Yo Dadddeeeeeeee-o

Hello All,

This week’s videos are to do with open and closed ‘e’ and ‘o’ and with the handling of double consonants.  After hearing Scotto and Freni, these two women are polar opposites in terms of open and closed.  There ‘e’ vowels are practically [a] and so are there ‘o’ vowels.  What do you hear?  Is there is difference depending on how high or low they’re singing?

Double consonants make the vowels before and after them shorter.  The consonants take more time – the time has to come from somewhere.  The other characteristic of them is that the pressure built up by the time the consonants take doesn’t explode out of the back end but rather the release is gentle and understated.  That’s one of the things which keeps Italian a fairly gentle and very legato language.  Can you tell when they are singing double consonants as opposed to single?  Furthermore, do you hear any ‘plosive’ sounds at all?  ‘T’s, ‘p’s, [k]s, ‘s’s….etc.  Do they sound sibilant or wet like in English?

I don’t know a lot about Magda Olivero.  She was born in 1910 and as far as I know she just passed away recently.  She was born in Saluzzo in the Piemonte region of Italy in the very far western corner in the Alps. Tebaldi is a good singer to know.  She was legendary even in her own time.  She was born in 1922 in Pesaro which is just south of Venice in the region known as The Marche and died in 2004.  Both singers were stars of the verismo style.  If you don’t know what that is, look it up and tell me.

Most of all, enjoy,

R

Magda Olivero

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D-n_OkvFkY

Renata Tebaldi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFypui1xKlk

Score

http://petruccilibrary.us/Scores/scores/Forzano_Giovacchino_1970/Puccini_-_GianniSchicchi_vocalscore.pdf (pg 77)

Text

O mio babbino caro,
mi piace, è bello, bello.
Vo'andare in Porta Rossa
a comperar l'anello!

Sì, sì, ci voglio andare!
e se l'amassi indarno,
andrei sul Ponte Vecchio,
ma per buttarmi in Arno!

Mi struggo e mi tormento!
O Dio, vorrei morir!
Babbo, pietà, pietà!
Babbo, pietà, pietà!

Translation

Oh my dear papa,
I love him, he is handsome, handsome.
I want to go to Porta Rossa
To buy the ring!

Yes, yes, I want to go there!
And if my love were in vain,
I would go to the Ponte Vecchio
And throw myself in the Arno!

I am anguished and tormented!
Oh God, I'd like to die!
Papa, have pity, have pity!
Papa, have pity, have pity!

L'Italiana in Kansas

Hello All,

Two videos for you this week – both of songs by Stefano Donaudy. At some point, every classical singer should learn a Donaudy song. The second song, ‘O del mio amato ben’ has been on the hit parade since 1918 and has been recorded countless times by all of the great singers. But most of his 36 songs that make up his ’36 arie di stille antico’ – ’36 arias in the old style’ are worth knowing. As you will hear, the Italian in these songs isn’t only useful to hear and see how words are produced but, just as importantly and infinitely more difficult to teach or learn, is also useful to hear the style of idiomatic Italian singing. Italian isn’t just about consonants and vowels but about how sounds and melody are manipulated to serve those consonants and vowels. Learning to sound Italian can’t happen from a book or from a lecture two hours a week; it can only be learned by listening and internalizing.

First up is Beniamino Gigli. Gigli was born in 1890 in Ricanati, on the east coast of Italy in the Marche region. He was probably the most famous tenor of the post Caruso period. He is a great example of ‘bel canto’ style where the tone is very consistent up and down with a dynamic flexibility that isn’t heard much anymore in these days which so much prizes power over beauty and expression. There is so much I want you to notice about his singing in this video that it’s hard to list everything; plus, I want you to start being able to analyze things on your own. Having said that, notice how he handles beginning consonants of songs he wants to emphasizes and notice his handling of double consonants. Also notice how he achieves the famous ‘Italian sob’ in his singing. Even if you didn’t have the translation you would know that this isn’t a happy song simply from his sobbing.

Next up is Joyce DiDonato. Joyce is from a part of Italy called Prairie Village, Kansas. Okay, Joyce isn’t Italian. In fact, she’s Irish or rather Irish/American. Her real name is Joyce Flaherty – she’s kept her married name from her first marriage. I try to always use Italian singers for these things but Joyce is no typical singer and her Italian and Italian style are so good I don’t see the harm. So, Joyce being a modern singer, can’t get away with the sort of style that Gigli was able to utilize in the 40s and 50s but she still manages to bring lots of ‘garlic’ to her performance in the 21st century. To be honest, Gigli was often criticized in his day for being a bit too over the top stylistically. How do Joyce’s [e] and [o] vowels differ from Gigli’s? And how do they differ in her lower and middle registers from her higher register.

Lastly, start to notice how both of these singers elide vowels together connecting the final vowel of one word to the beginning vowel of the next word. There is a lot of this in Italian music and it’s hard to master.

Lastly lastly, enjoy!

Gigli
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho5j8Ho3AQ4

Music - http://conquest.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/a/a7/IMSLP89921-PMLP184231-DonaudyVol3.pdf - pg 21

DiDonato

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKXa1E-Rm-g

Music - http://petrucci.mus.auth.gr/imglnks/usimg/7/70/IMSLP179443-SIBLEY1802.5348.f219-39087012082006.pdf - pg 55

O bei nidi d'amore,
occhi a me sì cari,
che di vostro favore non mi foste avari,
or che privo son io
di quel vostro sorriso,
di quel mio Paradiso,
senza più alcun desio
vedo i giorni miei fuggire,
e in sì cruda mia sorte
ogni giorno ho più morte
e non posso ancor...non posso morir!

Non ha raggi più il sole,
stelle il firmamento,
non ha il prato viole,
nè sospiri ha il vento, or che,
a crescer l'ambascia del perduto mio bene,
che sì affranto mi tiene,
persin quella mi lascia,
onde almen nutrivo il core,
pietosa speranza che anche al misero avanza
perchè gli sia men crudo il dolor!


Oh beautiful nests

Oh beautiful nests of love,
Eyes so dear to me,
That were not miserly to me with your good-will,
Now that I am deprived
Of that smile of yours,
Of that paradise of mine,
Without any more desire
I see my days fly by,
And in my fate so cruel
Every day I have more death
And yet I cannot... I cannot die!

No longer has the sun rays,
The firmament stars,
The field does not have violets,
Nor has the wind sighs, now that,
to increase the pain of my lost blessing,
Which keeps me so crushed,
Even that leaves me,
With which at least I fed my heart,
The merciful hope which comes even to the wretched,
So that his sorrow will be less cruel to him!


O del mio amato ben perduto incanto!
Lungi è dagli occhi miei
chi m'era gloria e vanto!
Or per le mute stanze
sempre lo cerco e chiamo
con pieno il cor di speranze?
Ma cerco invan, chiamo invan!
E il pianger m'è sì caro,
che di pianto sol nutro il cor.

Mi sembra, senza lui, triste ogni loco.
Notte mi sembra il giorno;
mi sembra gelo il foco.
Se pur talvolta spero
di darmi ad altra cura,
sol mi tormenta un pensiero:
Ma, senza lui, che farò?
Mi par così la vita vana cosa
senza il mio ben.


Oh, lost enchantment of my dearly beloved!
Far from my eyes is he
who was, to me, glory and pride!
Now through the empty rooms
I always seek him and call him
with a heart full of hopes?
But I seek in vain, I call in vain!
And the weeping is so dear to me,
that with weeping alone I nourish my heart.

It seems to me, without him, sad everywhere.
The day seems like night to me;
the fire seems cold to me.
If, however, I sometimes hope
to give myself to another cure,
one thought alone torments me:
But without him, what shall I do?
To me, life seems a vain thing
without my beloved. 

One Ideal - one, not so much

Hello All,

This week I would like you to listen to two renditions of Paolo Tosti’s song “Ideale.”  Once you’ve listened to them I want you to give me at least 5 examples (not having to do with the quality of the voice but rather just with diction and musical style) which make one preferable to the other.  The score has been provided as well as the words and translation. 

There is a lot to say about what Pavarotti does.  What do you hear?

Enjoy,

R

Tosti – Ideale - Pavarotti

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UeHFRfKc44

Robert Burgess

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd9r2MwywtQ&feature=fvwrel

Score

http://artsongcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/am0500001.pdf

Ideale

Io ti seguii come iride di pace

Lungo le vie del cielo:

Io ti seguii come un'amica face

De la notte nel velo.

E ti sentii ne la luce, ne l'aria,

Nel profumo dei fiori;

E fu piena la stanza solitaria

Di te, dei tuoi splendori.

In te rapito, al suon de la tua voce,

Lungamente sognai;

E de la terra ogni affanno, ogni croce,

In quel [sogno]¹ scordai.

Torna, caro ideal, torna un istante

A sorridermi ancora,

E a me risplenderà, nel tuo sembiante,

Una novella aurora.k

Translation

Ideal

I followed you like a rainbow of peace

 along the paths of heaven;

 I followed you like a friendly torch

 in the veil of darkness,

 and I sensed you in the light, in the air,

 in the perfume of flowers,

 and the solitary room was full

 of you and of your radiance.

 Absorbed by you, I dreamed a long time

 of the sound of your voice,

 and earth's every anxiety, every torment

 I forgot in that dream.

 Come back, dear ideal, for an instant

 to smile at me again,

 and in your face will shine for me

 a new dawn.

Boy is that a cold hand

Hello All,

OK. So, while we’re in a “La Boheme” mode, here are two tenors for you to listen to. This aria actually comes just before the one we heard last week.  Unfortunately there's no video with the second one but we're studying diction - not looks. These two couldn't have grown up farther apart geographically and yet I find their Italian very similar. di Stefano was born in Sicily and Bergonzi was born in the northwest. Notice, their double consonants and how they're treated. This is a huge thing in Italian and you’ve really got to work hard to understand how double consonants sound.  They’re responsible for a lot of the rhythm and flavor of the language.  Also notice how these two connect syllables by portamento - carrying. Also, notice what they do with it comes to the words "In poverta". What is the difference? Notice too, how bright di Stefano's [a] is. It's really something. (On a technical note, notice how bright he keeps [a] in his higher range. This unhealthy way to sing gave him a rather short career compared to Bergonzi who sang into his 70s.  He just passed away recently at age 90.  BTW, Mr Coleman studied for a while with Bergonzi.)

Other than that, just keep watching the words and/or the score and get used to the patterns of sounds and listen to what makes not only the words but also the style sound Italian.  These two do a brilliant job of making the syllables sound like words.  How are they doing it?

R


Giuseppe di Stefano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1EMVWRb-a8

Carlo Bergonzi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOhnII0381s

Full Score

http://www.8notes.com/scores/10451.asp


Che gelida manina! se la lasci riscaldar.
Cercar che giova? al buio non si trova.
Ma per fortuna e una notte di luna,
E qui la luna labbiiamo vicina.
Aspetti, signorina, le diro con due parole chi son,
Chi son, e che faccio, come vivo, vuole?
Chi son? chi son? son un poeta.
Che cosa faccio? scrivo. e come vivo? vivo.
In poverta mia lieta scialo da gran signore
Rimi ed inni damore.
Per sogni e per chimere e per castelli in aria
Lanima ho milionaria.
Talor del mio forziere ruban tutti
I gioielle due ladri: gli occhi belli.
Ventrar con voi pur ora ed I miei sogni usati,
Ed I bei sogni miei tosto si dileguar!
Ma il furto non maccora poiche,
Poiche vha preso stanza la speranza.
Or che mi conoscete parlate voi.
Deh parlate. chi siete? vi piaccia dir?

How cold your little hand is! will you let me warm it for you?
Why bother looking? its dark, and we wont find it.
Its our good luck, though, this nights filled with moonlight,
Up here the moonlight could rest on our shoulders.
Please wait, my dear young lady, and I will quickly tell you
Who stands before you, and what I do,
How I make my living. may i?
Who am i? what am i? I am a poet.
What keeps me busy? writing! and what do I live on? nothing!
In poverty Im cheerful, I am a prince who squanders
Arias and couplets of longing.
And as for hopes and dreams of love and castles-in-the-air,
Miss, I am a millionaire!
My fortress could be broken in, robbed clean of the fine jewels
I store; if the theives were eyes like yours.
And now that I have seen you, all of my lovely dreaming,
All of the sweetest dreams Ive dreamt, quickly have slipped away.
This theft does not upset me, because such treasures
Mean nothing now that Im rich with sweet hope!
And now that you have met me, I ask you please,
Tell me, lady, who you are, I ask you please!