Oh! miei prodi

ATTILA
Dramma lirico in 1 prologo e 3 atti
Composer: Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)
Libretto: Temistocle Solera, after Zacharias Werner’s ‘Attila, König der Hunnen’ (1809)
First performance: La Fenice, Venice, 17 March 1846

SETTING: Aquileia, the Adriatic lagoons, and near Rome, mid-5th century

PLOT: Attila, King of the Huns, marches on Rome, but the apparition of a giant turns him back. He marries Odabella, whose father was killed by the Huns. With the help of her lover Foresto and the Roman general Ezio, Odabella murders Attila.

No. 11 – Finale II
Coro: ‘Del ciel l’immenso volta’
Scena: ‘Ezio, ben vieni!’
Coro: ‘Chi dona luce al cor? …’
Seguito del Finale: ‘Lo spirto de’ monti’
Scena: ‘Si riaccendan le quercie d’intorno’
Stretta del Finale: ‘Oh, miei prodi! un solo giorno’

Attila is feasting in his tent; Foresto and the slave Uldino have poisoned his drink. Ezio arrives; Attila’s druids warn him that Ezio is a traitor. As the priestesses sing, a storm extinguishes the torches. All are terrified, but light returns. Odabella warns Attila that the cup he is about to drink has been poisoned; Foresto confesses. Odabella asks that she be the one to punish him. Attila, pleased, announces to his men that he will marry her the next day.

Attila, re degli unni / King of the Huns (bass): Ruggiero Raimondi
Ezio, generale romano / Roman general (baritone): Sherrill Milnes
Odabella, figlia del signore di Aquileia / daughter of the lord of Aquileia (soprano): Cristina Deutekom
Foresto, cavaliere aquileiese / Aquileian knight (tenor): Carlo Bergonzi
Uldino, giovane bretone schiavo di Attila / young Breton slave of Attila (tenor): Ricardo Cassinelli
Ambrosian Singers

Conductor: Lamberto Gardelli
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
London, 1972