Once again, I have found a wonderful singer from the past. I had never heard of Rosa Pampanini. She was a lyric soprano who occasionally ventured into the spinto category (bigger, heavier roles). The vocal production is simply beautiful. There is no grabbing in the throat, and the voice is placed beautifully into the resonating cavities of the head. Her legato is wonderful (some say that when you have legato, you have everything).
Puccini, Madama Butterfly, “Viene la sera”
PINKERTON
Bimba, bimba, non piangere
per gracchiar di ranocchi.
PARENTI (lontani)
Hou! Cio-Cio-San!
BUTTERFLY
Urlano ancor!
PINKERTON
Tutta la tua tribù
e i Bonzi tutti del Giappon
non valgono il pianto
di quegli occhi cari e belli
BUTTERFLY
Davver? non piango più.
E quasi del ripudio
non mi duole
per le vostre parole
che mi suonan così dolci nel cor.
(Gli bacia la mano.)
PINKERTON
Che fai? La man?
BUTTERFLY
M’han detto che laggiù
fra la gente costumata
è questo il segno
del maggior rispetto.
SUZUKI (dentro la casa)
E Izaghi ed Izanami sarundasico,
e Kami, e Izaghi,
ed Izanami sarundasico, e Kami.
PINKERTON
Chi brontola lassù?
BUTTERFLY
È Suzuki che fa
la sua preghiera seral.
PINKERTON
Viene la sera.
BUTTERFLY
E l’ombra e la quiete.
PINKERTON
E sei qui sola.
BUTTERFLY
Sola e rinnegata!
Rinnegata… e felice!
PINKERTON
(batte le mani. I servi accorrono.)
A voi, chiudete.
BUTTERFLY
Sì, sì, noi tutti soli…
E fuori il mondo…
PINKERTON
E il Bonzo furibondo!
BUTTERFLY
Suzuki, le mie vesti.
(Suzuki le porta una veste bianca e l’aiuta a metterla,
poi se ne va.)
SUZUKI
Buona notte.
BUTTERFLY
Quest’obi pomposa
di scioglier mi tarda…
Si vesta la sposa
di puro candor.
Tra moti sommessi
sorride e mi guarda.
Celarmi potessi!
Ne ho tanto rossor!
E ancor l’irata voce
mi maledice…
Butterfly rinnegata,
rinnegata… e felice.
PINKERTON
Con moti di scoiattolo,
i nodi allenta e scioglie!
Pensar che quel giocattolo
è mia moglie! Mia moglie!
Ma tal grazia dispiega
ch’io mi struggo
per la febbre
d’un subito desìo.
(Pinkerton s’avvicina a Butterfly, che ha finito di
vestirsi.)
Bimba dagli occhi pieni di malia
ora sei tutta mia.
Sei tutta vestita di giglio.
Mi piace la treccia tua bruna
fra candidi veli.
BUTTERFLY
Somiglio la dea della luna,
la piccola dea della luna
che scende la notte
dal ponte del ciel.
PINKERTON
E affascina i cuori…
BUTTERFLY
…E li prende, e li avvolge
in un bianco mantel.
E via se li reca
negli alti reami.
PINKERTON
Ma intanto finor non m’hai detto,
ancor non m’hai detto che m’ami.
Le sa quella dea le parole
che appagan gli ardenti desir?
BUTTERFLY
Le sa. Forse dirle non vuole
per tema d’averne a morir,
per tema d’averne a morir!
PINKERTON
Stolta paura,
l’amor non uccide,
ma dà vita, e sorride
per gioie celestiali
come ora fa
nei tuoi lunghi occhi ovali.
BUTTERFLY
Adesso voi siete per me
l’occhio del firmamento.
E mi piaceste dal primo momento
che vi ho veduto.
Siete alto, forte.
Ridete con modi sì palesi!
E dite cose
che mai non intesi.
Or son contenta. Or son contenta.
Vogliatemi bene, un bene piccolino,
un bene da bambino
quale a me si conviene.
Noi siamo gente avvezza
alle piccole cose,
umili e silenziose,
ad una tenerezza
sfiorante e pur profonda
come il ciel, come l’onda del mare.
PINKERTON
Dammi ch’io baci
le tue mani care,
mia Butterfly!
Come t’han ben nomata
tenue farfalla…
BUTTERFLY
Dicon ch’oltre mare
se cade in man dell’uom
ogni farfalla d’uno spillo
è trafitta
ed in tavola infitta!
PINKERTON
Un po’ di vero c’è:
e tu lo sai perché?
Perché non fugga più.
Io t’ho ghermita…
Ti serro palpitante.
Sei mia.
BUTTERFLY
Sì, per la vita.
PINKERTON
Vieni, vieni…
Via dall’anima in pena
l’angoscia paurosa.
È notte serena! Guarda:
dorme ogni cosa!
Sei mia! Ah! vien!
BUTTERFLY
Ah! dolce notte! quante stelle!
Non le vidi mai sì belle!
Trema, brilla ogni favilla
col baglior d’una pupilla.
Oh! quanti occhi fisi, attenti,
d’ogni parte a riguardar!
pei firmamenti, via pei lidi,
via pel mare…ride il ciel!
Ah! dolce notte!
Tutto estatico d’amor,
ride il ciel!
Puccini, Madama Butterfly, “Night is falling”
PINKERTON
Dear child, don’t cry
over that croaking of frogs.
RELATIONS (far off)
Oh! Cho-Cho-San!
BUTTERFLY
They’re still howling!
PINKERTON
The whole tribe of them
and all the bonzes in Japan
aren’t worth a tear
from your sweet, pretty eyes!
BUTTERFLY
Really? Then I won’t cry any more.
And I scarcely mind
their repudiation
because of your words
which echo so sweetly in my heart.
(She kisses his hand.)
PINKERTON
What are you doing? My hand?
BUTTERFLY
I’ve been told that over there
among well-bred people
it’s a sign
of the greatest respect.
SUZUKI (from inside the house)
Izaghi, Izanami sarundasico,
Kami, Izaghi,
Izanami sarundasico, Kami.
PINKERTON
Who’s that muttering in there?
BUTTERFLY
It’s Suzuki saying
her evening prayers.
PINKERTON
Night is falling.
BUTTERFLY
And darkness and peace.
PINKERTON
And you are here alone.
BUTTERFLY
Alone and renounced!
Renounced and happy!
PINKERTON
(claps; the servants run out.)
Come here and close up the house.
BUTTERFLY
Yes, yes, we are all alone…
and the world shut outside…
PINKERTON
And the furious Bonze.
BUTTERFLY
Suzuki, my clothes.
(Suzuki goes to a chest and gives Butterfly her night
clothes.)
SUZUKI
Good night.
BUTTERFLY
I long to take off
this ceremonial sash,
let the bride be dressed
in pure white.
Whispering to himself
he smiles and watches me.
If I could only hide!
It makes me blush so!
And still the angry voice
is cursing me…
Butterfly renounced,
renounced… and happy.
PINKERTON
With squirrel-like movements
she shakes the knots loose and undoes them!
To think that this little toy
is my wife! My wife!
But she displays such grace
that I am consumed
by a fever
of sudden desire!
(Pinkerton approaches Butterfly, who has finished
dressing.)
Dear child, with eyes full of witchery,
now you are all mine.
You’re dressed all in lily-white.
I love your dark tresses
amid the white of your veils.
BUTTERFLY
I am like the moon-goddess,
the little goddess of the moon,
who comes down at night
from the bridge of heaven.
PINKERTON
And captivates all hearts…
BUTTERFLY
…and takes them and folds them
in a white cloak.
And carries them away
to the higher regions.
PINKERTON
But meanwhile, you haven’t told me yet,
you haven’t told me you love me.
Does that goddess know the words
that satisfy burning desire?
BUTTERFLY
She does. Maybe she’s unwilling
to say them for fear of dying of it,
for fear of dying of it!
PINKERTON
Foolish fear –
love does not kill,
but gives life and smiles
for heavenly joy,
as it does now
in your almond eyes.
BUTTERFLY
For me you are now
the eye of heaven.
And I liked you from the first moment
I set eyes on you.
You are tall and strong.
You laugh out so heartily.
And you say things
I’ve never heard in my life before.
I’m happy now, so happy.
Love me with a little love,
a child-like love,
the kind that suits me.
Love me, please…
We are a people used to small,
modest, quiet things,
to a tenderness gently caressing,
yet vast as the sky
and as the waves of the sea.
PINKERTON
Give me your dear hands
and let me kiss them!
My Butterfly!
How aptly you were named,
fragile butterfly!
BUTTERFLY
They say that overseas
if it should fall into the hands of man
a butterfly is stuck through
with a pin
and fixed to a board!
PINKERTON
There’s some truth in that;
and do you know why?
So that it shouldn’t fly away again.
I’ve caught you…
Quivering, I press you to me.
You’re mine.
BUTTERFLY
Yes, for life.
PINKERTON
Come along, come…
Cast all sad fears
out of your heart!
The night is clear! See,
all things sleep!
You are mine! Oh, come!
BUTTERFLY
Oh, lovely night! What a lot of stars!
Never have I seen them so beautiful!
Every spark twinkles and shines
with the brilliance of an eye.
Oh! What a lot of eyes fixed and staring,
looking at us from all sides!
In the sky, along the shore,
out to sea…the sky is smiling!
Oh, lovely night!
In a ecstasy of love
the sky is smiling!
Catalani, La Wally, “Ebben! Ne Andrò lontana”
Ebben! Ne andrò lontana
come va l’eco della pia campana,
là fra la neve bianca,
là fra le nubi d’ôr;
laddóve la speranza, la speranza
è rimpianto, è rimpianto, è dolor!
O della madre mia casa gioconda
la Wally ne andrà da te, da te,
lontana assai, e forse a te,
e forse a te, non farà mai più ritorno,
nè più la rivedrai!
Mai più, mai più!
Ne andrò sola e lontana,
là fra la neve bianca, n’andrò,
n’andrò sola e lontana
e fra le nubi d’ôr!
Catalani, La Wally, “Well then, I shall go far away”
Well! I’ll go far away
like the echo of a holy bell does,
there among the white snow,
there among the golden clouds,
there where hope, hope
is regret, is regret, is sorrow!
Oh from my mother’s happy home
Wally will go away from you, from you,
far far away, and perhaps to you,
and perhaps to you, she’ll return no more,
nor see you any longer!
Never again, never again!
I’ll go off alone and far away,
there among the white snow, I’ll go,
I’ll go alone and far away,
and to the golden clouds!
Puccini, Turandot, “Signore, ascolta!”
Signore, ascolta! Ah, signore, ascolta!
Liù non regge più, si spezza il cuor!
Ahimè, quanto cammino col tuo nome nell’anima,
col nome tuo sulle labbra!
Ma se il tuo destino doman sarà deciso,
noi morrem sulla strada dell’esilio.
Ei perderà suo figlio, io l’ombra d’un sorriso.
Liù non regge più! Ah!
Puccini, Turandot, “My Lord, Listen!”
My Lord, listen! Ah, sir, listen!
Liù no longer holds, the heart breaks!
Alas, how much I walk with your name in the soul,
with your name on your lips!
But if your destiny will be decided,
we morrem on the road to exile.
He will lose his son, I will have the shadow of a smile.
Liù no longer holds! Ah!
Rosetta Pampanini
September 2, 1896 – August 2, 1973
Rosetta Pampanini was an Italian soprano, particularly associated with Puccini roles, especially Madama Butterfly.
Pampanini was born in Milan. She began singing as a child, and later studied with Emma Malajoli. She made her stage debut in 1920, at the Teatro Nazionale in Rome, as Micaela, and in Turin in 1921, as Siebel. After further studies, she made her debut at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, as Desdemona, in 1923, and sang the following year Elsa in Bergamo. Noticed by conductor Arturo Toscanini, she made her debut at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, as Madama Butterfly, in 1925, and appeared there until 1937.
Afterwards she began singing at all the major opera houses of Europe; the Monte Carlo Opera in 1927, the Royal Opera House in London, from 1928 to 1933, the Liceu in Barcelona and the Vienna State Opera in 1930, the Lyric Opera of Chicago from 1931 to 1932, and the Paris Opéra in 1935. She also appeared in Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.
A great Puccini interpreter, especially as Madama Butterfly, she also sang Manon Lescaut, La bohème, Tosca, and Liu in Turandot, also Mascagni’s Il piccolo Marat and Iris, and Nedda in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci. Though essentially a lyric soprano, she occasionally sang a few spinto Verdi roles such as Leonora and Aida, and also Giordano’s Maddalena and Fedora.
She retired from the stage in 1946, and turned to teaching. Among her pupils was British soprano Amy Shuard. Pampanini died in Rovigo, aged 76