A guide to the recital that's taking over my life - and some Italian program notes

On Sunday, I will be giving my senior voice recital, so obviously, the only music I'm thinking about is the music I'll be singing for that.  My next few posts are going to be my program notes combined with the stellar professional performances from which I have drawn inspiration for my recital. Enjoy!

La Conocchia

While Donizetti is most famous for his operas, he did write many songs in quite a few different styles. The set of songs I’ve selected for the Italian portion of my recital were written in a ‘popular’ style and are considered canzone napoletana, Neapolitan song. All three are from a set of songs called  Nuits d'été à Pausilippe. Donizetti had a natural knack for writing these ‘street songs’, and perhaps that is because he wrote them near the end of his twelve year residency in Naples.

Neapolitan songs employ a simple meter, and are almost always about love or the loss of it. These three songs are no exception. I wanted to begin the recital with a with a light,informal, and fun piece. Notice in La Conocchia how the stage is set for an exciting romance to blossom.. in a rather unexpected way.

A Mezzanotte

While most Neapolitan songs are in ¾ time, A Mezzanotte uses a duple meter perhaps to give the listener a sense of tip-toeing in secret to visit a love in the middle of the night. This song is playful and innocent in the way it shifts between major and minor tonality as the subject matter changes.

Me Voglio Fa’na Casa

In three short verses, a young dreamer imagines her future with the one she loves in a lavish house by the sea. As in A Mezzanotte, tonality switch from major to minor for just one verse, a common practice in Neapolitan song.