Our favourite cabaletta

[Schigolch]

Another of the many beautiful Donizetti's cabalettas, in this case from Roberto Devereux, is "Ah, ritorna qual ti spero", that we can hear in the voice of Beverly Sills:

[Schigolch]

Giuseppe Mosca (Naples, 1772 - Messina, 1839) wrote his first opera, "Silvia e Nardone", when he was just eighteen years old. Later he composed more than forty. Some of his best known titles are: "I matrimoni liberi", "Con amore non si scherza" or "Le bestie in uomini", all premiered at La Scala.

Also premiered there, "I pretendenti delusi" is the protagonist of this post. But not with any aria from Mosca, rather an insert aria written by Rossini. It was funny, because Mosca always accused Rossini of having stolen his crescendo trademark. This is a nice aria, sung by Gregory Kunde, and the cabaletta starts at 5:40.

[Schigolch]

Nicola Vaccai (1790 - 1848) wrote nothing less than sixteen operas. He was also a famous singing teacher, and wrote the famous "Metodo pratico de canto".

His most famous opera was Giulietta e Romeo, premiered in 1825, at Teatro alla Canobbiana, in Milan. The great soprano Maria Malibran replaced during a performance of Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi the last act of this opera, with the last from Vaccai's opera, and this replacement made fortune, being used in Italy during the rest of the 19th century.

But let's hear today an aria from another of Vaccai's operas, La sposa di Messina (1839) in the voice of the promising young soprano Jessica Pratt (the cabaletta starts at 4:38):

[Schigolch]

Giacomo Cordella (1786-1847) was a Neapolitan composer, that was able to get some success in his native Naples, as well as Rome, but was not very well considered in other Italian cities, like Milan. He was basically devoted to opera buffa.

Lo sposo di provincia was premiered in Rome, at Teatro Argentino. We can hear this terzetto, "Oh soave mia speranza". The stretta starts at 2:47.

[Schigolch]

Lauro Rossi (1812-1885) was born in Macerata, where the Opera House there is called precisely Teatro Lauro Rossi. He wrote some thirty operas, and some of them were relatively succesful. Recently, there were some performances of "Cleopatra", sung by Dimitra Theodossiou, and a DVD was recorded.

But in this post we are going to hear an aria from Amelia, an opera written by Rossi for the great star María Malibrán. The diva not only sang, but also danced. Jennifer Larmore sings "L'alma mia che in Adolfo", the cabaletta starts at 5:50.

[Schigolch]

Although in the score, by the Ricci brothers, of their comic opera Crispino e la comare, "Io non sono più l'Annetta" is described as an 'arietta', in fact it could well be just a cabaletta without a cantabile... In any case, it's a good excuse to hear this amazing performance by Dame Joan Sutherland:

[Schigolch]

Caterina di Guisa is an opera by Carlo Coccia, with a libretto by Felice Romani, premiered at La Scala in 1833, with great success.

In the second act, after Caterina sings her great aria, "Lascia in prima", we can hear the final scene with Caterina herself and his husband, the Duca, "Ah! m'uccidi":

[Schigolch]

More forgotten Belcanto!.

Now it's the turn of Michele Carafa (1787 - 1872), that was active in Italy and France, and was considered as a good creator of melodies. Gabriella di Vergi was premiered at Teatro del Fondo, in Naples, the year 1816 (based on the same libretto, by Andrea Leone Tottola, Donizetti will write some years later his own Gabriella di Vergi. Nothing new under the sun, some other composers like Johann Simon Mayr, Francesco Morlacchi or our friend Carlo Coccia had already used the libretto, and one more, Mercadante, will use it after Donizetti) .

Carafa's Gabriella was a big success, compared by the press with Rossini's Otello. Let's hear the end of the opera, with the usual structure:

[Schigolch]

The most famous of cabalettas, but coming from Le Trouvère, instead of Il Trovatore.

"Suplice infâme":

[Schigolch]

Pietro Generali (1773 - 1832) wrote his first opera in 1800, and his first great operatic success was Pamela Nubile, a one-act 'farsa' with a libretto by Gaetano Rossi, premiered in Venice, the year 1804.

Let's hear Pamela's aria, "Sorgerà la nuova aurora". The cabaletta starts at 4:35.

[Schigolch]

Vincenzo Puccita (1778 - 1861) was the author of some thirty operas that were quite succesful at the time, and were performed all across Europe. He worked a lot with the famous soprano Angelica Catalani. La Vestale was premiered in London, in 1810. This is the aria from Licinio: "Guidò Marte i nostri passi"

[Schigolch]

This incredibly beautiful aria for Imogene, "Col sorriso d'innocenza" is one of the best numbers ever written by Bellini. In the voice of Maria Callas, we can hear the cantabile, tempo di mezzo and the cabaletta, "Oh, sole! ti vela" (starting at 5:25).

[Dark_Angel]

This incredibly beautiful aria for Imogene, "Col sorriso d'innocenza" is one of the best numbers ever written by Bellini. In the voice of Maria Callas, we can hear the cantabile, tempo di mezzo and the cabaletta, "Oh, sole! ti vela" (starting at 5:25).

Modern singers would do well to study the expressive physical movements and facial expressions of Maria's very few recital performances caught on video.....

[Schigolch]

It's a pity that we don't have video recordings from the late 1940s and early 1950s, Callas's best vocal period. However, I fully agree her artistry was present even in the way she played with her robes. Here we can listen to the cabaletta from Casta Diva, "Ah, Bello a me ritorna":



One of the filmed recitals that led Renée Fleming to comment: "I have a theory about what caused her vocal decline, but it's more from watching her sing than from listening. I really think it was her weight loss that was so dramatic and so quick. It's not the weight loss per se... But if one uses the weight for support, and then it's suddenly gone and one doesn't develop another musculature for support, it can be very hard on the voice. And you can't estimate the toll that emotional turmoil will take as well. I was told, by somebody who knew her well, that the way Callas held her arms to her solar plexus [allowed her] to push and create some kind of support. If she were a soubrette, it would never have been an issue. But she was singing the most difficult repertoire, the stuff that requires the most stamina, the most strength".

[Schigolch]

A Donizetti's cabaletta for a trouser role, the page Arturo, from Rosmonda d'Inghilterra: