Program Notes Overture to William Tell
Gioacchino Rossini (1792 – 1868)
William Tell, the last of Rossini’s 39 operas, premiered in 1829 in Paris. The instrumental Overture has maintained its popularity over the years, and several parts of it have been featured in cartoons, advertisements and as accompaniments to TV and radio programs. In what Berlioz described as “a symphony in four parts,” Rossini paints a musical picture of life in the Swiss Alps. You will hear, without pause between sections, dawn breaking over the mountains with hints of thunder in the background leading to the storm section. The calm after the storm is signaled by a call to the cows played by the English Horn and finally, the cavalry charge (march of the Swiss soldiers) of the final section will recall The Lone Ranger for all but the youngest in the audience. Son vergin vezzosa from I Puritani
Vincenzo Bellini (1801 – 1835)
This final opera by Bellini, played first in Paris in 1835, takes place during the English civil war of the 1640s, and involves a tale of love lost and found. Son vergin vezzosa is sung by the bride-to-be, Elvira, as she unwittingly provides a disguise for Queen Enrichetta by placing her bridal veil, in fun, on the queen’s head. All'afflitto è dolce il pianto from Roberto Devereux Gaetano Donizetti (1797 – 1848) Roberto Devereux, first first performed in 1837 in Naples, was the third of Donizetti’s “Tudor Trilogy” or “Three Queens,” the other two being Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda. In Act 1, Sara, Duchess of Nottingham, weeps as she pines for Robert Devereux whose love is forbidden to her because he is the favorite of Queen Elizabeth. When asked, she blames her tears on a book she is reading since she wants no one to suspect her secret love. Quì la voce; vien diletto from I Puritani
Vincenzo Bellini (1801 – 1835)
In Act II, Elvira, deranged over her lover’s apparent betrayal. sings of her longing for Arturo (Quì la voce…) and then mistaking Riccardo for Arturo, dreams of their reunion (vien, diletto). Madrigale from Manon Lescaut
Giacomo Puccini (1858 – 1924)
Created by Puccini against the advice of his publisher (since Massenet had already produced a successful opera based on the 1731 story by the Abbé Prévost), he responded, “Why shouldn’t there be two operas about Manon? A woman like Manon can have more than one lover." He added, "Massenet feels it
as a Frenchman, with powder and minuets. I shall feel it as an Italian, with a desperate passion.” Like several other musical elements of this opera, the Madrigale reflects previously-written work – in this case the Agnus Dei from Puccini’s 1880 Messa a quattro voci. It is sung in Act 2 as an amusement for Manon. Va pensiero from Nabucco
Giuseppi Verdi (1813 – 1901)
Nabucco is the opera which established Verdi’s reputation as a major composer in 19th-century Italy. It relates the biblical story of the expulsion of the Jews from their homeland by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. This chorus – Fly, thought, on golden wings - is the best-known number from the opera. Until mid2008 it was one of only two (the other being the Daughter of the Regiment) encores allowed by the Metropolitan Opera. Ah! Parea che per incanto from Anna Bolena Gaetano Donizetti (1797 – 1848) This loose retelling of the fate of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, was premiered in Milan in 1830. In the ninth scene of the first act, the queen’s page and court musician Smeaton relates that holding a stolen picture of the queen near his heart is the only way he can express his forbidden love for her. Smeaton is generally a “trouser” or “pants” role - that is a male part in a lower register sung by a female. Caro mio ben
Tommaso Giordani (1730- 1806)
This song was immensely popular in the late 18th century and was traditionally attributed to Giuseppe Giordani. However, the research of scholar John Glen Paton suggests it was actually by composed by Tommaso Giordani, his brother. Today it remains a favorite song of singing teachers and their students alike with its ever-fresh emotion – “My dearly beloved…without you my heart languishes…” The version you hear today has been arranged for strings. O quante volte, oh quante! from I Capuleti e i Montecchi Vincenzo Bellini (1801 – 1835) Bellini is said to have written I Capuleti e i Montecchi, a reworking of Romeo and Juliet, in less than two months for the 1830 Carnival season in Venice. The result lifted nearly a dozen numbers from from earlier operas. Giulietta, in Act 1, longs for Romeo in O quante volte which is taken from Nelly’s romanza "Dopo l’oscuro nembo" from Bellini’s first opera Adelson e Salvini.
Il segreto per esser felici from Lucrezia Borgia
Gaetano Donizetti (1797 – 1848) First produced at Milan’s La Scala in 1833, Donizetti’s Lucrezia faced a law suit in France where Victor Hugo, who wrote a play on the same historical topic, was able to stop further productions of this work within the reach of French copyright law. Though the opera as a whole is not frequently produced these days, Orsini’s brindisi (drinking song), Il segreto per felici, from the final act is a muchperformed and recorded favorite. Inno al sole from Iris
Pietro Mascagni (1863 – 1945)
First produced in Rome in 1898, this opera set in Japan is not known as one of Mascagni’s best works. Performances are rare but for a small number of individual arias of which this Hymn to the Sun is one. It is performed early on in the opera and then, again, in large scale with chorus in the final act.
