Daniel Auber - Le domino noir - "Je suis sauvee enfin" (Magdalena Kozena)

Aubers operas were tremendously successful in the nineteenth century, but have hardly been performed in the twentieth at all. "Le domino noir", one of the most successful, clocked up 1,200 performances in Paris alone after its 1837 premiere, and was soon seen in London and in New Orleans. The story is a variation on the usual masked-ball romantic comedy: couple meet and fall in love without ever quite seeing each other, or finding out each others names. The twist to the plot is the fact that the heroine, Angele, is a novice at the convent of the Annonciades, about to take her final vows.

Angele, the heroine of Auber's delightful opera, is similar to Georges from Boieldieu's opera and to Chapelou from Adam's "Le postillon du Lonjumeau" (whose aria I'm going to post soon) in the fact that she, being the heroine of the piece, gets not one big aria but three full arias in each of the operas three acts (just like her male colleagues in their respective operas; is this just me or must the star performer in a French opera have such a large amount of solo opportunities), one of which is presented in this upload.

The narrative is as follows: Angele has finally managed to make her way to her Covent which she celebrates (just after she has entered the stage breathlessly) in a superb showpiece. The aria begins with a long narration for Angele, as she recounts all her troubles (almost as if to remind her audience of what has happened in the last hour of the opera), set to a simple running string bass line over which the heroine recounts her story; this section is repeated three times, each times resolved by a more profound melody as Angele evokes God to her side. After a short transition, we pass onto the second allegro section where Angele tries to reinstate her vow to God not to fall in love and to renounce her feelings for Horace. Again, the accompaniment is rather sparse which basically leaves the singer very much exposed, especially considering the sheer amount of ornamentation employed both by Auber and the elaborations the singer must add.

I have two versions of this piece, one of which comes from the full recording of the work with Sumi Jo in the title role but I decided to go for the present one as I feel that Magdalena Kozena's much more warm approach is better in showing us the character herself. Hope you'll enjoy :)!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Magdalena
• Kozena
• coloratura
• belcanto
• opera
• comique

[Meyerbeer1]

If possible: could you please upload "Connais-tu le pays?" with Magdalena Kozena? it's one of favourite arias!:)

[cantorandopera]

What a wonderful job she does on this piece of music. In general I am not a fan of Auber, although for the ballet it is ok.