Opera Monday: Vissi d’Arte
The Opera: Tosca, by Giacomo Puccini, libretto (lyrics) by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, after a play by Victorien Sardou. Premiered at the Teatro Costanzi, Rome, January 14, 1900.
The Artist: Maria Callas (b. Dec. 2, 1923, d. Sept. 16, 1977).
The Story: Floria Tosca is a famous singer in love with the painter Mario Cavaradossi, who has been taken prisoner by Baron Scarpia, Rome’s villainous police chief. Scarpia, who has lecherous designs on Tosca, has had Cavaradossi tortured to try to get the painter to disclose the whereabouts of his friend Angelotti, an escaped political prisoner.
In this scene from Act II, Scarpia has given Tosca an ultimatum: Submit to his lustful advances, or watch her lover die on the scaffold. In “Vissi d’arte,” Tosca sings of her devotion to her art and her faith, and wonders how God could permit such misery to befall her.
Why It’s Fabulous: Tosca is one of the most popular operas of all time, and can be found in the repertoires of almost every opera company in the world. It is the quintessential melodrama, combining intense emotional drama with a somewhat formulaic plot, but Puccini’s “shabby little shocker” (as musicologist Joseph Kerman famously dubbed it) features remarkably multi-faceted characters.
Tosca is generally considered part of the verismo (“realism”) movement in opera, which strove to represent characters and emotions drawn from real life. It was, in part, the operatic response to the naturalistic aesthetic that grew out of the work of novelists like Emile Zolá and playwrights like Henrik Ibsen in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Puccini is sometimes known as opera’s “Mr. Melody,” and wove lyrical arias and duets into the lush symphonic fabric of his operas. Tosca contains some of Puccini’s most memorable melodies, including two tenor showpieces, “Recondita armonia” and “E lucevan le stelle,” as well as the majestic (and ironic) “Te Deum,” for baritone and chorus, and, of course, the soprano aria featured here.
If Tosca is the quintessential melodrama, Maria Callas was the quintessential diva. Her offstage life was as tempestuous and drama-filled as any operatic heroine’s, and her early retirement and premature death only add to her legend. There is ongoing debate in operatic circles about the quality of Callas’ voice, but there is little argument that the dramatic intensity of her performances placed her in the pantheon of great singing actresses. Tosca was a signature role for Callas, and it is fortunate that a partial film record of her portrayal exists.
Libretto:
| TOSCA | TOSCA |
| Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore, non feci mai male ad anima viva. Con man furtiva quante miserie conobbi, aiutai. Sempre con fè sincera la mia preghiera ai tabernacoli salì. Sempre con fè sincera diedi fiori agli altar. Nell’ora del dolore, perchè, perchè, Signore, perchè me ne rimuneri così? Diedi gioielli della Madonna al manto, e diedi il canto agli astri, al ciel, che ne ridean più belli. Nell’ora del dolor, perchè, perchè, Signor, ah, perchè me ne rimuneri così? |
I lived for art, I lived for love, I have never harmed a living soul. Secretly, I have aided any unfortunate souls I have known. Always with sincere faith, I have lifted my prayers to the holy tabernacle. Always with sincere faith I gave flowers for the altar. Now, in my hour of misery, why, why, oh Lord, do you reward me thus? I gave jewels for the Madonna’s mantle, and offered my song to the stars, to heaven, to make them more beautiful. Now, in my hour of misery, why, why, oh Lord, why do you reward me thus? |
Recommended Listening:
Tosca (Giacomo Puccini) ~ EMI (1953); Callas, Di Stefano, Gobbi, Calabrese, Orch. del Teatro alla Scala, Milano/De Sabata
Tosca (Giacomo Puccini) ~ Decca (1962); Price, Di Stefano, Taddei, Cava, Vienna Philharmonic Orch,/von Karajan
