Opera title: | Rigoletto |
Composer: | Giuseppe Verdi |
Language: | Italian |
Synopsis: | Rigoletto Synopsis |
Libretto: | Rigoletto Libretto |
Translation(s): | English Deutsch |
Type: | quartet |
Role(s): | Gilda / Maddalena / Duke of Mantua / Rigoletto |
Voice(s): | Soprano / Contralto / Tenor / Baritone |
Act: | 4.04 |
Previous scene: | Un di se ben rammentomi |
Next scene: | Venti scudi hai tu detto |
0:00 Carmelo Lanzirotti (1906), 1:20 Enrico Caruso (1917), 2:45 Aureliano Pertile (1925), and 3:59 Beniamino Gigli (1927) sing 'Bella figlia dell'amore' from Verdi's 'Rigoletto' (the tenor opening up to the contralto's entrance).
This is the first time that I have featured four singers in one video. It was inspired by Caruso's tenor solo, probably recorded 25 January 1917.*
Vero e proprio belcanto: Carmelo Lanzirotti is an old-fashioned, nineteenth-century singer through and through, and this means his voice is used like an instrument, warmly and with passion. Volume is not the goal; exquisite line and color, maximum expressiveness (marcato), tasteful ornamentation and perfect legato are the hallmarks of bel canto.
In the early twentieth century, we had tenors capable of combining lyrical sweetness with stentorian declamation that ranges from a rich baritonal middle to a ringing upper register... and even of concluding with an (unwritten) embellishment: co_On-so-lar
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* "The inscription on the label [Victor Talking Machine Company] in the tenor's handwriting ('To Caruso by Enrico') suggests that the record was made at the singer's request as a personal lark. The original bears no numbers or matrix markings but was obviously intended as a complete and finished recording of only the tenor solo portion of the famous Quartet. It is a single-faced 10-inch pressing with a terminal safety groove of the type used in 1917. The fact that at least part of the cast for the Quartet was present in the studio (the contralto's first phrase is heard in the very last groove) suggests that the recording was taken at a rehearsal for a complete recording."
From:
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La rivedrà nell'estasi: Caruso - Pertile - Gigli:
Un dì felice: Fernando de Lucia - Tito Schipa - Beniamino Gigli:
Uploaded by BelSoggiorno
DUCA
Bella figlia dell'amore,
Schiavo son dei vezzi tuoi;
Con un detto sol tu puoi
Le mie pene consolar.
Vieni e senti del mio core
Il frequente palpitar.
MADDALENA
Ah! ah! rido ben di core,
Che tai baie costan poco
Quanto valga il vostro gioco,
Mel credete, so apprezzar.
Son avvezza, bel signore,
Ad un simile scherzar.
GILDA
Ah, così parlar d'amore
A me pur intame ho udito!
Infelice cor tradito,
Per angoscia non scoppiar.
RIGOLETTO
a Gilda
Taci, il piangere non vale...
Ch'ei mentiva sei sicura.
Taci, e mia sarà la cura
La vendetta d'affrettar.
Sì, pronta fia, sarà fatale,
Io saprollo fulminar.
M'odi! ritorna a casa.
Oro prendi, un destriero
Una veste viril che t'apprestai,
E per Verona parti.
Sarovvi io pur doman.
GILDA
Or venite...
RIGOLETTO
Impossibil.
GILDA
Tremo.
RIGOLETTO
Va'.
DUKE
Fairest daughter of love,
I am a slave to your charms;
with but a single word you could
relieve my every pain.
Come, touch my breast and feel
how my heart is racing.
MADDALENA
Ah! Ah! That really makes me laugh;
talk like that is cheap enough.
Believe me, I know exactly
what such play?acting is worth!
I, my fine sir, am quite accustomed
to foolish jokes like this.
GILDA
Ah, these are the loving words
the scoundrel spoke once to me!
O wretched heart betrayed
do not break for sorrow.
RIGOLETTO
to Gilda
Hush weeping can do no good...
You are now convinced he was lying.
Hush, and leave it up to me
to hasten our revenge.
It will be quick, it will be deadly,
I know how to deal with him.
Listen to me, go home.
Take some money and a horse,
Put on the men's clothes I provided,
then leave at once for Verona.
I shall meet you there tomorrow.
GILDA
Come with me now.
RIGOLETTO
It's impossible.
GILDA
I'm afraid.
RIGOLETTO
Go!
Sheetmusic for quartet | ![]() |
Sheetmusic for opera | ![]() |
MP3's for this quartet | on Amazon.com |
DVD/CD's for this opera | on Amazon.com |