Tuesday, April 26, 2011

TODAY ON CONTRALTO TUESDAY - "Voce di donna o d'angelo" from Ponchielli's La Gioconda


This is a poetic picture of La Cieca being cruelly burned at the stake after being accused of becoming a witch. In the dramatic Italian opera La Gioconda. In the  background is a photo of the Bridge of Sighs in the city of Venice.
La Cieca's Aria
"Voce di donna o d'angelo"
from Amilcare Ponchielli's
LA GIOCONDA


Ewa Podleś, one of the world's greatest and authentic contraltos, sings La Cieca

Lyrics

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Voce di donna o d'angelo 
Sung by La Cieca
oooooooooooooooooooo     o       o     oooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooo       oo           oooooooooooooooooooo
                                                   o    O     o                                                  
Voce di donna o d'angelo 
le mie catene ha sciolto; 
mi vietan le mie tenebre 
di quella santa il volto, 
pure da me non pàrtasi 
senza un pietoso don! 
A te questo rosario 
che le preghiere aduna; 
io te lo porgo,
accettalo,
ti porterà fortuna; 
sulla tua testa 
vigili la mia benedizion.
 Voce di donna o d'angelo
English translation 
O voice of woman or angel
Who has freed me of my chains, 
My blindness forbids me 
The sight of your saintly face. 
Still you cannot leave me 
Without a pious offering. 
I offer you this rosary, 
Pray, accept it. 
With my prayers added 
It will bring you luck. 
May my benediction 
Be on your head.

HERE ARE DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE ARIA: Contraltos are quite rare nowadays, so the role of La Cieca is often sung by a mezzo-soprano. Here is Caterina Secchi singing the role.

We may be able to find some contraltos in some older recordings:

Here is Margaret Harshaw singing the aria: CLICK here.


Here is mezzo-soprano Elena Cernei.


Here is the versatile Renata Scotto singing the role - the aria is shown from a live production and the aria is in full context here with the story. We are also helped along with subtitles. Great production!


This concludes Contralto Tuesday.

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1 comment:

  1. Um, that's Gioconda that Scotto is singing, of course. Margarita Lilowa is singing La Cieca. http://operasonyoutube.blogspot.com/2012/02/ponchielli-la-gioconda-1979-san.html

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