Clara Petrella is another singer whom I didn’t know. I found her by perusing the Internet. She had an enormous voice, with something like an explosion of sound occurring when she hit high notes. We just don’t have such big, well-produced voices today. I could go into the reasons as to why I think this is the state of affairs, but that is not what this blog is about. The purpose of the blog is to demonstrate what singing and instrumentalism was and could be again. Please enbjoy Clara Petrella.
Puccini, Madama Butterfly, Butterflies entrance
VOCE DI RAGAZZE
Ah! ah!
Quanto cielo!
Quanto mar!
VOCE DI BUTTERFLY
Ancora un passo or via.
VOCE DI RAGAZZE
Come sei tarda.
VOCE DI BUTTERFLY
Aspetta.
VOCI DI RAGAZZE
Ecco la vetta.
Guarda, guarda quanti fior!
VOCE DI BUTTERFLY
Spira sul mare e sulla terra
un primaveril soffio giocondo.
SHARPLESS
O allegro cinquettar di gioventù.
VOCE DI BUTTERFLY
Io sono la fanciulla
più lieta del Giappone,
anzi del mondo.
Amiche, son venuta
al richiamo d’amor…
D’amor venni alle soglie
ove s’accoglie il bene
di chi vive e di chi muor.
VOCI DI RAGAZZE
Gioia a te sia, dolce amica,
ma pria di varcar
la soglia che t’attira
volgiti e mira
quanto cielo, quanti fiori,
quanto mar; mira
le cose tutte che ti son sì care.
BUTTERFLY
Siam giunte.
(Vede il gruppo di uomini e riconosce Pinkerton. Chiude
subito l’ombrellino e mostra Pinkerton alle sue
amiche.)
B. F. Pinkerton. Giù.
LE AMICHE
Giù.
Puccini, Madame Butterfly, Butterfly’s entrance
GIRLS’ VOICES
Ah! Ah!
What an expanse of sky!
What an expanse of sea!
VOICE OF BUTTERFLY
Just one more step now…
GIRLS’ VOICES
How slow you are!
VOICE OF BUTTERFLY
Wait.
GIRLS’ VOICES
Here we are at the summit!
Look, just look at all the flowers!
VOICE OF BUTTERFLY
Over land and sea there floats
a joyous breath of spring.
SHARPLESS
Oh, the gay chatter of youth!
VOICE OF BUTTERFLY
I am the happiest
girl in Japan,
or rather,in the whole world.
Friends, I have come
at the call of love…
I have come to the portals of love
where is gathered the happiness
of all who live and die.
GIRLS’ VOICES
Joy to you, sweet friend,
but before crossing
the threshold which draws you,
turn and look at
the things which you hold dear,
look at all that sky,
all those flowers and all that sea!
BUTTERFLY
We have arrived.
(She sees the group of men and recognises Pinkerton.
She closes her parasol smartly, and points Pinkerton
out to her friends.)
B. F. Pinkerton. Down.
GIRL FRIENDS
Down.
Puccini, Madama Butterfly, “Tu, tu, tue piccolo iddio”
Tu? tu? tu? tu?
Piccolo iddio!
Amore, amore mio.
Fior di giglio e di rosa.
Non saperlo mai…per te,
pei tuoi puri occhi
muore Butterfly…
Perché tu possa andar
di là dal mare
senza che ti rimorda
ai dì maturi
il materno abbandono.
O a me, sceso dal trono
dell’alto Paradiso,
guarda ben fiso, fiso,
di tua madre la faccia!
Che ten’ resti una traccia,
guarda ben!
Amore, addio, addio!
Piccolo amor!
Va, gioca, gioca.
Puccini, Madame Butterfly, “You, you, you, little idol of my heart”
You? You? You?
Little idol of my heart.
My Love, my love,
flower of the lily and rose.
Never know that, for you,
for your innocent eyes,
Butterfly is about to die…
so that you may go
away beyond the sea
without being subject to remorse
in later years
for your mother’s desertion.
Oh, you who have come down to me
from high heaven,
look well, well
on your mother’s face,
that you may keep a faint memory of it,
look well!
Little love, farewell!
Farewell, my little love!
Go and play.
Puccini, Manon Lescaut, “Sola, perduta, abbandonata”
Sola, perduta, abbandonata…
in landa desolata!
Orror! Intorno a me s’oscura il ciel…
Ahimè, son sola!
E nel profondo deserto io cado,
strazio crudel, ah! sola abbandonata,
Io, la deserta donna!
Ah! non voglio morir!
No! non voglio morir!
Tutto dunque è finito.
Terra di pace me sembrava questa…
Ahi! Mia beltà funesta,
ire novelle accende…
Strappar da lui mi si volea; or tutto
il mio passato orribile risorge,
e vivo innanzi al guardo mio si posa.
Ah! di sangue s’è macchiato.
Ah! tutto è finito.
Asil di pace ora la tomba invoco…
No! non voglio morir… amore, aita!
Puccini, Manon Lescaut, “Alone, lost, abandoned”
Alone, lost, abandoned.
in this desolate plain!
Ah, the horror of it! Around me the day darkens.
Alas I am alone!
And in the depth of this desert I fall –
what cruel torment! Ah! alone, abandoned,
a woman deserted!
Ah! I do not want to die,
no, I do not want to die.
So all is over.
I thought this would be a land of peace.
Alas! my fatal beauty
arouses fresh troubles,
they wanted to snatch me from him.
Now all my past rises up starkly
and stands vividly before my gaze.
Ah! It is stained with blood
Ah! All is over!
As a haven of peace I now invoke the tomb.
No, I do not want to die, I do not want to die, No, no, I do not want to die: love, help me.
Puccini, Manon Lescaut, In quelle trine morbide”
In quelle trine morbide,
nell’alcova dorata
v’è un silenzio, un gelido mortal –
v’è un silenzio,
un freddo che m’agghiaccia!
Ed io che m’ero avvezza
a una carezza voluttuosa
di labbra ardenti e d’infuocate braccia
or ho tutt’altra cosa!
O mia dimora umile,
tu mi ritorni innanzi –
gaia, isolata, bianca,
come un sogno gentil e di pace e d’amor!
Puccini, Manon Lescaut, “In those soft lace hangings”
In those soft lace hangings,
in that gilt alcove
there is a silence, a mortal chill –
there is a silence,
a coldness that turns me to ice!
And I who was accustomed
to a voluptuous caress
of ardent lips and passionate arms
now have something quite different.
Oh, my humble dwelling,
you again appear before me –
cheerful, secluded, white-walled,
like a sweet dream of peace and love!
Clara Petrella
March 28, 1914 – November 19, 1987
This text is taken entirely from Wikipedia, which is something that I don’t like to do; however, there is almost no information on Petrella on the internet.
Clara Petrella was an Italian operatic soprano, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, an outstanding singing-actress nicknamed the “Duse of Singers”.
Born in Greco-Milanese to a musical family, she was a descendant of composer Errico Petrella, and the niece of soprano Oliva Petrella. She studied first with her sister Micaela, and later with Giannina Russ. She made her debut in Alessandria, as Liu, in 1939.
She quickly sang throughout Italy, making her debut at La Scala in 1947, as Giorgetta in Il tabarro, she sang there regularly until 1962. She was particularly admired in the verismo repertory and contemporary works. She created many roles in opera by the following composers; Lodovico Rocca, Ildebrando Pizzetti, Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, and Renzo Rossellini.
Petrella had a beautiful spinto voice, combined with an explosive dramatic temperament, and she was compared to the great Italian actress Eleonora Duse. In the early 1950s, she made several recordings with Cetra, notably; Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly, Il tabarro, L’amore dei tre re, Zazà, and for Decca, she recorded Pagliacci. She also appeared on Italian television productions of Manon Lescaut and Il tabarro, in 1956.