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e Sevillian Dr. Bartolo has guardianship of
Rosina, but he also would like to marry her be-
cause of her fortune. She, however, is attracted
to the nobleman Count Almaviva, who is incog-
nito as Lindoro.
e jack-of-all-trades Figaro
bursts onto the scene with an excited recitation
of his skills (barber, surgeon, wigmaker, and
others), which are in great demand around. He
agrees to help the young man and woman outwit
the doctor. Inside Bartolo’s house, Rosina holds
a letter and sings of her devotion to Lindoro.
She describes her better personality traits, but
admits she can become a viper if crossed. Don
Basilio arrives on the scene and suggests that
Bartolo might spread gossip about the Count
(“La calunnia è un venticello”).
VINCENZO BELLINI (1801–35)
“Il rival … Suoni la tromba, e intrepido”
from
I puritani
In the early Romantic era, the name Vincenzo
Bellini was uttered in the same reverent breath
as Gioachino Rossini and Gaetano Donizetti—
all members of the celebrated triumvirate of
Italian opera composers. Expansive melodies,
unexpected shi s between major and minor
keys, and dramatic text settings gave his serious
operas a unique depth of expression. Tragically,
an in ammation of the large intestine and an
abscessed liver ended Bellini’s life at age , but
not before he produced some of the most mem-
orable, enduring operatic masterpieces of the
last two centuries:
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
,
La
sonnambula
,
Norma
, and
I puritani
.
I puritani
(
e Puritans
), a “serious melodrama”
in three (originally two) parts, drew Bellini’s
brilliant yet tragically foreshortened career to a
close. In August
, he traveled to France to
negotiate with the Paris Opera for a production
of one of his works, e orts that came to naught.
Bellini was able to convince the
éâtre Italien
to commission a new opera in February
.
e search for a librettist and story proved a
frustrating venture. For his librettist, Bellini set-
tled on Carlo Pepoli, an exiled Italian patriot,
politician, and journalist living in Paris.
Pepoli very quickly created a libretto based on
Têtes rondes et cavalieres
(
Roundheads and Cav-
aliers
) by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph
Xavier Saintine and, obliquely, on Sir Walter
Scott’s novel
Old Mortality
. e hot-blooded pa-
triotism that periodically welled up in Pepoli’s
text concerned Bellini, who feared certain words
and phrases would be changed by censors.
e
most troubling episode involved a militant duet
between Sir Riccardo Forth, a Puritan colonel,
and Sir Giorgio Walton, a retired Puritan col-
onel (“Suoni la tromba, e intrepido”), who call
for the trumpets to sound for their victorious
homeland—England: “Bello è a rontar la morte
gridando libertà!” (“It is beautiful to face death
shouting ‘liberty’!”)
I puritani
premiered at the
éâtre Italien on
January ,
, to instant acclaim.
e mes-
sage of “liberty” in “Suoni la tromba,” though,
did not travel well outside France, especially in
Italy, where political tensions remained high.
Censors in Milan and Rome forced the substi-
tution of “lealtà” (loyalty) and “fedeltà” ( deli-
ty) for “libertà.”
irteen years later, Giuseppe
Verdi composed his own “Suoni la tromba” to
a revolutionary text by Go redo Mameli—com-
monly known as the
Inno popolare
(
Hymn of the
People
)—calling for Italy’s independence from
the Austrian Empire.
HAROLD ARLEN (1905–86)
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from
e
Wizard of Oz
e Hollywood
lm giant Metro-Gold-
wyn-Mayer contracted Harold Arlen and lyricist
E.Y. (“Yip”) Harburg to write the score for their
lm adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s fantastical
series of Wizard of Oz books (
– ). e
production timeline allowed only two months
to create the soundtrack, an impossibly short
period even for the experienced songwriting
team. Arlen and Harburg started by writing the
“lemon drop” songs, those memorable, childlike
tunes such as “Ding-Dong! e WickedWitch Is
Dead” and “We’re O to See the Wizard.” Arlen
soon felt the need to introduce a more serious
ballad: “My feeling was that picture songs need
to be lush, and picture songs are hard to write.”
Inspiration came as Arlen drove down Sunset
Boulevard on the way to a movie at Grauman’s
Chinese
eater. Pulling sketch paper from his
pocket, he wrote down a melodic opening: “It
was as if the Lord said, ‘Well, here it is, now stop
worrying about it.’ ”
e rest of “Somewhere
Over the Rainbow” fell into place the next day.
Before releasing its -million picture, MGM
executives attempted several times to remove
“Over the Rainbow” from the lm, objecting to
its sophisticated, di cult melodic line, which
seemed inappropriately grand for a young girl
from Kansas. Arlen pushed back vehemently
each time, and the song remained. Fortunately
so, because “Over the Rainbow” received the
Academy Award for Best Song in
, and it
remained Judy Garland’s theme song for the re-
mainder of her career.
COLE PORTER (1891–1964)
“I’ve Got You Under My Skin” from
Born
to Dance
and “Where Is the Life that Late I
Led?” from
Kiss Me, Kate
Cole Porter enjoyed all the bene ts of an a u-
ent upbringing. He received the best musical
instruction available, entering the Marion Con-
servatory at age and publishing his rst com-
position at . Porter earned a bachelor’s degree
from Yale and subsequently attended Harvard
Law School and the Harvard School of Music.
A er a brief stint on Broadway, he went to Paris,
joined the Foreign Legion, married a socialite,
and studied with composer Vincent d’Indy. In
, Porter lost the use of both legs in a riding
accident, and one eventually was amputated.
His sophisticated, experimental lyrics and songs
were slow to gain favor with the public.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released the musical
comedy lm
Born to Dance
in
as a vehicle
Vincenzo Bellini
Giuseppe Verdi’s “Suoni la tromba”
Harold Arlen
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