Giacomo Meyerbeer - Gli amori di Teolinda (1816) - Aria - "Diceva un giorno" (Julia Varady)

In February, 1812 Meyerbeer, having just turned twenty-one, arrived in Munich for rehearsals of his first opera, "Jephtas Gelubde". He was greeted with open arms by the first clarinetist of the company, Heinrich Joseph Baermann (considered at the time one of Europe brightest musicians), and his life-long companion, the singer Helen Harlas (whose vocal finesse was one of the reasons the success of the premiere was so justified). The friendship forged between the young composer and his peers led Meyerbeer who had studied the couple's gifts thoroughly during the years in between to compose in 1816 the cantata "Gli amori di Teolinda" set to a text by the libretist Gaetano Rossi for the duo.

Composing cantatas/concert arias etc. tailored to the specifics of a special singer or musician is a time-honored tradition of the musical world, Mozart being the most obvious example. Not only was the composer, when creating such a scene, blessed with the opportunity to break any kind of dramatical and musical boundaries that were the reality of the theater, the piece was usually written specifically for the soloist in question, making it a truly wonderful musical gift.

Narratively speaking, the piece, a pastorale, is rather stiff: the heroine of the title, the shepherdess Teolinda, is longing for the handsome Armidore who seems completely uninterested in her affection, leading her in the end to renounce her amorous intentions. Nothing truly special, then. But Meyerbeer's music, a delightful Rossinian fountain, is remarkably attractive and full of interesting touches: the dramatic recitatives, though rather unneeded, are well presented, indeed, Meyerbeer's German origins are obvious from the richness of the accompaniment of the whole work; the soprano's music manages to sound like, dare I say it, early Verdi, combining long lyrical lines with dexterous coloratura passages; most importantly, the nymph's lover is unusually represented by a solo clarinet, afforded a full "cavatina" that is actually longer than the soprano's opening number. From here on, the cantata deals mainly with the couple's virtuoso duets that provide true joy to the listener and the soloists.

In this case I mixed up two numbers from the work: the clarinet's "cavatina" and the aria/duet with variations that precedes the cantata's final. The first number, flanking either side of the variations (appearing between 2:00 and 6:00), despite being marked as an instrumental piece, is actually much more original, incorporating the soprano's anguished lines and even a short duettino between the soloists in its' opening section. The final allegro provides a vintage example of the belcanto ingenuity, alternating between legato and staccato to glorious effect. The variations, curiously set to a narrative text, relates the story of Clori who, not unlike Teolinda, confronts her lover's infidelity. Though the text might suggest a sentimental song, the variations, filled with enchanting ornamentation, are typically sunny. On a side note, Teolinda's final lines, "Answer me, Armidore", are a perfect transition from the number to the already quoted clarinet solo.

Julia Varady and Jorg Fadle provide a perfect combination of a youthful soprano voice and a bright clarinet sound. Hope you'll enjoy :).

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Belcanto
• classical
• bel
• canto
• romantic
• coloratura

[snufkin789]

@nadiagibaja

It is from William Adolphe Bouguereau, something like 'Girl tries to avoid Amor', in German it's 'Mädchen wehrt sich gegen die LIebe'

[nadiagibaja]

Hows the name of the picture?

[moghedien13]

this is very beautiful. nice to hear julia is something bel canto. btw her voice here and hallsteins have very striking similarities in tone.

[albeanmagz19]

lovely

[Ginii1]

It's so beautiful ! :-) Thank you for this tresure !

[harapalb100]

Thank you for posting this heavenly piece o f music!