LSC-3113 RED SEAL

«STEREO

“HIS MASTER'S VOICE”

RATIC AND PERT ARIAS

HE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO ae eri ee tardar :

e il padre perdei

THE MAGIC FLUTE | Ach, ich fiihl’ |

* ILREPASTORE | _ L’amero, saro costante : Le

Stereo LSC-3113

RCA STEREO RECORDS may be played on any modern phono- LEONTYNE PRICE SINGS graph with a lightweight tone arm. You will hear excellent sound reproduction on a mono player and full stereo sound on a stereo player. MOZART OPERATIC AND CONCERT ARIAS

Side 1 Side 2

Ch’io mi scordi di te, K. 505 (10:41) The Marriage of Figaro Act IV: Giunse alfin il momento

Deh vieni, non tardar (4:17)

Il Re Pastore Act II: L’amero, saro costante (6:07)

The Marriage of Figaro Act II: Porgi amor (4:02)

Idomeneo Act II: Se il padre perdei (5:23)

The Magic Flute Act II: Ach, ich fiihl’s (4:17)

Bella mia fiamma, K. 528 (9:51)

If a record were to be called a labor of love it could be this album of Mozart’s music sung by Leontyne Price. These arias, conducted by Peter Herman Adler and dis- cussed by the undersigned, bring together three friends who hold much musical treasure in common and most of all, dedication to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ‘Io all of us he has given lifelong inspiration and from all nas evoked our best work. It is axiomatic that Mozart is good for the voice. It serves better here to consider the voice that is good for Mozart—specifically, that of Leontyne Price. ‘The sound and the quality are only the outline of what such a singer brings to Mozart. ‘There is deep temperamental affinity; an instinctive aristocracy of style that can only be inborn, not acquired; above all a matter of intuition that is intangible but abso- lutely requisite. Mozart was the most polished and sophisticated of composers, but also the freshest and most (seemingly) artless. It would be impossible to sing his music without a commanding classical technique. But this is a framework on which the artist effortlessly stands; she soars above it to give heart and tenderness, grace, spirit and style to every phrase. I use the word “phrase” with utmost meaning. The phrasing of Mozart’s melodic line marks the born classic singer. It is innate taste, not study, that tells a soprano how to turn a phrase of Mozart’s music, coloring the voice and its nuances on long imperceptible breaths. Instinct as well as skill sus- tains her voice in his imposing sostenuti, which must flow like cream and yet pulsate in the disciplined beat that relates his music to architecture. Versatility, which Mozart possessed beyond any other composer, is essential for the variations of mood and character and situation he poses for his sopranos. ‘This glows felic- itously in the art of Leontyne Price.

The seven arias in this album span 16 years of Mozart’s life, from the age of 19 (Il Re Pastore) to 35 (Die Zauberfldte), a few months before he died. ‘They are arranged not in chronological order but with an eye to the associations of Mozart's life. The first and the last are dramatic concert arias composed for two women who were among his dearest friends. The first, Ch’to mi scordi di te, was written for Nancy Storace, who created Susanna; it followed the completion and premiere of Figaro in 1786. The last aria, Bella mia fiamma, was an acknowledgement in Prague of the hospitality of Josefa Duschek and her husband, in whose charming house, the Villa Bertramka (today the Mozart Museum), Mozart lived during his work on Don Giovanni. The aria followed the first Don by six days. Both arias are farewells.

Some of the most fascinating glimpses of Mozart by a contemporary exist in the memoirs of Michael Kelly, the Irish-born tenor who created the parts of both Don Basilio and Don Curzio in Figaro. Alongside those of Lorenzo da Ponte, Kelly’s are the most intimate views of Mozart that we have except for his own letters. Kelly and his friends, the English composer Stephen Storace and his sister Nancy, were intimates of Mozart’s house in Vienna, where the hospitality was warm and the

punch flowed freely all during the composition and rehearsals of Figaro. All hoped that this would be the opera that would win for Mozart recognition and the appointment as Court composer for which he strived vainly all his short life. Transiently Figaro was a success; but only a few months later Mozart was back on his shelf, so despairing of hope that Kelly and the Storaces asked him to return with them to England, where they could use their influence in their own country to obtain a good post for him. Mozart longed to go, and asked his father Leopold to keep his children in Salzburg until he could become established in England. In a brutal letter Leopold refused. Mozart gave a farewell party for his friends and at

Library of Congress Card Number 70-750480

Peter Herman Adler conducting the

New Philharmonia Orchestra

Produced by Richard Mohr « Recording Engineer: Robert Auger

TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS ENCLOSED

it presented Ch’io mi scordi to Nancy, who sang it at sight to his accompaniment. He had inscribed it, ‘““Fiir Mlle. Storace und mich,” which explains the surprising

piano obbligato that enters after the recitative. The clavier was Mozart’s own instrument, and its dialogue with the voice moves one, mindful of Mozart’s situa-

tion, to the verge of tears. In no other instance does he seem to speak so personally. Bella mia fiamma derives from Mozart’s playful side. Legend has it that he had

promised an aria to Josefa Duschek, who is whispered to have been one of his flames—Nancy Storace too?—and that he procrastinated about it almost until the day he was to leave Prague after the triumph of Don Giovanni. Madame Duschek locked him in the garden-house, saying she would keep him there until he finished the aria. When he called that he was ready to come out, he held the rolled-up score

out of her reach, refusing to surrender it unless she could read it perfectly at sight —which she did. Prodigious Mozart, prodigious soprano.

The second and the fifth arias in order of arrangement, both from Figaro, prove the versatility of Leontyne Price. She sings the Countess’ “Porg: amor” (following the fine “Dove sono” in a previous album), inviting us to hope for the day she takes the part on the stage. Then she sings “Deh vient, non tardar,” which comes from the heart and the voice of a totally.different woman, Susanna, the ideal of lyric soprano roles, her music delicate, ingenuous, limpid. The ‘“Rosenaria,” as the Germans call this beloved song, is a bride’s avowal of happiness after the cynical, amorous tangles of Beaumarchais’ play are resolved. ‘Io sing two parts as different as the Countess and Susanna is not musically incompatible; the real art appears in the vocal coloration which paints a great, unhappy lady on one side of a canvas and a smiling peasant girl on the other.

In sequence, the third aria and the sixth come from the great classic period of Mozart’s youth. “Se il padre perdew” from Idomeneo is the austere side of the genius that won him acclaim as a boy from Italian Academicians. Much more moving is the extraordinary “L’amero, saro costante” from Il Re Pastore, unbe- lievable as the creation of a youth of 19. ‘To these ears this is sheer Mozartean beauty unsurpassed, putting Leontyne Price in the line of her immortal predecessors. ‘The nobility and grandeur of this music are matched by technical resources worthy of it.

Lastly, there is Pamina. Perhaps it is enough to note that the first Mozart I ever heard Miss Price sing was Pamina on the NBC Television Opera in 1956, After “Ach, ich fuhl’s’ 1 knew I had heard the most beautiful, naturally felt expression of the heartrending music in all my experience. Die Zauberflote has been given enough analysis, ranging from wise to foolish, to smother most works of art. Much of it remains in Many ways a mystery; but Mozart’s own feeling for it, calmly aware of

imminent death, is no mystery at all. He had turned from the glittering world of courts and palaces on which much of his music and all his Italian operas had been lavished, unappreciated, to compose a German Singspiel for a common people’s theater in a poor quarter of Vienna. Dying, he left a masterwork which opened the gates to the music of the next century. The piteous bewilderment of the young girl Pamina, beset with trials she cannot understand, is a thread of universal human experience, symbolic of yearnings and frustrations which give us deep insight into Mozart himself. The artist who senses this belongs in the initiate company of true Mozarteans, and we are fortunate to possess in Leontyne

Price the voice of this dedication. —MARCIA DAVENPORT

applies to this recording. TM(S) ® by RCA Corporation DYNAGROOVE" NE ae SE” IE)

Cover painting by Mike Ludlow

RE 2

© 1969, RCA Records, New York, N.Y. © Printed in U.S.A.

is the product of research and development assuring that RCA Records are as modern as the

latest advances in engineering and science.

hell

Oa ee eine SINGS MOZART OPERATIC

AND CONCERT ARIAS

Ch’io mi scordi di te

Ch’io mi scordi di te?

Che a lui mi doni

puoi consigliarmi?

E puoi voler che in vita—

ah, no!

Sarebbe il viver mio

di morte assai peggior.

Venga la morte.

Intrepida l’attendo.

Ma ch’io possa struggermi

ad altra face, ad altr’oggetto donar gli affetti miei,

come tentarlo?

Ah, di dolor morrei!

Non temer, amato bene,

per te sempre il cor sara.

Pit non reggo a tante pene,

Palma mia mancando va.

Tu sospiri? O duol funesto!

Pensa almen che istante é questo!

Non mi posso,

o Dio, spiegar.

Non temer, amato bene, ecc.

Stelle barbare, stelle spietate!

Perché mai tanto rigor?

Alme belle, che vedete

le mie pene in tal momento,

dite voi se egual tormento

puo soffrir un fido cor?

Alme belle, che vedete, ecc.

Stelle barbare, stelle spietate, ecc.

Non temer, amato bene, ecc.

© 1969, RCA Records, New York, N. Y.

And I—forget you?

Can you counsel me

to give myself to him?

And can you wish that

so long as I live—ah, no! My life would be

far worse than death.

Let death come.

I await it intrepidly.

But to consume myself

in another passion,

to give my love to another—

how could I even try?

Ah, I should die of grief!

Do not fear, my love,

my heart shall ever be yours. I cannot stand such anguish,

my soul is languishing.

You sigh? O dismal grief! Think of what this moment means!

O God, I cannot

put my thoughts into words.

Do not fear, my love, etc.

Barbarous stars! Pitiless stars!

Why are you so harsh toward me?

Beautiful souls, you who see

my anguish in this moment,

tell me if a faithful heart

can suffer such torment.

Beautiful souls, you who see, etc.

Barbarous stars, etc.

Do not fear, my love, etc.

Translation by Dale McAdoo

The Marriage of Figaro

Porgi, amor, qualche ristoro

al mio duolo, a’ miei sospir.

O mi rendi il mio tesoro

o mi lascia almen morir.

Porgi, amor, ecc.

CounNrTESS

O bring, love, some relief

to my sorrow, to my sighing.

Return the love that once was mine

or at least let me die.

O bring, love, etc.

Idomeneo

Se il padre perdei, la patria, il riposo, tu padre mi sei.

Soggiorno amoroso 5 é Creta per me.

Or pid non rammento

Pangoscie, gli affanni; or gioia e contento

compenso ai miei danni

il cielo mi dié.

Inia

Even if I have lost my father, my homeland, my peace,

you are a father to me.

For me Crete

is a loving haven.

Now I no longer remember

my anguish, my sorrows;

now, to repay me for my suffering,

heaven has given me

joy and happiness.

—Dale McAdoo

The Magic Flute

Ach, ich fiihl’s, es ist verschwunden,

ewig hin der Liebe Gliick!

Nimmer kommt ihr, Wonnestunden,

meinem Herzen mehr zurtick!

Sieh, Tamino, diese Traénen,

fliessen, Trauter, dir allein!

Fuhlst du nicht der Liebe Sehnen,

so wird Ruhe im Tode sein.

PAMINA

Ah, I feel it—it has vanished,

the joy of love is forever gone!

Hours of rapture, never shall ye

come to my heart again!

See, Tamino, how these tears

flow, my love, for you alone!

If you did not feel love’s yearning,

then only in death would my peace lie.

— Dale McAdoo

Side 2

The Marriage of Figaro

Giunse alfin il momento

che godr6 senza affanno in braccio all’idol mio.

Timide cure, uscite dal mio petto,

a turbar non venite il mio diletto!

Oh, come par che all’amoroso foco

Vamenita del loco,

la terra e il ciel risponda!

Come la notte i furti miei seconda!

. Deh vieni, non tardar, o gioia bella,

vieni ove amore per goder t’appella, finché non splende in ciel

notturna face,

finché l’aria é ancor bruna e il mondo tace.

Qui mormora il ruscel.,

qui scherza l’aura,

che col dolce sussurro

il cor ristaura.

Qui ridono i fioretti e l’erba é fresca;

ai piaceri d’amor qui tutto adesca.

Vieni, ben mio,

tra queste piante ascose

ti vo’ la fronte

incoronar di rose.

SUSANNA

At last the moment has come,

of carefree rapture to be enjoyed

in my idol’s arms.

Timid cares, leave my breast,

do not come to disturb my delight! Oh, how it seems as if my amorous fire

were answered by this pleasant place,

by earth, by heaven itself!

How the night abets my furtive designs!

Ah come, do not delay, my lovely joy,

come where love calls you to delight so long as the nocturnal torch

shines in the sky,

while the air is dark

and the world is still.

Here the brook murmurs,

here the breezes play,

restoring the heart

with their sweet whispering. Here the flowerets laugh,

the grass is cool;

here everything invites us

to the joys of love.

Come, my love—

among these hidden trees I would deck your brow

with a crown of roses.

— Dale McAdoo

Il Re Pastore

L’amer6, sar6 costante,

fido sposo e fido amante, sol per lei sospirerd. In si caro e dolce oggetto

la mia gioia, il mio diletto,

la mia pace io trovero.

L’amer6, sar6 costante, ecc.

AMINTA

I will love her, I will be constant,

a faithful husband and faithful lover,

I shall sigh only for her.

In so precious and sweet a thing my joy, my delight,

my peace will I find.

I will love her, etc.

Bella mia fiamma

Bella mia fiamma, addio!

Non piacque al cielo di renderci felici.

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My beautiful love, farewell!

Heaven has not deigned

to grant us happiness.

Ecco reciso, prima d’esser compito,

quel purissimo nodo

che strinsero fra lor gl’animi nostri con il solo voler.

Vivi! Cedi al destin! Cedi al dovere! Della giurata fede

la mia morte t’assolve;

a pil degno consorte—o pene !—

unita, vivi pit lieta

e pit felice vita.

Ricordati di me,

ma non mai turbi d’un infelice sposo

la cara rimembranza il tuo riposo.

Regina, io vado ad ubbidirti.

Ah, tutto finisca il mio furor

col morir mio.

Cerere, Alfeo, diletta sposa, addio!

Resta, o cara!

Acerba morte mi separa,

o Dio, da te.

Prendi cura di sua sorte,

consolarla almen procura.

Vado, ahi lasso! addio per sempre!

Quest ’affanno, questo passo

é terribile per me.

Resta, o cara, ecc.

Ah, dov’é il tempio, dov’é l’ara?

Vieni, affretta la vendetta.

Questa vita cosi amara

piu soffribile non é.

Dov’é il tempio, ecc.

Behold, sundered before being tied, that purest knot

with which our wills alone joined our souls together.

Live! Yield to fate! Yield to duty!

My death absolves you

from your oath;

alas, united to more worthy a consort,

live a happier,

more joyous life.

Remember me,

but never let the dear memory of an unhappy husband disturb your rest. Queen, I go forth to obey you. Ah, let all my fury

end with my death.

Ceres, Alfeo, sweet wife, farewell!

Remain, my dear!

Bitter death separates me,

oh, God, from you.

Have care for her fate,

try at least to console her.

I go, alas—farewell forever! This anguish, this passing,

is horrid for me.

Remain, my dear, etc.

Ah, where is the temple, the altar?

Come, hasten the vendetta.

This bitter life

can no longer be endured. Where is the temple, etc.

— Dale McAdoo

Other RCA recordings by Leontyne Price: Mozart: Cosi fan tutte with Sherrill Milnes, Tatiana Troyanos, George Shirley, Judith Raskin, Ezio Flagello; Erich Leinsdorf/New Philharmonia Orch.. .LSC-6416

Barber: Two Scenes from “Antony and Cleopatra,” Op. 40; Knoxville: Sum- mer of 1915, Op. 24 Thomas Schippers/New Philharmonia Orch.. . .LSC-3062

Leontyne Price, Prima Donna—Great Soprano Arias from Purcell to Barber Francesco Molinari-Pradelli . LSC-2898

Leontyne Price, Prima Donna, Vol. 2—Great Soprano Arias from Handel to Puccini Francesco Molinari-Pradelli . LSC-2968

Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera with Reri Grist, Shirley Verrett, Carlo Bergonzi, Robert Merrill; Erich Leinsdorf . LSC-6179

Verdi: Ernani with Carlo Bergonzi, Mario Sereni, Ezio Flagello; Thomas Schippers gee tk ciate lars MUNN ri oh TaD . LSC-6183

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