Gioachino Rossini - La donna del lago - "Mura felici" (Ewa Podles)

We start with a cavatina for contralto, Rosmunda Pe(i)saroni, from "La donna del lago".

Rossini was one of the few composers who seemed to have a special connection with the contralto voice. He frequently gave them both romantic and comic lead roles: Arsace, Malcolm, Andromache, Angelina, on one hand, and Isabella, Clarice, Rosina are just a few examples. In fact, Rossini added a role for contralto into almost all of his operas: to be precise, 21 out of 40 rossianian works feature at least a secondary role for this voice. Moreover, the music is often Rossini at his most exciting and inspired: the first thing that comes in mind are the roles of Rosina and Isabella, as well as the masculine parts of Arsace and Malcolm.

And yet, Rossini never had a particular "star" contralto. Only Pesaroni and Marcolini can be considered Rossini's "house contraltos": with three and five roles, respectively. Most of the time, we are talking about one role per a particular singer.

Surprisingly, though, sometimes the contralto role seems to be almost forced upon the opera; for example, Eduardo and, in fact, Malcolm almost seem a bit useless in their respective operas: both have two arias, a duet and a finale to sing, but in each case the role is dramatically meaningless, especially in "La donna del lago" where the main conflict is between the two tenors and soprano. Still, with such good music can one really complain?

When it comes to arias, a Rossini contralto is usually quite lucky, as the singer often gets two arias, more so than any other voice. For example, Arsace, Eduardo, Rosina and Isabella all have two arias in their respective operas. Malcolm is, as we have discussed above, no exception. I decided to upload the more exciting cavatina as it seems to me to sum up most of Pesaroni's attributes.

Pesaroni seems to have started as a soprano, but early into her career had contracted smallpox which left her face horribly scarred and turned her voice into a contralto. Since then she specialized in travesti roles, having created not only the role of Malcolm but also Almanzor in Meyerbeer's "L'esule di Granata". Still, two of the three roles Rossini wrote for her are women: Andromache in "Ermione" and Zomira in "Ricciardo".

The cavatina is gorgeous: starting with a pensive recitative, it soon strolls into a gentle aria where the music wonderfully mimics the meaning of the words (the most brilliant examples are the quiet first "Elena" or the longing words "Death would come as a savior, if Elena wasn't mine"); finally, we get a well-known cabaletta with florid lines and very difficult leaps into the stratosphere (incidentally, is it just me or does the bass line sound extremely similar to Semiramide's own cabaletta?). Basically, this one is a classic.

Unlike the other singers, Pesaroni, partially because she only premiered three roles for Rossini, has few "specialists" (meaning a person who sings her roles quite often: for example, David - Matteuzzi; Galli - Ramey). Though a few can be singled out: Marilyn Horne and, perhaps, Lucia Valentini-Terrani.

Choosing a rendition to best represent the aria was a very difficult thing to actually do. I have about seven different versions of this cavatina, and all of them have their merits. But, for me, only Ewa Podles with her secure and expressive vocalism offers a true portrait of the young highlander. Enjoy :)!

P.S. On an interesting note, Pisaroni is said to have sung her cavatinas wearing a mask or with her back facing the audience before allowing them to see her face, thus winning them over by her phenomenal singing and not her looks.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Pesaroni
• Pisaroni
• Rossini
• coloratura
• la
• donna
• del
• lago

[serRudyll]

Can someone explain me why this is considered a cavatina and not a rondo? Don't give me thumbs down, I just want to learn something.

[LindoroRossini]

The word "cavatina" is used to describe both a relatively small/one-sectioned aria (such as Barbarina's cavatina in "Le nozze di Figaro") or, as it usually the case of romantic opera, an entrance aria of a character (the present piece being a good example). A rondo, if we discard its meaning as a musical form where the main theme alternates with contrasting musical episodes (Don Bartolo's aria in Rossini "Il barbiere")...

[serRudyll]

Thanks! I was only familiar with the cavatina definition like in "L'ho perduta". I didn't know a long aria could be considered a cavatina as well. I thought it was a rondo because it was rather long and slow at the beginning and fast with coloratura towards the ending...

[LindoroRossini]

Don't mention it :). It is actually up to a composer to note how the piece is to be named which can lead to quite a lot of confusion: for example, what characteristics can we use to distinguish a duet and a duettino? Things are even worse when we begin noting independent pieces in an opera: in "La donna", for example, the important Second Act terzet could be considered as two independent movements (a duet leading to a terzet) or as just one large-scale number. Again, the composer decides :).

[LindoroRossini]

...is often used to describe a particularly elaborate (often penultimate) aria: Elena's "Tanti affetti" from the same opera is an example of this, though it does not feature the rondo musical form itself. These terms are, however, rather liberally used by composers.

[federricoilgrande]

Finalmente una vera voce di contralto, omogenea e piena ! Stupenda performance !! Grazie per averla postata ::))

[skitzo429]

Cavatinas are just introductory arias where a character makes their first stage appearance and is introduced to the audience, generally. In symphonic forms rondos are usually the last movement of symphonies or cocnerti, where a principal theme is alternated with contrasting episodes to form a whole movement. In opera however, the contexts in which the label rondo are used are slightly different, cenerentolas big aria at the end of cenerentola is usually called a rondo, but its really theme/var

[tenorman123]

I know these are strong words, but I don't think there is another singer working today who can compare to the glory and technical mastery of Madame Podles.

[albertogrilo]

A true contralto. Perfect for Malcolm.