Program Notes - San Francisco Performances

presents
ROSA FEOLA, soprano
FABIO CENTANNI, piano
Friday, May 6, 2016 | 7:30pm
Herbst Theatre
MARTUCCI Tre pezzi, Opus 84
LISZT Tre Sonetti di Petrarca, S.270
TOSTI Sogno
Non t’amo più! A vucchella
Maggiolata
Pianto antico
Nevicata
Pace non trovo
Benedetto sia ‘l giorno
I’ vidi in terra angelici costumi
INTERMISSION
VERDI
Ad una stella
Stornello
Deh, pietoso, oh Addolorata
La zingara
DONIZETTI A Mezzanotte
Eterno amore e fè
Ne ornerà la bruna chioma
ROSSINIL’invito
La promessa
La fioraia fiorentina
San Francisco Performances’ Vocal Series is made possible, in part, by a generous grant from
The Bernard Osher Foundation.
This performance is sponsored in part by a generous gift from Mr. and Mrs. J. Patterson McBaine.
This concert is supported in part by the Instituto Italiano di Cultura.
Rosa Feola is represented by Askonas Holt Limited, Lincoln House, 300 High Holborn, LondonWC1V 7JH
askonasholt.co.uk
Hamburg Steinway Model D and piano technical services, Pro Piano, San Francisco.
For Tickets and More: sfperformances.org | 415.392.2545
| 1
ARTIST PROFILES
San Francisco Performances presents Rosa
Feola in her U.S. recital debut.
The dazzling young Italian soprano Rosa
Feola came to international attention after
winning multiple awards including Second
Prize, the Audience Prize and the Zarzeula
Prize at the Plácido Domingo World Opera
Competition (2010). A pupil of Mara Naddei,
she regularly attends master classes at the
Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia by Re­
nata Scotto, Anna Vandi and Cesare Scarton.
Feola made her debut in the role of Corinna
(Il viaggio a Reims) under the direction of the
highly regarded Kent Nagano, before perform­
ing her next engagement as Serafina (Il Campanello) in 2010 at Reate Festival. She went on
to perform Adina (L’elisir d’amore), a role that
is now unique to her, at the Teatro dell’ Opera
in Rome under Bruno Campanella.
Prominent character roles have included
Gilda (Rigoletto) with which she also had
great success at the Opernhaus Zürich, the
Ravenna Festival and the Teatro Regio Tori­
no. Others include Nanetta (Falstaff) in Bari,
Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro) at the National
Centre for Performing Arts in Beijing and La
Fenice and Zerlina (Don Giovanni), which she
has sung at the Teatro Regio Turin.
As a versatile lyric soprano, Feola contin­
ues to establish herself on both the opera and
concert platforms. She has had the pleasure of
working with some significant conductors in­
cluding Louis Langrée, Michele Campanella,
with whom she worked on Rossini’s Petite
Mess Solenelle, and Riccardo Muti, Carmina
Burana. Other repertoire includes the roles
of Musetta (La Bohème), Inez (I due Figaro),
which she has sung under Riccardo Muti at the
Teatro Real Madrid and Salzburg Festival, and
2 | Micaela (Carmen), which she performed at the
Deutsche Oper Berlin and Guangzhou Opera
House in China, conducted by Daniel Oren.
Feola has an exciting season ahead of her,
which she began by performing the role of
Elvira in Bellini’s I Puritani with the Welsh
National Opera to great acclaim. This was
followed by Léïla in Bizet’s Les Pecheurs de
Perles, Corinna in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims
and Gilda in Rigoletto, all with the Opern­
haus Zürich. She will also be returning to
the UK for Glyndebourne’s 2016 production
of Le Nozze di Figaro and for her debut in
La Traviata the following year. Other sea­
son engagements include Mahler Symphony
No.4 and Nanetta in Falstaff with the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti, a
conductor with whom she frequently works;
and Gilda in Rigoletto at the Lyric Opera of
Chicago. She also makes her solo U.S. recital
debut with San Francisco Performances.
Future engagements include her debut at
the Wiener Staatsoper in Le Nozze di Figaro
(Japan tour), conducted by Muti, followed by
Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi at the Bayerische
Staatsoper. Hailed as having both a “pleas­
ing presence” and “flawless technique” (Financial Times), Feola continues to delight a
variety of audiences in many different roles.
She released her debut solo CD in Decem­
ber 2015 titled Musica e Poesia, released on
Opus Arte, accompanied by Iain Burnside
and featuring music by Respighi, Martucci,
Ponchielli, Pinsuti and Liszt.
Fabio Centanni is one of the most sought
after collaborative pianists internationally in
Italian opera and instrumental music.
Since 2006 he has closely collaborated
with Renata Scotto at the Opera Studio of Ac­
cademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, where he
has performed in numerous concerts at the
Auditorium Parco della Musica. He served
as Korrepetitor for the International Opern­
studio in Zürich, Deutsche Oper am Rhein in
Düsseldorf, Orchestra Sinfonica di Savona
and Grand Théâtre de Genève. For the Radio
3 Programme “La Barcaccia,” he accompa­
nied Raina Kabaivanska, Katia Ricciarelli,
Daniela Dessì, Fabio Armiliato, Amarilli Niz­
za, and Roberto de Candia. In 2008 he served
as accompanist for Natalie Dessay while pre­
paring La Traviata with Renata Scotto. He held master classes at the Estudio
Voce School in Rio de Janeiro (eight times,
2011–2015), at the Conservatoire National
Supérieur in Beirut, Lebanon (November
2013, February 2014) and at the Conservatorio
of Verona organized by the Sydney Conserva­
torium of Music. From 2013 to 2015 he was the
pianist of Bernadette Manca di Nissa at the
Conservatorio G. P. da Palestrina in Cagliari.
His expertise is not limited to opera but
encompasses a wide variety of instrumen­
tal and chamber music. He regularly works
with leading performers and experts in in­
strumental music at Accademia Nazionale
di Santa Cecilia including Jacques Mauger
(trom­bone), Carlo Tamponi (flute), Gabriele
Cassone (trumpet), Guido Corti (horn), An­
drea Lucchi (trumpet), Giovanni Bossone
(bassoon), Andrea Oliva (flute) and at the
Museum of Musical Instruments in Rome
with Ilya Grubert (violin). From 2011 to 2012
he was the pianist of Sonig Tchakerian in her
Master Course in Violin held at the Accade­
mia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
He received his Bachelor of Music with full
honors from Santa Cecilia Conservatorio and
both Specialization in Chamber Music and
Piano from Accademia Nazionale di Santa
Cecilia in Rome. His post-graduate studies
include the course of musical interpretation
at Accademia Chigiana, Accademia Incontri
col Maestro in Imola, Sommerakademie Mo­
zarteum in Salzburg, and participation in the
master class with Pavel Gililov at Accademia
Musicale Pescarese. Recognition and honors include the First
Prize Winner at the 2nd Concorso di Terzo d’Ac­
qui (Alessandria) and 10th Concorso pianistico
Città di Velletri, Third Prize winner of Città di
Sulmona, and the Critics’ Prize in the 38th Con­
corso Pianistico Arcangelo Speranza.
Recent engagements as a collaborative
pianist include the International Festival in
Verbier from July 2009 until July 2012, where
he accompanied opera master classes held
by Claudio Desderi (2009) and Nelly Miri­
cioiu (2010), the International Violin Com­
petition Città di Brescia in October 2010, the
International Violin Competition Andrea Po­
stacchini in May 2012, May 2013, June 2014,
and June 2015.
For Tickets and More: sfperformances.org | 415.392.2545
presents
ROSA FEOLA, soprano
FABIO CENTANNI, piano
Friday, May 6, 2016 | 7:30pm
Herbst Theatre
Please hold your applause until the end of each set. Please turn pages quietly.
Tre pezzi, Opus 84
Maggiolata
Pianto antico
Nevicata
GIUSEPPE MARTUCCI
Born January 6, 1856, Capua
Died June 1, 1909, Naples
The music of Giuseppe Martucci was once much better known in this country than it is today. Gustav Mahler led Martucci’s
music during his brief tenure with the New York Philharmonic, and over the years it has been championed in America by such
Italian conductors as Arturo Toscanini, Carlo Maria Giulini, and Riccardo Muti. The son of a bandmaster, Martucci studied
piano as a boy and soon became one of the finest young pianists in Italy—he gave performances throughout Europe, and his
playing was admired by Franz Liszt and Anton Rubinstein. But Martucci wanted to compose, and so in 1880—at the age of
only 24—he gave up the life of a touring virtuoso and became a professor of composition at the Naples Conservatory. Martucci
composed symphonies, concertos, chamber music, and a vast amount of piano music.
Martucci also wrote a number of songs, and this recital opens with his final set of songs, the Tre Pezzi, Opus 84 (“Three
Pieces”), published in 1906. This was also Martucci’s final opus number—he died three years later at age 53. These three songs
set texts by the Italian poet Giosuè Carducci, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in this same year. All three begin with a
natural scene—spring renewal in May, the brilliant colors of a pomegranate tree, falling snow—and all three poems make an
unexpected and dark shift in their final lines—the world may be beautiful around us, says the poet, but behind that reality lies
something quite different. Maggiolata gets off to a sparkling start with its song in praise of May and spring renewal, but the
final lines bring an ironic twist, and the subdued piano postlude sets that final tone very nicely; Pianto antico makes a similar
swerve after its serene beginning. Nevicata is dark from the beginning. It opens with a long piano prelude whose steady pulse
mirrors the falling snow as the poet gazes out the window. That snow obscures the scenes of life in the square below him, and
the poem—and Martucci’s music—lead us to the grim concluding lines.
Maggiolata
May song
Maggio risveglia i nidi,
Maggio risveglia i cuori;
porta le ortiche e i fiori,
i serpi e l’usignol.
Schiamazzano i fanciulli
in terra, e in ciel li augelli:
le donne han ne i capelli
rose, ne gli occhi il sol.
Tra colli prati e monti
di fior tutto è una trama:
canta germoglia ed ama
l’acqua, la terra, il ciel.
E a me germoglia in cuore
di spine un bel boschetto;
tre vipere ho nel petto
e un gufo entro il cervel
May awakens the nests,
May awakens our hearts;
it brings both nettles and flowers,
serpents and the nightingale.
The children chirp and chatter
on earth as do the birds in the sky:
the women have roses in their
hair and sunlight in their eyes.
Hills, meadows and mountains
are carpeted in flowers:
water, earth and heaven
sing, blossom and love.
But in my heart there blossoms
a fine thicket of thorns;
I have three vipers in my breast
and in my brain an owl.
Translation: Susannah Howe © 2015 Royal Opera House
Pianto antico
An ancient lament
L’albero a cui tendevi
la pargoletta mano,
il verde melograno
da’ bei vermigli fior
nel muto orto solingo
rinverdì tutto or ora,
e giugno lo ristora
di luce e di calor.
Tu fior de la mia pianta
percossa e inaridita,
tu de l’inutil vita
estremo unico fior,
sei ne la terra fredda,
sei ne la terra negra;
né il sol piú ti rallegra
né ti risveglia amor.
The tree to which my darling
would point in childish wonder,
the green pomegranate yonder
with crimson blossoms bright,
lone in the silent garden
the young green mantled o’er it,
e’en now doth June restore it
in summer warmth and light.
Thou of my stem the blossom,
this withered stem so stricken,
thou, who my days didst quicken,
my one, my last delight,
in the cold earth thou liest,
in the black earth for ever;
sunshine and love can never
for thee break winter’s night.
Translation: Geoffrey Langdale Bickersteth
Nevicata
A snow-storm
Lenta fiocca la neve pel cielo cinerëo: gridi,
suoni di vita non salgono da la città,
non d’erbaiola il grido o corrente rumore di carro,
non d’amore la canzon ilare e di gioventù.
Da la torre di piazza roche per l’aëre le ore
gemon, sospir d’un mondo lontano dal dì.
Picchiano uccelli raminghi a’ vetri appannati:
gli amici spiriti reduci son, guardano e chiamano a me.
In breve, o cari, in breve – tu càlmati, indomito cuore –
giù al silenzio verrò, giù l’ombra riposerò.
Large, slow snowflakes fall from an ashen heaven:
the noisy hum and hubbub of life no more go up from the town.
Hushed is the cry of the vendor of herbs, the rumble of wagons,
hushed are the voices that sang blithely of youth and of love.
Harsh thro’ the throbbing air the chimes from the tower o’er
the market
moan, like the sigh of a world far from the daylight withdrawn.
Tap on the frosted panes, birdlike, forlorn, the beloved
ghosts of old friends who return, calling on me to depart.
Soon, dear ones, very soon—O strong heart, calm thyself—I too
shall to the silence descend, lay me to rest in the gloom.
Texts: Giosuè Carducci (1835–1907)
Translation: Geoffrey Langdale Bickersteth
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Tre Sonetti di Petrarca, S.270
Pace non trovo
Benedetto sia ’l giorno
I vidi in terra angelici costumi
FRANZ LISZT
Born October 22, 1811, Raiding
Died July 31, 1886, Bayreuth
Listeners may discover that they know the music of these songs in several different forms. In 1838, while Liszt and his mistress
Marie d’Agoult were living in Italy, they read through the sonnets of Petrarch together, and Liszt was so struck by them that in 1839
he wrote three songs that set Petrarch’s sonnets No. 104, 47, and 123. These appear to have been the very first songs composed by
Liszt, who was 28 at the time. These quite dramatic settings have been described as operatic: they were originally for high tenor and
go up to high C-sharp. Liszt immediately transcribed the three songs as piano pieces, and in a revised form they were eventually included in his Années de Pèlerinage, Book II, a series of piano pieces inspired by Italian works of art (painting, sculpture, and poems)
that was published in 1855. Then in 1861 Liszt went back to the original songs and revised them: this involved lowering their range
slightly and simplifying them, in the process trimming back some of the extroverted brilliance of the songs as they had first been
composed nearly three decades earlier. This revised version was finally published in 1883, three years before the composer’s death.
This music is probably most familiar in its piano version, in which the pieces appear in an order different from the sequence
of the original songs. The brilliance of Liszt’s piano transcription has made that form extremely popular, and that version has
been widely performed by many pianists. This recital allows the rare opportunity to hear this familiar music in a form seldom
encountered by audiences today.
Pace non trovo
I find no peace
Pace non trovo, e non ho da far guerra.
E temo, e spero, ed ardo, e son un ghiaccio.
E volo sopra ’l cielo, e giaccio in terra.
E nulla stringo, e tutto ’l mondo abbraccio.
Tal m’ha in priggion che non m’apre né serra.
Né per suo mi ritien né scioglie il laccio;
e non m’uccide Amor e non mi sferra;
né mi vuol vivo, né mi trahe d’impaccio.
Veggio senz’occhi e non ho lingua e grido;
e bramo di perir, e cheggio aita;
ed ho in odio me stesso, ed amo altrui.
Pascomi di dolor, piangendo rido;
egualmente mi spiace morte e vita.
In questo stato son, donna, per voi.
I find no peace, but for war am not inclined.
I fear, yet hope, I burn, yet am turned to ice.
I soar in the heavens, but lie upon the ground.
I hold nothing, though I embrace the whole world.
Love has me in a prison which he neither opens nor shuts fast.
He neither slays nor unshackles me;
he neither claims me for his own nor loosens my halter;
he would not have me live, yet leaves me with my torment.
Eyeless I gaze and tongueless I cry out;
I long to perish, yet plead for succour;
I hate myself, but love another.
I feed on grief, yet weeping, laugh;
Death and life alike repel me;
And to this state I am come, My Lady, because of you.
Benedetto sia ’l giorno
Blessed be the day
Benedetto sia ’l giorno, e ’l mese, e l’anno,
e la stagione, e ’l tempo, e l’ora, e ’l punto,
e ’l bel paese e ’l loco, ov’io fui giunto
da duo begli occhi che legato m’ànno.
E benedetto il primo dolce affanno
ch’i’ ebbi ad esser con Amor congiunto,
e l’arco e le saette ond’i’ fui punto,
e le piaghe, ch’infino al cor mi vanno.
Benedette le voci tante, ch’io
chiamando il nome di Laura ho sparte,
e i sospiri e le lagrime e ’l desio.
E benedette sian tutte le carte
ov’io fama le acquisto, e il pensier mio,
ch’è sol di lei, si ch’altra non v’ha parte.
Blessed be the day, the month, the year,
the season, the hour, the moment, the lovely scene,
and the place where I was enslaved
by two lovely eyes which bind me fast.
And blessed be the first sweet pang
I suffered when Love overwhelmed me,
the bows and arrows which stung me,
and the wounds which pierce to my heart.
Blessed be the many voices which have echoed
when I have called Laura’s name,
the sighs and tears, and the longing.
And blessed be all those writings
in which I have spread her fame, and my thoughts,
which stem from her and center on her alone.
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| 3
I’ vidi in terra angelici costumi
I beheld on earth angelic graces
I’ vidi in terra angelici costumi
e celesti bellezze al mondo sole,
tal che di rimembrar mi giova e dole
che quant’io miro par sogni, ombre, e fumi.
E vidi lagrimar que’ duo bei lumi
ch’han fatto mille volte invidia al sole,
ed udì’ sospirando dir parole
che farian gir i monti e stare i fiumi.
Amor, senno, valor, pietate e doglia,
facean piangendo un più dolce concento
d’ogni altro che nel mondo udir si soglia.
Ed era ’l cielo all’armonia s’intento
che non si vedea in ramo mover foglia,
tanta dolcezza avea pien l’aer e ’l vento.
I beheld on earth angelic graces,
and heavenly beauty unmatched in this world,
it brings me joy and pain to remember it,
for the more I look the more it seems a dream, shadows
and mists.
And I beheld tears spring from those two lovely eyes,
which a thousand times have put the sun to shame,
and sighing, I heard words whispered
which would move mountains and halt rivers.
Love, wisdom, excellence, pity and grief
made in that lament a sweeter concert
than any other to be heard on earth.
And heaven on that harmony was so intent
that not a leaf upon the bough was seen to stir,
such sweetness had filled the air and winds.
Texts: Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374)
Translations: © 2015 Opus Arte | Royal Opera House
Sogno
Non t’amo più!
A vucchella
PAOLO TOSTI
Born April 9, 1946, Ortona, Italy
Died December 2, 1916, Rome
Francesco Paolo Tosti studied violin and composition as a boy, but his career was delayed by illness, and not until he was in
his twenties did he develop a reputation as a composer of songs. A visit to London in 1875, when he was 29, led to his decision
to settle there permanently. His career in England was quite successful: he sang before Queen Victoria, wrote numerous songs
in English, taught for many years at the Royal Academy of Music, and was knighted in 1908. Tosti retired to Italy and died at
age 70 during World War I.
Tosti composed songs in Italian, English, and French, and his light and melodic style was attractive (and quite influential).
This recital offers three of Tosti’s love-songs. These songs all set Italian texts, though the first two were composed in England
during the 1880s. All three demonstrate Tosti’s lovely, fluid writing for voice, beautifully shaped to the texts and sometimes rising to an almost operatic intensity. Sogno rocks gracefully along its 6/8 meter and—like the dream—finally vanishes. Non t’amo
più! is a very intense song–the singer had once been “love-insane,” but that love has vanished, and the song does too—Tosti
wants the final iteration of “Non t’amo più” almost whispered rather than sung: his marking for the final line is triple piano. A
vucchella, which dates from about 1907, is on a text by Gabriele D’Annunzio, one of Tosti’s favorite poets.
Sogno
Dream
Ho sognato che stavi a’ ginocchi,
Come un santo che prega il Signor…
Mi guardavi nel fondo degli occhi,
Sfavillava il tuo sguardo d’amor.
I have dreamed of you on your knees
Like a saint who prays to the Lord,
You gazed at me and in your eyes.
Sparkled your glance of love.
Tu parlavi e la voce sommessa…
Mi chiedea dolcemente mercè…
Solo un guardo che fosse promessa,
Imploravi, curvato al mio piè.
You spoke and your low voice...
Asked me sweetly for mercy,
Only a glance that is promised...
Did you implore bended at my foot.
Io taceva e coll’anima forte
Il desio tentatore lottò.
Ho provato il martirio e la morte
pur mi vinsi e ti dissi di no.
I was silent and with my strong soul
I struggled for the attempted desire,
I have felt martyrdom and death,
Yet me you conquered and said no.
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Ma il tuo labbro sfiorò la mia faccia…
E la forza del cor mi tradì.
Chiusi gli occhi, ti stesi le braccia…
Ma, sognavo…E il bel sogno svanì.
But your lips touched my face...
And the force of your heart betrayed me.
You closed your eyes, you stretched your arms,
But I was dreaming and the beautiful dream vanished.
Text: Olindo Guerrini (1845–1916), under the pseudonym
Lorenzo Stecchetti
Translation: © 2009 by Anne Evans
Non t’amo piu’…
Do you still remember the day we met
Ricordi ancora il dì che c’incontrammo,
Le tue promesse le ricordi ancor…?
Folle d’amore io ti seguii …ci amammo,
E accanto a te sognai, folle d’amor.
Do you still remember the day we met,
Do you still remember the promises you made...?
Love-insane I followed you... We loved each other
And next to you I dreamt, love-insane.
Sognai felice, di carezze a baci
Una catena dileguante in ciel;
Ma le parole tue… furon mendaci…
Perchè l’anima tua è fatta di gel.
I dreamt of a lustful chain of caresses
And kisses fading into the sky;
But your words weren’t truthful ...
Because your heart is as cold as ice.
Te ne ricordi ancor?
Te ne ricordi ancor?
Do you still remember that?
Do you still remember that?
Or la mia fede, il desiderio immenso
Il mio sogno d’amor…non sei più tu:
I tuoi baci non cerco, a te non penso…
Sogno un altro ideal;
Non t’amo più, non t’amo più.
Now you aren’t my only faith any more,
My immense desire nor my dream of love:
I don’t long for your kisses, and don’t think about you anymore:
I dream other dreams:
I don’t love you anymore.
Nei cari giorni che pasamo ineieme
Io cosparsi di fiori il tuo sentier
Tu fosti del mio cor l’unica speme
Tu della mente l’unico pensier.
Through the days dearly passed together,
I strewed flowers across your path: ...
You were the only hope of my heart;
You the only thought of my desire.
Tu m’hai visto pregare, impallidire,
Piangere tu mhai visto innanzi a te
Io sol per appagare un tuo desire
Avrei dato il mio sangue a la mia fè!
You forced me to beg you, you turned me pale,
You saw me crying in your presence:
Only in order to fulfill a desire of yours...
I would have offered my body and soul!
Te ne ricordi ancor?
Do you still remember it?
Or la mia fede, il desiderio immenso
Il mio sogno d’amor…non sei più tu:
I tuoi baci non cerco, a te non penso…
Sogno un algtro ideal;
Non t’amo più, non t’amo più.
Now you aren’t my only faith any more,
My immense desire nor my dream of love:
I don’t long for your kisses, and don’t think about you anymore:
I dream other dreams:
I don’t love you anymore.
Text: Carmelo Errico (1848–1892)
Translation: © by Mario Giuseppe Genesi
program continues on next page →
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| 5
A vucchella
A Sweet Mouth
Sì, comm’a nu sciorillo
tu tiene na vucchella
nu poco pocorillo appassuliatella.
Meh, dammillo, dammillo,
- è comm’a na rusella dammillo nu vasillo,
dammillo, Cannetella!
Yes, like a little flower,
You have got a sweet mouth
A little bit withered.
Please give it to me
It’s like a little rose
Give me a little kiss,
Give, Cannetella!
Dammillo e pigliatillo,
nu vaso piccerillo
comm’a chesta vucchella,
che pare na rusella
nu poco pocorillo
appassuliatella…
Give one and take one,
A kiss as little
As your mouth
Which looks like a little rose.
A little bit
Withered…
Text: Gabriele D’Annunzio (1863–1938)
Translation: © by Antonio Giuliano
INTERMISSION
Ad una stella
Stornello
Deh, pietoso, oh Addolorata
La zingara
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Born October 9/10, 1813, Roncole
Died January 27, 1901, Milan
Verdi composed only a few songs across his long creative career—his imagination seems to have been sparked more readily by
the dramatic opportunities of the stage than by the isolated situation of the individual song. This recital offers four of his approximately 25 songs. Ad una stella is from Verdi’s Six Romances, published in 1845, when he was only 32 (by this time he had composed both Nabucco and Ernani). This is an intense song, full of a romantic longing to escape the imprisonment of earthly life
and to flee to the perfection symbolized by a distant star. Verdi marks the song Andantino, and it flows easily along its 6/8 meter.
Stornello was written by a much different composer. Verdi made this setting in 1869, between his operas Don Carlos (1867)
and Aida (1871). Here we meet woman as survivor in this account of a jilted young woman who maintains her composure and
independence—and seems the better for it. The piano dances along beneath the soprano’s spirited line; this song—so dramatic
in its setting and character—might easily take its place in an opera.
Deh, pietoso, oh Addolorata is one of Verdi’s Six Romances of 1838, a set of six songs by a 25-year-old composer who had at
that point composed no operas. The text—a free rendering by Luigi Balestra of a poem by Goethe–is a prayer for relief from suffering, and Verdi gives it a dramatic setting: his marking at the opening is con passione, and the song shifts tempo frequently as
it moves from one intense outburst to another.
The set concludes with La zingara, another of the Six Romances of 1845. Verdi’s portrait of the gypsy woman is a jaunty one,
and the florid vocal line is full of quick trills and melodic leaps. It comes to a fun conclusion.
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Ad una stella
To a star
Bell’astro della terra,
Luce amorosa e bella,
Come desia quest’anima
Oppressa e prigioniera
Le sue catene infrangere,
Libera a te volar!
Beautiful star of the earth,
Amorous and beautiful light,
How desires this soul,
Oppressed and imprisoned,
To break its chains,
Free to fly to you!
Gl’ignoti abitatori
Che mi nascondi, o stella,
Cogl’angeli s’abbracciano
Puri fraterni amori,
Fan d’armonie cogl’angeli
La spera tua sonar.
The unknown inhabitants
That you hide from me, oh star,
Embrace with the angels
In pure brotherly love,
Making in harmony with the angels
Your sphere to sound.
Le colpe e i nostri affanni
Vi sono a lor segreti,
Inavvertiti e placidi
Scorrono i giorni e gli anni,
Nè mai pensier li novera,
Nè li richiama in duol.
Our faults and worries
Are secrets to them there;
Carefree and calm,
The days and years run by,
With no thought of counting them,
Nor recalling them in sadness.
Bell’astro della sera,
Gemma che il cielo allieti,
Come alzerà quest’anima
Oppressa e prigioniera
Dal suo terreno carcere
Al tuo bel raggio il vol!
Beautiful star of the night,
Gem in which heaven delights,
If only this soul could rise, this soul,
Oppressed and imprisoned,
From its earthly jail
To your beautiful ray in flight!
Text: Andrea Maffei (1798–1885)
Translation: © 2004 by Robert Grady
Stornello
Story
Tu dici che non m’ami… anch’io non t’amo…
Dici non vi vuoi ben, non te ne voglio.
Dici ch’a un altro pesce hai teso l’amo.
Anch’io in altro giardin la rosa coglio.
You say that you don’t love me, so I don’t love you...
You say that you reject me, so I reject you.
You say you’ll look for other fish in the sea,
So I will pick new roses in other gardens.
Anco di questo vo’che ci accordiamo:
Tu fai quel che ti pare, io quel che voglio.
Son libero di me, padrone è ognuno.
Servo di tutti e non servo a nessuno.
Let us agree about it, now, together:
You behave as you like, I’ll do as you do.
I’ll devote to myself, each one commands me,
Servant to everyone, but I won’t serve for anyone.
Costanza nell’amor è una follia;
Volubile io sono e me ne vanto.
Non tremo più scontrandoti per via,
Né, quando sei lontan mi struggo in pianto.
Come usignuol che uscì di prigionia
Tutta la notte e il dì folleggio e canto
A constant love affair is only madness;
Inconstantly I live with pride and boldness.
I won’t be scared of you if I will meet you,
I won’t cry anymore if you shall leave me.
Just like a nightingale out of his cage,
All night and all day, I’ll rejoice and twitter.
Text: Anonymous
Translation: © by Mario Giuseppe Genesi
program continues on next page →
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| 7
Deh, pietoso, oh Addolorata
Oh, with mercy, Oh Woman of Griefs
Deh, pietoso, oh Addolorata,
China il guardo al mio dolore;
Tu, una spada fitta in core,
Volgi gl’occhi desolata
Al morente tuo figliuol.
Quelle occhiate, i sospir vanno
Lassù al padre e son preghiera
Che il suo tempri ed il tuo affanno.
Come a me squarcin le viscere
Gl’insoffribili miei guai
E dell’ansio petto i palpiti
Chi comprendere può mai?
Di che trema il cor? Che vuol?
Ah! tu sola il sai, tu sol!
Sempre, ovunque il passo io giro,
Qual martiro, qual martiro
Qui nel sen porto con me!
Solitaria appena, oh, quanto
Verso allora, oh, quanto pianto
E di dentro scoppia il cor.
Sul vasel del finestrino
La mia la crima scendea
Quando all’alba del mattino
Questi fior per te cogliea,
Chè del sole il primo raggio
La mia stanza rischiarava
E dal letto mi cacciava
Agitandomi il dolor.
Ah, per te dal disonore,
Dalla morte io sia salvata.
Deh, pietoso al mio dololre
China il guardo, oh Addolorata!
Oh, with mercy, Oh Woman of Griefs
Lower your glance towards my pains
Thou, heart-crossed by a sword
Address your eyes, oh desolate
To a son of yours that dies.
All those glances, all that sighing
Turn to God and become prayers
That will temper his and your pity.
Why do my unbearable troubles
Keep on breaking my bowels
And who will be able to understand
The anxieties of my breast?
What is shaking my heart? What’s going on?
Ah! You alone know it, you alone!
Always, wherever I walk or go,
So huge a torment and martyrdom
I bear here in my breast!
Alone then, Oh, how long
I keep on crying, Oh, so many tears
And inside my heart is just like bursting.
On the vase there near the window
My sole tear began to fall
When inside the morning dawn
I just picked for you there flowers,
When the first new morning sun ray
Lit up my room clearly,
And out of bed it always threw me
Whippering all my pains.
Ah, with your graceful intervention
May I be save from dishonor and death
Oh with mercy towards my pains
Lower your glance, Oh Woman of Griefs.
Text: Luigi Balestra (1808–1863) d’après Goethe
Translation: © by Mario Giuseppe Genesi
La zingara
The Gypsy Girl
Chi padre mi fosse, qual patria mi sia,
Invano la gente chiamando mi va;
Del primo mai seppi ed è patria mia
La terra che un fiore, che un frutto mi dà.
Dovunque il destino m’addita un sentiero,
Io trovo un sorriso, io trovo un amor;
Perchè del passato darommi pensiero,
Se l’ora presente è lieta al mio cor?
Può, è vero, il domani un torbido velo
Dell’aure serene l’aspetto turbar;
Ma s’oggi risplende azzurro il mio cielo,
Perchè rattristarmi d’un dubbio avvenir?
Io sono una pianta che ghiaccio non spoglia,
Che tutto disfida del verno il rigor;
Se fronda qui cade, là un’altra germoglia,
In ogni stagione son carca di fior.
Who was my father, what is my country?
In vain people go on calling to me;
What of the first thing I knew, and of my homeland?
It’s any land that gives me flowers and fruits.
Wherever fate leads me,
I find a smile, I find a lover;
Why worry about the past
When my heart is happy now?
It may come to pass that tomorrow a dark veil
Will obscure my serene appearance;
But if today my sky is a resplendent blue,
Why be sad from doubts that may not come to pass?
I am a plant that isn’t damaged by frost,
That defies all of winter’s severity;
If one leafy branch falls here, another germinates there,
In every season I am laden with flowers.
Text: S. Manfredo Maggioni
Translation: © 2016 by Laura Prichard
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A Mezzanotte
Eterno amore e fè
Ne onerà la bruna chioma
GAETANO DONIZETTI
Born November 29, 1797, Bergamo
Died April 8, 1848, Bergamo
We remember Gaetano Donizetti as an opera composer, and Lucia di Lammermoor, L’elisir d’amore, and La fille du regiment
will probably remain audience favorites forever. But Donizetti also wrote a vast number of songs and duets, some in salon style
and probably intended for performance at home. This recital presents three of these songs, the first two of which Donizetti described as an arietta: a “little aria” or “chamber aria.” Certainly one feels that in A Mezzanotte, a playful song sung by a woman
waiting on her balcony for her lover. Modesty prescribes that they not be alone together, so the moon will serve as their chaperone. A particular pleasure of this song is its dancing, soaring refrain. Eterno amore e fè feels a great deal more operatic. Though
Donizetti marks it simply Larghetto espressivo, this rapt declaration of love soars to a powerful climax.
Ne ornerà la bruna chioma sets a text that the librettist Felice Romani wrote for the opera Colombo, a libretto that was turned
into operas by several different composers (Romani wrote the librettos for a number of composers, including Bellini, Meyerbeer, Verdi, and Donizetti’s own L’elisir d’amore). Donizetti took this text from Romani’s libretto and wrote what he described as
a scena e cavatina about an American Indian princess in love with a European.
A Mezzanotte
At Midnight
Quando notte sarà oscura
e le stelle in ciel vedrai,
cheto, cheto mi verrai
nel mio asilo a ritrovar.
Nel silenzio della notte
dentr’all’umile mio tetto,
vieni pure, o mio diletto,
la tua ninfa a consolar:
canta pur la tua canzone
ch’io t’attendo sul balcone.
ah!
When night turns dark
and you see the stars in the sky,
silently, silently, you will come
to find my solitary dwelling.
In the silence of night
inside, under my humble roof,
come then, o my delight,
to make your darling happy.
Sing your song
while I wait for you on the balcony.
Ah!
Ma non debbo a te soltanto
aprir l’uscio a notte bruna:
coprirebbesi la luna
vereconda in suo pudor.
Noi due soli non saremo,
verecondia nol consente,
vuò che un terzo sia presente
e quel terzo sia l’amor.
Canta pur la tua canzone,
ch’io t’attendo sul balcone,
io t’attendo a mezzanotte,
cheto cheto ne verrai,
noi due soli non saremo,
vuò che il terzo sia l’amor.
ah!
But not for you alone must I
open the threshold to the dark night:
the moon in her modesty
would cover herself for shame.
We two will not be alone;
modesty would not allow it.
It wants a third person to be present,
and that third is love.
Then sing your song
while I wait for you on the balcony.
I expect you at midnight,
silently, silently you will come,
we two will not be alone,
the third must be love.
Ah!
Text: Anonymous
Translation: © 2008 by John Glenn Paton
program continues on next page →
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| 9
Eterno amore e fè
Eternal love and faithfulness
Eterno Amore e fè
ti giuro umile ai piè,
ti giuro eterna fè,
presente Iddio, ti giuro amor,
ti giuro fè, presente Iddio.
Eternal love and faithfulness,
to you I swear humble at your feet,
to swear eteral faithfulness,
in the presence of God, to you I swear love,
to you I swear faithfulness, in the presence of God.
Viver, morir per te
è il solo ben che a me
dal ciel desio.
To live, to die for you
is the sole good that to me
with heaven I desire.
Text: Anonymous
Translation: © 2006 Christine Turnage Turner
Ne ornerà la bruna chioma
Companions, today the woods are
Maggior di nostra speme oggi
campagne disperdan le selve,
a’ patrii tetti parte
sen rechi e se ne serbi parte
in dono agli stranieri.
Ampio da lor riporterem tesoro
delle dovizie che al possente duce
il lontano da noi mondi produce.
Nè ornerà la bruna chioma
qualche gemma rilucente,
che a guerrieri dell’Oriente
più bel sol pingendo va.
E la figlia del deserto,
abbellita da quel serto,
qualche grazia agl’occhio loro,
qualche vezzo acquisterà.
Caro bene, al tuo cospetto
vani fregi io non desio.
Bella sol dell’amor mio,
nel tuo seno volerò.
Se tu m’ami o mio diletto,
ogni bella io vincerò.
Companions, today the woods are
Scattering our strongest hope.
Let one part of it be brought to the homeland,
And let a part be kept
As a gift to the foreigners.
We will bring back from them the rich treasure
of tributes that a world far away from us
makes to the mighty commander.
My brown hair will be adorned
By some resplendent gem
That makes the sun more beautiful
To the warriors of the Orient.
And the daughter of the desert,
Made beautiful by this wreath,
Will acquire some grace,
Some charm to their eyes.
My dear treasure, I do not wish for
Useless ornaments in your presence,
Beautiful only because of my love,
I will fly to your chest.
If you love me, my darling,
I will surpass every beauty.
Text: Felice Romani (1788–1865)
Translation: © 2010 Milan Petkovic
L’invito
La promessa
La fioraia fiorentina
GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Born February 29, 1792, Pesaro
Died November 13, 1868, Passy
Rossini had one of the most remarkable careers in music. He composed his first opera at age 20, and he could—when a deadline was upon him—work at white heat, sometimes composing and scoring a complete opera in a matter of weeks. But with
William Tell, composed in 1829 when he was 37, Rossini brought his career as an opera composer to a complete stop: he would
live for nearly forty more years, but never again would he write for the stage. There were several reasons for this. Part of it was
exhaustion, some of it was poor health, and some of it was Rossini’s lack of sympathy for the direction opera was taking.
But if he gave up opera, Rossini did not give up composing. During his Paris years Rossini wrote twelve songs (four of them
duets) and published them in 1835 as Les soirées musicales. Like the Donizetti songs just heard on this recital, the songs of Les
soirées musicales have been described as “chamber arias”—songs with a dramatic flair, but intended for a setting more intimate
than the stage. L’invito is indeed an invitation: Eloisa invites Ruggiero to lay his head upon her breast and “feel it quiver.” Ros-
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sini’s setting—alternately impassioned and languorous—is nicely suited to such a moment. La promessa, on a text by Pietro
Metastasio, is quite a different love-song, and Rossini gives it an impassioned, almost operatic, setting.
In Paris Rossini also wrote a large number of small pieces for piano, voice and piano, or small ensembles and collected about 150
of these under the title Péches de vieillesse (“Sins of Old Age”). These were introduced at the elegant soirées that Rossini and his wife
presented on Saturday evenings at their home in Paris (Rossini was a gourmand and a fine cook, and he often prepared the food for
these occasions). La fioraia fiorentina is from the first volume of Péches de vieillesse, a collection of songs on Italian texts, though the
author of this particular poem is unknown. The text may be short, but Rossini gives it an extended—and quite dramatic—setting.
—Program notes by Eric Bromberger
L’invito
The Invitation
Vieni, o Ruggiero,
la tua Eloisa
da te divisa
non puo restar:
alle mie lacrime
già rispondevi,
vieni, ricevi
il mio pregar.
Come Ruggiero,
your Eloisa
cannot stay
separated from you:
You’ve already
responded to my tears,
come and grant
my request.
Vieni, o bell’angelo,
vien, mio diletto,
sovra il mio petto
vieni a posar!
Senti se palpita,
se amor t’invita…
vieni, mia vita,
vieni, fammi spirar …
Come, beautiful angel,
come, my delight,
here on my bosom
come to rest!
Feel my throbbing heart,
when love invites you,
come my life, come,
make me die!
Text: Conte Carlo Pepoli (1796–1881)
Translation: © 2003 by Johann Gaitzsch
La promessa
The Promise
Ch’io mai vi possa lasciar d’amare,
No, nol credete, pupille care,
Ne men per gioco v’ingannerò.
That I will ever be able to stop loving you
No, don’t believe it, dear eyes!
Not even to joke would I deceive you about this.
Voi foste e siete le mie faville,
E voi sarete, care pupille,
Il mio bel foco finch’io vivrò.
You alone are my sparks,
and you will be, dear eyes,
my beautiful fire as long as I live, ah!
Text: Pietro Metastasio (1698–1782)
Translation: © by Christine Turnage Turner
La fioraia fiorentina
The Florentine Flower Girl
I più bei fior comprate,
fanciulli, amanti e spose:
son fresche le mie rose,
non spiran che l’amor.
The most beautiful flowers [you can] buy,
children, lovers, and newlyweds:
my roses are fresh,
[they] don’t die like love [does].
Ahime! Soccorso implora
mia madre, poveretta
e da me sola aspetta
del pan e non dell’or.
Alas! Help, implores
my mother, poor little [thing]
and from me she hopes only
for bread and not for gold.
Text: Anonymous
Translation: © 2015 by Laura Prichard
Texts and Translations of songs by Tosti, Verdi, Donizetti and Rossini from the LiederNet Archive, reprinted with permission.
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| 11
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Jonathan Biss
Carolyn Sampson
Anne-Sophie Mutter
Bemjamin Beilman
Sol Gabetta
Highlights of the 2016–2017 Season
A Heartfelt Gala Honoring Ruth A. Felt · Sir András Schiff, piano · Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin
Jonathan Biss: Late Style Series (4 Performances) · Javier Perianes, piano · Sol Gabetta, cello
Dorrance Dance · Batsheva · Paul Taylor Dance Company · Dover Quartet with Edgar Meyer
Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano · Carolyn Sampson, soprano · Benjamin Beilman, violin
Two Piano/Four Hand Recital with Leif Ove Andsnes and Marc-André Hamelin
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet · Harriet Krijgh, cello · Beatrice Rana, piano · and more…
2016–2017 Season Series Subscriptions Now on Sale!
Series Subscription tickets are available online now. Make-Your-Own Series are not available online—please call
415.677.0325. Single tickets go on sale August 1st.
415.392.2545sfperformances.org/season
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