Today we’re listening to… “Com'è gentil”, a tenor aria from Act 3 of the Italian opera Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti. In the garden, Ernesto sings of his love for Norina, as he waits for her arrival (Com'è gentil – "How lovely"). He describes the beautiful night and that he wishes to be with her.
When I'm not terribly excited about an aria, my mind tends to wander. Such was the case with Gaetano Donizetti's “Com'è gentil”. I may have become too attached to dramatic flourishes and vocal acrobatics in opera to appreciate a simple folk melody like this one. It's also quite possible that I will never be a fan of farces like "Der Rosenkavalier" and "Don Pasquale". Yet I remain open-minded to listening to the full opera at some point.
I enjoyed being introduced to Tito Schipa through the Edmund St. Austell blog. Curiosity led me to watch Tito Schipa's Jr.'s documentary on his father's career on stage and in film (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlWn6qbcWz4), as well as his farewell concert in The Netherlands (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47irPWFDuqA). Being chummy with Il Duce certainly tarnishes his legacy.
To go from Schipa to Juan Diego Florez was to go from a performance I found sweet and elegant to one I found a little bit sappy. Then again, a besotted Italian lover just might sound that way. I adore Pavarotti, even though his voice seemed bigger than the music called for.
As I wandered around YouTube, I also discovered Ferruccio Tagliavini, another lyric tenor, and got caught up in his appearances in a series of TV kinescopes from the1950s (https://youtu.be/IOmpSbA3qMI).
Next to Schipa, my favorite lyric tenor in this series was Alfredo Kraus. When I read about his life and career in the obituary penned by Diane Haitman, I thought about the recent Opera Daily lesson on (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-sep-11-mn-8891-story.html) opera singers who cross over into other musical genres. Kraus, she wrote ". . . never accepted a supporting role. He also spurned all offers to perform in popular musicals or mass appeal opera concerts."
She also quoted Kraus as saying: “For me, to live and breathe a role is far more important than singing it to perfection, because a perfect voice can be as dull as dishwater,” he has said. “What the public must understand is that singing is a matter of musicality, sensitivity, personality, and above all, maturity.” Who would disagree with this opinion, but what other variables might be considered?
Schipa is always astounding; BUT his cozy relationship with Mussolini was not.
When I'm not terribly excited about an aria, my mind tends to wander. Such was the case with Gaetano Donizetti's “Com'è gentil”. I may have become too attached to dramatic flourishes and vocal acrobatics in opera to appreciate a simple folk melody like this one. It's also quite possible that I will never be a fan of farces like "Der Rosenkavalier" and "Don Pasquale". Yet I remain open-minded to listening to the full opera at some point.
I enjoyed being introduced to Tito Schipa through the Edmund St. Austell blog. Curiosity led me to watch Tito Schipa's Jr.'s documentary on his father's career on stage and in film (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlWn6qbcWz4), as well as his farewell concert in The Netherlands (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47irPWFDuqA). Being chummy with Il Duce certainly tarnishes his legacy.
To go from Schipa to Juan Diego Florez was to go from a performance I found sweet and elegant to one I found a little bit sappy. Then again, a besotted Italian lover just might sound that way. I adore Pavarotti, even though his voice seemed bigger than the music called for.
As I wandered around YouTube, I also discovered Ferruccio Tagliavini, another lyric tenor, and got caught up in his appearances in a series of TV kinescopes from the1950s (https://youtu.be/IOmpSbA3qMI).
Next to Schipa, my favorite lyric tenor in this series was Alfredo Kraus. When I read about his life and career in the obituary penned by Diane Haitman, I thought about the recent Opera Daily lesson on (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-sep-11-mn-8891-story.html) opera singers who cross over into other musical genres. Kraus, she wrote ". . . never accepted a supporting role. He also spurned all offers to perform in popular musicals or mass appeal opera concerts."
She also quoted Kraus as saying: “For me, to live and breathe a role is far more important than singing it to perfection, because a perfect voice can be as dull as dishwater,” he has said. “What the public must understand is that singing is a matter of musicality, sensitivity, personality, and above all, maturity.” Who would disagree with this opinion, but what other variables might be considered?