Singing Valentines
Gentle Readers, a word of caution: remember, not all love is chocolate, roses, and champagne. In opera, love, loss, murder, and mayhem are accompanied by transcendent music and glorious voices.
Given our collective love of Opera and anticipating the Santa Fe Opera's 2023 season, I thought it fitting to celebrate with a musical love letter from Monteverdi and arias from Wagner's Flying Dutchman, Dvořák's Rusalka, Puccini's Tosca, and Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande.
As we all know, the quality of internet videos varies, particularly in the older recordings, but the singing compensates for technical shortcomings. Thank you for your understanding.
Enjoy listening to your singing valentines from five of the greatest composers in history…
The musical selection on this card is one of Monteverdi’s famous Lettera Amorosa, a true love letter. It was published in 1619 in The Seventh Book of Madrigals. Monteverdi is the composer, and the lyricist is Claudio Achillini. Lettera amorosa were written for one voice to be sung in a theatrical style by either gender although the poetry is directed towards a woman. Mezzo-soprano, Lea Desandre, sings Se i languidi miei sguardi in an ethereal setting that creates a romantic atmosphere.
Senta is the young, head-in-the clouds daughter of a sea captain, who falls in love with the portrait of a very sinister man, another sea captain who is doomed to sail the seas until Judgement Day. She conjures him up and is not surprised when he appears at her doorstep. She falls in his arms at once, of course, and vows to be true unto death - which is exactly what happens.
As a treat for everyone who loves Wagner, this is a Master Class of sorts by the iconic Wagnerian diva, Kirsten Flagstad. She sings just a little of Senta’s Ballade, but the video is a treasure trove of insights about singing Wagner.
As the opera begins, the water nymph, Rusalka sits at the edge of a lake and asks the moon to speak to the prince on her behalf to tell him of her love for him. She asks that the moon’s silver light shine on her beloved to remind him that she is waiting for him. This aria is one of the few times we hear Rusalka sing because soon after she agrees to give up her voice for love.
The painter, Mario Cavaradossi - Tosca’s lover and supporter of Napoleon - sings “E lucevan le stelle” (“How the stars shimmer”) as he awaits his execution by order of the corrupt police chief, Scarpia. He looks back on his life, his love for Tosca, and how everything he has done counts for nothing.
On a beautiful night, Mélisande sits at the tower window and combs her beautiful long hair. Pelléas reaches up and caresses her hair passionately from where he stands below. Little did either know, Mélisande’s husband Golaud, who is also Pelléas brother, witnesses the tender moment hidden from their view.
Final Notes:
Before writing this month’s blog, I reached out to friends from our guild community and asked them which romantic arias were their favorites. The response was gratifying and the selections afforded hours of enjoyment as I listened to one stirring aria after another. The difficult part was selecting which arias would be highlighted in the blog. After some thought, it seemed prudent to focus on the operas to be performed at the SFO this summer and voilà - the blog took shape. The major downside to this strategy is that all the operas end tragically for the lovers. In other words, the path to true love is not paved with candy hearts and rose petals.
There are people to be thanked for providing multiple romantic arias, favorite performers, and links to videos. Listed below is the playlist, in no particular order. Several people offered multiple suggestions and I apologize for not being able to list them all. If I left anyone out, it was not intentional.
Ian Ritchie - L’incoronazione di Poppea: “Pur ti miro” sung by Lea Desandre and Jakub Jozef Orlinski LINK
Desirée Mays - Die Walkure: “Wintersturme” sung by Jonas Kaufmann LINK
Martha Blomstrom - Rusalka: “Song to the Moon” sung by Frederica von Stade LINK
Eileen Woodbury, Leslie Veditz - Tosca: “E lucevan le stelle” sung by Plácido Domingo LINK
Jackie M - Madama Butterfly: “Love Duet” sung by Victoria de los Angeles & Jussi Björling LINK
Ben Saiz - Fedora’s love aria sung by Evelyn Lear at the Santa Fe Opera with John Crosby conducting. (I searched the Internet to no avail for this video)
Martha Baker – Rigoletto: “Caro Nome?” sung by Sumi Jo LINK
Janet Sanders - La bohème: “Vecchia Zimorra” sung by any number of fabulous singers.
Happy listening, dear members, and Happy Valentine’s Day!
Bernadette
This OperaBlog was contributed by Bernadette Snider, Vice President for Communications, Santa Fe Opera Guild Board of Directors, February 1, 2023.