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