Opera title: | Madame Butterfly |
Composer: | Giacomo Antonio Puccini |
Language: | Italian |
Synopsis: | Madame Butterfly Synopsis |
Libretto: | Madame Butterfly Libretto |
Translation(s): | English Deutsch |
Type: | aria |
Role(s): | Cio-Cio San |
Voice(s): | Soprano |
Act: | 2.02 |
Previous scene: | E izaghi ed izanami sarundascio |
Next scene: | Chiamera Butterfly dalla lontana |
Spanish soprano Lucrezia Bori (1887-1960) in "Un bel di vedremo" from Act 2 of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. The recording was made for Victor in January 1928.
The following profile of Bori's life and brilliant career comes from allmusic.com:
"Standing apart from other lyric sopranos of her day, Lucrezia Bori was a superb interpretive artist, adept at using the oboe-like timbre of her modest-sized voice to create interpretations of rare pathos. She survived the onset of nodes on her vocal cords, retiring and allowing a period of absolute silence to afford the healing that enabled her to return for an additional decade and a half of singing. Upon her retirement, she devoted herself to working on behalf of her beloved Metropolitan Opera, first as a board member, later as a director of the Metropolitan Opera Association where she remained until her death.
First educated at a convent in her native city, Bori (born Borja) began her vocal training at the Valencia Conservatory and later pursued advanced studies with Melchiorre Vidal in Milan. Her debut took place at Rome's Teatro Adriano as Micaëla in 1908. She subsequently sang Nedda at two other theaters and undertook Butterfly in Naples. When the Metropolitan Opera visited Paris in 1910, Bori was recommended as a replacement for Lina Cavalieri (who had canceled her scheduled performances) in Manon Lescaut and was approved by an audition panel consisting of Puccini, Toscanini, and Metropolitan Opera manager Gatti-Casazza. With Toscanini conducting and Caruso as her Des Grieux, Bori's triumph was complete, and the New York company sought her immediate engagement. Earlier success, however, had led to an engagement at La Scala for the next year, and she sang a variety of lyric roles, performing Octavian in the Italian premiere of Rosenkavalier as well as the Goose Girl in the first Italian performance of Humperdinck's Königskinder (both under Tullio Serafin's baton).
Bori finally arrived in New York where her November 11, 1912, debut came in the role of her Paris success, Puccini's Manon. Although some critics felt her voice was somewhat restricted in size and color, Bori soon won her way with both the critics and audiences. She became more than a valuable singer; she became a genuine star. W.J. Henderson, somewhat reserved in his initial reaction, was unreservedly enthusiastic about Bori's Fiora in Montemezzi's L'Amore dei tre re the following season and others increasingly succumbed to the singer's dramatic authority and beguiling demeanor in comic roles. Aside from a four-year rest period concluded with a performance in Monte Carlo, Bori sang productively until 1936, when her retirement was celebrated with a gala farewell.
Over the course of her Metropolitan career, she appeared (by her own count) 429 times in 28 different roles. Among the most popular were Violetta, Mimì, the Manon of Massenet, and Norina. For the Metropolitan, she created a significant number of roles, including Despina, Mélisande, Antonia in Les contes d'Hoffmann (she was also a seductive Giulietta despite her relatively delicate voice), Concepcion in Ravel's L'heure espagnole, Salud in La vida breve, and Mary in Deems Taylor's Peter Ibbetson.
Once she returned to New York in 1921, Bori remained loyal to the Metropolitan, singing only occasional performances with other American houses and making regular appearances at Ravinia Park each summer. She remained through her very last performance an artist both inimitable and irreplaceable."
BUTTERFLY
sorpresa
Piangi? Perché? perché?
Ah, la fede ti manca...
fiduciosa e sorridente
Senti.
fa la scena come s realmente vi assistesse e si avvicina poco a poco allo shosi del fondo
Un bel dì, vedremo
levarsi un fil di fumo
dall'estremo confin del mare.
E poi la nave appare.
Poi la nave bianca
entra nel porto,
romba il suo saluto.
Vedi? È venuto!
Io non gli scendo incontro. Io no.
Mi metto là sul ciglio del colle e aspetto,
e aspetto gran tempo e non mi pesa,
la lunga attesa.
E uscito dalla folla cittadina
un uomo, un picciol punto
s'avvia per la collina.
Chi sarà? chi sarà?
E come sarà giunto
che dirà? che dirà?
Chiamerà Butterfly dalla lontana.
Io snza dar risposta
me ne starò nascosta
un po' per celia...
e un po' per non morire al primo incontro,
ed egli alquanto in pena chiamerà,
chiamerà: iccina mogliettina
olezzo di verbena,
i nomi che mi dava al suo venire
a Suzuki
Tutto questo avverrà, te lo prometto.
Tienti la tua paura,
io consicura fede l'aspetto.
BUTTERFLY
surprise
You cry? Why? why?
Ah, you miss faith ...
confident and smiling
Listen.
he makes the scene as if he really witnessed it and gradually approaches the depth of the bottom
A good day, we'll see
get a little smoke
from the extreme confin of the sea.
And then the ship appears.
Then the white ship
enter the port,
he salutes his greeting.
You see? It came!
I do not meet him. Not me.
I stand there on the edge of the hill and wait,
and I wait a long time and it does not weigh me,
the long wait.
And out of the city crowd
a man, a small point
he goes to the hill.
Who will be? who will be?
And how it will come
what will he say? what will he say?
He will call Butterfly from far away.
I snza give an answer
I will be hidden from it
a little for celia ...
and a little 'not to die at the first meeting,
and he will rather call in,
will call: iccina wifey
verbena oil,
the names that gave me to his coming
to Suzuki
All this will happen, I promise you.
Keep your fear,
I trust the appearance.
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