Today is the fifth anniversary of the Pulse massacre. As this says, there are scholarship funds, and a congressional bill that will make the site a national memorial.
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/06/10/remembering-the-pulse-49-read-their-stories/
This year, I am listening to the operas of Giuseppe Verdi. I’ve heard some of his operas and have seen Macbeth and Simon Boccanegra. But I’ve been curious about his several others. So, I decided to purchase the 2013 75-CD set of Verdi’s operas (and additional music), which I’ll listen to during the upcoming year. For reference I’ll study Charles Osborne, The Complete Operas of Verdi (New York: Knopf, 1979).
I due Foscari (The Two Foscari), Verdi's seventh opera, premiered in Rome on November 3, 1844. The libretto is based on Byron’s play of the same name. The story concerns the Doge of Venice (Francesco Foscari), his son Jacopo Foscari who is accused of murder, and Jacopo’s wife Lucrezia. On this recording, those three principles are sung by Piero Cappuccilli, Jose Carreras, and Katia Ricciarelli, with Samuel Ramey portraying Loredano.
Osborne comments that Verdi develops the role of the orchestra in this opera. Still very much a vocal event, nevertheless Verdi uses leading motives to a greater extent and makes the orchestra more of a "junior partner" in the story. Again, this is not because of influence from Wagner but because of Verdi’s own compositional and dramatic development.
This year, I am listening to the operas of Giuseppe Verdi. I’ve heard some of his operas and have seen Macbeth and Simon Boccanegra. But I’ve been curious about his several others. So, I decided to purchase the 2013 75-CD set of Verdi’s operas (and additional music), which I’ll listen to during the upcoming year. For reference I’ll study Charles Osborne, The Complete Operas of Verdi (New York: Knopf, 1979).
Ernani premiered at Teatro La Feinice in Venice on March 9, 1844. The story is based on the play Hernani by Victor Hugo. After the success of Verdi’s previous two operas, he received several possibilities for a commission. When he settled on the Venice, he stipulated terms for payment and performance, including the provision that the libretto should be first finished to his satisfaction. He noted that composition of the music flowed naturally for him from a suitable libretto. It was for many years Verdi’s most performed opera. In fact, the first recording of a complete opera was Ernani, on 40 single-sided discs in 1904.
The story concerns the bandit Ernani, who is in love with Elvira, about to be married to Gomez de Silva. Ernani want his fellow bandits to kidnap her. She thwarts that, but the love between her and Ernani is still complicated!
This recording is conducted by Richard Bonynge for the Orchestra and Chorus of Welsh National Opera. Joan Suterhland is Elvira, and Luciano Pavarotti is Ernani.
Osborne writes, “The weak pages in Ernani are comparatively few. What is most impressive is the opera’s wealth of beautiful and gloriously singable tunes… perhaps it is worth pointing out the obvious: that Silva’s horn theme is Verdi’s earliest use of a primitive form of the Leitmotif, which he has often been accused of appropriating from Wagner. He had heard no Wagner in 1844… There is really no Wagner influence anywhere in Verdi… It is much more likely that Der fliegende Hollander contains music written under the influence of Verdi and Donizetti.”
This year, I am listening to the operas of Giuseppe Verdi. I’ve heard some of his operas, and have seen Macbeth and Simon Boccanegra. But I’ve been curious about his several others. So, I decided to purchase the 2013 75-CD set of Verdi’s operas (and additional music), which I’ll listen to during the upcoming year. For reference I’ll study Charles Osborne, The Complete Operas of Verdi (New York: Knopf, 1979).
I Lombardi alla prima crociata (The Lombards on the First Crusade) is Verdi's fourth opera. A four-act opera, it premiered at La Scala on February 11, 1843. This recording is conducted by James Levine with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Richard leech and Samuel Ramey perform Arvino and Pagano, while Luciano Pavarotti performes Oronte, and Patricia Racette portrays Vinclinda.
The story, which takes place in Milan, the Antioch area, and the Jerusalem area, concerns the brothers Pagano and Arvino. They had feuded over Viclinda but had apparently reconciled. Now, Viclinda is married to Arvino. But he is called upon to lead a crusade to the Holy Land, and Pagano wants to use the opportunity to win Vinclinda himself.
Osborne writes that the opera is “fairly typical early Verdi… The finest pages… have that melodic beauty and creative energy which, by the time of Il trovatore, were to become Verdian characteristics. But much of the opera merely matches the crudity of [the librettist’s] historical imagination." A few years later, Verdi revised the opera for a French audience, renaming it Jérusalem. I'll listen to that one later this summer.
As I wrote in my November 26, 2020 post, I like to use this blog as a record of year-long “projects,” often beginning on the first Sunday of Advent. A composer about whom I’ve always felt curious is Verdi. When I began in parish ministry in the early 1980s, in a very rural area of southeastern Illinois, I liked to listen to classical music and opera at my lonesome little parsonage. Anytime I listen to an opera, something in me connects back to that time when I was starting out in ministry.
So, I decided to purchase the 2013 75-CD set of Verdi’s operas (and additional music), which I’ll listen to during the upcoming year. For reference, I’ll study Charles Osborne, The Complete Operas of Verdi (New York: Knopf, 1979).
Little Taako’s death (see previous post) sparked in me a time of depression. I had trouble keeping motivated this past spring semester. I feel better now and am catching up on some things, like this blog. I haven’t posted about Verdi since January 20th. But I’ve still listened to his operas right along.
Verdi’s third opera, Nabucco, premiered under its original title, Nabucodonosar, at La Scalia on March 9, 1842. Its plot concerned the exile of the Judahites under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II. "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves", “Va, pensiero, sull’ali dorate” ("Fly, thought, on golden wings") is a popular operatic encore. Verdi’s third opera, it established Verdi’s reputation as a popular and important opera composer. As Charles Osborne writes, it is perhaps not as satisfactory among Verdi’s early operas as Macbeth, but it is his earliest to remain in the repertoire.
This set is performed by the Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper, conducted by Lamberto Gardelli. Tito Gobbi is Nabucco. Abigaille is Elena Souliotis, a Greek soprano, for whom this role was one of her best known. The peak of her career lasted only about ten years. She certainly had a thrilling voice!
Just three months after one of my favorite college professors passed away, so has another. Jim Stuart taught religion at Greenville College (now University). Like Dr. Reinhard (see my February post), I took several classes with him. I still use the same study Bible that he assigned for Biblical Theology class in 1977! (It's in bad shape, LOL.) I was grateful to be able to reconnect with him several years ago, and to tell him what a wonderful influence he had been. A wonderful, kind person. This photo is from his FB page. He and his family lived in Christchurch, New Zealand.
