Parla imponi

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. 9 – Finale I
Scena: ‘Parla, imponi – Chi vien?’
Finale: ‘No! … non è sogno’
Attila has assembled his army to march on Rome., but is stopped by a procession of Christian maidens and children in white, led by the Roman bishop Leo – as Attila saw in his dream. ‘Thou art appointed only as scourge against mankind,’ Leo tells him – the same words Attila heard in his dream. Attila seems to see two giants with flaming swords blocking the path to Rome; he prostrates himself, while his soldiers look on in astonishment and the Christians praise God.

Attila, re degli unni / King of the Huns (bass): Ruggiero Raimondi
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
Leone, vecchio romano / an old Roman (bass): Jules Bastin
Ambrosian Singers

Conductor: Lamberto Gardelli
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
London, 1972