Transcript Opera – Verdi & Rossini

 Stock
characters vs. Real life
 Composers and librettist were inspired by
Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott
 Big orchestras, choruses, sets, etc.
 Themes: nature, powers of evil and
supernatural, rural life, liberty
 Bel canto – literally, beautiful singing
 “…the fat lady sings.”
1813-1901

In his lifetime, Verdi was an immensely popular
figure. “Viva Verdi” became a national rallying
cry. Verdi’s name was used as an acronym of the
King of Italy.
V – Vittorio
 E – Emanuele
 R – Re
 D – d’Ital
 I – ia


Vittorio Emanuele Re d’Italia
 As
a composer of the Romantic period,
Verdi's operas contain rich emotionalism and
complex vocal and instrumental parts.
 Verdi composed in the vein of the Italian
musical tradition. In the 1800s, there were
movements all over Europe for national
liberation and unification.
 These movements sparked an interest in
national and folk music.
During Verdi’s lifetime, opera in Italy became a
focus of dissent, with opera houses flashpoints
for political unrest.
 In Verdi's early years of composition (the late
1830s and 1840s) many of his operas can be
interpreted as allegories for the Italian struggle
against the Austrians and other foreign
oppressors.
 Nabucco (1842) is Verdi’s most famous
nationalistic opera. It is about the captivity of
the Jews in Babylon. The chorus of the Hebrew
slaves, “Va Pensiero”, became an anthem of the
national movement.

 Verdi’s
opera Nabucco is about the Hebrew
enslavement by the Babylonians.
 The Babylonians attack the Jews in
Jerusalem and destroy the temple taking the
Jews to Babylon. Nabucco is the Babylonian
king and there is confusion as to who is his
daughter.
 The Jews sing “Va pensiero” on the banks of
the Euphrates.
 Through a series of events Nabucco turns
from the worship of Baal to the worship of
the Hebrew God and the Jews are freed.

Fly, thoughts, on wings of gold;
go settle upon the slopes and the hills,
where, soft and mild,
the sweet air of our native land smells fragrant!
Greet the banks of the Jordan
and Zion's toppled towers.
Oh, my country so lovely and lost!
Oh, memory so dear and despairing!
Golden harp of the prophetic seers,
why do you hang mute upon the willow?
Rekindle our heart's memories and speak of times gone by!
Mindful of the fate of Jerusalem,
either sound a song of sad lamentation,
or else let the Lord give us the strength to bear our sufferings!
(Translation from: http://www.wowzone.com/pensiero.htm)
 "Va
pensiero" performed at the MET 2001
 “Va pensiero" as an Italian Anthem
Synopsis of Rigoletto
 The most famous aria from Rigoletto is sung by
the Duke of Mantua.
 Woman is flighty
Like a feather in the wind,
She changes her voice — and her mind.
Always sweet, Pretty face,
In tears or in laughter, — she is always lying.
Always miserable is he who trusts her,
He who confides in her — his unwary heart!
Yet one never feels fully happy
Who on that bosom — does not drink love!
 "La donna e mobile"

 Asheville
Lyric Website
 WCU performance date

Tuesday, April 14 – 7:30 PM, FPAC
Verdi: The people's opera
 http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/sr251
/sagall.htm
Nabucco – Opera by Verdi
 http://italianopera.suite101.com/article.cfm/nabucco_oper
a_by_verdi