After singing Nannetta at Covent Garden in 1961 (with Carlo Maria Giulini conducting), Freni made her La Scala debut in the role in January 1962 -- alongside Luigi Alva as Fenton. [photo by Erio Piccagliani © Teatro alla Scala]
FENTON [singing as he goes out]:
Kissed lips don't lose their good fortune.
NANNETTA [continuing FENTON's song as she joins the other women]: Instead they renew themselves as does the moon, as does the moon.
Luigi Alva (t), Fenton; Mirella Freni (s), Nannetta; Concertgebouw Orchestra (Amsterdam), Carlo Maria Giulini, cond. Live performance from the Hague, June 20, 1963
by Ken
If you were here for last week's first installment of a Mirella Freni remembrance, you know our immediate destination. Following the tease of one of the amazing stolen moments between Nannetta and her adored Fenton thrread through the first Garden Scene of Verdi's Falstaff, we have on promise "Nannetta's shimmering aria in her disguise as the Queen of the Fairies in the magical masquerade final scene."
So let's listen just to the aria, which just happens to have been included in that 1959 Eurodisc operatic recital we heard from last week. As part of the tormenting of Falstaff planned by our Merry Wives of Windsor, Sir John has been lured to the scary depths of Windsor Park at midnight for what he expects to be a tryst with Mistress Alice Ford. For this scheme, Mistress Ford has cast her radiant daughter Nannetta as the Queen of the Fairies.
VERDI: Falstaff: Act III, Scene 2,
Nannetta, "Sul fil d'un soffio etesio"
NANNETTA: On the breath of a fragrant breeze
fly, nimble spirits;
through the branches appears
the blue gleam of the rising moon.
Dance! and let your soft steps
fit the soft music,
joining magic
dancing to the song.
Let us wander beneath the moon,
choosing among the flowers;
every blossom carries
in its heart its own fortune.
With lilies and violets
let us write secret names;
from our enchanted hands
let there spring words,
words illuminated
with pure silver and gold,
poems and charms. The spirits
have flowers as their cyphers.
[translation by Lionel Salter]
Munich Radio Orchestra, Ino Savini, cond. Eurodisc-Vanguard Cardinal, recorded 1959
WE'RE NOT GOING TO GET FARTHER TODAY, BUT WE CAN
AT LEAST HEAR THE SCENE AS IT OCCURS IN THE OPERA
This installment of our Freni remembrance was going to give us a fuller aural image of some of the special qualities of the young singer in an assortment of roles -- notably Micaëla in Carmen and Adina in L'Elisir d'amore -- to which she brought such a compelling personal quality. I still plan to get to that in the next couple of days, but for now let's listen to Nannetta's aria in its proper context.
VERDI: Falstaff: Act III, Scene 2, Nannetta and company,
"Ninfe! Elfi! Silfi!" . . . "Sul fil d'un soffio etesio"
Windsor Park. Herne's Oak stands in the center. The banks of a ditch show in the background. The trees and shrubbery are in bloom. It is night. The park is lit by the rays of the moon.
Many of the characters have already been seen onstage or heard offstage. FALSTAFF, his midnight assignation with ALICE FORD having been interrupted by offstage cries, has been left alone onstage and is now on the ground, propped up against the trunk of the oak.
NANNETTA [from afar]: Nymphs! Elves! Sylphs! Sirens!
The star of enchantment
has risen in the sky.
[Appearing through the woods] Come out, serene shadows!
Enter NANNETTA as the Queen of the Fairies; MEG PAGE as the Green Nymph, with a mask; ALICE FORD as a fairy; BARDOLFO in a monk's habit with the cowl pulled down but without a mask; PISTOLA as a satyr; DR. CAJUS in a gray habit without a mask; FENTON in a black habit with a mask; FORD without either habit or mask; little girls dressed as white fairies and as blue fairies, nymphs, elves, and imps. FALSTAFF remains motionless on the ground.
ALICE [coming forward cautiously with a few fairies]: Let's begin.
NANNETTA [coming foward with others and seeing FALSTAFF]: There he is.
ALICE [seeing FALSTAFF and pointing him out to the others]: Stretched out on the ground.
NANNETTA: He's confounded with terror.
[All come forward cautiously]
SPIRITS: He's hiding.
ALICE: Let's not laugh.
SPIRITS: Let's not laugh.
[Indicating their places to the fairies, ALICE goes off rapidly.]
NANNETTA: All you here, behind me. Let's begin.
SPIRITS: Go ahead.
The little fairies arrange themselves in a circle around their Queen. The older spirits form a second circle. All the men make a group at the right, and the women a group at the left.
THE QUEEN OF THE FAIRIES (NANNETTA):
On the breath of a fragrant breeze
fly, nimble spirits;
through the branches appears
the blue gleam of the rising moon.
Dance! and let your soft steps
fit the soft music,
joining magic
dancing to the song.
SPIRITS: The wood is asleep and exhales
perfume and shadow; in the heavy air
it seems like a green refuge
in the depths of the sea.
THE QUEEN OF THE FAIRIES (NANNETTA):
Let us wander beneath the moon,
choosing among the flowers;
every blossom carries
in its heart its own fortune.
With lilies and violets
let us write secret names;
from our enchanted hands
let there spring words,
words illuminated
with pure silver and gold,
poems and charms. The spirits
have flowers as their cyphers.
SPIRITS: We move one by one
under the light of the moon
toward the dark oak
of the Black Huntsman.
[translation of the aria by Lionel Salter]
Mirella Freni (s), Nannetta; Ilva Ligabue (s), Alice Ford; RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Georg Solti, cond. RCA-Decca, recorded summer 1963
Mirella Freni (s), Nannetta; Ilva Ligabue (s), Alice Ford; Netherlands Chamber Chorus, Concertgebouw Orchestra (Amsterdam), Carlo Maria Giulini, cond. Live performance from the Hague, June 20, 1963
I HOPE THE CARMEN AND L'ELISIR D'AMORE
STUFF WILL BE READY TO ROLL REALLY SOON
Bits and pieces kept demanding attention, or at least smacking down, all over the damned place. I think rather than slipping it into this post, I'll probably make it a separate one (a sort of post-post). Please do check back. (
REMEMBERING MIRELLA FRENI: The series so far
Mirella Freni (1935-2020). "O mio babbino caro" (Gianni Schicchi), "Senza mamma" (Suor Angelica), a Fenton-and-Nannetta moment from Falstaff. [2/16/2020]
"On the breath of a fragrant breeze": More from Mirella Freni. Nannetta as the Queen of the Fairies in Falstaff. [2/23/2020]
"When the thaw comes, the first sunshine is mine": Still more Freni. Micaëla's aria (Carmen), Adina reads about Tristan and Isolde (L'Elisir d'amore), "Mi chiamano Mimì" (La Bohème). [3/8/2020]
"Sweet memories of our land fill him with strength and courage": Freni as Micaëla. The Act I Don José-Micaëla duo from Act I of Bizet's Carmen. [3/15/2010]
#
No comments:
Post a Comment