IL TROVATORE IS SIMPLY SO RICH IN MEMORABLE TUNES AND THRILLING VOCAL DEMANDS THAT ITS MUSIC TENDS TO OVERSHADOW ITS DRAMA. Does the libretto deserve the ridicule that has so often been lavished on it? Admittedly, the plot device of Azucena’s mistakenly burning the wrong baby strains belief to the breaking point, but otherwise, everything makes sense. The situations of the characters are vivid, the motivations strong. I believe we serve an opera by taking its libretto seriously, not as literature per se, perhaps, but as a libretto. “Tacea la notte” may be a display piece for vocalism, but its vocal demands stem from the shifting moods of the text.
The entire Andantino is a narrative of past events. But the intensity of the musical setting suggests that, as Leonora recounts her first meeting with Manrico, the troubadour, she relives it as though it were in the present. The opening describes the calm of the night. The text here should be, as per the orchestra score, “lieto e pieno”—the moon’s silvery face is cheerful and full, rather than “appieno” as in some editions. Leonora’s calm, however, is dispelled when she hears the serenade. The singer should not allow herself simply to be drawn along by the “animando un poco” of the accompaniment—the indication should seem to be the result of her surprise and excitement—therefore, she should lead this acceleration. The marking of the section that follows, poco piú animato, con espansione, may seem strange—why would you move something if the desired effect it to “expand” it? But the marking is in fact very canny—the change from the faster note values and pitch repetitions of the opening section to the long notes of “dolci s’udiro” can create the effect of a long, expanded line—while the eighth notes are faster, the ear focuses instead on dotted quarter notes. These phrases are the first in the aria to be marked with “hairpins,” and the singer may enhance the effect of expansion by making the crescendo and diminuendo very sweeping and pronounced. The pianissimo at the first appearance of the words “e versi melanconici” is more effective if it seems the result of Leonora’s feeling (she has heard his voice for the first time!)—the sudden softness can convey a little erotic shudder.
I certainly believe that we should examine traditions critically because many traditions are simplifications. Those who can comfortably sing a phrase as written need not necessarily adopt a change simply because “it is done that way.” The traditional re-distribution of text at the end of the first verse of “Tacea,” however, is not simply easier, it also avoids a false accentuation: in the original text, the climactic B flat is assigned to the unaccented final syllable of “melanconici.”
The change is as follows. In the bar marked cresc., starting with the final eighth-note C, the words continue, one note per syllable, as “un trovator cantò,” the next four notes are vocalized on “ah,” and the words “un trovator cantò” are sung again, starting with F. This necessitates dividing the C into two sixteenth-notes—either two C’s or C and an E-flat. (In the second verse, at the parallel passage, one can likewise substitute “ah” for text, but here, no other changes are needed.)
Although the music to the second verse is a repetition of the first verse, Verdi’s few changes serve to intensify its effect. In the seventh bar, the text should read “un nome…il nome mio!” Remember that until Leonora hears her name, she does not know to whom the serenade is addressed. The sixteenth-notes and eighth-note rest set off the climactic realization that Manrico is singing to her. (The scores that give “il mio, il mio” as text here also incorrectly give the rhythm as all eighth-notes.) In this verse, the soft phrase “al cor…” is given a softer, sparser accompaniment than the parallel passage in the first verse. It may usually seem dangerous to sing softly in this middle range, which by nature is less penetrating than the “break” and above. Here, protected by the tactful accompaniment, one may dare a rapt murmur. The softer here, the more contrast with the soaring climax that follows.
When the aria is sung out of context, the removal of the material between aria and cabaletta obscures the sentiments of “Di tale amor…” Between these sections, Leonora’s confidant, Ines, has urged that the affair with Manrico be abandoned as dangerous. Thus, Leonora is not describing merely the strength of her love, but also her determination to pursue it at any cost. The phrase “S’io non vivrò per esso, per esso morirò,” (if I am not to live for him—for him I will die) in fact, sums up Leonora’s entire role. Breathing in the wrong place, within the poco più mosso (“S’io non vivrò [breath], per esso per esso morirò”) sacrifices the meaning of this important phrase. A breath can be comfortably taken between A flat and A natural, if the text “S’io” is assigned to the A natural. (Yes, I acknowledge that this does slightly change Verdi’s written distribution of words, but better to change the distribution of the text than the meaning of the text!) In the third and fourth bars of this same poco più mosso, the sixteenth-note rests shorten the second note of each pair of notes. Therefore, the rhythm of each beat is, in effect, an eighth-note slurred to a staccato eighth-note. It is easy to misread this notation and cheat the first eighth-note of each pair, which weakens the passage’s sense of determination. The tradition of broadening the following bar is not only consistent with the character’s insistence, but makes the subsequent run seem faster and more brilliant by comparison. Character and vocalism!
