Una furtiva lagrima

Last updated

"Una furtiva lagrima" (A furtive tear) is the romanza from act 2, scene 8 [1] of the Italian opera L'elisir d'amore by Gaetano Donizetti. It is sung by Nemorino (tenor) when it appears that the love potion he bought to win the heart of his dream lady, Adina, is working. He loves Adina, but she is not interested in an innocent, rustic man such as he. To win her heart, he buys a love potion with all the money he has in his pocket. It is actually a cheap red wine sold by a traveling quack doctor—but when he sees Adina weeping, he assumes the "elixir" has worked and she has fallen in love with him. [2]

Contents

Music

Una furtiva lagrima

In an opera about fake potions and feigned emotions, Donizetti invests this aria with considerable pathos. It is set in B minor, a dark key with often tragic associations. [3]

The aria's time signature is the compound metre of 6
8
. It changes to B major on the words "Cielo! Si può morir!". Its vocal range is from F3 to A4 with a tessitura of B3 to A4. The last occurrence of the word chiedo is a coloratura melisma of 24 notes covering F3 to G4.

Libretto

The Italian text is taken from a score and libretto at Indiana University. [1] They do not include the last line, "Si può morir! Si può morir d'amor", which is heard in most of the romanza's performances.

 
Una furtiva lagrima
negli occhi suoi spuntò:
Quelle festose giovani
invidiar sembrò.

Che più cercando io vo?
Che più cercando io vo?
M'ama! Sì, m'ama,
lo vedo, lo vedo.

Un solo istante i palpiti
del suo bel cor sentir!
I miei sospir confondere
per poco a' suoi sospir!
I palpiti, i palpiti sentir,
confondere i miei co' suoi sospir.

Cielo, si può morir;
di più non chiedo, non chiedo.
Ah, cielo! Si può! Si può morir!
Di più non chiedo, non chiedo.
Si può morir! Si può morir d'amor.

Literal translation
A furtive tear
in her eyes appeared:
Those festive young girls
she seemed to envy.

What more need I look for?
What more need I look for?
She loves me! Yes, she loves me,
I see it, I see it.

For a single instant the beats
of her beautiful heart to hear!
My sighs to blend
for a while with her sighs!
Her heartbeats, her heartbeats to hear,
my sighs with hers to merge.

Heavens! One could die!
More I cannot ask, I cannot ask.
Oh, heavens! One could, one could die!
More I cannot ask, I cannot ask.
One could die! One could die of love!

Poetic translation [4]
Softly a furtive teardrop fell,
shadowed her sparkling eyes;
Seeing the others follow me
has caused her jealous sighs.

What is there more to prize?
What more than this could I prize?
Sighing, she loves me,
I saw that she loves me.

Could I but feel her heart on mine,
breathing that tender sigh!
Could my own sighing comfort her,
and whisper in sweet reply!
Her heart on mine, as heart to heart we sigh.
So tenderly we'd share a sweet reply!

Heaven, I then could die;
no more I'd ask you, I'd ask you,
ah! heaven, I, then, I then could die;
no more I'd ask you, I'd ask you.
I then could die, I then could die of love.

Related Research Articles

<i>Lelisir damore</i> 1832 opera by Gaetano Donizetti

L'elisir d'amore is a melodramma giocoso in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto, after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's Le philtre (1831). The opera premiered on 12 May 1832 at the Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marco Masini</span> Italian singer-songwriter, musician and pianist

Marco Masini is an Italian singer-songwriter, musician and pianist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enrico Caruso compact disc discography</span>

The following discography contains information regarding some of the published recordings by Enrico Caruso made from 1902 through 1920 as have been made available in selected compact disc compilations.

<i>Lucio Silla</i> Opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Lucio Silla, K. 135, is an Italian opera seria in three acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the age of 16. The libretto was written by Giovanni de Gamerra, revised by Pietro Metastasio.

<i>Ascanio in Alba</i> 1771 pastoral opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Ascanio in Alba, K. 111, is a pastoral opera in two parts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Parini. It was commissioned by the Empress Maria Theresa for the wedding of her son, Archduke Ferdinand Karl, to Maria Beatrice d'Este on 15 October 1771.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dove sono</span> Soprano aria from Mozarts opera "Le nozze di Figaro"

"Dove sono" is an aria in Italian for lyric soprano from the third act of Mozart's 1786 opera Le nozze di Figaro. Countess Almaviva laments, in an initial recitative, that her husband has become a philanderer, and that she must rely on assistance from her maid to manipulate him. In the aria, she calmly remembers moments of love, and hopes, with increasing agitation, that her persistence may make him love her again. It is frequently performed in recitals and featured in anthologies of vocal music for lyric soprano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Di quella pira</span> Aria from the opera Il trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi

"Di quella pira" is a short tenor aria sung by Manrico in act 3, scene 2, of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Il trovatore. It is the last number of the act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wiesław Ochman</span> Polish singer

Wiesław Ochman is a Polish tenor.

"Or che il dover – Tali e cotanti sono", K. 36, is a concert aria in D major for tenor and orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

"Ch'io mi scordi di te? ... Non temer, amato bene", K. 505, is a concert aria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for soprano, piano obbligato and orchestra, composed in December 1786 in Vienna. It is often considered to be one of his greatest compositions in this genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demofoonte (Mysliveček, 1775)</span> Opera by Josef Mysliveček (1775)

Demofoonte is an opera in three acts by the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček. It was the composer's second setting of this popular libretto by Metastasio first produced in 1733. It was typical for subsequent setting of Metastasian dramas to incorporate significant alterations, and this setting retains the augmentation of the role of Timante that is found in the composer's first setting of this text. All of Mysliveček's operas are of the serious type in Italian referred to as opera seria.

Cristina Serafini is an Italian actress.

"Per questa bella mano", K. 612, is a concert aria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for solo bass with an obbligato double bass. Composed in Vienna, it is dated 8 March 1791 in Mozart's own catalogue. It is well known by players of the double bass, with difficult scale work and double stops. It may have been composed as an interlude in a performance of an opera buffa, written by another composer. The aria remains a popular and often performed concert piece today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Il cielo in una stanza (song)</span> 1960 single by Mina

"Il cielo in una stanza" is a song written by Gino Paoli and originally recorded by Italian singer Mina for the album of the same name. The song was released as a single in June 1960 by Italdisc. It became a commercial success in Italy, topping the charts for eleven consecutive weeks and later returning to number one for three additional weeks. It is also Mina's best-selling single in Italy, with estimated sales of 400.000 copies.

"Popoli di Tessaglia! – Io non chiedo, eterni Dei" (K. 316/300b) is a recitative and aria for soprano and orchestra that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote for Aloysia Weber. It is famous for including two occurrences of a G6, i.e. the G above high C, or 1568 Hz by modern concert pitch – according to the Guinness Book of Records, the highest musical note ever scored for the human voice. (However, an A6 is scored in Ignaz Umlauf's Das Irrlicht, also sung by Aloysia Weber.)

Los Guardianes del Amor is a Mexican band formed in 1992 and managed David Alberto Uribe Roman. They are the grupero act with the most nominations for Latin Grammy Award for Best Grupero Album with five, but have never won the award. The band's five members are Arturo Rodríguez, Óscar Saúl Cervantes, Daniel Poplawsky, Pablo Calderón and Ernesto García.

"Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo", K. 584, is a concert aria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for solo bass and orchestra conceived for the role of Guglielmo the opera Così fan tutte but replaced by "Non siate ritrosi". It is considered one of the outstanding opera buffa arias for the bass voice. The text of this aria is by Lorenzo Da Ponte.

"Bella mia fiamma, addio", K. 528, is a concert aria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for solo soprano and orchestra, composed in Prague in 1787. The text of this aria is taken from the 1772 opera Cerere placata, composed by Niccolò Jommelli with text by Michele Sarcone. The aria was published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1881.

"Non più. Tutto ascoltai...Non temer, amato bene", K. 490, is a concert aria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart for solo tenor and orchestra, composed in Vienna in 1786. Originally written for the tenor voice, the aria is mostly now performed by sopranos. The text of this aria is taken from Mozart's 1781 opera Idomeneo, by Giambattista Varesco. The aria was published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1881.

References

  1. 1 2 Score and libretto at the Indiana University School of Music
  2. "Una furtiva lagrima". Aria database site. Retrieved 25 July 2018
  3. "Accessible Arias: 'Una furtiva lagrima' from L'elisir d'amore". Royal Opera House. 2012-09-27. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  4. Vocal score (Italian and English), Indiana University School of Music