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La dolcissima effigie

Opera details:

Opera title:

Adriana Lecouvreur

Composer:

Francesco Cilea

Language:

Italian

Synopsis:

Not entered yet.

Libretto:

Adriana Lecouvreur Libretto

Translation(s):

Deutsch

Aria details:

Type:

aria

Role(s):

Maurizio

Voice(s):

Tenor

Act:

1.09

Previous scene: Adriana Maurizio regina mia
Next scene: Parliam di cosa lieta

Barry Morell - La dolcissima effigie

Singer(s): Barry Morell Giuseppe Danise

Barry Morell (1927-2003) was born in Manhasset, NY and began singing in high school as a baritone. An audition with famed Italian baritone Giuseppe Danise resulted in the revelation that Morell was not, in fact, a baritone but a tenor. Six years of intensive study followed and Morell successfully made the transition from baritone to tenor. He made his stage debut (at the relatively late age of 28) as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with New York City Opera in 1955. This opera served as the vehicle for Morell’s Metropolitan Opera debut three years later, on November 1st, 1958. During his twenty-one seasons at the Met, the tenor sang over 250 performances, both in house and on tour, of some nineteen roles, including the Duke in Rigoletto, Macduff in Macbeth, Gabriele in Simon Boccanegra, Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera, Alfredo in La Traviata, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Enzo in La Gioconda, Lensky in Yevgeny Onegin, the Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier, Don José in Carmen and the title role in Faust. Interestingly, Morell’s career at the Met was book-ended by Butterfly…Pinkerton was the role in his final performance there on February 19th, 1979. In addition to his New York opera career, Morell was quite busy on the international scene, with frequent appearances in Chicago, San Francisco, Rome, London, Vienna, Barcelona, Santiago and Buenos Aires. Morell retired from the stage in 1986 and passed away at his home on Cape Cod in 2003.

Barry Morell has been the subject of much controversy among opera fans during the past thirty or so years. There seems to be a division between listeners who opine that he was a very fine singer and musically sensitive artist who possessed a sturdy, lirico-spinto tenor instrument and those who claim that he was an unsatisfying performer, whose thin, tiny voice couldn’t be heard over the orchestra. Certainly, Morell was not the possessor of a voice of heroic proportions. However, an artist with a voice as inaudibly small as claimed by the tenor’s detractors could scarcely have coped with the demands of such roles as Don Alvaro, Cavaradossi, Enzo, Don José and Faust in a house the size of the Met. A more honest and fair assertion is that Barry Morell was an inconsistent performer who had more than a few bad nights during the course of his thirty-year career. While he never had the star power of a Corelli or a Tucker, Morell was the Met’s go to tenor for matinees, tours and short notice covers. In fact, about one third of his performances with the company were given on tour in Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Minneapolis, Memphis and Toronto.

Today, Barry Morell’s reputation lies mainly in his many phonograph recordings, made for Westminster and RCA. These recordings reveal an exciting, lirico-spinto voice, surprisingly Italianate, with a robust middle range and focused top notes. Even Morell’s fine catalogue of recordings has been the subject of controversy. Self-styled critics have pointed out that a mediocre vocalist such as Morell could never have been given a recording contract without some sort of nepotism coming into play. It has often been said that Morell’s father was an executive at RCA who used his influence to secure a recording project for his son. As Morell’s first recordings were made for Westminster, his father’s supposed connection to RCA would not have carried much weight. Besides, Morell’s father was in the garment business, NOT the recording business. Sadly, this story will continue to circulate, diminishing the reputation of a fine singer. Luckily, Morell’s recordings give listeners the opportunity to form their own opinions as to the tenor’s vocal artistry. Here, Morell sings "La dolcissima effigie" from Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur. This recording was made in Vienna in May of 1968. The Vienna Volksoper Orchestra is conducted by Argeo Quadri.

Watch videos with other singers performing La dolcissima effigie:

Jonas Kaufmann La dolcissima effigie 104025
5 - Jonas Kaufmann
Adriana Lecrovreur Corelli Olivero Live La dolcissima effigie  32079
5 - Franco Corelli

Giuseppe di Stefano La dolcissima effigie A Lecouvreur 32105
5 - Giuseppe Di Stefano
Marcelo Alvarez La dolcissima effigie Recital Teatro Verdi Salerno 18 maggio 2009 104032
5 - Marcelo Álvarez

GIACOMO ARAGALL Verdi Puccini Donizetti Giordano Cilea 349046
5 - Giacomo Aragall
Jonathan Tetelman Sophia Muoz Cilea Adriana Lecouvreur La dolcissima effigie 368442
5 - Jonathan Tetelman

Giorgio Berrugi CILEA La dolcissima effigie Adriana Lecouvreur 32065
5 - Giorgio Berrugi

Placido Domingo sings from Adriana Lecouvreur by Cilea 32102
5 - Plácido Domingo

James Valenti sings La dolcissima effigie from Adriana Lecouvreur 32081
5 - James Valenti
Beniamino Gigli sings La dolcissima effigie from Cilea s Adriana Lecouvreur 104060
5 - Beniamino Gigli

Cilea Adriana Lecouvreur Act 1 La dolcissima effigie sorridente 232212
5 - Mario Del Monaco
Cilea Adriana Lecouvreur Act 1 La dolcissima effigie  232216
5 - Carlo Bergonzi

Sebastien GUEZE La dolcissima effigie ADRIANA LECOUVREUR 32090
5 - Sébastien Guèze
Cilea Adriana Lecouvreur Act 1 La dolcissima effigie sorridente 232241
5 - Joseph Calleja

Jose Cura Cilea Adriana Lecouvreur La dolcissima effigie 32086
5 - José Cura
Jose CARRERAS La dolcissima effigie ADRIANA LECOUVREUR Cilea 232251
5 - José Carreras

Cilea Adriana Lecouvreur Act 1 La dolcissima effigie sorridente  32067
5 - Luciano Pavarotti
La dolcissima effigie Adriana Lecouvreur 104106
5 - Aureliano Pertile

LA DOLCISSIMA EFFIGIE MINIMAL OPERA Ensayo 26 de Junio de 2018 232290
5 - Enrico Caruso
Adriana Lecouvreur Cilea extrait n1 La dolcissima effigie  32064
1 - Angela Gheorghiu
2 - Olga Borodina

Beniamino Gigli Magda Olivero La dolcissima effigie 1940 live 104026
1 - Magda Olivero
5 - Beniamino Gigli

ROBERTO ALAGNA ANGELA GHEORGHIU Adriana Mauriziola dolcissima effigie  32092
1 - Angela Gheorghiu
5 - Roberto Alagna

Jose Carreras Cilea Adriana Lecouvreur La dolcissima effigie  32104
5 - José Carreras
5 - Luciano Pavarotti
5 - Plácido Domingo
Carlo Bergonzi La dolcissima effigie Adriana Lecouvreur F Cilea 32066
5 - Carlo Bergonzi
5 - Carlo Bergonzi

Jonathan Tetelman Sophia Muoz Cilea Adriana Lecouvreur La dolcissima effigie 368446
5 - Alfredo Kraus
5 - Jonathan Tetelman
Barry Morell La dolcissima effigie 104096
5 - Barry Morell
6 - Giuseppe Danise

Joan Sutherland Vasile Moldoveanu La dolcissima effigie ADRIANA LECOUVREUR Cilea 1983 232266
1 - Joan Sutherland
5 - Enrico Caruso
5 - Vasile Moldoveanu
Mario Del Monaco Renata Tebaldi La dolcissima effigie sorridente  368451
1 - Renata Tebaldi
5 - Mario Del Monaco
6 - Giulio Fioravanti

Galliano Masini La dolcissima effigie 104104
5 - Angelo Bendinelli
5 - Galliano Masini
Nicola Filacuridi Marcella Pobbe La dolcissima effigie Adriana Lecouvreur 368453
1 - Marcella Pobbe
5 - Nicola Filacuridi

Magda Olivero et Franco Corelli Adriana Lecouvreur La dolcissima effigie Live 1959 368457
1 - Magda Olivero
5 - Franco Corelli
Adriana Lecouvreur Act I Scene 4 La dolcissima effigie Maurizio 1957 232297
5 - Carlo Bergonzi
5 - Franco Corelli

Adriana Lecouvreur Act 1 La dolcissima effigie  104116
5 - Franco Corelli
6 - Ettore Bastianini

Libretto/Lyrics/Text/Testo:

La dolcissima effigie sorridente
in te rivedo della madre cara;
nel tuo cor della mia patria,
dolce, preclara, l'aura ribevo,
che m'aprì la mente...
Bella tu sei, come la mia bandiera,
delle pugne fiammante entro i vapor;
tu sei gioconda come la chimera
della Gloria, promessa al vincitor,
Bella tu sei, tu sei gioconda,
Sì! Amor mi fa poeta!

English Libretto or Translation:

Not entered yet.

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