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13

to make Samson succumb to her charms. Once

he appears, she works her wiles in the opera’s most

famous solo passage. This is the last of her three

arias, known to English-speaking audiences in earlier

decades as “My heart at thy sweet voice.” In the

aria’s repeated voicing of “Réponds à ma tendresse”

(“Give an answer to my tenderness”), the singer

can exert a spell not only on her tenor, but on her

audience as well.

Puccini,

Gianni Schicchi

, “O mio babbino caro”

The rascal Gianni Schicchi, a character who appears

in Dante’s

Divine Comedy

, is also the title hero of

Giacomo Puccini’s only comic opera. A one-act

work,

Gianni Schicchi

premiered as part of a trio of

one-acts,

Il trittico/The Triptych

, at the Metropolitan

Opera in 1918. The three pieces are frequently

presented together, and each has also found an

audience on its own, but

Schicchi

remains the most

popular by far. Much of the public’s affection for it

has to do with the aria of young Lauretta, Schicchi’s

daughter. “O mio babbino caro” has had a life beyond

the opera house, thanks to its prominent use in one

of the most memorable films of the 1980s, Merchant-

Ivory’s

A Room with a View.

Immediately upon the death of a distinguished

Florentine, Buoso Donati, his relatives search his

home for his will. It is found by Rinuccio, who hands it

over only on the condition that, if he comes off well in

the will, he will be given Lauretta’s hand in marriage.

None of the relatives are happy with the will as it

stands, so Rinuccio suggests that Gianni Schicchi

be enlisted to use his wiles in altering the will in their

favor. Schicchi, when sent for, refuses to help until

Lauretta pleads with him in one of Puccini’s most

endearing arias.

Verdi,

Il trovatore,

“Vedi! Le fosche notturne”

(Anvil Chorus)

The early 1850s found Giuseppe Verdi proving

his greatness as never before, with three works

which have never lost their hold on the collective

imagination of operagoers the world over.

Rigoletto

came first, then

Il trovatore

, and finally

La traviata

. Of

the three,

Il trovatore

most specifically defines “grand

opera” in the stereotypical sense of the phrase – so

much so that the Marx Brothers chose a

Trovatore

production as the setting for their antics in

A Night

at the Opera

! This work’s emotions are painted in

primary colors, and Verdi’s prodigality as a tunesmith

results in nonstop melodic glory.

In 14th-century Spain, Manrico is an officer in

the army of the Prince of Urgel. He is in love with the

noblewoman Leonora. Manrico, who has been raised

by the gypsy Azucena and believes her to be his

mother, does not know that he and his enemy, Count

di Luna – himself in love with Leonora – are actually

brothers. Act Two finds Azucena and Manrico in

a gypsy camp in the Biscay mountains. As the act

opens, dawn has just broken. The men swing their

hammers and crash them down on the anvils, to a

spirited refrain: “Who makes the gypsy’s life beautiful?

The gypsy girl!” The so-called “Anvil Chorus”

remains one of opera’s most popular choral numbers,

165 years after it was first introduced at the Rome

premiere of

Il trovatore

.

Mozart,

Idomeneo

, “Placido è il mar”

Mozart’s operatic maturity began in 1781 in Munich

with the premiere of

Idomeneo

, his tenth completed

opera (not bad for a composer who celebrated his

25th birthday only two days before the premiere).

Suddenly he was bringing vivid personalities to life, in

music conveying a wrenching emotional power. For

sheer beauty, this work can stand comparison with

any other Mozart stage work. In addition, the private

agony of public personalities is communicated as

powerfully and sincerely as would be the case with

Verdi decades later. Emotions throughout affect the

listener profoundly, unlike those of so many works in

the era of

opera seria

, of which

Idomeneo

is both the

summit and the turning point.

More than any other Mozart opera,

Idomeneo

gives prominence to the chorus, who portray the

people of Crete where Idomeneo is king. He is

returning home from the Trojan War when a storm

endangers his ship. He begs Neptune to allow

him a safe landing, but the god agrees only when

Idomeneo promises to sacrifice the first person he

sees upon his return. This turns out to be his son,

Prince Idamante. The king’s minister, Arbace, advises

him to send his son away. Idomeneo determines that

Idamante will serve as Princess Elettra’s escort for

her voyage home to Argos. Elettra is ecstatic at the

thought that, once away from the captive Princess

Ilia – her rival for Idamante’s affections – she will

succeed in making him hers. She joins the people of

Crete as they wish for a calm sea and gentle breezes

for the couple’s journey.