Episode 298. Verdi Duets
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Last week, absorbed in preparations for my own birthday, I passed over the birthday of the great Giuseppe Verdi, born 10 October 1813. Two years ago I produced a pair of Verdi episodes, and today I feature the one first published as a bonus episode at that time, which features duets from Luisa Miller, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Otello, and Falstaff. In the spirit of my two recent episodes “Requiescat” and “In Pace,” I had the brilliant idea of highlighting great Verdi singers (and one conductor) who died in Octobers past, including: Joan Sutherland (October 10, 2010); Eleanor Steber (October 3, 1990); Montserrat Caballé (October 6, 2018); Vladislav Piavko (October 6, 2020); Rosanna Carteri (October 25, 2020); Leonard Bernstein (October 14, 1990); Walter Berry (October 27, 2000); Franco Bonisolli (October 30, 2003); Edita Gruberová (October 18, 2021); Ingvar Wixell (October 8, 2011); and Rolando Panerai (October 22, 2019). Heard alongside these musicians are the blazingly talented John Alexander, Sherrill Milnes, Leonard Warren, Irina Arkhipova, Mario del Monaco, Anselmo Colzani, Regina Resnik, Margherita Rinaldi, Giorgio Zancanaro, Luigi Alva, Judith Raskin, and Mattiwilda Dobbs. Live performances are featured alongside soundtrack recordings from three different operatic films, as well as a few rare studio recordings ensure that the great Giuseppe receives sufficient, if belated, accolades.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
All selections are composed by Giuseppe Verdi.
Francesco Maria Piave [after Alexandre Dumas fils]: Un dì felice, eterea (La traviata). Joan Sutherland, John Alexander, Richard Bonynge, Orchestra of the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company [live Philadelphia 12.XI.63]
Francesco Maria Piave [after Alexandre Dumas fils]: Pura siccome un angelo… Dite alla giovine (La traviata). Eleanor Steber, Leonard Warren, Orchestra conducted by Wilfrid Pelletier [1940]
Salvadore Cammarano [after Friedrich Schiller]: La tomba è un letto sparso di fiori… Andrem, raminghi e poveri (Luisa Miller). Montserrat Caballé, Sherrill Milnes, Thomas Schippers, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra [live 17.II.68]
Salvadore Cammarano [after Antonio García Gutiérrez]: Non odi?… Ai nostri monti (Il trovatore). Irina Arkhipova, Vladislav Piavko, Boris Khaikin, Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra [1974]
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Arrigo Boito [after William Shakespeare]: Esterrefatta fisso lo sguardo tuo tremendo (Otello). Rosanna Carteri, Mario del Monaco, Tullio Serafin, Orchestra di Milano della RAI [1958 film soundtrack]
Arrigo Boito [after William Shakespeare]: Reverenza!… Buon giorno, buona donna! (Falstaff). Regina Resnik, Anselmo Colzani, Leonard Bernstein, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra [live 21.III.64]
Arrigo Boito [after William Shakespeare]: C’è a Windsor una dama (Falstaff). Walter Berry, Giorgio Zancanaro, Lorin Maazel, Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper [live Wien 02.II.83]
Arrigo Boito [after William Shakespeare]: Psst! Psst! Nannetta!… Bocca baciata non perde sventura (Falstaff). Luigi Alva, Judith Raskin, Leonard Bernstein, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra [live 21.III.64]
Francesco Maria Piave [after Victor Hugo]: Signor nè principe… È il sol dell’anima (Rigoletto). Franco Bonisolli, Margherita Rinaldi, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, Staatskapelle Dresden [1977 film soundtrack]
Francesco Maria Piave [after Victor Hugo]: Ah, piangi, fanciulla… Sì, vendetta, tremenda vendetta (Rigoletto). Edita Gruberová, Ingvar Wixell, Riccardo Chailly, Wiener Philharmoniker [1982 film soundtrack]
Francesco Maria Piave [after Victor Hugo]: Chi è mai, chi è qui in sua vece … Lassù in cielo (Rigoletto). Rolando Panerai, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Alceo Galliera, Philharmonia Orchestra [1952]