’O Sole Mio: Opera Arias and Neapolitan Songs
An enchanting evening of musical entertainment, ’O Sole Mio: Opera Arias and Neapolitan Songs, blends operatic classics with the best of the Neapolitan tradition of songwriting. Taking place at the Villa Fiorentino in Sorrento, this concert features a tenor and a soprano to provide the vocal part of the performance. They are accompanied by a pianist and a mandolin player and, together, they combine to immerse audiences in the magic and history of Italian music traditions. Since the concert is staged at one of the most fascinating locations by the Amalfi Coast, the early twentieth-century Villa Fiorentino, it gives music lovers a wonderful fusion of melodies and an enchanting setting.
The programme commences with a selection of pieces drawn from the music of Giuseppe Verdi. His ever-popular opera La Traviata constitutes the opening music, starting with È strano… sempre libera degg’io, an emotional aria for a soprano. Dei miei bollenti spiriti follows, a work scored for a tenor, while the two voices combine for the ensuing romantic and hopeful duet, Parigi, oh cara. After this, an instrumental piece by Pietro Mascagni is performed, his Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana.
Vocal music ensues with a rendition of Vissi d'arte by Giacomo Puccini. He wrote this aria for his much-loved opera, Tosca. Another Tosca aria is included during this part of the concert, this time E lucevan le stelle from the third act in which a tenor voice expresses moments of personal anguish. The famous Libiamo ne' lieti calici duet, another piece penned by Verdi for La Traviata, follows. Also known as Brindisi, or the Drinking Song, its memorable melody provides a jubilant atmosphere. The first part of the event concludes with Ndringhete ndrà, a fitting song of the Neapolitan tradition which, like Brindisi, is life-affirming. It also signals more of what is to follow.
After an interval, the second part opens with Tarantella di Piedigrotta written by Luigi Ricci. Better known as Tarantela Napoletana, it is the most famous song Ricci wrote for his opera buffa, La festa di Piedigrotta. Francesco Paolo Tosti's Neapolitan song Marechiare is next on the bill, a delightful tune with lyrics by Salvatore Di Giacomo which dates back to 1886. Fittingly for the setting, a rendition of Torna a Surriento is next, another Neapolitan song which translates as Return to Sorrento.
Marenariello and Comme facette mammeta are the next two songs, both written by Salvatore Gambardella with different lyricists for each. These are love songs, one a serenade while the other has a more flirtatious character. Funiculí Funiculá, perhaps the most well-known Neapolitan song of all, provides the concert's finale. Written in 1880 by Luigi Denza to lyrics by Peppino Turco for the inauguration of the first funicular railway for Mount Vesuvius, it has a lively rhythm that all concertgoers will take delight in.
’O Sole Mio: Opera Arias and Neapolitan Songs offers insights into Italy's operatic and popular songs in a fantastic venue in Sorrento that could have been made with such musical evenings in mind.