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!