Donizetti - L'Elisir d'amore (Film Version, 1947)

Adina: Nelly Corradi
Nemorino: Gino Sinimberghi
Belcore: Tito Gobbi
Dulcamara: Italo Tajo

Grande Orchestra RAI
Direttore Giuseppe Morelli

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Atto I

Preludio e coro d'introduzione (0:12)
Quanto è bella, quanto è cara! (3:40)
Benedette queste carte! ... Della crudele Isotta (6:33)
Come Paride vezzoso (10:08)
Or se m'ami, com'io t'amo (12:52)
Una parola, o Adina... Chiedi all'aura lusinghiera (15:22)
Udite, udite, o rustici (21:22)
Voglio dire... lo stupendo... Elisir... Obbligato (27:44)
Caro elisir! sei mio! ... Lallarallarà ... Esulti pur la barbara (31:58)
Tran tran... In guerra ed in amore... (37:23)
Signor sargente, signor sargente (39:44)
Adina, credimi, te ne scongiuro (41:46)
Andiam, Belcore, si avverta il notaro (43:23)


Atto II

Cantiamo, facciam brindisi (44:59)
Poichè cantar vi alletta... "La Nina gondoliera e il Senator Tredenti" (48:49)
Venti scudi! ... Ai perigli della guerra ... Qua la mano (54:34)
Coro: Sarìa possible? (58:42)
[Dell'elisir mirabile] Serva umilissima ... Dottor diceste il vero (1:01:34)
Quanto amore! ed io, spietata! ... Una tenera occhiatina (1:05:06)
Una furtiva lagrima (1:09:05)
Prendi; per me sei libero... Sappilo alfin (1:14:47)
Alto!...Fronte!... (1:15:59)
Ei corregge ogni difetto (1:18:00)

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The Elixir of Love was the result of a commission from a panicked Milanese impresario in 1832. He needed a new opera to replace one which had fallen through, and who better to go to than Donizetti, the man who was known to churn out an entirely new opera in two weeks? The premiere took place on schedule on May 12, 1832. L'elisir d'amore was an instant hit, running for thirty-two further consecutive performances. Well over a century and a half later, it is still going strong--still funny, still melodious, and still bringing down the house.

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TITO GOBBI (1913 – 1984) was an Italian operatic baritone. He made his operatic debut in Gubbio in 1935 as Count Rodolfo in Bellini's La Sonnambula and quickly appeared in Italy major opera houses. Working at La Scala in Milan for the 1935–1936 season as an understudy, gave him a breadth of experience. In 1942, he debuted at the house in the role of Belcore in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'amore conducted by Tullio Serafin. It was under Serafin's guidance and direction that the young Gobbi prepared many roles, including some that would become crucial to his later career; these included Scarpia, Rigoletto, Simon Boccanegra.
Early in his career he appeared in a number of motion pictures between 1937 and 1959, including some filmed operas such as The Barber of Seville (in 1946 starring Ferruccio Tagliavini) as well a contemporary drama in 1946, Avanti a lui tremava tutta Roma (" Before Him All Rome Trembled") which featured Anna Magnani, the story of which intertwines the actions of the underground movement in Rome in 1944 against the Germans by a group of opera performers who are part of the Italian resistance, with their presentation of Tosca.
Gobbi was a close friend, collaborator, and admirer of Callas, and he was interviewed several times about their various stage collaborations, noting in his book that "with Maria it was not performing but living".

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ITALO TAJO (1915 – 1993) was an Italian operatic bass, particularly associated with Mozart and Rossini roles. In 1940, he joined the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where he sang regularly until 1956. He appeared with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 1942, as Leporello in Don Giovanni, a role he would sing numerous times during his career.
The war over, his career quickly took an international turn, with debuts in Paris, London, Edinburgh and Buenos Aires. In 1946, he made his debut at the Chicago Opera Company, and 1948 saw his debut at both the San Francisco Opera and Metropolitan Opera in New York (Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville, with Giuseppe Valdengo); his roles there included Figaro, Leporello, Don Basilio, Dulcamara, Don Pasquale, Gianni Schicchi, etc.
Although he made a specialty of comic roles, he sang a fair number of serious roles, notably Verdi's Attila and Banco, and Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov. .
Tajo made relatively few recordings, the most famous being the 1950 RCA Victor Rigoletto, with Leonard Warren, Erna Berger and Jan Peerce, conducted by Renato Cellini. He also recorded The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni for Cetra. He can also be heard in live broadcasts of Macbeth, opposite Maria Callas, conducted by Victor de Sabata.
In the late 1940s, he appeared in film versions of The Barber of Seville, L'Elisir d'amore, and Lucia di Lammermoor.

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