There is an interesting story about the collaboration of the conductor Arturo Toscanini and the tenor Richard Tucker. He never entered this opera house again”. Thus he had to experience in the Teatro Regio in Parma that the audience protested when he sang the final B of Celeste Aida in a difficult piano. So it was a matter of course for him to sing a B flat in piano at the end, but this was not always to the taste of the audience. Over time this became an audience’s expectation, as we can see from the following anecdote: “The famous tenor Carlo Bergonzi was not only an excellent tenor (Radames was one of his best roles), but also an excellent musician. At the end of the aria “Celeste Aida” he wrote a B flat in piano, but over the decades it had become common practice among tenors to sing it in high B flat in forte to force the audience to applaud their entrance aria. Like Rossini, Verdi was not a follower of the thundering high C on the contrary, with one exception, he never composed one for the tenor (in “La forza del destino” he wrote it for the tenor of the premiere, but later withdrew it). While we count a total of only three classical arias (“Celeste Aida”, “Ritorna vincitor” and “O patria”), Verdi wrote six duets, the most famous of which became the final duet “O terra addio”.Īn interesting conflict surrounds the end of “Celeste Aida”. Verdi deliberately used the mass scenes to create a contrast to the many lyrical scenes that we hear, for example, in the poignant duets between Radames and Aida.Ī final aspect of the Tinta are the many duets. Verdi had an instrument developed especially for this, the so-called Aida trumpet, which we hear, for example, in the Triumphal March. In addition there are two motifs of Amneris.Īnother aspect of the “Tinta” are the mass scenes. You will find the love motif and the priest motif in the section on the overture. Verdi has developed motifs of remembrance that are repeatedly quoted. This field of tension is complemented by the drama of Amneris. On the one hand there is the love relationship, embodied by Aida and Radames, on the other hand there is that of the power of state, embodied by the priests. However, the proven librettist Antonio Ghislanzoni subsequently wrote the libretto with the energetic influence of Verdi and Giuseppina Strepponi.Īs always at the beginning of the compositional process, Verdi began by defining the so-called “Tinta musicale”, a few basic principles of setting to music.Īn important basic principle of Aida was the “Varietà”, the contrasting of opposites. In later years, it turned out that Mariette had possibly taken the idea from a rather little-known libretto by the late Opera seria master Metastasio, which could well have been known to the Orientalist Mariette. Verdi was very much taken with the idea and decided to set the work to music, which was very unusual, as he had in the past based his librettos on solid basic literature (Byron, Schiller, Voltaire, Dumas, Scribe…). He found the support of the archaeologist Edouard Mariette, who ensured the authenticity and developed the idea of the plot. Of course, Verdi was not motivated by all the money, but it was Camille du Locle, the theater director of the Opéra comique and librettist, who subsequently sent Verdi textual and pictorial sketches. But the Franco-Prussian War thwarted all this, because the set produced in Paris was blocked and the performance had to be postponed for a year. At the same time, authentic stage materials and costumes were produced under the supervision of Mariette. Verdi had little time for the composition of the opera, the delivery date was 1871. The longer he worked on it, the more enthusiastic he became, until finally, together with Otello, it became perhaps his greatest work. Verdi then, to turn the request down, named an outrageously large sum of money, which was accepted to his surprise. He wanted to retire, but was asked by the Viceroy of Egypt to write an opera for the opening of the Cairo Opera House.
Verdi was almost sixty years old when he wrote Aida.
Best verdi opera plus#
Unis dès la plus tendre enfance (Iphigenia).
0 kommentar(er)
