Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901):
Sul fil d?un soffio etesio (Nannetta?s aria)
(from Falstaff) (1893)
Text: Arrigo Boito, after William Shakespeare?s plays
The Merry Wives of Windsor and King Henry IV
Original Key/Recorded Key: A Major
Teach-Track begins: m. 1
Accompaniment Track begins: m. 1
Pianist: Daniel Michalak
N.B. The inexplicably fast metronome marking of quarter-note = 63 is best explained as being a printer?s error: the correct tempo is actually triplet quarter note (i.e., every 4 sextuplets) = 63, which works out to quarter-note = 42.
Singers (and perhaps even conductors) are encouraged to feel the first 4 measures of this piece as 6 measures of 2/4 (likewise mm. 24-27 of the come prima).
In the opera itself, this aria concludes not with a ritardando, but with an accelerando.
The A-natural on beat 3 of m. 23 (piano, RH) should be preceded by grace-notes (A-B-A) like those preceding beat 2.
Notes © 1999 by Daniel O. Michalak
Sul fil d'un soffio etesio
On the breath of breeze Ethesian
scorrete, agili larve;
scurry, agile ghosts;
fra i rami un baglior cesio
among the branches a glow silver-white
d'alba lunare apparve.
of the rising moon has appeared.
Danzate! E il passo blando
Dance! And may the gentle steps
misuri un blando suon,
measure a gentle sound,
la magiche accoppiando carole alla canzon.
The magic combining dances with the song.
Erriam sotto la luna scegliendo fior da fiore;
Let us wander beneath the moon selecting flower by flower;
ogni corolla in core porta la sua fortuna.
Each pedal in the heart bears its own good luck.
Coi gigli e le viole scriviam de' nomi arcani;
With lilies and violets let us write some names unknown;
dalle fatate mani germoglino parole...
from our enchanted hands let blossom words...
parole alluminate di puro argento e d'or...
words illuminated with pure silver and gold...
carmi e malìe.
incantations and charms.
Le fate hanno, per cifre, i fior.
The faires have, for initials, the flowers.