Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1891):
Tacea la notte placida (cavatina)?Di tale amor (cabaletta)
(from Il Trovatore) (1853)
Text:  Salvatore Cammarano (completed by Leone Emanuele Bardare), 
after Antonio Garcia Gutiérrez?s play El Trovador 

Original Key/Recorded Key:  A-flat Minor
Standard Internal Cuts in This Recording:  
cavatina ends at key-change (?un ciel sembro?); 
cut from m. 32 of cabaletta to final piu mosso
Teach-Track begins:  m. 1
Accompaniment Track begins:  m. 1
Pianist:  Daniel Michalak

N.B.  The D-flat of ?dolci? (m. 18) is traditionally anticipated by a rise from C-natural to D-flat on the preceding ?-to? of ?muto? (m. 17).  (Likewise the D-flat of ?Gioja? [m. 49]).

To avoid having to sing an unflattering ?ee? vowel on a high B-flat, the words ?un trovator canto? are often substituted for ?e versi melanco?? in mm. 28-30, and ?ah? substituted for ??nici.?  (In mm. 61-62, ?ah? is substituted for ?la terra un?,? and ?si? for ?ciel?; the same in mm. 68-69, with ?si? on the G-natural.)  

In mm. 43-44, the text should read ?il nome mio,? not ?il mio, il mio.?

The cadenza in m. 69 is almost never performed as written.  The recorded history of this aria reveals a variety of possibilities, one of the most familiar of which is presented here.

The substitution of ?ah? for the first two statements of ?il cor? in mm. 16-17 of the cabaletta, while possibly defensible from a strictly vocal point of view, is not recommended.

The substitution of the small-print upper notes (B-flat, F, E-flat) for the end of the run preceding the final piu mosso is standard practice and is strongly recommended, unless (and maybe even if) you are that rare soprano with an extremely strong lower register.

Some sopranos sing the final trill on ?ah,? then catch a big breath and sing ?moriro!? on the last three notes, holding the final A-flat for 5 measures and cutting off with the orchestra.  This is recommended only if a) you don?t consider it to be in questionable taste; b) you can actually do it well; c) your conductor (or voice teacher, or record producer) lets you get away with it; and d) your ear doesn?t mind the passing dissonances it creates.


Notes © 1999 by Daniel O. Michalak