Скачать или смотреть Alda Noni - Offenbach: TALES OF HOFFMANN, Doll Song, Torino 1951, High E-flat

THE SONGBIRD: Alda Noni (1916 – 2011) was born in Trieste, studying voice and piano there before completing her studies in Vienna. She made her professional debut in Ljubljana in 1937 as Rosina. She sang over a dozen roles at the Vienna State Opera from 1941 to 1947 including Susanna, Zerlina, Despina, Konstanze, Queen of the Night, Fiakermilli, Zerbinetta, Adina, Musetta, Liu, Violetta, Gilda, Oscar, and Norina. In 1944, Noni was chosen by Richard Strauss to sing Zerbinetta in a special production to celebrate his 80th birthday. She also appeared in London (1946), Glyndebourne (1949), and Paris (1951) before retiring from the stage in 1955 while still in her prime.

THE MUSIC: Did you know that Jacques Offenbach composed at least 100 works for the stage in the 34 years between 1847 and 1881? Yet only his masterpiece “Les Contes de Hoffmann” lives in the standard repertory, deservedly so. According to operabase.com, “Hoffmann” is the second most performed French opera in the world, after “Carmen.” The first of three fantasy lovers that the poet Hoffmann conjures in the story is Olympia. Initially she appears luminous to Hoffmann, but she turns out to be a mechanical doll. She only has one aria in the opera, "Les oiseaux dans la charmille," commonly referred to as the Doll Song. And what an aria it is -- an extremely popular and challenging coloratura showpiece. This ditty is so ubiquitous that it’s easy to overlook how clever and original it is: Offenbach ingeniously composed an intricate and precise coloratura vocal line to convey Olympia's wind-up doll characteristics, all with a bit of a wink. It's inevitably a crowd pleaser for sopranos who can display their technique and have a little fun at the same time. The aria has two verses -- the second is often decorated elaborately -- and almost always ends with an interpolated High E-flat in the standard performance key (occasionally the aria is sung in a lower key).