To Sea At The Opera: Ten Aquaphilic Operatic Songs Sep 30 '08 (Updated Oct 01 '08)    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music The Dirtchamber Sessions, Vol. 1 by The Prodigy From $11 Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast From $8 The Bottom Line Ten opera songs for the sea-fettish music lovers.. Opera has a love affair with the surf and the sand. Yes, it does! Here are ten of the most sea-loving tunes those of us who have always wished to have been born a cute dolphin rather than a hairy ape can't get enough of: 1. ‘Soave sia il vento’ from Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlsOzgfrtjk Even a caveman who's been confined in a mountainous cavern all his life wouldn't have any difficulty smelling something salty in the air upon hearing this most descriptive of a smooth-sailing sonic seascape that is perhaps the most famous trio from Wolfgang Mozart's farcically amusing comic opera. The lyric that the trio of the sisters; Fiordiligi and Dorabella, and their old friend Don Alfonso sing goes; "Soave sia il vento, tranquilla sia l'onda..... Let the breeze be gentle, and the current tranquile, ed ogni elemento benigno risponda.......... and all elements smiles favorably, ai nostri desir............................... upon our wishes." And indeed, with music like this can even a moody Nettuno (Neptune) dare to disturb it? 2. ‘Tutte nel cor vi sento’ and ‘Pieta Numi, pieta!’ from Mozart’s Idomeneo Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6SnY-moQlw But perhaps I spoke too soon... If Nettuno wouldn't dare disturb the fond farewell of the lovely Fiordiligi and Dorabella (and the not so fond scheming of Don Alfonso) in the previous Mozart opera, he takes quite pride in conjuring up a magnificent sea storm in answering the mad-as-a-wet-menopausal-hen that is Elettra's towering rage by the sea. She wants Idamante.... badly... but the young prince has obviously shunned her for lowly and defeated Trojan princess Ilia. And when Elettra is angry, the whole world is obligated to know about it. Judging from all the howling (of both wind and people) in this marvelous acoustic sea storm of a scene, there are more than a few people who would rather that the batty Greek princess be a little less meteorologically electrifying! 3. ‘O patria!/ di tanti palpiti’ from Rossini’s Tancredi Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=69nEv__OVLE The marvelous orchestral introduction to Tancredi's ambitious entrance aria to his namesake opera is often played at such an accelerated tempo that the scene it is designed to depict is lost in the blur of a shipwreck. Done at the right tempo, however, it is a sublime sound portrait of a ship sailing into port at the end of a long voyage... with its masts occasionally brushed by wind-surfing sea gulls (listen to those oboe and viola!) and even eases off with gentle waves caressing the beach as our hero steps on to dry land and launches into his salutation of the homeland he had yearned to return to for so long. 4. ‘Johohoe! Traft ihr das Schiff’ from Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqpVnEZsAFQ If you had never dream of dropping all that you're doing now and run off to become a sailor (or a pirate), a good dose of Senta's ballad would do it for you. Being pressed by a song request, Senta, the naive young maid launches into the story of the Flying Dutchman, a cursed sailor who is condemned to roam the ocean for eternity (being allowed to come ashore only once every seven years) until the penalty is absolved by the love of a woman, whose agreement to marry him would allow him to remain on dry land... Naturally, young Senta fancies herself to be that woman... Which is probably why parents generally agree that there ought to be a law that young and impressionable teenagers are to be locked up in an attic until their brain has developed enough to contain their hormones! 5. ‘Nel furor del tempeste’ from Bellini’s Il Pirata Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=36OxgKezgs8 Actually the overture to this Bellini's opera is even more sea-delic, but I haven't found a sample clip of it, so this aria of the shipwrecked pirate Guatiero, which takes place very shortly after, has to do. Apparently, it's tough being a pirate... not only can't you stay ashore and marry the girl you love, you might just get hunted by her pirate-catching husband and running into some inhospitably rough sea while you're at it! 6. Scene 1 from Wagner’s Das Rheingold Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG3I9pzVdFw Das Rheingold is the 'prologue' opera to the three proper (and much longer) operas that make up Wagner's celebrated Ring Cycle. The opening scene finds us at the bottom of the mighty River Rheine with the tantalizing three Rheinemaidens teasing the ugly but cunning Neiberlung dwarf, Alberich, who jumps start the chain of events that would take 17 more hours of music for Wagner to bring to a conclusion. I think it was Louis XV who came up with the famous saying, though; "Après moi, le déluge!" actually applies more to old Alberich when it comes to melodramatic opera music! 7. ‘Cielo e mar’ from Ponchielli’s La Gioconda Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGFA5DN7ijg Amilcare Ponchielli's La Gioconda isn't staged much nowadays, but this splendid tenor aria remains a favorite at solo concerts. This is Enzo's song of longing for his beloved Laura as he awaits her approach while standing watch on his ship. With love in the air, not even the calm sea and the clear friendly sky could compete with the lovely Italian girl for this sailor's affection. Alas this is just about as rosy as it ever gets in this tragic opera. But it's splendid while it lasts! 8. Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd... All of it, pretty much Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dyZ_7cZqOY If Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier is the ultimate cult opera for the lesbians among us, Britten's Billy Budd is the same candy for our gay guy opera lovers. The story is taken from a late novel by Herman Melville about the prosecution of dashing Billy Budd (by the baddie Claggart) and Captain Vere's failure to intervene and avert the ensuing tragedy... Those who have had to sit through American Lit in college might recognize the theme (and appropriately substitute the characters as Christ, the Devil, and Pilate)... though the opera is not likely to find great following in church-going population since the relationship between the Christ figure and the Pilate is often...er... explicitly explored (ahem!). Nonetheless! The music of this thing will have you seasick by the final curtain.... And that's meant as a compliment! 9. ‘Mild und Leise’ (Isoldes Liebestod) from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSGbM2jvahY Actually, much of this opera, especially in the first and third acts, contains sea-theme motifs (the voyage of Tristan and Isolde en route to Cornwall and then Tristan's yearning for his beloved Isolde to return to him by sea). Though most staging of the opera today has Isolde dropping dead at the end of this scene, the libretto actually says that she is 'transfigured'... Whatever Wagner might have meant by it, to me, the music says she wades into the crashing waves of the North Sea and becomes one with the ocean. 10. ‘Sea Interludes’ from Britten’s Peter Grimes Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_O4b4FQbGI There are four of these introducing each scene of Benjamin Britten’s opera about the grumpy sea captain who treats everyone badly and reaps reciprocate treatments (ultimately more than his fair share) from the xenophobic townfolks who probably smell something funny about Grimes relationship with his male mates. The sea is ever-present in this opera, and the four Sea Interludes are often performed in orchestral concerts as stand alone suite of their own. So there you have ten of the many majestically watery moments in opera for the inner-tar among us. It is quite amazing what change of scenery the splendid music of the opera can conjure up in your head as you sit entranced by the sight and sound of it all in the auditorium or even to recordings from the stereo. Your gold fish demands a good change in acoustic waves every once in a while just to remind it of what it's missing, you know? Other General Ramblings: A Smorgish Saturday, Working In Nursing Homes During College, A Smaugish Rant, Favorite Classical Music, Yet Some More Favorite Music, A Few Musical Terms For Non-Musicians, Interview with Rock-Guitarist Rene Tornero G, Smorg's Music Playlist (May'08), Some Classical Music Numbers You Know, Some Operatic Music You Already Know!, Interview with Juliette Galstian Other Operatic Ramblings: A Few Words To Opera Newbies, Commandments for the Operafans, 10 Beginners-Friendly Opera, Some Friendly Diva Opera Arias (the ladies), Some Friendly Divo Opera Arias (the gents), Some Friendly Operatic Duets, Some Friendly Operatic Ensembles, Tips In Opera Reviewing, 15 Favorite Opera Youtube Clips (2007), Newbies' Guide to German & French Opera, Newbies' Guide to Operetta, Smorg's Shameless Diva Worship Manifesto

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