the foot of Masada Mountain at the Dead Sea.
This historically significant and exquisitely raw setting saw the staging of Verdi's Aida, conducted by Daniel Oren, a co-production with Les Choragies d'Orange in France for the 2011 Dead Sea & Jerusalem Opera Festival 2011.
The Design Group - encompassing 3 different companies - Stage Design, Irgunit and LEDIM - and embracing multiple technical disciplines, handled all aspects of the technical production and site management. Lavee worked with his core production management team of Elad Mainz and Eviatar Banayan, and up to 150 other crew and technicians at peak times on site.
Once again, The Group's international connections were energised to bring onboard HSL and Britannia Row from the UK to provide lighting and audio equipment respectively. "Last year was a huge success, so it made sense to keep the same teams and collaborate with the best companies in the industry to supply the large quantities of premium kit required. Both HSL and Britannia Row did another fantastic job," says Lavee.
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Sunday Classics: Three duets from three Verdi operas
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Marcelo Álvarez and Sondra Radvanovsky sing the Act II duet from Verdi's A Masked Ball at the Met, Dec. 8, 2012.
by Ken
In Friday's preview we heard answering soprano and tenor snippets from three great Verdi duets, and I hope you heard what causes them, as I noted, to blend in my head. I assume you also guessed that, although the act numbers (I, II, and III) were given correctly, they weren't from the same Verdi opera.
Today we're going to listen to a larger chunk from each duet -- still not the full scene, though perhaps one day we'll get to that. Even though the full duets aren't that long (the longest runs about nine minutes), that would have been just too much to tackle in one post. (We've actually heard the whole of the Ballo in maschera duet, but never mind.)
FIRST LET'S LISTEN AGAIN TO FRIDAY'S SNIPPETS . . .
Sunday Classics: In Verdi's "La Traviata," Violetta faces her second life-transforming event
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Anna Moffo and Gino Bechiperform the first half of the Violetta-Germont scene from Act II, Scene 1 of La Traviata, up to the point where our audio clip in the click-through kicks in, tracks [1] through [4] of our breakdown, in this lip-synched 1967-ish film (online sources list Bechi as having retired in 1965 or maybe 1961!), with Giuseppe Patané conducting. We've got English translations of the whole scene in the click-through.
by Ken
I'm arguing that in each of the three acts of La Traviata the heroine, Violetta, undergoes a life-transforming experience, and in Friday night's and last night's previews we considered the first, a happy and most unexpected one: She meets a secret admirer, Alfredo Germont, and falls gloriously and -- by the start of Act II -- blissfully in love. What happens next is just as unexpected, but alas a whole lot less happily so.
It's worth pointing out that these life-transforming events tend to transform not just our immediate subject, in this case Violetta, but the people around her, in this case Alfredo obviously, but -- it turns out -- the rest of his family as well. The scene we're about to plunge into is one of the supreme confrontations, not just in opera, but in the whole of the theatrical literature. One thing to remember in approaching it as that two people go through the wringer here. I don't want to exonerate Germont père for what he does here, which strikes me as fairly monstrous, but just to underscore how desperately important it is to him.
First we need to back up a bit. Last night, as we heard Violetta bring Act I to a breathtaking close after the lavish party in her Paris home with her aria "Sempre libera," it seemed as if her final decision about the tantalizing life change suggested by the entry of the worshipful Alfredo into her life was "no way." As Act II opens, however, we discover that the couple has taken up residence in Violetta's country house, and they're living an idyllic life of delirious passion. And then, just as unexpectedly as her life-transforming event in Act I, in walks Alfredo's father, Giorgio Germont. The happiness that exceeds anything she dared to dream of is over.
It has driven him to make the long, arduous journey from his happy home in the south of France to Paris. As far as he's concerned, the stakes are life-or-death for his cherished daughter, and he's far from unconcerned about his son as well -- but then, society allows sons more leeway than daughter, and his future isn't in such immediate peril. One thing to listen for her is how much of Germont's "presentation" to Violetta is, in effect prescripted, formulated and reformulated on that long journey. Of course not much in life happens the way we plan, and almost immediately Germont is thrown off his game plan. Which is the next thing to listen for: how much of his "presentation" is reformulated on the fly, tailored to the unexpected circumstances -- that Violetta bears no resemblance to the wanton trollop of his imaginings. Unfortunately, in so far as his mission is concerned, this changes nothing at all, except to make the whole ordeal that much harder for both of them.
This is a scene we could spend weeks looking at, so we're just going to be skimming the surface here. But one thing to listen for on Violetta's side is, despite the ferocious fight she puts up, how easily and thoroughly her spirit is broken. What we find underneath all the outward confidence and bravado who doesn't expect real happiness, who expects it all to come apart. "I was too happy" is how she puts it in our selection [3]. This culminates in one of the most beautiful moments in all of music [5], her plea to Germont to tell his daughter ("so beautiful and pure") of the sacrifice she's made for her. Then Verdi if anything tops this, when she asks him for instructions and then implores him [6}, "Like a daughter, like a daughter embrace me. Then I'll be strong." And then there's their parting exhortation of "Be happy!": "Siate felice! Felice siate!" (Italian syntax allows the words to be put in either order.) Whew!
Here, first, is the scene first in English. The track changes will break the scene down rather clumsily, but that's not entirely a bad thing. It's a scene that warrants some breaking down for closer inspection.
La Traviata: Act II, Scene 1, Violetta-Germont scene (in English)
[1] Violetta, "Alfredo" . . . Annina, "He has just set out for Paris" . . . [2] Germont, "I have a daughter sent from Heav'n" . . . [3] Violetta, "Do you realize I adore him" . . . [4] Germont, "A day will come when making love" . . . [5] Violetta, "Ah! Comfort your daughter, so pure and lovely" . . . [6] Violetta, "Then command me!" . . . [7] Violetta, "I'll die! But you must promise me" . . .
Valerie Masterson (s), Violetta Valéry; Shelagh Squries (ms), Flora Bervoix; Edward Byles (t), Joseph; Christian du Plessis (b), Giorgio Germont; English National Opera Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, cond. EMI/Chandos, recorded Aug.-Oct. 1980
Sunday Classics preview: In "La Traviata," Violetta stands on the brink of life transformation
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Virginia Zeani, who'll be one of our Violettas today and tomorrow, reflects -- on her 84th birthday! -- on her first performance of the role, in Bologna on three days' notice in 1948 at age 22. (Later she talks about singing Puccini's Manon with the young Plácido Domingo.)
by Ken
In last night's preview we witnessed the first actual meeting between the Parisian courtesan Violetta Valéry and a charming, innocent young man from (we find out in Act II) the south of France, Provence, a very different sort of man from the ones she's become accustomed to socializing with. When he was introduced to her at they party she was giving, she learned that he had been in love with her for a year, had in fact been doing what we might call stalking her.
And something about him -- not just his dash and good looks, persuasive as they are -- got to her. She tried to dismiss him, in all senses, but wound up sending him off with grudging leave to return the next day. Now the guests have all gone, and Violetta is left alone to process what has just happened.
The stage is set for one of the great showpieces of the soprano literature, but of course it's also one of the great dramatic scenes. In form, it's clearly the old bel canto erea "double aria," or aria and cabaletta -- a normally slow first aria, in which the singer contemplates or deals with a situation or problem, and then, after the introduction of new information or perhaps just a change of thought (in this case it's simply what Violetta would probably think of as "coming to her senses"), a contrasting fast aria in which the singer deals with the revised situation or contrasting thought. It certainly corresponds to a basic human mode of behavior, and here Verdi and librettist Francesco Maria Piave found an opportunity to bring it to about as full a music-dramatic realization as anybody ever did.
(There's some irony here, in that in the next scene both the tenor and baritone in Traviata, Viioletta's new fascination, Alfredo Germont, and his father, Giorgio Germont, have arias with cabalettas, in situations that could plausibly sustain the form, and for whatever reason(s) Verdi doesn't seem to have bought in. Those cabalettas are the weakest numbers in the score, indeed the only less than first-rate music in it. While great singers might make them work -- the baritone cabaletta seems to me on the verge of being workable -- it's not an accident that these numbers were for a long time routinely omitted. Restoring them hasn't necessarily been a gain.)
SIDEBAR: WHY IS ALFREDO'S FATHER SO SET AGAINST HIS LIAISON WITH VIOLETTA?
The words most often associated with Violetta are "courtesan" and "demimondaine." From the American Heritage Dictionary:
courtesann. A woman who is a prostitute, especially one whose clients are men of rank or wealth.
A "demimondaine" is defined as "a woman belonging to the demimonde," so let's jump to that:
demimonden. 1.a. A class of women kept by wealthy lovers or protectors. b. Women prostitutes considered as a group. 2. A group whose respectability is dubious or whose success is marginal: the literary demimonde of ghost writers, hacks, and publicists. In this sense, also called demiworld.
Now Violetta actually has a fiancé, and a baron at that, which makes me wonder whether she's actually a prostitute. Wouldn't you figure that even the most liberal baron would have certain limits of propriety in matters of matrimony? So I'm inclined to 1a, with the powerful odor of dubious respectability from 2.
Note that for Alfredo's father, in his primly middle-class social circle, this would probably be a distinction without a difference, which is one reason "updating" the time period of the opera, as has been done by many too-smart-for-their-own-good directors, seems to me dangerous. I think we need for the stigma attached to Violetta's social status to be powerful enough to set the opera's events in motion.
Why don't we lead off, now, with the English-language performance by Valerie Masterson?
La Traviata: Act I, Violetta, Recitative, "I wonder, I wonder!" . . . Aria, "Is he the one I dream about?" . . . Recitative, "It can't be, it can't be!" . . . Aria, "Give me freedom to be happy"
Valerie Masterson (s), Violetta Valéry; John Brecknock (t), Alfredo Germont; English National Opera Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, cond. EMI, recorded Aug.-Oct. 1980
Sunday Classics preview: In Verdi's "La Traviata," Violetta's first life-transforming event
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Valerie Masterson sings the torturous "Martern aller Artern" ("Tortures of all kinds") from Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio, at Glyndebourne, 1980, with Charles Mackerras conducting the London Philharmonic. Constanza, held captive in the Turkish Pasha Selim's harem, makes clear to the pasha that nothing he can do will be sufficient to make her yield voluntarily to his amorous wishes.
by Ken
If there's anything does supremely well, it's representing life-transforming events and experiences. I'm inclined to think that with its combination of music with all the rest of the theater's dramatic resources, it does this better than any other dramatic medium. I'd like to try to demonstrate what I mean this week and the week after next. (We have other business next week.)
For several weeks now we've been hearing Valerie Masterson in all manner of repertory, from G&S to Rodgers & Hammerstein by way of Handel, Verdi, and Wagner. Now we close in on her admirable (and admirably well-preserved phonographically) assumptions of two of the central roles in the core operatic literature: first, Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata; then, Marguerite in Gounod's Faust.
THE VALERIE MASTERSON FLASHBACK/PREVIEW POSTS
Part 1: We haven't quite finished with this lovely soprano WAGNER: The Rhinegold: Opening Scene excerpts. G&S: Sorcerer: "Oh, happy young heart" (plus two other sopranos' versions); Incantation Scene (with John Reed et al.) Video: HANDEL: Julius Caesar: "V'adoro, pupille" (with Janet Baker; ENO, Mackerras) Part 2: We STILL haven't finished with Valerie Masterson G&S: Pirates of Penzance: "When the foeman bears his steel" . . . "Go, ye heroes"; Ah, leave me not to pine (with Robert Tear). Mikado: "Were you not to Ko-Ko plighted" (with Tear). VERDI: La Traviata: Prelude & Opening Scene; "I saw a vision ethereal"; Act II, Scene 1: "What's that?" . . . "Love me, Alfredo" (with John Brecknock; ENO, Mackerras). Video: HANDEL: Acis and Galatea: "Oh, happy we" (with Anthony Rolfe Johnson) Part 3: Traveling with Valerie Masterson from 1994 to 1967 G&S: Pirates of Penzance: Poor wandering one (three versions). Yeomen of the Guard: "I have a song to sing, O" (with John Cartier). RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN: The King and I: "Getting to know you"; "When I think of Tom" . . . "Hello, young lovers"; March of the Siamese Children"
SO, THIS WEEK TRAVIATA
In the course of the opera's three acts Violetta experiences three of those transforming events. The first is a happy one, and that's the one we're going to concern ourselves with in tonight's and tomorrow night's previews. Tonight we hear the actual convulsions of that first event; tomorrow night, as Act I concludes, we hear what she makes of it. (The good news continues into the beginning of Act II, but unfortunately that's going to be the extent of the good news. On Sunday, Violetta and we will have our first encounter with Alfredo's father, and for her everything changes.)
But first, it has become something of a tradition here, when we're dealing with an opera, to hear how the thing starts, just to help set the mood. We've already heard the Prelude to Act I of Traviata, and for that matter we're going to hear it several more times in the click-through, as part of the opera's opening scene, but I don't see any reason why we shouldn't take a moment just to enjoy this remarkable little piece.
Or two moments, actually, because we're going to hear two performances, featuring the same conductor (Herbert von Karajan) and orchestra (that of La Scala), recorded a week apart in December 1964. I think they're interestingly different, and will explain in the click-through the difference in circumstances that I think explains the differences.
VERDI: La Traviata: Prelude to Act I
Orchestra of the Teatro all Scala, Herbert von Karajan, cond. Both recorded live, December 1964
[2/6/2011] In Verdi's "La Traviata," Violetta faces her second life-transforming event (continued}
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"Dite alla giovine . . .": Violetta (Amelita Gallli-Curci) gives in, and Germont (Giuseppe de Luca) has won -- at considerable cost to both of them (but especially Violetta, of course); then she asks him to tell her what to do. This 1918 recording comprises our tracks [5] through [7] (translations below).
NOW WE HEAR OUR OTHER VIOLETTAS FROM OUR TRAVIATA PREVIEWS --
Maria Callas (with Mario Sereni) and Virginia Zeani (with her Romanian countryman Nicolae Herlea). In both performances we begin later than in the Masterson-du Plessis one, right at the moment of Germont's entrance. The Callas-Sereni version, conveniently, uses exactly the same track points as the Masterson-du Plessis, while the track-free Zeani-Herlea version allows us to hear the scene without interruption.
VERDI: La Traviata: Act II, Scene 1, Violetta-Germont scene
[1] Germont, "Madamigella Valéry" . . . [2] Germont, "Pura siccome un angelo" . . . [3) Violetta, "Non sapete, quale affetto" . . . [4] Germont, "Un dì, quando le veneri" . . . [5] Violetta, "Dite alla giovine" . . . [6] Violetta, "Or imponete" . . . [7] Violetta, "Morrò! Morrò! La mia memoria" . . .
[1] (A): track 1, (B): 0:00 GERMONT: Mademoiselle Valéry? VIOLETTA: Yes. GERMONT: I'm Alfredo's father. VIOLETTA [surprised, invites him to sit down]: You are? GERMONT [sitting down]: Yes, I'm the father of that headstrong boy, Who's rushing to his ruin Because of his infatuation for you. VIOLETTA [rising indignantly]: I am a woman, Sir, And this is my house; Please excuse me if I leave you, More for your sake than mine. [She turns to go out. ] GERMONT [to himself]: What bearing! All the same ... VIOLETTA [returning to her chair]: There must be some mistake! GERMONT: He wants to make over everything to you. VIOLETTA: He wouldn't dare, I should refuse. GERMONT [looking round him]: But all this luxury . . . VIOLETTA [showing him a document]: That puzzles a lot of people, But you shall know the truth. GERMONT [looking at the document]: Heavens! What are you telling me? You're sacrificing Everything you possess? Is this how the past reproaches you? VIOLETTA [with enthusiasm]: The past is over. I love Alfredo now, God has wiped out the past. He knows of my repentance! GERMONT: Your feelings do you credit. VIOLETTA [getting up]: How kind your voice sounds now. GERMONT: I have to ask a sacrifice Of those noble feelings of yours. VIOLETTA: No! Don't tell me! Don't tell me your terrible demand! I foresaw it . . . I expected it . . . I was too happy! GERMONT: Alfredo's father Pleads with you now for the future Of his two children! VIOLETTA: His two children? GERMONT: Yes. [2] (A): track 2, (B): 3:08 God gave me a daughter As pure as an angel; And if Alfredo refuses To return to the bosom of his family, The man she loves and who loves her, The one whose wife she was to be, Will break the chain That was to bind them in their happiness. I pray you not to change the roses of their Love to flowers of sadness. Surely your heart will not deny The prayer I utter now. VIOLETTA: Ah yes, I understand. If I left Alfredo for a time . . . It would be a sacrifice, but then ... GERMONT: That's not what I'm asking. VIOLETTA: Heavens! What more do you expect? So much I've offered already! GERMONT: But not enough. VIOLETTA: You want me to leave him Forever? GERMONT: It's necessary. VIOLETTA: Oh, no! Never! No, never! [3] (A): track 3, (B): 5:13 You cannot know the kind of passion -- Living, overwhelming -- That burns in my heart! I have no friends, no family still living. Alfredo swore, That I should find them all in him. How should you know that my life Is threatened by a fell disease? That already I see the end is near? If I parted from Alfredo, My suffering would be so unbearable That I would rather die, Why yes, much rather die! GERMONT: The sacrifice is weighty, But hear me out with patience, You're young and beautiful And in time . . . VIOLETTA: Oh, say no more . . . I understand you. But it's impossible for me . . . I want nothing but to love him! GERMONT: That may be, But men are often less faithful. VIOLETTA: Oh, heavens! [4] (A): track 4, (B): 7:45 GERMONT: One day, when time Has put your charms to flight, Boredom will swiftly rise. What will happen then? Think! The gentle balm of affection Will not be for you, Because the threads that bound you Had not been blessed by heaven. VIOLETTA: It's true! GERMONT: Ah, why not then abandon So tempting a dream? VIOLETTA: It's true! GERMONT: Be the consoling angel Of my family! Violetta, only think, You still have time for that. My child, it's God who inspires The words this father speaks. VIOLETTA [in great grief]: So, for the wretched woman Who's fallen once, The hope of rising is forever gone! Though God should show His mercy, Man will never forgive her. [5] (A): track 5, (B): 10:49 [To Germont, weeping] Say to your daughter, so pure and fair, That there's a victim of misfortune Whose one ray of happiness Before she dies Is a sacrifice made for her. GERMONT: Weep, unhappy girl, weep! I see the sacrifice I ask Is the greatest one of all, In my own heart I feel your sorrow; Have courage, and your generous Heart will conquer! [6] (A): track 6, (B): 15:19 VIOLETTA: Tell me what I must do. GERMONT: Say you don't love him. VIOLETTA: He won't believe me. GERMONT: Then leave him. VIOLETTA: He would follow me. GERMONT: Then . . . VIOLETTA: As your daughter now embrace me, So you may give me strength. [embracing Germont] Soon he will be restored to you, But more unhappy than words can tell. You must be there To comfort him. [She indicates the garden. She goes to the writing table.] GERMONT: What are you doing? VIOLETTA: If I told you, You would oppose me. GERMONT: You are generous indeed! And what can I do for you? What can I do for you who are so generous? [7] (A): track 7, (B): 16:29 VIOLETTA [turning to him]: I shall soon die! And he'll not curse My memory If someone tell him How much I suffered. GERMONT: No, generous girl, you must live, You must be happy, For one day Heaven will repay you for these tears. VIOLETTA: Let him know the sacrifice I made of the love That will be his Till I draw my last breath. GERMONT: Your sacrifice shall be rewarded, And in days to come You will be proud Of so great a love. Yes! VIOLETTA: Someone is coming, you must go now. GERMONT: I thank you from my heart! VIOLETTA: Go now. [They embrace.] We may not meet again. VIOLETTA and GERMONT: May you be happy! Farewell! [Germont goes to the door.] VIOLETTA [weeping]: Let him know the sacrifice I made of the love . . . GERMONT [at the door]: Yes! Yes! VIOLETTA: That will be his forever ... Her tears stifle the words. Farewell! GERMONT: Farewell! VIOLETTA and GERMONT: May you be happy! Farewell! [Germont goes through the door into the garden.]
(A) Maria Callas (s), Violetta Valéry; Mario Sereni (b), Giorgio Germont; Orquestra Sinfónica Nacional (Lisbon), Franco Ghione, cond. Myto, recorded live at the Teatro São Carlos, Mar. 27, 1958 (B) Virginia Zeani (s), Violetta Valéry; Nicolae Herlea (b), Giorgio Germont; Orchestra of the Romanian National Opera (Bucharest), Jean Bobescu, cond. Electrecord/Vox, recorded 1968
VIOLETTA PUTS HER "PLAN" INTO EFFECT
This is the plan she refuses to share with Germont. Sorry to say, it kind of sucks. She hurriedly writes Alfredo a letter, which she has delivered to him while she's vamoosing to Paris. Alfredo returns sooner than she expects, and she struggles to retain her composure, finally erupting in this outburst.
La Traviata: Act II, Scene 1, "Amami, Alfredo"
VIOLETTA: Love me, Alfredo. Love me as much as I love you. Farewell.
[in English] Valerie Masterson (s), Violetta Valéry; English National Opera Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, cond. EMI/Chandos, recorded Aug.-Oct. 1980 Maria Callas (s), Violetta Valéry; Orquestra Sinfónica Nacional (Lisbon), Franco Ghione, cond. Myto, recorded live at the Teatro São Carlos, Mar. 27, 1958 Virginia Zeani (s), Violetta Valéry; Orchestra of the Romanian National Opera (Bucharest), Jean Bobescu, cond. Electrecord/Vox, recorded 1968
AND ONE LAST TIME, LET'S GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING
No, I didn't forget about the Prelude to Traviata. I just thought that today we would save it for the end. I think the reason will be readily audible.
La Traviata: Prelude to Act I
Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Carlos Kleiber, cond. Live performance, Dec. 9, 1984
[2/5/2011] In "La Traviata," Violetta stands on the brink of life transformation (continued)
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Callas as Violetta
BEFORE WE CONTINUE WITH VIOLETTA'S SOLO SCENE, WE HAVE SOME UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Around here we don't like to jump into operas without reminding ourselves of how they started. Last night we heard the two performances of the Traviata Act I Prelude by Herbert von Karajan and the La Scala orchestra. Tonight I think we'll go with Carlo Maria Giulini and the Covent Garden orchestra.
La Traviata: Prelude to Act I
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Carlo Maria Giulini, cond. Live performance, May 5, 1967
BACK TO VIOLETTA, LEFT HOME ALONE AFTER THE DEPARTURE OF HER GUESTS
First, here's Valerie Masterson, singing in English from the English National Opera studio recording. One textual note: Masterson sings only one stanza of the first aria, "Ah, fors'è lui"; there's a second stanza that was routinely cut in the bad old days of textual infidelity but in more recent times has sometimes been restored. In fairness, there's nothing to heard in the second stanza that we haven't heard in the first, and there's a case to be made that the dramatic progression of the scene is spoiled by having Violetta go back over musical ground she's already covered.
La Traviata: "I wonder, I wonder!" . . . "Is he the one I dream about?" . . . "It can't be, it can't be!" . . . "Give me the freedom to be happy"
Valerie Masterson (s), John Brecknock (t); English National Opera Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, cond. EMI, recorded Aug.-Oct. 1980
Now we hear the scene in Italian, sung first by another of the Violettas we heard last night, Maria Callas, plus the lovely Romanian soprano Virginia Zeani. Masterson, Callas, and Zeani will be our Violettas tomorrow for the Act II scene with Alfredo's father.
We've got one asterisk here: Callas is double-represented. I might note that while Violetta is a role for which Callas's fans adore her, it's not one I often turn to her for. I fixed on her 1958 Lisbon performance because we're headed for the high drama of the Act II scene -- and also because we need a decent Germont père. However, for the Act I solo scene I've also slipped in the performance from her 1953 Cetra recording, where the vocal problems are present but don't yet entail quite the degree of "tradeoff" they would by 1958. Not that Zeani's voice is ideally steady in the upper range either, a useful reminder of just how difficult this music is to sing -- by composer's intention, I have to assume. (There is, by the way, an audio-only YouTube clip of Zeani singing this scene quite beautifully at a Hamburg concert in 1956, age 29.)
La Traviata: Act I, Violetta, Recitative, "È stranno, è stranno!" . . . Aria, "Ah, fors'è lui che l'anima" . . . Recitative, "Follie, follie!" . . . Aria, "Sempre libera degg'io folleggiare"
Recitative, "È stranno, è stranno!" It's strange, it's strange! Those words are carved upon my heart! Would a true love bring me misfortune? What do you think, o my troubled spirit? No man before kindled a flame like this. Oh, joy . . . I never knew . . . To love and to be loved! Can I disdain this For a life of sterile pleasure? Aria, "Ah, fors'è lui che l'anima" Was this the man my heart, Alone in the crowd, Delighted many times to paint In vague, mysterious colors? This man, so watchful yet retiring, Who haunted my sickbed And turned my fever Into the burning flame of love! That love, The pulse of the whole world, Mysterious, unattainable, The torment and delight of my heart. [2nd stanza, as noted, omitted in all of our performances] Recitative, "Follie, follie!" It's madness, it's madness! A poor, lonely woman Abandoned in this teeming desert They call Paris! What can I hope? What should I do? Enjoy myself! Plurge into the vortex Of pleasure and drown there! Enjoy myself! Aria, "Sempre libera degg'io folleggiare" Free and aimless I must flutter From pleasure to pleasure, Skimming the surface Of life's primrose path. As each day dawns, As each day dies, Gaily I turn to the new delights That make my spirit soar. ALFREDO [outside the window]: Love is the pulse . . . VIOLETTA: Oh! ALFREDO: . . . of the whole world . . . VIOLETTA: Yes! Love! ALFREDO: Mysterious, unattainable, The torment and delight of my heart. VIOLETTA: It's madness! Pleasure! Free and aimless, I must flutter … etc.
Maria Callas (s), Violetta; Francesco Albanese (t), Alfredo; RAI Turin Symphony Orchestra, Gabriele Santini, cond. Cetra/EMI, recorded September 1953
Maria Callas (s), Violetta; Alfredo Kraus (t), Alfredo; Orquestra Sinfónica Nacional (Lisbon), Franco Ghione, cond. Myto, recorded live at the Teatro São Carlos, Mar. 27, 1958
Virginia Zeani (s), Violetta; Ion Buzea (t), Alfredo; Romanian National Opera (Bucharest) Orchestra, Jean Bobescu, cond. Electrecord/Vox, recorded 1968 ["Ah, fors'è lui" at 1:19, "Follie, follie!" at 4:19, "Sempre libera" at 5:23]
[2/4/2011] Preview: In Verdi's "La Traviata," Violetta's first life-transforming event (continued)
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Valerie Masterson and tenor Beniamino Prior in Act I of La Traviata in San Francisco, 1980
ABOUT THAT PAIR OF KARAJAN-LA SCALA PERFORMANCES OF THE TRAVIATA ACT I PRELUDE
I don't think there's any great mystery here. It's just fascinating, I think, to be able to hear the two performances together. The one we heard first is from the actual performance of Dec. 22, 1964. The second one, from Dec. 15, is from the dress rehearsal, and it just doesn't seem to me as tautly controlled -- and indeed why should it be, since it wasn't an actual performance?
NOW WE MOVE ON TO THE OPERA'S OPENING SCENE
First we're going to hear Valerie Masterson, with John Brecknock as Alfredo, from an English-language recording made the very year as that San Francisco Traviata pictured above took place, 1980. We've already heard these excerpts in one of our previews, and as I mentioned then, this was one of the early opera-in-English recordings made possible with assistance from the Peter Moores Foundation, which has now all been transferred to the Chandos label (including the ENO English-language Ring cycle conducted by Reginald Goodall, in which we heard Masterson as the Rhinemaiden Woglinde.
La Traviata: Prelude; Act I, Opening Scene and Brindisi (in English)
Valerie Masterson (s), Violetta Valéry; John Brecknock (t), Alfredo Germont; Della Jones (ms), Flora Bervoix; Denis Dowling (b), Marquis d'Obigny; Geoffrey Pogson (t), Gastone; John Gibbs (b), Baron Douphol; English National Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, cond. EMI (now Chandos), recorded Aug.-Oct. 1980
Now we have two performances in Italian. The first, with soprano Rosanna Carteri and tenor Cesare Valletti, is also one we've heard previously, though without the Prelude, in a mini-tribute to Valletti last June. The second is the opening of the famous 1958 Maria Callas "Lisbon Traviata," with Alfredo Kraus as Alfredo.
La Traviata: Prelude; Act I, Opening Scene and Brindisi
Here's the quick synopsis I offered when we first heard the Carteri-Valletti-Monteux recording of the scene. The time cues of course refer to that recording. (You'll find a link to a complete English translation here.)
At a party at the home of Violetta, young Alfredo Germont is introduced by the gregarious viscount Gastone (at 1:29 of track 1). Later (at 2:57) Gastone informs their hostess of Alfredo's heretofore silent devotion to her. Then, invited to offer the crowd a drinking song, Alfredo first declines (at 4:36), then asks Violetta if it would please her (at 4:48), and (track 2) launches into a brindisi, or drinking song (this is not only the world's best-known brindisibut one of the world's most-loved tunes), to which Violetta joins in with a stanza of her own.
Prelude
Opening Scene . . . Brindisi
Rosanna Carteri (s), Violetta Valéry; Glauco Scarlini (t), Gastone; Leonardo Monreale (bs), Marquis d'Obigny; Cesare Valletti (t), Alfredo Germont; Lidia Marimpietri (s), Flora Bervoix; Arturo La Porta (b) Baron Douphol; Rome Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Pierre Monteux, cond. RCA/BMG/Myto, recorded 1956
Broadcast introduction, including greeting from Callas (all in Portuguese)
Prelude; Opening Scene and Brindisi Maria Callas (s), Violetta; Piero de Palma (t), Gastone; Vito Susca (bs), Marquis d'Obigny; Alfredo Kraus (t), Alfredo Germont; Laura Zanini (ms), Flora Bervoix; Alvaro Malta (b) Baron Douphol; Chorus of the Teatro São Carlos, Orquestra Sinfónica Nacional (Lisbon), Franco Ghione, cond. Myto, live performance, Mar. 27, 1958
Somewhat later, Violetta has a fainting spell, and encourages all her guests to continue on with the party. Staying behind, she's left with Alfredo, who pleads with her to take better care of herself, saying he wishes he himself had the right to do so, adding that no one in the world loves her the way he does. He acknowledges that he's been smitten with her for a year. Here first are John Brecknock and Valerie Masterson.
La Traviata: Act I, Alfredo, "I saw a vision ethereal . . . Gastone: "Ha ha, what are you doing?" . . . Violetta, "I mean . . . tomorrow"
Valerie Masterson (s), Violetta Valéry; John Brecknock (t), Alfredo Germont; English National Opera Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras, cond. EMI, recorded Aug.-Oct. 1980
Now here are our Italian-language teams.
La Traviata: Act I, Alfredo: "Un dì felice" . . . Gastone: "Ebben, che diavol fate?" . . . Violetta: "Ebben, domani"
ALFREDO: One happy day You flashed lightly into my life; And since then I've lived In tremulous possession Of that unspoken love, The pulse of the whole world, Mysterious, unattainable, The torment and delight of my heart. VIOLETTA: If that is true, then leave me. Friendship is all I can offer you. I don't know how to love, I couldn't feel so great an emotion. I'm being honest with you ? sincere . . . You should look for someone else, Then you wouldn't find it hard To forget me. GASTONE [appearing in the center doorway]: Well now? What the devil are you up to? VIOLETTA: We're talking nonsense. GASTONE: Ha, ha! Splendid! Go on! VIOLETTA [to Alfredo]: So no more about love. Is that a promise? ALFREDO: I'll do as you say. I'll go. [He turns away.] VIOLETTA: So it's come to that already? [She takes a flower from her corsage.] Take this flower. ALFREDO: Why? VIOLETTA: So you can bring it back to me. ALFREDO [turning back]: When? VIOLETTA: When it's withered. ALFREDO: You mean . . . tomorrow? VIOLETTA: Very well, tomorrow. ALFREDO [rapturously taking the flower]: I'm happy . . . Oh, so happy! VIOLETTA: Do you still say you love me? ALFREDO [about to go]: How much, how much I love you! I'm happy . . . oh, so happy! VIOLETTA: You're going? ALFREDO [coming back to kiss her hand]: I'll go now. VIOLETTA: Good-bye, then. ALFREDO: I ask for nothing more. Good-bye! [He goes out.]
Cesare Valletti (t), Alfredo Germont; Rosanna Carteri (s), Violetta Valéry; Glauco Scarlini (t), Gastone; Rome Opera Orchestra, Pierre Monteux, cond. RCA/BMG/Myto, recorded 1956 Alfredo Kraus (t), Alfredo; Maria Callas (s), Violetta; Piero de Palma (t), Gastone; Orquestra Sinfónica Nacional (Lisbon), Franco Ghione, cond. Myto, live performance, Mar. 27, 1958
Left alone after the party, Violetta reflects on her encounter with Alfredo, that first life-transforming event I spoke of, as we prepare to tackle the second, when she meets Alfredo's father, in Sunday's main post.
