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G ARIAS
reat Operatic
CHAN 3032
Alastair
Bill Rafferty
Miles
Alastair Miles in the 1999 English National Opera production of Boito’s Mephistopheles
PETE MOOES FOUNDATION
CHANDOS
O P E R A IN
ENGLISH
22/8/07
1:52 pm
Alastair Miles as Jacopo Fiesco, with
Phillip Joll as Boccanegra, in the
1997 Welsh National Opera production
of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra
Page 2
Clive Barda
CHAN 3032 BOOK.qxd
Great
Operatic
Arias
with
Alastair Miles
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Giuseppe Verdi (1813 –1901)
1
Time
from Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar)*
Chorus of Hebrew Slaves and Zaccaria’s Prophecy
‘Speed your journey’
(Va, pensiero) –
‘Why lament ye?’
(Oh chi piange?)
Giuseppe Verdi
Page
5
8:51
46]
with Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
with Clive Bayley bass
Gioachino Rossini (1792 –1868)
from The Lombards at the First Crusade†
Scena, Pagano’s Aria and Chorus
‘Lord, grant us peace, we beg Thee’
(A te nell’ora infausta) –
‘Wretched Woman! Did you imagine’
(Sciagurata! hai tu creduto) –
‘Only cowards would be frightened’
(Ni un periglio il nostro seno)
Zelmira†
2
3
4
from Luisa Miller†
Scena and Walter and Wurm’s Duet
‘He will not listen’
(Egli delira) –
‘It was for his sake and his alone’
(L’alto retaggio non ho bramato)
from
Polidoro’s Cavatina
‘Ah! One whole day has passed’
(Ah! già trascorse il di)
6
3:31
from Mahomet II†
Mahomet II’s Aria
‘Brave soldiers, arise and join me’
(Sorgete e in si bel giorno)
6:37
47]
Carlos Gomes (1836–1896)
from Moses in Egypt†
Prayer: Quartet
‘Look down on us from Heaven’
(Dal tuo stellato soglio)
from Salvator Rosa†
The Duke of Arcos’s Recitative and Aria
‘And must I really sign?’
(E il foglio io segnerò?) –
‘The pleasures of marriage’
(Di sposo… di padre…)
with Sandra Ford soprano • Antonia Sotgiu mezzo-soprano
Barry Banks tenor • Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
4
7
47]
Page
7:43
48]
10:17
50]
6:11
52]
with Clive Bayley bass • Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
47]
with Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
3:32
Time
5
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Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835)
8
Time
from Norma†
Chorus of Druids and Oroveso’s Aria
‘Grant her the gift of prophecy’
(Dell’aura tua profetica) –
‘Here where the ancient oak tree grows’
(Si: parlerà terribile)
Giuseppe Verdi
Page
10
2:38
52]
from The Sicilian Vespers†
Procida’s Recitative and Aria
‘My homeland, beloved homeland’
(O patria, o cara patria) –
‘Oh, my Palermo’
(O tu Palermo)
Time
Page
7:14
54]
12:36
54]
with Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Vincenzo Bellini
Gioachino Rossini
Egypt†
9
from Moses in
Invocation and Quintet
‘Supreme judge and ruler’
(Eterno! Immenso!) –
‘O Thou who by Thy mercy’
(Celeste man placata!)
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from The Puritans†
Giorgio and Riccardo’s Duet
‘Save his life, though he’s your rival’
(Il rival salvar tu dèi)
with Garry Magee baritone
6:50
with Sandra Ford soprano • Barry Banks tenor • Dominic Natoli tenor
Clive Bayley bass • Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
TT 76:47 [p. 44]
53]
* premiere recording in English in this version
† premiere recording in English
Alastair Miles bass
Philharmonia Orchestra
Gareth Hancock assistant conductor
David Parry
6
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Great Operatic Arias
Sad to say, the bass does not have the
popular appeal of the higher male voices.
Where the tenor is associated with youth
and love, and the baritone with love,
jealousy or at least bonhomie, the bass
gets all the heavy parts. Whether in
Italian, German, French, Russian or
English opera, if the basses are not
villains they tend to be fathers, gods,
kings or priests: figures of authority with
whom an audience is unlikely to identify.
Think of Philip II in Verdi’s Don Carlos,
who is both father and king, or the
Grand Inquisitor in the same opera.
Alternatively, they are figures of fun,
often duped by the younger generation;
and indeed they rarely if ever get the girl
(unless, as the Finnish bass Martti
Talvela memorably said in a television
interview, ‘maybe after the performance’).
And yet, as this recital by Alastair
Miles demonstrates, arias and duets
written for the bass voice can be as
glorious as any of the more obvious
showstoppers. All the pieces are from the
nineteenth-century Italian repertoire,
featuring the kind of voice that the
Italians call ‘basso cantante’ (singing
bass), of which the most notable recent
exponents have been Ezio Pinza between
the two world wars and, in our own day,
Ruggero Raimondi and Samuel Ramey.
The three Rossini operas represented
here were all written for the San Carlo
opera house in Naples. Mosè in Egitto
(1818) was for a long time eclipsed by
Moïse et Pharaon, a refashioning of the
earlier work to a new libretto, which
Rossini composed for Paris in 1827 (and
which was usually performed, confusingly
enough, in an Italian translation). The
story of Moses in Egypt is the Old
Testament account of the exile in Egypt
of the children of Israel, with a love
interest provided by Elcia, a Hebrew girl,
and Pharaoh’s son Osiris.
8
In ‘Supreme judge and ruler’ Moses
appeals to God to end the plague of
darkness. At a wave of his rod daylight
reappears in a brilliant passage
reminiscent of Haydn’s The Creation,
after which Moses leads off the quintet,
in which he is joined in turn by Aaron,
Amaltea (Pharaoh’s wife), Osiris and,
finally, Pharaoh.
After various vicissitudes the children
of Israel are at last allowed to leave, but
they soon come up against the
impassable Red Sea. In ‘Look down on
us from Heaven’, a number which
Rossini added when the opera was
revived a year after the premiere, Moses
asks God for help. His prayer is echoed
by the people and reinforced by Aaron,
Elcia’s confidante Amenosi, and Elcia
herself. A new note of confidence comes
when the music turns into the major
key; and, sure enough, the waters of the
Red Sea part to allow the Israelites to
pass before closing again to engulf the
pursuing Egyptians.
Mahomet II (1820) was also
rewritten for the Paris stage, resurfacing
in 1826 as The Siege of Corinth. The
year is 1476: Negroponte, a Venetian
colony in Greece, is under siege by
Mehmet (Mahomet) II, the Ottoman
sultan who had captured
Constantinople twenty-three years
before. ‘Brave soldiers, arise and join
me’ he sings before praising his men in
a florid aria. The idea of a lumbering
bass singing coloratura, a rare
accomplishment nowadays, may seem
strange to us; but it would not have
raised an eyebrow in the early
nineteenth century. As ever, Rossini
shows his mastery of orchestration: just
as he featured the horn and harp
respectively in the Moses ensembles, so
here he gives Mozartian gurgles to the
clarinet.
We are still in Greece – ancient, this
time, rather than medieval – for
Zelmira (1822). Polidoro, the deposed
king of Lesbos, has been hidden away
by his daughter Zelmira. ‘Ah! One
whole day has passed’ is a cavatina, an
entrance aria with, in this case, an
abridged reprise of the singer’s opening
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music. A comparatively long orchestral
introduction gravely sets the scene for
Polidoro lamenting the absence of his
beloved daughter.
Bellini’s Norma was first performed
at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, in 1831.
The setting is Roman-occupied Gaul in
about 50 BC. In the opening scene
Oroveso, head of the Druids, orders his
men to watch for the new moon and
strike the sacred bronze shield, at which
point Norma, the high priestess, will
appear. In ‘Grant her the gift of
prophecy’ they ask the god Irminsul to
inspire her with hatred for the Romans.
It is a martial number, just the right side
of jauntiness, rather in the vein of the
choral contributions to the aria from
Mahomet II.
The Puritans was Bellini’s last opera,
first performed in Paris in 1835, the year
of his early death. The action takes place
in a castle near Plymouth during the
English Civil War. Elvira, daughter of
the Roundhead governor of the castle, is
due to marry Arturo, a Cavalier. When
Arturo helps Henrietta Maria, the
widow of Charles I, to escape, leading
her away wearing Elvira’s wedding veil,
Elvira loses her reason. Riccardo, a
Roundhead colonel who is in love with
Elvira, announces that Arturo has been
condemned to death in absentia.
The great duet that concludes the
second of the three acts is for Riccardo
and Giorgio, the Governor’s brother,
whom Elvira has earlier addressed as
‘my beloved uncle, my second father’.
Giorgio points out that Arturo’s death
would bring about Elvira’s. Riccardo
relents, unable to bear the thought of
being pursued by her ghost, but in a
rousing, patriotic finale (‘Fearless and
proud the trumpet call’) they agree that
Arturo must die if he is seen among the
attacking royalist forces.
The four Verdi excerpts take us from
Nabucco (1842), the earliest of his operas
still in the repertory, to The Sicilian
Vespers (1855), written after the great trio
of Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata.
In Verdi’s day the chorus of Hebrew
slaves aching with longing for their
homeland, from Act III of Nabucco,
10
became a symbol of the struggle for the
unification of Italy, and it has since
achieved popularity as a concert piece.
Less well known is what follows: the
rallying-cry of Zaccaria the high priest, a
spiritual descendant of both Moses and
Oroveso, who foretells the destruction of
Babylon. The accompaniment at ‘Not a
sound but the cry of the screech-owl’ is
an early instance of Verdi’s characteristic
‘weeping’ figure.
The Lombards at the First Crusade,
to give the opera its full title, appeared at
La Scala in 1843 as a follow-up to the
success of Nabucco, the part of Pagano
being taken by the first Zaccaria. Having
lost the girl he loved to his brother
Arvino, Pagano attacked him at the
wedding. Now, eighteen years later,
although they are publicly reconciled,
Pagano remains unforgiving. A chorus of
nuns praying in the chapel within
introduces the first part of his aria. The
long-breathed nobility of the musical
phrases belies the sentiment – ‘Wretched
woman!’ – of the words. After a chorus
of his henchmen, of the kind that
Gilbert and Sullivan parodied so
mercilessly, Pagano foresees his revenge;
but instead of killing Arvino, he
accidentally kills their father.
Luisa Miller (1849), like the Rossini
operas on this disc, was written for the
San Carlo in Naples. Based on Kabale
und Liebe by the German poet and
playwright Friedrich Schiller and set in
the Tyrol in the seventeenth century, it
deals with the intrigue surrounding the
love between Luisa, daughter of a
retired soldier, and Rodolfo, son of
Count Walter, and with the Count’s
dynastic ambitions. All ends unhappily,
with the death by poison of both lovers.
The duet in Act II is for Count
Walter and Wurm, his villainous and
aptly-named steward, who himself
wishes to marry Luisa. They discuss
their plot against Luisa, after which we
learn (at ‘It was for his sake’) that it is
they who have murdered the old Count,
Walter’s cousin. The music becomes
more agitated as Walter tells his steward
that Rodolfo knows the truth and has
threatened to reveal it. Finally, to a
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martial accompaniment, Walter swears
to protect Wurm or perish with him on
the scaffold.
Like the better known Don Carlos,
The Sicilian Vespers is a French grand
opera in five acts written for Paris. Like
Don Carlos, too, it is generally
performed in Italian translation. Set in
and around Palermo in 1282 it leads up
to the famous massacre by the Sicilians
of their French rulers. In the second act
Procida, leader of the Sicilians, secretly
returns from exile. He greets his
homeland in warm and lyrical tones
which give no hint of his later role as, in
Verdi’s words, ‘a common conspirator
with the inevitable dagger in his hand’.
His aria ‘Oh, my Palermo’ is basso
cantante writing par excellence.
The theme of insurrection continues
in Salvator Rosa, which was first
performed at the Teatro Carlo Felice in
Genoa in 1874. Carlos Gomes was a
Brazilian composer who worked in Italy
for most of his life. On this recording
the influence of Verdi can be clearly
heard in the recitative that precedes the
aria. The people of Naples, led by a
fisherman and supported by Salvator
Rosa, the painter, are in revolt against
their Spanish overlords. The Spanish
viceroy, the Duke of Arcos, is obliged to
sign a treaty with the insurgents. A
grandee to his fingertips, he is deeply
ashamed of incurring the suspicion of
his king and country. In his aria ‘The
pleasures of marriage’ he contrasts his
apparent power with his actual
servitude. It is a noble piece, affording
the singer an excellent opportunity to
convey the loneliness of ruling in a
strange land.
© 2000 Richard Lawrence
Alastair Miles is recognised as one of
this country’s leading international
singers, performing world-wide in opera
and concert and highly sought after as a
recording artist. His recent debut at The
Metropolitan Opera, New York, as
Giorgio (I puritani) met with widespread
acclaim, and he garnered superlative
reviews upon his recent assumption of
12
the roles of Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra)
and Philip II (Don Carlos) on British
opera stages. His many other notable
appearances in Great Britain include
Lord Sydney (Il viaggio a Rheims) at The
Royal Opera, Covent Garden, the title
role in Boito’s Mephistopheles at English
National Opera and Fiesco,
Mephistopheles (Faust), Silva (Ernani),
Zaccaria (Nabucco), Raimondo (Lucia di
Lammermoor) and Sparafucile (Rigoletto)
at Welsh National Opera, with which he
has enjoyed a particularly long
association.
Abroad he has sung Giorgio
(I puritani) and the Prefect (Linda di
Chamounix) at Vienna State Opera,
Raimondo at L’Opéra national de
Paris-Bastille and The Metropolitan
Opera, the title role in Oberto at
L’Opéra de Nice, Giorgio at Deutsche
Oper, Berlin, Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro)
at The Netherlands Opera, and Giorgio,
Raimondo and Basilio (Il barbiere di
Siviglia) at San Francisco Opera. In
concert Alastair Miles has performed
under such distinguished conductors as
Carlo Maria Giulini, Riccardo Muti,
Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir John Eliot
Gardiner, Myung-Whun Chung,
Sir Mark Elder, Sir Roger Norrington
and Kurt Masur.
Alastair Miles appears in round forty
recordings, among which are, for Opera
Rara, Donizetti’s Rosmonda d’Inghilterra,
Pacini’s Maria, regina d’Inghilterra,
Mayr’s Medea in Corinto, Mercadante’s
Orazi e Curiazi, Rossini’s Ricciardo e
Zoraide and four recital discs (A Hundred
Years of Italian Opera: 1820–1830; Bruce
Ford – Romantic Heroes; Il salotto, Volume
1: Mercadante – Les Soirées italiennes and
Nelly Miricioiu – Rossini Gala), and for
Chandos The Rape of Lucretia (Britten),
Caractacus (Elgar), Faust and La bohème,
the last two in the Opera in English
series sponsored by the Peter Moores
Foundation.
David Parry studied with Sergiu
Celibidache and began his career as
Sir John Pritchard’s assistant. He made
his debut with English Music Theatre,
then became a staff conductor at
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Städtische Bühnen Dortmund and at
Opera North. He was Music Director of
Opera 80 from 1983 to 1987 and since
1992 has been the founding Music
Director of Almeida Opera.
He works extensively in both opera
and concert, nationally and
internationally. He has conducted
several productions at English National
Opera and appears regularly with the
Philharmonia Orchestra. In 1996 he
made his debut at the Glyndebourne
Festival with Così fan tutte, where last
year he conducted the world premiere
of Jonathan Dove’s Flight.
He is a frequent visitor to Spain
where he has given concerts with most
of the major Spanish orchestras. He
conducted the Spanish premiere of Peter
Grimes in Madrid and in 1996 the first
Spanish production of The Rake’s
Progress. He has appeared in Germany,
Sweden, The Netherlands, at the Pesaro
Festival in Italy, the Hong Kong
International Festival, in Japan with a
tour of Carmen and in Mexico with the
UNAM Symphony Orchestra. Recent
new productions he has conducted
include Fidelio at the New Zealand
Festival, Maria Stuarda at Theater Basel
and Lucia di Lammermoor at New
Israeli Opera.
His work in the recording studio
includes the BBC Television production
of Marschner’s Der Vampyr and twentyone complete opera recordings under
the sponsorship of the Peter Moores
Foundation. Among these are numerous
discs for the Opera Rara label which
have won several awards, including the
Belgian Prix Cecilia for Donizetti’s
Rosmonda d’Inghilterra. For Chandos he
has conducted six recordings of operatic
arias (with Bruce Ford, Diana
Montague, Dennis O’Neill, Alastair
Miles, Yvonne Kenny and John
Tomlinson, the last two to be issued
during 2000), as well as Faust, Don
Pasquale, The Elixir of Love, La bohème,
Cavalleria rusticana, Pagliacci, the
award-winning Tosca and highlights
from Der Rosenkavalier, all in
association with the Peter Moores
Foundation.
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Winnie Klotz/The Metropolitan Opera
CHAN 3032 BOOK.qxd
Alastair Miles as
Giorgio in The
Metropolitan Opera’s
production of Bellini’s
I puritani
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Whilst still in his early twenties, Peter Moores had started giving financial support to various
young artists, several of whom – Joan Sutherland, Colin Davis and the late Geraint Evans
amongst them – were to become world-famous. In 1964 he set aside a substantial part of his
inheritance to establish the Peter Moores Foundation, a charity designed to support those
causes dear to his heart: to make music and the arts more accessible to more people; to give
encouragement to the young and to improve race relations.
Peter Moores was born in Lancashire, the son of Sir John Moores, founder of the giant
Littlewoods mail order, chain store and football pools group. He was educated at Eton and
Christ Church, Oxford, where he read modern languages – he was already fluent in German
and Italian. It was opera, however, which was his great love. He had worked at Glyndebourne
Festival Opera before going up to university, and after Oxford he became a production
student at the Vienna State Opera, combining this with a three-year course at the Vienna
Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
By the end of his third year at the Academy Moores had produced the Vienna premiere of
Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, had worked as Assistant Producer at the San Carlo Opera
House, Naples, the Geneva Festival and Rome Opera, and seemed set for a successful operatic
career. At this point he received a letter from his father asking him to come home as he was
needed in the firm. Family loyalty being paramount, he returned to Liverpool.
By 1977, he was Chairman of Littlewoods. Three years later
he stepped down from the post, although still remaining on
the Board. He was a director of a merchant bank from 1978
to 1992. From 1981 to 1983 he was a Governor of the BBC,
and a Trustee of the Tate Gallery from 1978 until 1985; from
1988 to 1992 he was a director of Scottish Opera. He received
the Gold Medal of the Italian Republic in 1974, an Honorary
MA from Christ Church, Oxford, in 1975, and was made an
Honorary Member of the Royal Northern College of Music in
1985. In May 1992 he became Deputy Lieutenant of
Lancashire, and in the New Year’s Honours List for 1991, he
Peter Moores, CBE, DL
was made a CBE for his charitable services to the Arts.
16
Christina Burton/PMF
PETER MOORES, CBE, DL
PETER MOORES FOUNDATION
In the field of music, the main areas supported by the Peter Moores Foundation are:
the recording of operas from the core repertory sung in English translation; the recording
or staging of rare Italian opera from the bel canto era of the early nineteenth century
(repertoire which would otherwise only be accessible to scholars); the nurturing of
promising young opera singers; new operatic work.
The Foundation awards scholarships annually to students and post-graduates for furthering
their vocal studies at the Royal Northern College of Music. In addition, project awards may be
given to facilitate language tuition in the appropriate country, attendance at masterclasses or
summer courses, specialised repertoire study with an acknowledged expert in the field, or
post-graduate performance training.
The Foundation encourages new operatic work by contributing to recordings, the
publication of scores and stage productions.
Since 1964 the Foundation has supported the recording of more than forty operas, many of
these sung in English, in translation. It has always been Peter Moores’s belief that to enjoy opera
to the full, there must be no language barrier, particularly for newcomers and particularly in the
popular repertoire – hence the Opera in English series launched with Chandos in 1995. This
includes many of the English language recordings funded by the Foundation in the 1970s and
1980s and is now the largest recorded collection of operas sung in English.
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Große Opernarien
Es ist eine traurige Tatsache, daß der
Baß sich nicht der gleichen Popularität
erfreut wie die höheren männlichen
Stimmen. Während der Tenor mit
Jugend und Liebe in Verbindung
gebracht wird und der Bariton mit
Liebe und Eifersucht oder zumindest
Jovialität, fallen dem Baß nur die
schweren Partien zu. Ob in italienischer,
deutscher, französischer, russischer oder
englischer Oper, wenn die Bässe keine
Bösewichter sind, so sind sie meist
Väter, Götter, Könige oder Priester –
Autoritätsfiguren, mit denen das
Publikum sich nur schwer identifizieren
kann. Man denke zum Beispiel an
Philipp II. in Verdis Don Carlos, der
Vater und König zugleich ist, oder an
den Großinquisitor in derselben Oper.
Andererseits sind es oft komische
Figuren, über die die jüngere
Generation sich häufig lustig macht;
tatsächlich gelingt es diesen Helden
selten, die Angebetete für sich zu
gewinnen (es sei denn, wie der finnische
Baß Martti Talvela in einem Fernsehinterview zum besten gab, “vielleicht
nach der Aufführung”).
Und doch können, wie dieses Recital
von Alastair Miles zeigt, für die
Baßstimme geschriebene Arien und
Duette genauso prächtig sein wie die
üblichen Highlights einer Operngala.
Alle hier eingespielten Stücke stammen
aus dem italienischen Repertoire des
19. Jahrhunderts und demonstrieren die
Art von Gesang, die die Italiener als
“basso cantante” (sanglicher Baß)
bezeichnen; die bekanntesten Vertreter
dieser Gattung waren Ezio Pinza
zwischen den Weltkriegen und Ruggero
Raimondi sowie Samuel Ramey in
unserer Zeit.
Die drei hier repräsentierten RossiniOpern wurden sämtlich für das Teatro
San Carlo in Neapel komponiert. Mosè
18
in Egitto (1818) stand lange Zeit im
Schatten von Moïse et Pharaon, einer
Überarbeitung des früheren Stücks zu
einem neuen Libretto, die Rossini 1827
für Paris komponierte (und die, um die
Verwirrung komplett zu machen,
gewöhnlich in italienischer Übersetzung
aufgeführt wurde). Die Handlung
basiert auf der Erzählung des Alten
Testaments von dem ägyptischen Exil
der Kinder Israels; die unabdingbare
Liebesgeschichte liefern Elcia, ein
jüdisches Mädchen, und der Sohn
Pharaos, Osiris.
In “Supreme judge and ruler”
(Oberster Richter und Herrscher) bittet
Moses Gott, er möge die Plage der
Finsternis beenden. Auf einen Wink
seines Stabs hin kehrt das Tageslicht in
einer brillianten Passage zurück, die an
Haydns Schöpfung erinnert; hierauf
eröffnet Moses das Quintett, in das
nacheinander Aaron, Amaltea (Pharaos
Frau), Osiris und schließlich Pharao
selbst einstimmen.
Nach einer Reihe von Plagen wird
den Kindern Israels schließlich erlaubt,
Ägypten zu verlassen, doch schon bald
gelangen sie an das unpassierbare Rote
Meer. In “Look down on us from
Heaven” (Blicke vom Himmel auf uns
herab), einer Nummer, die Rossini
anläßlich der Wiederaufnahme der
Oper ein Jahr nach der Premiere
nachträglich einfügte, bittet Moses Gott
um Hilfe. Sein Gebet wird vom Volk
wiederholt und auch von Aaron,
Amenosi (Elcias Vertrauter) und Elcia
selbst unterstützt. Der Wechsel in die
Durtonart vermittelt den Eindruck
neugewonnener Zuversicht, und
tatsächlich teilen sich die Fluten des
Roten Meeres, um die Israeliten
passieren zu lassen, bevor sie sich wieder
schließen und die nachfolgenden
Ägypter ertränken.
Maometto II (1820) wurde ebenfalls
für die Pariser Bühne überarbeitet, wo
die Oper 1826 unter dem Titel Le Siège
de Corinthe (Die Belagerung von
Korinth) wieder auftauchte. Die
Handlung spielt im Jahr 1476:
Negroponte, eine venezianische Kolonie
in Griechenland, wird von Mehmet
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(Mohammed) II. belagert, dem
ottomanischen Sultan, der
dreiundzwanzig Jahre zuvor
Konstantinopel eingenommen hatte.
Die Worte “Brave soldiers, arise and
join me” (Tapfere Soldaten, erhebt euch
und folgt mir) leiten eine prachtvolle
Arie ein, in der Mohammed das Lob
seiner Männer singt. Das heute selten
anzutreffende Konzept eines
schwerfälligen Basses, der Koloratur
singt, mag uns seltsam erscheinen, doch
im frühen 19. Jahrhundert war dies
durchaus üblich. Wie auch sonst zeigt
Rossini hier seine meisterhafte
Beherrschung der Orchestrierung –
während er in den Mosè-Ensembles das
Horn und die Harfe hervorhob, verleiht
er hier der Klarinette Mozartsche
Klänge.
Auch Zelmira (1822) spielt in
Griechenland, diesmal in der Antike
statt im Mittelalter. Polidoro, der
gestürzte König von Lesbos, wird von
seiner Tochter Zelmira versteckt. “Ah!
One whole day has passed” (Ah! Ein
ganzer Tag ist vergangen) ist eine
Cavatina, eine Auftrittsarie, die hier mit
einer verkürzten Reprise des
einleitenden Vokalparts verbunden ist.
Der Auftritt Polidoros, in dem er die
Abwesenheit seiner geliebten Tochter
beklagt, wird von einer verhältnismäßig
langen Orchestereinleitung in düsteren
Tönen vorbereitet.
Bellinis Norma wurde 1831 am
Teatro alla Scala in Mailand
erstaufgeführt. Das Stück spielt etwa 50
v. Chr. in dem von den Römern
besetzten Gallien. In der Eröffnungsszene befiehlt Oroveso, der Anführer der
Druiden, seinen Männern, den
Neumond abzuwarten und sodann das
heilige Bronzeschild zu schlagen, als
Zeichen, daß Norma, die
Hohepriesterin, erscheinen möge. In
“Grant her the gift of prophecy” (Gebt
ihr die Gabe der Prophezeiung) bitten
sie den Gott Irminsul, Norma mit Haß
auf die Römer zu erfüllen. Das Stück
klingt kämpferisch, fast beschwingt,
und erinnert an die Choreinwürfe in
der Arie aus Maometto II.
I puritani war Bellinis letzte Oper; sie
20
wurde 1835, im Jahr seines frühen
Todes, in Paris uraufgeführt. Die
Handlung spielt in einem Schloß nahe
Plymouth während des englischen
Bürgerkriegs. Elvira, die Tochter des
Gouverneurs, einem “Rundkopf ”
(Anhänger der Parlamentspartei), steht
kurz vor ihrer Hochzeit mit dem
Adligen Arturo. Nachdem Arturo der
Witwe von Karl I., Henrietta Maria, zur
Flucht verhilft und sie getarnt mit
Elviras Hochzeitsschleier hinwegführt,
verliert Elvira den Verstand. Riccardo,
ein Offizier der Rundköpfe, der in
Elvira verliebt ist, verkündet, daß
Arturo in Abwesenheit zum Tode
verurteilt wurde.
Das große Duett, mit dem der zweite
von drei Akten schließt, wird von
Riccardo und Giorgio gesungen, dem
Bruder des Gouverneurs, den Elvira
zuvor als “meinen geliebten Onkel,
meinen zweiten Vater” bezeichnet hat.
Giorgio weist darauf hin, daß Arturos
Tod auch den Tod Elviras bedeuten
würde. Riccardo gibt nach, da er den
Gedanken nicht ertragen kann, von
ihrem Geist verfolgt zu werden, doch in
einem erhebenden patriotischen Finale
(“Fearless and proud the trumpet call” –
Furchtlos und stolz der Trompete Ruf )
beschließen sie, daß Arturo sterben
muß, wenn er unter den royalistischen
Angreifern entdeckt wird.
Die vier Auszüge aus Verdi führen
uns von Nabucco (1842), der frühesten
seiner heute noch gespielten Opern, bis
zu Les Vêpres siciliennes (1855), die nach
den großen Dreien Rigoletto, Il trovatore
und La traviata entstand. Zu Verdis
Zeit wurde der Chor der sich vor
Sehnsucht nach ihrer Heimat
verzehrenden jüdischen Sklaven aus
dem dritten Akt von Nabucco zum
Symbol für den Kampf um die Einheit
Italiens; seither ist er als Konzertstück
populär geworden. Weniger bekannt ist
das anschließende Stück – der
Schlachtruf des Hohepriesters Zaccaria,
eines geistigen Nachkommen von Moses
wie auch Oroveso, der die Zerstörung
Babylons weissagt. Die Begleitung bei
“Not a sound but the cry of the screechowl” (Kein Laut als der Schrei des
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Waldkauzes) ist ein frühes Beispiel von
Verdis charakteristischer “weinender”
Figur.
I lombardi alla prima crociata, um
die Oper bei ihrem vollen Titel zu
nennen, erklang 1843 an der Scala als
Folgestück zu dem überaus erfolgreichen Nabucco; den Part des Pagano
übernahm dabei der erste Sänger des
Zaccaria. Pagano hatte das von ihm
geliebte Mädchen an seinen Bruder
Arvino verloren und diesen während
dessen Hochzeit angegriffen. Inzwischen
sind achtzehn Jahre vergangen, und
obwohl die Brüder sich öffentlich
wieder versöhnt zeigen, hat Pagano
Arvino nie verziehen. Den ersten Teil
seiner Arie eröffnet ein innerhalb der
Kapelle erklingender Chor von Nonnen.
Die edle Weiträumigkeit der
musikalischen Phrasen straft die von
den Worten – “Wretched woman!”
(Elendes Weib!) – implizierten
Empfindungen Lügen. Nach einem
Chor seiner Anhänger – von der Art,
die Gilbert und Sullivan so
erbarmungslos parodierten – kündet
Pagano seine Rache an; anstatt jedoch
Arvino umzubringen, tötet er ihren
Vater.
Luisa Miller (1849) wurde wie alle
Rossini-Opern auf dieser CD für das
Teatro San Carlo in Neapel geschrieben.
Die Oper basiert auf Friedrich Schillers
Kabale und Liebe und spielt im Tirol des
17. Jahrhunderts; sie handelt von einer
Intrige um die Liebe zwischen Luisa,
der Tochter eines pensionierten
Soldaten, und Rodolfo, dem Sohn des
Grafen Walter, sowie den dynastischen
Ambitionen des Grafen. Das Stück
endet tragisch mit dem Gifttod der
beiden Liebenden.
Das Duett im zweiten Akt wird vom
Grafen gesungen, zusammen mit
Wurm, seinem hinterhältigen und
treffend benannten Verwalter, der Luisa
selbst heiraten möchte. Die beiden
besprechen ihre Intrige gegen Luisa,
woraufhin wir erfahren (bei “It was for
his sake” – Es geschah ihm zuliebe), daß
sie gemeinsam den früheren Grafen, den
Cousin Walters, ermordet haben. Die
Musik wird bewegter, als Walter Wurm
22
mitteilt, daß Rodolfo die Wahrheit
kennt und mit ihrer Enthüllung gedroht
hat. Schließlich schwört Walter bei
kämpferischer Orchesterbegleitung, er
werde Wurm beschützen oder
gemeinsam mit ihm am Galgen enden.
Wie der besser bekannte Don Carlos
ist auch Les Vêpres siciliennes eine für
Paris komponierte französische Grand
Opéra. Auch diese Oper wird
gewöhnlich in italienischer Übersetzung
aufgeführt. Das Stück spielt im Jahr
1282 in Palermo und dessen Umgebung
und kulminiert in dem berühmten
Massaker der Sizilianer an ihren
französischen Beherrschern. Im zweiten
Akt kehrt Procida, der Anführer der
Sizilianer, heimlich aus dem Exil
zurück. Er begrüßt seine Heimat in
warmen, lyrischen Tönen, die noch
keinen Hinweis auf seine spätere Rolle
als, in Verdis Worten, “ein gemeiner
Verräter mit dem unvermeidlichen
Dolch in der Hand” geben. Seine Arie
“Oh, my Palermo” (O mein Palermo)
ist Basso cantante par excellence.
Das Thema der aufrührerischen
Erhebung wird in der 1874 am Teatro
Carlo Felice in Genua uraufgeführten
Oper Salvator Rosa fortgesetzt. Carlos
Gomes war ein brasilianischer
Komponist, der die meiste Zeit seines
Lebens in Italien wirkte. In der
vorliegenden Einspielung ist der Einfluß
Verdis deutlich in dem der Arie
vorausgehenden Rezitativ zu hören.
Angeführt von einem Fischer und
unterstützt von dem Maler Salvator
Rosa erhebt sich das Volk von Neapel
gegen seine spanischen Unterdrücker.
Der spanische Statthalter, Herzog von
Arcos, ist gezwungen, mit den
Aufständischen einen Vertrag zu
unterzeichnen. Ein Edelmann bis in die
Fingerspitzen, empfindet er es als große
Schmach, den Verdacht seines Königs
und seines Landes auf sich zu ziehen. In
der Arie “The pleasures of marriage”
(Die Freuden der Ehe) vergleicht er
seine scheinbare Macht mit seiner
tatsächlichen Knechtschaft. Dies ist ein
nobles Stück, das dem Sänger eine
hervorragende Gelegenheit bietet, die
Einsamkeit zu vermitteln, die mit dem
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Regieren in einem fremden Land
verbunden ist.
(Nabucco), Raimondo (Lucia di
Lammermoor) sowie Sparafucile
(Rigoletto) an der Welsh National
Opera, mit der er schon seit langem
verbunden ist.
Zu seinen internationalen
Verpflichtungen gehörten Giorgio
(I puritani) und der Präfekt (Linda di
Chamounix) an der Wiener Staatsoper,
Raimondo an der Opéra national de
Paris-Bastille und der Metropolitan
Opera, die Titelrolle in Oberto an der
Opéra de Nice, Giorgio an der
Deutschen Oper Berlin, Figaro (Le nozze
di Figaro) an der Niederländischen Oper
sowie Giorgio, Raimondo und Basilio
(Il barbiere di Siviglia) an der San
Francisco Opera. Im Konzert ist Alastair
Miles unter solch bekannten Dirigenten
aufgetreten wie Carlo Maria Giulini,
Riccardo Muti, Sir Charles Mackerras,
Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Myung-Whun
Chung, Sir Mark Elder, Sir Roger
Norrington und Kurt Masur.
Alastair Miles ist auf rund vierzig
Einspielungen zu hören, darunter für
Opera Rara Donizettis Rosmonda
© 2000 Richard Lawrence
Übersetzung: Stephanie Wollny
Alastair Miles ist einer der führenden
international bekannten englischen
Sänger; er tritt weltweit als Opern- und
Konzertsänger auf und wird zudem
häufig zu CD-Produktionen eingeladen.
Sein jüngstes Debüt als Giorgio
(I puritani) an der Metropolitan Opera
in New York wurde weithin gefeiert,
und seine kürzlich übernommenen
Rollen als Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra)
und Philipp II. (Don Carlos) auf
britischen Opernbühnen brachten ihm
überschwengliche Kritiken ein. Zu
seinen zahlreichen weiteren
bemerkenswerten Auftritten in
Großbritannien zählen Lord Sydney
(Il viaggio a Rheims) an der Royal Opera,
Covent Garden, die Titelrolle in Boito’s
Mefistofele an der English National
Opera und Fiesco, Mephistopheles
(Faust), Silva (Ernani), Zaccaria
24
d’Inghilterra, Pacinis Maria, regina
d’Inghilterra, Mayrs Medea in Corinto,
Mercadantes Orazi e Curiazi, Rossinis
Ricciardo e Zoraide und vier Recital-CDs
(A Hundred Years of Italian Opera:
1820–1830; Bruce Ford – Romantic
Heroes; Il salotto, Volume 1: Mercadante –
Les Soirées italiennes und Nelly Miricioiu
– Rossini Gala), sowie für Chandos The
Rape of Lucretia (Britten), Caractacus
(Elgar), Faust und La bohème, wobei die
beiden letzteren in der “Opera in
English”-Serie erschienen, die von der
Peter Moores Foundation gefördert wird.
international eine weitgespannte
Tätigkeit in den Bereichen Oper und
Konzert aus, hat mehrere Produktionen
der English National Opera dirigiert
und tritt regelmäßig mit dem
Philharmonia Orchestra auf. 1996 gab
er sein Debüt beim Glyndebourne
Festival mit Così fan tutte und hat dort
im vergangenen Jahr die Uraufführung
von Jonathan Doves Flight geleitet.
Er ist häufig in Spanien zu Gast und
hat mit den meisten bedeutenden
spanischen Orchestern Konzerte
gegeben. In Madrid hat er die spanische
Erstaufführung von Peter Grimes
dirigiert, und 1996 die erste spanische
Inszenierung von The Rake’s Progress. Er
ist in Deutschland, Schweden und den
Niederlanden aufgetreten, bei den
Festspielen in Pesaro, beim Hong Kong
International Festival, in Japan anläßlich
einer Carmen-Tournee und in Mexiko
mit dem UNAM Symphony Orchestra.
Zu den Neuproduktionen, die er in
letzter Zeit dirigiert hat, zählen Fidelio
beim New Zealand Festival, Maria
Stuarda am Stadttheater Basel und Lucia
David Parry hat bei Sergiu Celibidache
studiert und seine berufliche Laufbahn
als Assistent von Sir John Pritchard
begonnen. Er hat am English Music
Theatre debütiert und wurde dann
Dirigent mit Festvertrag an den
Städtischen Bühnen Dortmund und an
der Opera North. Von 1983 bis 1987
war er Musikdirektor der Opera 80 und
seit 1992 Gründungsmitglied und
Direktor der Almeida Opera.
Er übt in Großbritannien und
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Page 26
di Lammermoor an der New Israeli
Opera.
Seine Tätigkeit im Aufnahmestudio
umfaßt die Produktion von Marschners
Der Vampyr fürs BBC-Fernsehen und
einundzwanzig vollständige
Opernaufzeichnungen unter der
Schirmherrschaft der Peter Moores
Foundation. Darunter befinden sich
zahlreiche Aufnahmen des Labels Opera
Rara, die mehrere Preise gewonnen
haben, beispielsweise den belgischen
Prix Cecilia für Donizettis Rosmonda
d’Inghilterra. Für Chandos hat er die
Aufzeichnung von sechs Programmen
mit Opernarien geleitet (mit Bruce
Ford, Diana Montague, Dennis O’Neill,
Alastair Miles, Yvonne Kenny und John
Tomlinson – die zwei letztgenannten
kommen im Jahr 2000 heraus),
außerdem Faust, Don Pasquale, L’elisir
d’amore, La bohème, Cavalleria
rusticana, Pagliacci, die preisgekrönte
Tosca und Highlights aus dem
Rosenkavalier, jeweils in Zusammenarbeit mit der Peter Moores Foundation.
26
Grands airs d’opéra
Les voix de basse, malheureusement,
n’ont pas le succès réservé aux voix
d’homme plus hautes. Alors que le ténor
est associé à la jeunesse et à l’amour, et le
baryton, à l’amour, à la jalousie ou en
tout cas à la bonhomie, la basse se voit
attribuer tous les rôles lourds. Que ce
soit dans l’opéra italien, allemand,
français, russe ou anglais, si les basses ne
sont pas des bandits, ils incarnent
souvent le père, les dieux, les rois ou les
prêtres: des personnages qui font
autorité, auxquels le public n’est pas
susceptible de s’identifier. Pensons à
Philippe II dans Don Carlos de Verdi,
qui est à la fois père et roi, ou au Grand
Inquisiteur dans le même opéra. Parfois
encore, les basses sont des personnages
qui prêtent à rire, souvent dupés par la
jeune génération. Et, en fait, ils n’ont
que rarement, ou pas du tout, les faveurs
de l’héroïne (si ce n’est, comme la basse
finlandaise Martti Talvela l’a souligné de
manière mémorable lors d’une interview
pour la télévision “après la représentation
peut-être”).
Et cependant, comme en témoigne ce
récital de Alastair Miles, les arias et duos
écrits pour les voix de basse peuvent être
aussi merveilleux que n’importe quel
autre air à succès. Toutes les pièces
reprises ici appartiennent au répertoire
italien du dix-neuvième siècle et font
intervenir le type de voix que les Italiens
appellent “basso cantante” (basse
chantante), dont les représentants
récents les plus remarquables ont été
Ezio Pinza entre les deux guerres et, de
nos jours, Ruggero Raimondi et Samuel
Ramey.
Les trois opéras de Rossini repris ici
furent tous composés pour l’opéra de
San Carlo à Naples. Mosè in Egitto
(Moïse en Egypte, 1818) fut longtemps
éclipsé par Moïse et Pharaon, une
version remaniée à partir d’un nouveau
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livret de l’œuvre précitée, que Rossini
composa pour Paris en 1827 (et qui fut
généralement interprétée, très
curieusement, dans sa traduction
italienne). L’opéra s’inspire du récit de
l’exil en Egypte des enfants d’Israël dans
l’Ancien Testament et l’agrémente d’une
intrigue amoureuse dont les héros sont
Elcia, une jeune fille juive et le fils du
pharaon, Osiris.
Dans “Supreme judge and ruler”
(Juge et gouverneur suprêmes), Moïse
implore Dieu de mettre fin à la plaie des
ténèbres. Sur un geste de sa main, la
lumière du jour réapparaît et ce, dans
un passage brillant qui évoque Die
Schöpfung de Haydn. Puis Moïse
entonne un quintette dans lequel Aaron,
Amaltea (l’épouse du pharaon), Osiris et
le pharaon lui-même, se joignent à lui.
Après diverses vicissitudes, les enfants
d’Israël sont finalement autorisés à
partir, mais ils sont bientôt confrontés à
l’infranchissable mer Rouge. Dans
“Look down on us from Heaven” (Du
haut des cieux, jette un regard vers
nous), air que Rossini ajouta quand
l’opéra fut repris un an après sa
création, Moïse implore l’aide de Dieu.
Le peuple fait écho à sa prière appuyée
par Aaron, Amenosi (la confidente de
Elcia) et Elcia elle-même. Une nouvelle
note de confiance se fait jour alors que
la musique passe dans la tonalité
majeure et, en effet, les eaux de la mer
Rouge s’ouvrent pour laisser le passage
aux Israélites, puis se referment pour
engloutir les Egyptiens qui sont à leur
poursuite.
Maometto II (Mahomet II, 1820) fut
écrit aussi pour la scène parisienne et
refit surface en 1826, sous le titre Le
Siège de Corinthe. Nous sommes en
1476: Negroponte, colonie vénitienne
en Grèce, est assiégée par Mehmet
(Mahomet) II, le sultan ottoman qui
avait conquis Constantinople vingt-trois
ans auparavant. “Brave soldiers, arise
and join me” (Courageux soldats, levezvous et joignez-vous à moi), chante-t-il
avant de faire l’éloge de ses hommes
dans un aria très ornementé. L’idée
d’une basse imposante chantant
coloratura, performance rare de nos
28
jours, peut nous paraître étrange; mais
elle n’aurait pas causé le moindre
froncement de sourcils à l’aube du
dix-neuvième siècle. Comme toujours,
Rossini témoigne de sa maîtrise de
l’orchestration: tout comme il introduit
le cor et la harpe respectivement, dans
les ensembles de Mosè, il agrémente la
clarinette de gloussements mozartiens.
Nous sommes à nouveau en Grèce –
ancienne, cette fois, et non pas médiévale
– pour Zelmira (1822). Polidoro, roi
destitué de Lesbos, a été caché par sa
fille, Zelmira. “Ah! One whole day has
passed” (Ah! une journée entière s’est
écoulée) est une cavatine, une aria
d’entrée avec, ici, une reprise abrégée.
Une introduction orchestrale
relativement longue plante avec gravité le
décor de l’épisode dans lequel Polidoro
pleure l’absence de sa fille bien aimée.
L’opéra Norma de Bellini fut créé au
Teatro alla Scala de Milan en 1831.
L’action se déroule en Gaule au temps
de l’occupation romaine, vers 50 av.
J.C. Dans la scène introductive,
Oroveso ordonne aux druides dont il est
le chef de surveiller le moment de la
nouvelle lune et de frapper le bouclier
de bronze, instant auquel Norma, la
grande prêtresse, apparaîtra. Dans
“Grant her the gift of prophecy”
(Accorde lui le don de prophétie), ils
demandent au dieu Irminsul d’inspirer à
Norma, la haine des Romains. C’est un
air martial, à la limite de la désinvolture,
dans la ligne des contributions chorales
à l’aria de Maometto II.
L’opéra I puritani (Les Puritains) fut
le dernier de Bellini et fut créé à Paris
en 1835, l’année de sa mort prématurée.
L’action se déroule dans un château près
de Plymouth au cours de la guerre civile
anglaise. Elvira, la fille du gouverneur
des Têtes rondes du château doit
épouser Arturo, un royaliste.
Lorsqu’Arturo aide Henrietta Maria, la
veuve de Charles Ier, à s’enfuir et
l’emmène coiffée du voile nuptial
d’Elvira, celle-ci perd la raison.
Riccardo, colonel des Têtes rondes, qui
est amoureux d’Elvira, annonce
qu’Arturo a été condamné à mort in
absentia.
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en tant que morceau de concert. Ce qui
suit est moins connu: le cri de
ralliement de Zaccaria, le grand prêtre,
descendant spirituel de Moïse et
d’Oroveso, qui annonce la destruction
de Babylone. L’accompagnement de
“Not a sound but the cry of the screechowl” (Pas un son excepté le cri de
l’effraie) est un premier exemple
d’accompagnement instrumental
plaintif caractéristique de Verdi.
I lombardi alla prima crociata, pour
donner à l’opéra son titre complet, fut
représenté à La Scala en 1843 dans la
foulée du succès de Nabucco, le rôle de
Pagano étant repris par l’interprète du
rôle de Zaccaria. La jeune fille qu’aimait
Pagano l’a quitté pour son frère Arvino
et Pagano s’oppose donc à lui lors de
son mariage. A présent, dix-huit ans
plus tard, bien qu’ils soient
officiellement réconciliés, Pagano ne
peut se résoudre à pardonner. Un chœur
de religieuses priant dans la chapelle,
hors scène, introduit la première partie
de son aria. La noblesse profonde des
phrases musicales dément le sentiment
Le grand duo qui conclut le
deuxième des trois actes est chanté par
Riccardo et Giorgio, le frère du
gouverneur, auquel Elvira s’est adressé
plus tôt en ces termes: “mon oncle
bien-aimé, mon second père”. Giorgio
souligne que la mort d’Arturo
entraînerait celle d’Elvira. Riccardo
cède, incapable d’accepter l’idée d’être
poursuivi par son fantôme, mais dans
un finale vibrant et patriotique,
“Fearless and proud the trumpet call”
(Intrépide et fière, la trompette retentit),
ils s’accordent à dire qu’Arturo doit
mourir s’il est surpris parmi les
assaillants royalistes.
Les quatre extraits de Verdi nous
mènent de Nabucco (1842), le premier
de ses opéras repris dans le répertoire,
aux Vêpres siciliennes (1855) composé
après le grand trio d’opéras: Rigoletto, Il
trovatore (Le Trouvère) et La traviata. A
l’époque de Verdi, le chœur des esclaves
hébreux pleurant leur pays natal, dans
l’acte III de Nabucco, devient un
symbole du combat pour l’unification
de l’Italie et il est depuis devenu célèbre
30
exprimé par les mots “Wretched
woman!” (Maudite femme!). Après le
chœur de ses partisans, un chœur du
genre de ceux parodiés si
impitoyablement par Gilbert et Sullivan,
Pagano imagine sa revanche. Mais au
lieu de tuer Arvino, il tue
accidentellement leur père.
Luisa Miller (1849), comme les
opéras de Rossini repris dans cet
enregistrement, fut composé pour le
San Carlo à Naples. Il s’inspire de
Kabale und Liebe du poète et
dramaturge allemand Friedrich Schiller.
L’action se déroule au Tyrol au
dix-septième siècle et évoque à la fois
l’intrigue qui entoure l’amour de
Luisa, la fille d’un soldat retraité et
Rodolfo, le fils du comte Walter, et
les ambitions dynastiques du compte.
Tout se termine tragiquement,
par la mort par empoisonnement des
amants.
Le duo de l’acte II est chanté par le
comte Walter et par Wurm, son infâme
intendant qui porte bien son nom et
voudrait lui-même épouser Luisa. Nous
apprenons ensuite (à ces mots: “It was
for his sake” – C’était pour son bien),
que c’est eux qui ont assassiné le vieux
comte, le cousin de Walter. La musique
devient plus tourmentée tandis que
Walter dit à son intendant que Rodolfo
sait la vérité et a menacé de la révéler.
Finalement sur un accompagnement
martial, Walter promet de protéger
Wurm ou de périr avec lui sur
l’échafaud.
Comme Don Carlos, plus célèbre, Les
Vêpres siciliennes est un grand opéra
français en cinq actes composé pour
Paris. Comme Don Carlos aussi, il est
généralement représenté dans sa
traduction italienne. L’action se déroule
dans et autour de Palerme en 1282 et
relate le fameux massacre par les
Siciliens des occupants français. Dans le
deuxième acte, Procida, chef de file des
Siciliens, revient secrètement d’exil. Il
salue sa patrie en des accents chaleureux
et lyriques qui ne laissent pas présager
son rôle futur que Verdi évoque en ces
termes: “un conspirateur ordinaire avec,
à la main, l’inévitable poignard”. Son
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aria “Oh, my Palermo” (O, mon
Palerme) est une “basso cantante” par
excellence.
Le thème de l’insurrection réapparaît
dans Salvator Rosa qui fut créé au
Teatro Carlo Felice à Gênes en 1874.
Carlos Gomes est un compositeur
brésilien qui travailla en Italie pendant
la plus grande partie de sa vie. Dans cet
enregistrement, l’influence de Verdi se
perçoit nettement dans le récitatif qui
précède l’aria. Le peuple de Naples,
dirigé par un pêcheur et soutenu par
Salvator Rosa, le peintre, est révolté
contre ses chefs espagnols. Le vice-roi
d’Espagne, le duc d’Arcos, est obligé
de signer un traité avec les insurgés.
C’est un grand d’Espagne jusqu’au
bout des ongles et il est donc très
ennuyé de s’attirer la suspicion du roi et
de son pays. Dans son aria “The
pleasures of marriage” (Les plaisirs du
mariage), apparaît le contraste entre son
apparente puissance et sa servitude
effective. C’est un air plein de noblesse,
offrant à l’interprète une excellente
opportunité de suggérer la solitude qui
est le lot de celui qui gouverne en pays
étranger.
© 2000 Richard Lawrence
Traduction: Marie-Françoise de Meeûs
Alastair Miles est réputé comme l’un
des chanteurs de renommée
internationale les plus éminents de ce
pays: il se produit dans le monde entier
en opéra et en concert et est très
demandé pour les enregistrements. Ses
récents débuts au Metropolitan Opera à
New York dans le rôle de Giorgio
(I puritani) ont été très largement
applaudis et il a été l’objet de critiques
dithyrambiques pour ses récentes
interprétations des rôles de Fiesco
(Simon Boccanegra) et Philippe II (Don
Carlos) sur les scènes d’opéra anglaises.
Citons aussi parmi ses nombreuses et
importantes productions en GrandeBretagne: Lord Sydney (Il viaggio a
Rheims) au Royal Opera, Covent
Garden, le rôle titre dans Mefistofele de
Boito au English National Opera et
Fiesco, Méphistophélès (Faust), Silva
32
(Ernani), Zaccaria (Nabucco),
Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor) et
Sparafucile (Rigoletto) au Welsh
National Opera, auquel il est resté
associé particulièrement longtemps.
A l’étranger, il a interprété les rôles de
Giorgio (I puritani) et du Préfet (Linda
di Chamounix) à l’Opéra d’Etat de
Vienne, de Raimondo à l’Opéra
national de Paris-Bastille et au
Metropolitan Opera, le rôle titre dans
Oberto à l’Opéra de Nice, Giorgio au
Deutsche Oper à Berlin, Figaro
(Le nozze di Figaro) à l’Opéra
néerlandais et Giorgio, Raimondo et
Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia) au San
Francisco Opera. En concert, Alastair
Miles s’est produit sous la baguette de
chefs de renom tels Carlo Maria
Giulini, Riccardo Muti, Sir Charles
Mackerras, Sir John Eliot Gardiner,
Myung-Whun Chung, Sir Mark Elder,
Sir Roger Norrington et Kurt Masur.
Alastair Miles a participé à une
quarantaine d’enregistrements parmi
lesquels Rosmonda d’Inghilterra de
Donizetti, Maria, regina d’Inghilterra de
Pacini, Medea in Corinto de Mayr, Orazi
e Curiazi de Mercadante, Ricciardo e
Zoraide de Rossini et quatre
enregistrements de récitals (A Hundred
Years of Italian Opera: 1820–1830;
Bruce Ford – Romantic Heroes; Il salotto,
Volume 1: Mercadante – Les Soirées
italiennes et Nelly Miricioiu – Rossini
Gala) pour Opera Rara, et pour
Chandos, à The Rape of Lucretia
(Britten), Caractacus (Elgar), Faust et
La bohème, ces deux derniers
enregistrements dans la série Opera in
English sponsorisé par la Peter Moores
Foundation.
Après avoir étudié avec Sergiu
Celibidache, David Parry commença sa
carrière comme assistant de Sir John
Pritchard. Il fit ses débuts avec l’English
Music Theatre avant de devenir l’un des
chefs d’orchestre au Städtische Bühnen
à Dortmund et à Opera North.
Directeur musical d’Opera 80 de 1983 à
1987, il est directeur musical d’Almeida
Opera depuis sa fondation en 1992.
Sa carrière, nationale et
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internationale, est extrêmement remplie,
aussi bien sur la scène lyrique qu’en
concert. Il a dirigé plusieurs productions
de l’English National Opera et collabore
régulièrement avec le Philharmonia
Orchestra. C’est avec Così fan tutte qu’il
fit ses débuts au Festival de
Glyndebourne en 1996, une scène qu’il
retrouva l’an dernier pour diriger la
création mondiale de Flight de Jonathan
Dove.
Il séjourne fréquemment en Espagne
où il a dirigé en concert la plupart des
grands orchestres espagnols. C’est lui qui
dirigea la première espagnole de Peter
Grimes à Madrid et en 1996 la première
production espagnole de The Rake’s
Progress. Il a dirigé en Allemagne, en
Suède, aux Pays-Bas, au Festival de
Pesaro en Italie, au Festival international
de Hong-Kong, au Japon pour une
tournée de Carmen et au Mexique avec
l’Orchestre symphonique d’UNAM. Il a
récemment dirigé plusieurs nouvelles
productions dont Fidelio au Festival de
Nouvelle-Zélande, Maria Stuarda au
Théâtre de Bâle et Lucia di Lammermoor
avec le New Israeli Opera.
En studio, il a participé entre autres à
la production de la BBC Television de
Der Vampyr de Marschner, dirigeant
aussi vingt et une intégrales d’opéras
financées par la Peter Moores
Foundation. Plusieurs de ces intégrales
furent enregistrées pour Opera Rara et
primées, Rosmonda d’Inghilterra de
Donizetti recevant en Belgique le Prix
Cecilia. Pour Chandos, Parry a dirigé six
enregistrements d’airs d’opéra (avec
Bruce Ford, Diana Montague, Dennis
O’Neill, Alastair Miles, Yvonne Kenny
et John Tomlinson, les deux derniers
devant paraître durant 2000) de même
que Faust, Don Pasquale, L’elisir d’amore,
La bohème, Cavalleria rusticana,
Pagliacci, l’enregistrement primé de
Tosca et des extraits de Der
Rosenkavalier, tous ces enregistrements
étant réalisés en collaboration avec la
Peter Moores Foundation.
34
Grandi arie operistiche
Rincresce a dirlo, ma il basso non
possiede la popolare attrazione delle voci
maschili più alte. Mentre il tenore
s’identifica con la giovinezza e l’amore e
il baritono con la passione, la gelosia o
perlomeno la bonhomie, al basso toccano
tutti i ruoli pesanti. Tanto nell’opera
italiana quanto in quella tedesca,
francese, russa o inglese, i bassi, quando
non sono dei malvagi, tendono ad essere
padri, dei, re o sacerdoti: figure
d’autorità, con le quali il pubblico non
s’identifica facilmente. Si pensi a
Filippo II, nel Don Carlos di Verdi, che
appare contemporaneamente come
padre e re, o al Grande Inquisitore
nella stessa opera. Oppure sono
personaggi ridicoli, spesso messi alla
berlina dalla più giovane generazione;
in verità, a loro la ragazza non tocca
mai, o quasi mai (a meno che non sia –
come disse memorabilmente in
un’intervista televisiva il basso finlandese
Martti Talvela – “magari dopo
la recita”).
Eppure, come viene dimostrato in
questo recital di Alastair Miles, arie e
duetti scritti per il basso possono essere
tanto splendidi quanto qualsiasi dei più
ovvi pezzi di grande effetto. Tutti i brani
provengono dal repertorio italiano
dell’Ottocento, composti per quel
genere di voce che gli italiani chiamano
“basso cantante”; genere in cui i
maggiori esponenti sono stati Ezio Pinza
fra le due guerre e, ai giorni nostri,
Ruggero Raimondi e Samuel Ramey.
Le tre opere di Rossini che qui
figurano furono tutte scritte per il
Teatro San Carlo di Napoli. Mosè in
Egitto (1818) venne per molto tempo
eclissato da Moïse et Pharaon, una
rielaborazione dell’opera precedente con
un nuovo libretto, composta da Rossini
per Parigi nel 1827 (e che fu di solito
eseguita, destando certe perplessità,
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nella traduzione italiana). La storia del
Mosè in Egitto è basata sul racconto nel
Vecchio Testamento dell’esilio in Egitto
dei figli d’Israele, con un intreccio
amoroso fornito da Elcia, una fanciulla
ebraica, e il figlio del Faraone, Osiris.
In “Supreme judge and ruler” (Eterno!
Immenso!) Mosè si appella a Dio
affinché revochi la piaga dell’oscurità. Di
colpo ad un suo cenno la luce del giorno
riappare in un brillante passaggio che
ricorda la Schöpfung di Haydn, dopo di
che Mosè dà inizio al quintetto; a lui si
aggiungono a turno Aaron, Amaltea
(moglie del Faraone), Osiris ed infine il
Faraone.
Dopo varie vicissitudini ai figli
d’Israele viene finalmente concesso di
partire, ma non tardano a trovarsi di
fronte l’insormontabile Mar Rosso. In
“Look down on us from Heaven” (Dal
tuo stellato soglio), un pezzo aggiunto
da Rossini quando l’opera venne ripresa
un anno dopo la premiere, Mosè
implora l’aiuto divino. La sua preghiera
trova eco nel suo popolo e viene
rinforzata da Aaron, dalla confidente di
Elcia, Amenosi e da Elcia se stessa. Una
nuova nota di fiducia è data dalla
modulazione nel tono maggiore; e
immancabilmente le acque del Mar
Rosso si dividono per lasciar passare gli
Israeliti, per poi richiudersi
inghiottendo gli inseguitori egizi.
Maometto II (1820) fu pure riscritto
per Parigi, per riapparire nel 1826 come
Le Siège de Corinthe. L’anno è il 1476;
Negroponte, colonia veneta in Grecia, è
assediata da Mehmet (Maometto) II, il
sultano ottomano che ha conquistato
Costantinopoli ventitre anni prima. Egli
canta “Brave soldiers, arise and join me”
(Sorgete e in sì bel giorno) prima di
lodare i suoi uomini in una florida aria.
L’idea di un ponderoso basso che canta
un brano di coloratura, una rara
prodezza oggidì, può ora sembrarci
strana, ma nel primo Ottocento non
avrebbe destato meraviglia. Come
sempre Rossini dimostra la sua maestria
nell’orchestrazione: così come aveva
usato corno ed arpa rispettivamente nei
concertati del Mosè, qui aggiunge dei
gorgogli mozartiani al clarinetto.
36
Siamo tuttora in Grecia – antica
anziché medievale, questa volta – per
Zelmira (1822). Polidoro, deposto re di
Lesbo, è stato nascosto dalla figlia
Zelmira. “Ah! One whole day has
passed” (Ah! già trascorse il di) è una
cavatina, un’aria di ingresso con, in
questo caso, una ripresa abbreviata della
musica introduttiva del cantante.
Un’introduzione orchestrale,
paragonabilmente lunga, fissa con
gravità la scena per Polidoro che
lamenta l’assenza dell’amata figlia.
La Norma di Bellini venne
rappresentata per la prima volta al
Teatro alla Scala nel 1831. È ambientata
nella Gallia occupata dai Romani
intorno al 50 BC. Nella prima scena
Oroveso, capo dei Druidi, ordina ai suoi
uomini di restare in attesa della nuova
luna e di colpire il sacro scudo bronzeo.
A questo punto Norma, la gran
sacerdotessa, apparirà. In “Grant her the
gift of prophecy” (Dell’aura tua
profetica) essi chiedono al dio Irminsul
d’inspirarle l’odio per i Romani. È un
pezzo marziale, con una ben piazzata
dose di baldanza che nella vena
alquanto si riferisce ai contributi corali
del Maometto II.
I Puritani fu l’ultima opera di Bellini;
la prima ebbe luogo a Parigi nel 1835,
anno della sua prematura morte.
L’azione si svolge in un castello vicino a
Plymouth durante la guerra civile
inglese. Elvira, figlia del Governatore
Puritano del castello, sta per sposare
Arturo, un Cavaliere. Quando Arturo
assiste la vedova di Carlo I, Henrietta
Maria, a fuggire portandola in salvo
celata sotto il velo nuziale di Elvira,
quest’ultima impazzisce. Riccardo,
colonnello dei Puritani, innamorato di
Elvira, annuncia che Arturo è stato
condannato a morte in absentia.
Il grande duetto che conclude il
secondo dei tre atti è per Riccardo e
Giorgio, fratello del Governatore, a cui
Elvira si era rivolta in precedenza
chiamandolo “il mio amato zio, mio
secondo padre”. Giorgio dichiara che la
morte di Arturo causerà la morte di
Elvira. Riccardo si placa, non potendo
reggere al pensiero di essere perseguitato
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dal fantasma di Elvira, ma in un finale
irruente e patriottico, “Fearless and
proud the trumpet call” (Suoni la
tromba, e intrepido), i due concordano
che Arturo dovrà morire se verrà scorto
in mezzo agli attaccanti monarchici.
I quattro brani verdiani ci portano da
Nabucco (1842), la più giovanile delle
sue opere tuttora in repertorio, a Les
Vêpres siciliennes (1855) scritta dopo il
grande terzetto di Rigoletto, Il trovatore e
La traviata. All’epoca, il coro degli
schiavi israeliti che si struggono di
nostalgia per la patria, dall’Atto III di
Nabucco, divenne un simbolo della
lotta per l’unità d’Italia, e si è da allora
affermato come pezzo da concerto.
Meno noto è quanto segue: il richiamo
al raduno di Zaccaria, l’alto sacerdote,
discendente spirituale di Mosè e di
Oroveso, che profetizza la caduta di
Babilonia. L’accompagnamento a quello
che “Not a sound but the cry of the
screech-owl” (Solo il gufo suoi tristi
lamenti) è un esempio giovanile della
caratteristica “piangente” immagine
verdiana.
I lombardi alla prima crociata (titolo
intero dell’opera) apparve alla Scala nel
1843, quale continuazione del successo
di Nabucco, il ruolo di Pagano essendo
assunto dal primo Zaccaria. Avendo
dovuto cedere al fratello Arvino la
donna che ama, Pagano si era scagliato
contro Arvino alle sue nozze. Adesso,
diciotto anni dopo, sebbene i due si
siano pubblicamente riconciliati, Pagano
rimane implacabile. Un coro di suore,
che pregano nella cappella all’interno,
introduce la prima parte dell’aria.
L’espansiva nobiltà delle frasi musicali
smentisce il sentimento – “Wretched
woman!” (Sciagurata!) – delle parole.
Dopo un coro dei suoi sgherri, del
genere che Gilbert e Sullivan
parodiarono senza misericordia, Pagano
prevede la sua vendetta; ma anziché
uccidere Arvino, accidentalmente uccide
il loro padre.
Luisa Miller (1849), come le opere di
Rossini incluse in questo disco, venne
composta per il Teatro San Carlo di
Napoli. Basata su Kabale und Liebe del
poeta e drammaturgo tedesco Friedrich
38
Schiller, e ambientata nel Tirolo nel
secolo diciassettesimo, concerne gli
intrighi intorno agli amori di Luisa,
figlia di un soldato in pensione, e
Rodolfo, figlio del Conte Walter, e con
le ambizioni dinastiche del Conte. Tutto
finisce male, con la morte per
avvelenamento dei due amanti.
Il duetto nell’Atto II è per il Conte
Walter e il suo malvagio castaldo, Wurm
(Verme, nome assai appropriato), il
quale desidera di sposare lui stesso
Luisa. Insieme discutono il loro
complotto ai danni di Luisa, dopo di
che veniamo informati (“It was for his
sake” – L’alto retaggio) che sono loro
che hanno ucciso il vecchio Conte,
cugino di Walter. La musica si fa più
agitata quando Walter confida al suo
castaldo che Rodolfo è al corrente della
verità e che ha minacciato di rivelarla.
Alla fine, Walter, con marziale
accompagnamento, giura che proteggerà
Wurm o perirà con lui sulla forca.
Come il più famoso Don Carlos, Les
Vêpres siciliennes è una spettacolare
opera francese in cinque atti, scritta per
Parigi. Come Don Carlos, è anch’essa di
solito eseguita nella traduzione italiana.
Ambientata a Palermo e suoi dintorni
nel 1282, conduce al famoso massacro
degli occupanti francesi da parte dei
siciliani. Nel secondo atto Procida,
comandante dei siciliani, ritorna
dall’esilio. Saluta la patria in toni esaltati
e lirici che non lasciano presagire il suo
successivo ruolo – nelle parole di Verdi
stesso – “di volgare cospiratore con
l’inevitabile daga in pugno”. La sua aria,
“Oh, my Palermo” (O tu Palermo) è
una composizione per basso cantante
par excellence.
Il tema dell’insurrezione continua in
Salvator Rosa, la cui prima
rappresentazione avvenne al Teatro
Carlo Felice a Genova nel 1874. Carlos
Gomes era un compositore braziliano
che lavorò in Italia per gran parte della
sua vita. In questo disco l’influenza di
Verdi è chiaramente udibile nel
recitativo che precede l’aria. Il popolo
napoletano, guidato da un pescatore e
sostenuto dal pittore Salvator Rosa, è in
rivolta contro gli oppressori spagnoli. Il
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recensioni per le sue recenti
interpretazioni dei ruoli di Fiesco
(Simon Boccanegra) e di Filippo II (Don
Carlos) sulle scene liriche britanniche.
Altri suoi molti notevoli contributi alla
stagione operistica in Gran Bretagna
hanno incluso: Lord Sydney (Il viaggio a
Rheims) alla Royal Opera, Covent
Garden, il ruolo di protagonista in
Mefistofele (Boito) per l’English National
Opera, e Fiesco, Mefistofele (Faust),
Silva (Ernani), Zaccaria (Nabucco),
Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor) e
Sparafucile (Rigoletto) per la Welsh
National Opera, con la quale ha avuto
lunghi e felici rapporti.
All’estero ha cantato Giorgio
(I puritani) e il Prefetto (Linda di
Chamounix) all’Opera di Stato di
Vienna, Raimondo all’Opéra national
de Paris-Bastille e al Metropolitan
Opera; il ruolo di protagonista in
Oberto all’Opera di Nizza, Giorgio alla
Deutsche Oper di Berlino, Figaro
(Le nozze di Figaro) all’Opera dei Paesi
Bassi, e Giorgio, Raimondo e Basilio
(Il barbiere di Siviglia) all’Opera di San
Duca di Arcos, Vicere spagnolo, è
costretto a firmare un trattato con gli
insorti. Un grande di Spagna al cento
per cento, Arcos si vergogna
profondamento dei sospetti che ciò può
suscitare nel suo re e nel suo paese.
Nella sua aria, “The pleasures of
marriage” (Di sposo… di padre…) egli
mette a confronto il suo apparente
potere con la sua reale servitù. È un
pezzo nobile, che offre al cantante
un’eccellente occasione per esprimere la
solitudine di chi governa in terra
straniera.
© 2000 Richard Lawrence
Traduzione: Marcella Barzetti
Alastair Miles si è affermato come uno
dei principali cantanti internazionali del
suo paese. Ha cantato in tutto il mondo
in opera ed in concerto, ed è in grande
richiesta nel campo discografico. Il suo
recente debutto al Metropolitan Opera
di New York nella parte di Giorgio
(I puritani) ha incontrato generale
entusiasmo, ed ha avuto superlative
40
Francisco. In concerto Alastair Miles ha
cantato con i più famosi direttori, quali
Carlo Maria Giulini, Riccardo Muti,
Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir John Eliot
Gardiner, Myung-Whun Chung,
Sir Mark Elder, Sir Roger Norrington e
Kurt Masur.
Alastair Miles appare in una
quarantina di dischi, fra i quali: per
Opera Rara, Rosmonda d’Inghilterra di
Donizetti, Maria, regina d’Inghilterra di
Pacini, Medea in Corinto di Mayr, Orazi
e Curiazi di Mercadante, Ricciardo e
Zoraide di Rossini; in quattro dischi di
recital (A Hundred Years of Italian
Opera: 1820–1830; Bruce Ford –
Romantic Heroes; Il salotto, Volume 1:
Mercadante – Les Soirées italiennes e
Nelly Miricioiu – Rossini Gala). Per la
Chandos ha inciso The Rape of Lucretia
(Britten), Caractacus (Elgar), Faust e
La bohème, queste ultime due opere per
la serie Opera in English sponsorizzata
dalla Peter Moores Foundation.
carriera come assistente di Sir John
Pritchard. Ha debuttato all’English
Music Theatre, quindi è diventato
direttore d’orchestra presso la Städtische
Bühnen Dortmund e la Opera North.
È stato Direttore Musicale di Opera 80
dal 1983 al 1987 e dal 1992 è stato
Direttore Musicale fondatore dell’Opera
di Almeida.
Lavora copiosamente in opere e
concerti, a livello nazionale ed
internazionale. Ha diretto diverse
produzioni presso la English National
Opera e appare regolarmente con la
Philharmonia Orchestra. Nel 1996 ha
debuttato con Così fan tutte al
Glyndebourne Festival, dove l’anno
scorso ha diretto la prima mondiale di
Flight di Jonathan Dove.
È un frequente visitatore della Spagna
dove si è esibito in concerto con la
maggior parte delle maggiori orchestre
spagnole. Ha diretto la prima spagnola
di Peter Grimes a Madrid e nel 1996 la
prima produzione spagnola di The Rake’s
Progress. È apparso in Germania, Svezia,
Paesi Bassi, al Festival di Pesaro in Italia,
David Parry ha studiato con Sergiu
Celibidache ed ha cominciato la sua
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Page 42
al Festival Internazionale di Hong Kong, in
Giappone con una tournée della Carmen e
in Messico con la UNAM Symphony
Orchestra. Recenti nuove produzioni da lui
dirette comprendono il Fidelio al Festival
della Nuova Zelanda, Maria Stuarda al
Teatro di Basilea e Lucia di Lammermoor
alla New Israeli Opera.
Il suo lavoro in studio di registrazione
comprende la produzione della BBC di
Der Vampyr di Marschner nonché ventuno
registrazioni operistiche complete con il
patrocinio della Peter Moores Foundation.
Tra questi vi sono numerosi dischi per
l’etichetta Opera Rara che hanno vinti
parecchi premi, tra cui il belga Prix
Cecilia per la Rosmonda d’Inghilterra di
Donizetti. Per Chandos ha diretto sei
registrazioni di arie d’opera (con Bruce
Ford, Diana Montague, Dennis O’Neill,
Alastair Miles, Yvonne Kenny e John
Tomlinson, le ultime due usciranno nel
2000), nonché Faust, Don Pasquale,
L’elisir d’amore, La bohème, Cavalleria
rusticana, Pagliacci, Tosca (vincitrice di
un premio) e brani scelti da Der
Rosenkavalier, tutte in collaborazione
con la Peter Moores Foundation.
42
Catherine Ashmore
CHAN 3032 BOOK.qxd
Alastair Miles as Jacopo
Fiesco in the 1998
Glyndebourne Festival
Opera production of
Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra
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Alastair Miles as Philip II, with Lori Phillips as Elisabeth
of Valois, in the 1998 Opera North production of Verdi’s
Don Carlos
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Bill Cooper
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Alastair Miles as Mephistopheles in
the 1996 Welsh National Opera
production of Gounod’s Faust
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from Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar)
In the darkness I see all the future,
when the fetters that bind us are broken,
and the wrath of the Lion of Judah
on the land of the heathen will fall.
On the banks of the Euphrates
1
Chorus
Speed your journey, my thoughts and my
longings,
speed your journey to mountain and valley,
where the sweet-scented air breathes a
fragrance
o’er the homes that we knew long ago!
To the waters of Jordan bear greeting,
to the downfallen temples of Sion.
Oh, my country so fair and so wretched,
oh, remembrance of joy and of woe!
Golden harps of the Prophets, oh, tell me,
why so silent ye hang from the willow?
Once again sing the songs of our homeland,
sing again of the days that are past.
We have drunk from the cup of affliction
and have shed bitter tears of repentance,
oh, inspire us, Jehovah, with courage,
so that we may endure to the last.
from Zelmira
2
Chorus
Mighty vision!
Zaccaria
O’er the ruins of temple and palace,
there will wander hyenas and serpents,
o’er the dust lightly stirred by the breezes,
desolation will reign evermore.
Not a sound but the cry of the screech-owl
will be heard thro’ the shadows and silence,
not a stone will declare to the stranger
where the altars/shrines of the heathen were
set.
Chorus
Oh, what courage within him is burning,
on his lips the word of the Lord is revealed.
Through his servant Jehovah the mighty
speaks to us, oh, hearken!
For the fetters that bind us shall be broken,
the Lion of Judah will rise,
once again the Lion of Judah will rise up
on high,
once again the Lion of Judah will arise.
The Prophecy
Zaccaria
Why lament ye?
The wailing of women rises up to the
throne of th’ Almighty.
Oh, take courage, my brothers in affliction,
’tis Jehovah who speaks to you through me.
T. Solera, translated by Norman Tucker and
Tom Hammond, reproduced by permission of
English National Opera Benevolent Fund
46
Chorus
Our voices let us raise in your eternal praise.
Polidoro
Ah! One whole day has passed
bringing another dawn.
I pray for your return,
Zelmira, beloved.
If I must spend my days
far from the child I love, ah,
may cruel fate close my eyes
to end my suff ’ring.
C. della Valle,
translation © 2000 David Parry
from Moses in Egypt
Prayer: Quartet
4
A.L. Tottola, after Dormont de Belloy,
translation © 2000 David Parry
from Mahomet II
3
Moses
Look down on us from Heaven,
Lord God, and guide Thy children,
give ear to them and lead them
that trust in Thee alone.
Elcia, Amenosi, Aaron, Moses and Chorus
of Israelites
Give ear to their entreaty/Give ear to them
and lead them
O hear Thy people groan,
Lord God.
Mahomet II
Brave soldiers, arise and join me
my proud and trusty warriors;
this is a day of triumph:
be happy and celebrate.
Aaron
When storms at last are over,
then guide us into harbour,
from shipwreck and disaster,
lead faithful Israel home.
Chorus
Our voices let us raise in your eternal
praise.
Mahomet II
Leading so many, so many heroes
whole empires fall before me!
With men like you to help me
the world shall be my prize.
All
Then guide us into harbour,
that land for which we long,
Lord God.
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My plan must be accomplished, nothing
must stay my purpose; if I relented, he
would live to curse me.
What news!
Amenosi
O Thou revered of all men
on earth and in the heavens,
O hear my humble pray’r then
and save us ere we die!
Wurm
All is prepared, our design is succeeding.
All
O Thou revered of all men,
O hear us when we cry,
Lord God.
Look down on us from Heaven,
Lord God, and guide Thy children,
give ear to them/us and bring them
an end to all their pain,
Lord God.
Walter
And Luisa, what of her?
Wurm
It happened as we thought, distressed
and frightened at the news of her father, she
soon gave way, ’twas all too easy; she will
come to the castle by the path we know
well…
Elcia
O God, behold our chains!
L. Balocchi and E. de Jouy, after A.L. Tottola, after
F. Ringhieri, translated by Nell and John Moody,
© 2000 The Burra-Moody Archive
Walter
And the letter?
from Luisa Miller
Wurm
A man I trust has gone to take it to
Rodolfo; our victory is certain!
And yet tho’ our plan is working, I can see
you are troubled; what is the reason?
Scena
5
Walter
He will not listen; led astray by youthful
passion, he goes his own way, nothing can
stop him.
It seems that I must save him from this folly!
Walter
An unexpected danger…
Rodolfo still defies me…
Yet he should thank me.
48
Wurm
The past is over, try to forget it.
The guilty deed in darkest oblivion
for evermore securely is buried?
Duet
Walter
It was for his sake and his alone
that I usurped my cousin’s position,
it was to give my son rank and fortune
that I conspired against the life of your
master.
Walter
Is buried?…
Wurm
Your cousin was foully murdered
by wand’ring gipsies,
so runs the story and all men believe it.
Wurm
For me ’twas easy, his trusted servant,
to learn his secrets without suspicion.
In me alone he always confided,
and thus I heard of the plans for his marriage.
Walter
Not all.
The sound of the shooting was heard by
my son Rodolfo.
He found my cousin scarcely breathing.
Walter
I could not bear to lose all I had lived for.
Wurm
If he had children, then you were ruined.
Wurm
(Rodolfo!)
What happened?
Oh, tell me?…
Walter
To gain my purpose we planned together
a shameful deed.
Wurm
One night your cousin homeward returning
passed through the forest…
We lay in waiting and…
Walter
As he lay at the point of death two names
he uttered…
Wurm
Whose?
Walter
Say no more…
My blood runs cold at these awful memories
and all my soul is filled with dread.
Walter
His assassins’.
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from The Lombards at the First Crusade
Wurm
Then I am ruined.
Scena
Walter
Just you? Remember we both are bound by
ties of bloodshed.
6
Wurm
Then, I am ruined.
Walter
Remember you and I are bound by ties of
bloodshed.
Wurm
Then, I am ruined, I am ruined.
Walter
Come, you will be safe with me,
I give my promise,
or on the scaffold
we both shall die.
Chorus of Nuns
Lord, grant us peace, we beg Thee,
at this uncertain moment,
and hear the pious prayers
of Thy beloved convent;
send us who serve Thee faithfully
visions of heav’nly joy.
Thou, whose eternal mysteries
move through the hours of darkness,
wilt Thou confound our wickedness,
and banish mortal weakness,
so that tomorrow’s sunrise
may herald a better day.
Pagano
Virgins!
The ears of Heaven for now are deaf to your
pleading;
no, your prayers will be useless:
For it is certain that this night of my
vengeance will see the fatal blow struck by
my dagger!
Oh, Pirro, my soul was gentle and not
born to be wicked!
The love I bore her should have been
sacred, the traitress!
Wurm
(Danger surrounds me, I am safe no longer,
my life is forfeit if the truth should be
known.)
S. Cammarano, after Schiller, translated by
Norman Tucker and Tom Hammond,
reproduced by permission of
English National Opera Benevolent Fund
50
Chorus of Nuns
Grant us Thy peace through the darkness.
any shadow can be brightened
by the blades of daggers flashing.
We’ll go in alert and ready;
every footstep will be steady;
and among the lamentations
we shall make our celebrations:
with a single blow it’s good to send our
victims to their rest,
then, our daggers soaked in blood, we can
sit down and start the feast!
Aria
Pagano
Wretched woman!
Did you imagine time would dampen the
flames of my passion?
At the moment of your triumph I am
broken by despair.
Just as steel glowing hot from the furnace
gains its strength when it’s plunged into water,
so my love grew ever greater far away from
your embrace.
Chorus of Nuns
Wilt Thou confound all our wickedness…
Pagano
I have triumphed!
In a moment I shall have revenge in my
power.
Through my exile I lived in torment,
dreaming only of this hour,
of the day when I would reclaim you and
your beauty would be mine, ah!
Now it’s over.
I come to claim you!
Pirro
All your followers are hiding here and
waiting for your orders.
Pagano
Let me see them…
They shall set fire to every corner of the
castle.
The campaign is fraught with danger!
For Arvino’s well protected;
but whoever serves me truly shall be
handsomely rewarded.
Pirro and Chorus of Henchmen
Give the order: we shall obey you!
Chorus of Henchmen
Only cowards would be frightened
by the fate of the assassin;
Pagano
You are mine, yes you are mine and blood
will flow.
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Pirro and Chorus of Henchmen
Just give the order: we’ll obey you, and
we know what we must do.
distrust, the distrust of my country, in a
strange land, abandoned to an infamous
death, I’m cursed and hated!
Pagano
I have triumphed! etc.
Aria
Duke of Arcos
The pleasures of marriage, the joys of a
father,
such tender emotions are no longer mine.
They say I am pow’rful; a slave am I rather:
a king’s spectre haunts me and urges me on.
If far in the distance the voices of pity
cry out for those in torment and soften
my resolve,
‘No mercy! No mercy!’ a voice shouts
within me.
‘The tools of the ruler are terror and the
sword!’
T. Solera, after T. Grossi,
translation © 2000 David Parry
from Salvator Rosa
Recitative
7
Duke of Arcos
And must I really sign?
Because the help from Spain is late in
coming, be forced to give way entirely
and to accept a truce?
Make a pact with the rebels?
The Duke of Arcos!
Oh! When will the day come that I may
clear my name of an action so deeply
shameful?
What is this?
Why am I haunted by such terrible dreams?
Horrible visions of vile crimes and of
bloodshed!
Is there no pity for my relentless suff ’ring?
And no relief from endless worries,
from this remorse and sorrow?
Worn to a shadow by my pow’r, the King’s
A. Ghislanzoni,
translation © 2000 David Parry
from Norma
8
52
Chorus of Druids
Grant her the gift of prophecy,
god of immortal terror;
great Irminsul, come fire her:
hatred her dagger inspire,
hatred of Roman tyranny
shatter this woeful peace, yes!
Oroveso
Here where the ancient oak tree grows
he will pronounce his sentence:
Gaul shall regain her freedom,
our foes shall feel his vengeance.
Amaltea, Aaron, Osiris, Pharaoh and
Chorus of Israelites
Ah! Ah! Ah!
See! The sky!
Wonder of wonders!
For the day is returning!
Oroveso and Chorus of Druids
Smiting their swords asunder,
his mighty shield like thunder,
even as far as Rome itself,
shall echo evermore.
Quintet
Moses
O Thou who by Thy mercy,
gave light to end their darkness,
tho’ great Thy pow’r and glory,
yet greater far Thy grace.
F. Romani,
translation © 2000 David Parry
from Moses in Egypt
Aaron
O Thou who by Thy mercy,
gave light to end their darkness,
tho’ great Thy pow’r and glory,
yet greater far Thy grace.
Invocation
9
Moses
Supreme judge and ruler, the Lord of all
creation!
O Thou almighty God whom we honour
and worship, who chastises the guilty, yet
saves the pure in heart, Thou who reigned
King of kings, before the birth of time,
fount of eternal truth, a just God, a divine
God, a one God, who has punished the
sins of this obdurate race, o hear my
supplication, and pardon their transgression,
once again pierce the gloom of the
cavernous dark, once again bathe their eyes
in a torrent of light!
Amaltea
O Thou who by Thy mercy,
gave light to end their darkness,
tho’ great Thy pow’r and glory,
yet greater far Thy grace.
Osiris
Yet woe to those who wrong Him,
for all must yield before Him,
but silently I curse Him,
His glory and His grace.
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Pharaoh
O Thou who by Thy mercy,
gave light to end my darkness,
tho’ great Thy pow’r and glory,
yet greater far Thy grace.
Amaltea and Aaron
Yet woe to those who wrong Him,
for all must yield before Him,
tho’ great Thy glory,
yet greater far Thy grace.
Moses
Yet woe to those who wrong Thee,
tho’ great Thy pow’r and glory,
yet greater far Thy grace.
Pharaoh
We all bow before Thy face.
L. Balocchi and E. de Jouy, after A.L. Tottola,
after F. Ringhieri,
translated by Nell and John Moody,
© 2000 The Burra-Moody Archive
Giorgio
No? You don’t want to.
E. Scribe and C. Duveyrier,
translation © 2000 David Parry
Riccardo
What you say is too…
from The Puritans
from The Sicilian Vespers
10
As I kneel to kiss the ground my heart is
overflowing
And I render to you my strength and my
courage.
Oh, my Palermo, my one beloved,
land I have treasured deep in my heart, ah!
Lift up your head so weary and bloodied:
Reclaim the splendour that once was yours!
I have wandered from country to country,
I have begged them for aid in our cause.
My pleas are urgent but no one will help us;
they say instead:
‘Where is Sicilian bravery gone?
Fight with courage!
Fight with vigour!
Fight for honour!
Fight to win!’.
Oh, my Palermo, etc.
Procida
My homeland, beloved homeland,
at last, at last I greet you,
a wanderer returning from his long years of
exile.
11
54
Riccardo
No.
Giorgio
No!
For guilt and anguish fill your spirit and
blind you…
Be careful!… lest in future your life be
clouded by the shadow of remorse and
dread. If you cause your rival’s downfall,
there’s another who’ll soon be dead.
Giorgio
You must save him!
Riccardo
No, ah! No, the wretch shall die.
Giorgio
I am certain that you remember how the
Queen escaped from prison?
Riccardo
Who?
Riccardo
Yes…
Giorgio
Just consider: two victims of your actions!
And no matter where you travel, they will
haunt your ev’ry step!
If the depths of the night bring a phantom,
pale and shrouded, that’s groaning and
sighing, it’s Elvira come to haunt you,
always crying: ‘You have murdered me too’.
When amid the shrill roar of the tempest
howls a voice full of anger and hatred,
it’s Arturo whose ghost is impatient.
Yes, Arturo will pursue you
and will threaten eternal revenge.
Giorgio
Was Arturo the only culprit?
Giorgio
I’m truthful!
Duet
Riccardo
Then speak plainly…
Giorgio
Save his life, though he’s your rival;
save his life: you can, you can, you have to!
Giorgio
I’ve said enough!
Riccardo
No, I cannot…
rebels’ bold defiance through Arturo might
be crushed. I don’t hate him, nor do I fear
him, but he’s worthless and must die.
Riccardo
If he mounts the dreaded scaffold, it was
surely Parliament that willed it, that the
Riccardo
If the sorrowful shade of Elvira
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comes to haunt me in pitiful fury,
pain and longing will consume me
and persuade her to pardon my sin.
If the ghost of the hated Arturo
should escape the abyss for a moment,
he’ll return there, forever in torment:
I’ll destroy him with the force of my scorn.
If Elvira, the sorrowful shade of Elvira
comes to haunt me in pitiful fury,
pain and longing will consume me
and persuade her loving soul to pardon
my sin.
maybe they will attack…
If he is there…
Giorgio
If he is there?… Then he will die.
Alastair Miles as Mephistopheles,
with Janice Watson as Marguerite, in
the 1996 Welsh National Opera
production of Gounod’s Faust
Riccardo
Then he will die… yes, he will die…
Giorgio
My spirit is not broken yet!
Beside you I shall fight, yes, yes!
Riccardo
If he should take up arms,
then by this hand the wretch will die…
Giorgio
It’s Elvira, whose spirit comes to haunt you,
always crying: you murdered me too…
Yes, Arturo, full of hate and anger,
will threaten and pursue, he will threaten
eternal revenge.
Riccardo! Riccardo! You see how much I
suffer; give way to kindness and sympathy.
Giorgio
Let terror strike their hearts…
Fatherland and victory and honour are yours!
Giorgio and Riccardo
Fearless and proud the trumpet call:
fills me with righteous anger;
ready for mortal danger,
we’re fighting to be free.
For our beloved fatherland
may we be crowned with laurels
and may the battle’s horrors
give way to peace and love.
Tomorrow!
Riccardo
Your tears have served to conquer me…
Look, I am weeping with you.
Giorgio and Riccardo
The man who loves his country will
honour mercy too.
Riccardo
Sunrise may bring the enemy:
C. Pepoli,
translation © 2000 David Parry
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Chandos 20-bit Recording
The Chandos policy of being at the forefront of technology is now further advanced by the
use of 20-bit recording. 20-bit has a dynamic range that is up to 24dB greater and up to 16
times the resolution of standard 16-bit recordings. These improvements now let you the
listener enjoy more of the natural clarity and ambience of the ‘Chandos sound’.
Music hire (tracks 2, 3, 6, 7 and 8): BMG RICORDI SpA
Vincent Woodstock pipe chamber organ supplied by Abinger Organs
Repertoire Consultant: Tony Legge
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CHAN 3027(2)
CHAN 3005(2)
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Recording producer Brian Couzens
Sound engineer Ralph Couzens
Assistant engineer Richard Smoker
Editor Peter Newble
Operas administrator Sue Shortridge
Recording venue The Colosseum, Watford; 31 May –3 June 1999
Front cover Illustration of Alastair Miles by Designer
Back cover Photograph of David Parry by Russell Duncan
Design Cass Cassidy
Booklet typeset by Dave Partridge
Booklet editor Finn S. Gundersen
Copyright English National Opera (tracks 1 and 5), Copyright Control (tracks 4 and 9)
2000 Chandos Records Ltd
2000 Chandos Records Ltd
Chandos Records Ltd, Colchester, Essex, England
Printed in the EU
P
C
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Page 1
CHANDOS
Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835)
Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)
1
CHAN 3032
DIGITAL
from Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar)*
Chorus of Hebrew Slaves and Zaccaria’s
8:51
Prophecy
8
from Norma†
Chorus of Druids and Oroveso’s Aria 2:38
Gioachino Rossini
Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)
2
3
4
from Zelmira†
Polidoro’s Cavatina
3:31
from Mahomet II†
Mahomet II’s Aria
6:37
from Moses in Egypt†
Prayer: Quartet
3:32
9
from Moses in Egypt†
Invocation and Quintet
Giuseppe Verdi
10
from The Sicilian Vespers†
Procida’s Recitative and Aria
from The Puritans†
Giorgio and Riccardo’s Duet
Miller†
6
from Luisa
Scena and Walter and Wurm’s Duet
7:43
from The Lombards at the First Crusade†
Scena, Pagano’s Aria and Chorus
10:17
Carlos Gomes (1836–1896)
CHANDOS RECORDS LTD
Colchester . Essex . England
12:36
TT 76:47
* premiere recording in English in this version
†premiere recording in English
Alastair Miles bass
Philharmonia Orchestra
Gareth Hancock assistant conductor
David Parry
p 2000 Chandos Records Ltd
DDD
c 2000 Chandos Records Ltd
Printed in the EU
CHANDOS
CHAN 3032
CHANDOS
CHAN 3032
7
from Salvator Rosa†
The Duke of Arcos’s Recitative and Aria 6:11
7:14
Vincenzo Bellini
11
Giuseppe Verdi
5
6:50
GREAT OPERATIC ARIAS - Miles / Philharmonia Orchestra / Parry
GREAT OPERATIC ARIAS - Miles / Philharmonia Orchestra / Parry
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