Pieces of music from the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini have featured here from his Operas: La Bohème and Tosca, but nothing from Turandot or Madame Butterfly. But hold your hats because today we have an exquisite soprano aria from act one of the opera Turandot called Signore, Ascolta! (“My lord, listen!”) sung by no other than the American born Greek goddess Maria Callas. Her musical and dramatic talents led to her being hailed as La Divina (“The Divine One”). Recently I caught a sensational documentary on one of my favourite channels ‘Film and Arts‘ called Magical Moments in Music: Maria Callas & Tosca.
Puccini left the Turandot unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it premiered in 1926 after the music was posthumously completed by Franco Alfano.
To set the scene of Signore, Ascolta!:
Setting: The streets of Peking
Synopsis: Liù, Calaf and Timur are in the midst of a processional to the execution of the Prince of Persia who attempted to win the Princess Turandot by answering three riddles. If he had given the correct answers, he would have married the Princess, but the price for incorrectly answering them was death. During the processional, Calaf catches a glimpse of Turandot, falls in love with her immediately, and decides to attempt to answer the three riddles. Liù sings this aria to beg him not to risk his life for the Princess.
Below are Liù’s words which touch the Prince’s heart, and he replies with “Non piangere, Liù” (“Don’t cry, Liù”):
| Signore, ascolta! Deh!, signore, ascolta! Liù non regge più! Si spezza il cuore! Ahimè, quanto cammino col tuo nome nell’anima col nome tuo sulle labbra! Ma se il tuo destino, doman, sarà deciso, noi morrem sulla strada dell’esilio. Ei perderà suo figlio… io l’ombra d’un sorriso! Liù non regge più! ha pietà! | My lord, listen, ah! listen! Liù can bear it no more! My heart is breaking! Alas, how long have I travelled with your name in my soul, your name on my lips! But if your fate is decided tomorrow we’ll die on the road to exile! He will lose his son… And I, the shadow of a smile! Liù can bear it no more! Ah, have pity! |
References:
1. Signore, ascolta! – Wikipedia
2. Turandot – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
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