The Magic of the Voice

Summertime
On October 10, 1935, George Gershwin published the score of Porgy and Bess the most famous American opera. One of the salient melodies form this work is Summertime. It traveled around the world to great acclaim. In 1971, Janis Joplin recorded her vision of this classic song and it has become an icon of original interpretation. This version is the one you will hear today. In this classic song, a woman is trying to comfort a child who is crying and perhaps we are all crying for Janis Joplin who died of an overdose at age 27 during the peak of her career.

Skylark
Hoagy Carmichael along with Johnny Mercer, published Skylark in 1941. His fame grew even more when he wrote Georgia on
My Mind. His songs are now included among the top expressions of American Standards.

Blue Moon
Blue Moon is a timeless American standard that has been interpreted by many famous singers including a favorite version sung by Billie Holiday. The song was written by the famous creative duo of Rodgers and Hart and it was published in 1934.

At Last
At Last was published by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren in 1941. After several versions, the most classic one became the version rendered by Etta James. This version was recorded in 1960 and included in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Silencio
Silencio is one of the most iconic boleros. It was published by Puerto Rican famous composer, Rafael Hernandez in 1932. It became a classic favorite. The song was rediscovered and gained great acclaim in the voice of Ibrahim Ferrer and Omaha Portuondo, of the Buena Vista Social Club troupe in 1997.

Marchita el Alma
Manuel Ponce is the prime Mexican composer. He left behind a large body of music, including popular songs, classical piano and classical guitar works. He started from humble beginnings in a small country town, Fresnillo, Zacatecas and came from a musical family. He then went on to Europe to study the latest musical currents. He returned to his native country to become the director of the National Institute of Arts in Mexico City. Marchita el Alma is one fine example of his Bel Canto compositions. This tender piece is about a young man who is expressing his love, but his loved one is interested in someone else. The score was published in 1915.

O Sole Mio
By Eduardo Di Capua and Giovanni Capurro, published in 1898.

This Neapolitan song became the darling of the entire world. It is a manifestation of the warm and passionate nature of the Italian people. O Sole Mio has traveled the world and brought joy to countless audiences in the voices of many famous tenors. It is simply an expression of the beauty of a sunny day, a celebration of life.

Una Furtiva Lagrima
An aria from The Elixir of Love by Gaetano Donizetti, published in 1832. In this opera, the poor peasant Nemorino is fooled by a charlatan and buys a fake potion that is supposed to make all women fall in love with him. Later one evening he happens to see his love interest, Adina crying in her balcony. She is almost unreachable to him, a high class pretty, young lady. In this aria he sings about her beauty and her intelligence. He believes however that with the potion he took, she has fallen in love with him. He believes she is crying for him when he sees a single tear running down her cheek. Such is the plot behind the famous aria, Una Furtiva Lagrima. It turns out in the outcome that he actually “gets the girl.” They become romantically involved.

La Fleur que tu M’avais Jettée
La Fleur que tu M’avais Jettée (The flower that you threw at me) is an aria from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet, premiered in 1875.

Don Jose is a Corporal in the Spanish civil guard in Seville. A public disturbance occurs in a cigar factory. Don Jose is ordered to arrest an insolent and strong-willed troublemaker, a gypsy woman named Carmen. As he is taking her to jail, she woos him with her charms. She promises to give him her love if he sets her free and she makes good on the promise. He lets her go free and as she leaves, she throws a flower at him. He is sentenced to jail for this transgression. In this famous aria, Don Jose expresses at first hate and disgust for the gypsy woman. But later realizes he has fallen in love with her. He keeps the flower as a relic of her love while he is in jail thinking of nothing else but the chance to see her again. Don Jose is in love with Carmen even against his will. In this aria he says that the flower she threw at him kept him company in the jail cell. When he is set free he goes back to Carmen, deserts the army, and joins a gang of outlaws. The gypsy woman dumps him for another lover, a famous “toreador”
(a bullfighter). In the last act of Bizet’s opera the jealous Don Jose kills the gypsy woman, his lover, a crime of passion.

Quando Me’n Vo’
Quando Me’n Vo’ (As I walk along) is an aria from the opera
La Boheme by Giacomo Puccini, premiered in 1896. Also known as “Musetta’s waltz” this classic favorite is the happy-go-lucky expression of a young woman who is walking along the boulevard enjoying herself. She sings of how all the young men are attracted to her. She is aware of the allure of her beauty and personality, and she brags about it. This is in contrast with the main character in the opera, Mimi, who is demure and shy.

O Mio Babbino Caro
O Mio Babbino Caro (Oh my dear Daddy) is an aria from Gianni Schicci, a comic opera by Giacomo Puccini. premiered in 1918.

Lauretta, a young girl is begging her father to let her marry her love interest, Rinuccio. She begs her father, “Please, Daddy, I beg you, let me marry him, and I will go buy the ring for the wedding. But if you don’t let me, I will go to the old bridge (Il Ponte Vecchio) and throw myself into the waters of the river Arno.” The setting of this comic and romantic opera is the city of Florence. In the end, the couple of lovers do end up together.

Amami Alfredo
Amami Alfredo (Love me Alfredo) is an aria from the opera La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, premiered in 1853. In Giuseppe Verdi’s masterpiece La Traviata (The fallen woman), Alfredo, a young son of a conservative family falls in love with a courtesan, Violetta. The couple run away together. Alfredo‘s father goes on a cross-country scavenger hunt until he finds his son. He tries to rescue him from the love of a fallen woman. The father speaks first to Violetta. He asks her to give up Alfredo for the young man’s best interest. He asks her to promise she will sacrifice her love for the family’s reputation and the common good. She agrees to do this. In the aria Amami Alfredo, Violetta is taking her secret final goodbye from Alfredo, without his knowledge. She only begs him to kiss her and love her. Opera can be an expression of feelings of betrayal, envy, passion, emotion, sadness, hatred and above all love.