Pearl Fishers And Other Famous Operatic Duets

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Cat No: 8555797

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Release Date: 07 January 2003

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 747313579723

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: Pearl Fishers and Other Famous Operatic Duets

Description
The Pearl FishersFamous opera duetsThe operatic duet, particularly in Italian repertoire of thenineteenth century, assumed great importance, often in an established, formalpattern. Here great emotions of love or anger, friendship or rivalry, could begiven full expression. [1] The Pearl Fishers' Duet, from which the presentcollection takes its title, is from the 1863 opera Les p?¬cheurs de perles (ThePearl Fishers) by the French composer Georges Bizet. Set in Ceylon, the plotdeals with the love of Zurga, leader of the fishermen, and of his friend Nadir,baritone and tenor respectively, for the beautiful Le?»la, a priestess ofBrahma. In the first act duet Au fond du temple saint (In the depths of theholy temple) the two men recall the beauty of the girl they had once seen andwhose pursuit they had both sworn to abandon, to preserve their own friendship.Nadir and Le?»la are reunited, but their love, forbidden by Le?»la's vocation, isdiscovered and both are to be put to death, until Zurga decrees mercy. When theHigh Priest reveals Le?»la's identity, Zurga is furious, but later engineers thelovers' escape.Three duets are drawn from Giacomo Puccini's well knownopera La Boh?¿me (Bohemian Life), first staged in Turin in 1896. A group ofimpoverished young artists share a garret in the Latin Quarter of Paris. There,when the others have left to celebrate money one of them has earned, the poetRodolfo meets the little seamstress Mim?¼, who comes to ask for a light for hercandle. [2] The couple fall in love, expressed at its optimistic height in theduet O soave fanciulla (O sweet girl). Later the lovers part, theirrelationship contrasted with the stormy affair between the painter Marcello andhis coquettish Musetta. [5] In their garret once more Rodolfo tells Marcellothat he has seen Musetta riding in a carriage, In un coupe, and finely dressed,caring more for what money can buy her than for love. Marcello counters bytelling Rodolfo that he has seen Mim?¼, riding in a carriage, dressed up like aqueen. Both men are secretly still in love and treasure keepsakes from theirmistresses. This, the fourth act, ends with the return of Mim?¼, now dying ofconsumption, and her death in Rodolfo's arms. The third act had suggested thepossible outcome. Outside a tavern by a toll-gate entrance to Paris, Mim?¼ hascome to look for Rodolfo. [8] She greets Marcello, Speravo di trovarti qui (Ihoped to find you here). He tells her how he earns money by painting, whileMusetta teaches customers in the tavern to sing. He advises her not to think ofRodolfo, who has left her out of jealousy. In the following passage Rodolfojoins Marcello, while Mim?¼ remains hidden, and explains that he had parted fromher because of her increasing illness and his inability to provide for her.For reasons quite unoperatic the Flower Duet from the operaLakme, by Leo Delibes, has won wide popularity. The opera, first staged inParis in 1883, is exotic in its Indian setting. Lakme, daughter of the Brahminpriest
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