Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- A Biographical Note
- Introduction
- 1 Adam
- 2 Alfvén
- 3 Atterberg
- 4 Beethoven
- 5 Bizet
- 6 Borodin
- 7 Brahms
- 8 Donizetti
- 9 Gounod
- 10 Grieg
- 11 Handel
- 12 Leoncavallo
- 13 Mascagni
- 14 Massenet
- 15 Meyerbeer
- 16 Mozart
- 17 Puccini
- 18 Rangström
- 19 Rossini
- 20 Schubert
- 21 Sibelius
- 22 Richard Strauss
- 23 Verdi
- 24 Wagner
- 25 Björling's Remaining Recordings: A Survey of the Best (1920–60)
- 26 Evolution and Influence
- Notes
- Discography
- Bibliography
- Index
8 - Donizetti
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- A Biographical Note
- Introduction
- 1 Adam
- 2 Alfvén
- 3 Atterberg
- 4 Beethoven
- 5 Bizet
- 6 Borodin
- 7 Brahms
- 8 Donizetti
- 9 Gounod
- 10 Grieg
- 11 Handel
- 12 Leoncavallo
- 13 Mascagni
- 14 Massenet
- 15 Meyerbeer
- 16 Mozart
- 17 Puccini
- 18 Rangström
- 19 Rossini
- 20 Schubert
- 21 Sibelius
- 22 Richard Strauss
- 23 Verdi
- 24 Wagner
- 25 Björling's Remaining Recordings: A Survey of the Best (1920–60)
- 26 Evolution and Influence
- Notes
- Discography
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
L'elisir d'amore
“Una furtiva lagrima”
November 10, 1944: Stockholm, Concert Hall
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, cond. Tor Mann
Bluebell ABCD 078
September 7, 1945: Stockholm, Concert Hall
Royal Court Orchestra, cond. Nils Grevillius
Naxos 8.110788
September 28, 1945: Stockholm, Concert Hall
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, cond. Tor Mann
Bluebell ABCD 036
October 3, 1952: Stockholm, Concert Hall
Swedish Radio Orchestra conductor Sten Frykberg
Naxos 8.111083-85
January 23, 1957: Stockholm, Concert Hall
Royal Court Orchestra, cond. Nils Grevillius
RCA 5934-2; Profil Hänssler PH 08009 (alternative take)
Perhaps more than most arias, “Una furtiva lagrima” is best heard in context. This Larghetto in 6/8 time describes a state of unadulterated happiness, yet it begins in B-flat minor with talk of tears, and ends in B-flat major with Nemorino's realization that he would be happy to die after achieving a single moment of communion with Adina. This simple character gains access here to a less earthbound dimension of experience, which lifts the whole opera onto a higher expressive plane. The ecstasy of emotional fulfilment brings with it an almost dislocating perception of eternity: reality is almost too good to be true and time seems to stop while the music flows.
Yet how exactly should it flow? Probably in such a manner as to reinforce the “effect of suspension” that John Steane identifies as defining the artistry of the Neapolitan tenor Fernando De Lucia: the ability to make us savor “experience as present, not (as we usually meet it) as a point where the music drama moves from past to future.”
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- Information
- The Bjorling SoundA Recorded Legacy, pp. 41 - 44Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2012