# Best recitatives?



## russetvelvet (Oct 14, 2016)

I don't know if we've been down that path before (a quick search returns nothing), but the idea just popped up. Normally I don't care much about recitatives, but some really feel inseparable from the ensuing arias in terms of both emotions, and more importantly, even musicality. There're a few I can think of now:

"Alzati" before "Eri tu";
"E Susanna non vien" before "Dove sono"
"Recitar!" before "Vesti la giubba"

What are your thoughts?


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

One of my favorite recitatives is "Mein Angst und Not" from Bach's cantata Ich steh mit einem Fuss im Grabe, BWV 156. Hauntingly beautiful, with dramatic chord progressions and dissonances.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

From the top of my head, also "E Susanna non vien" before "Dove sono".


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

I love Dramatic recitatives. Lady Macbeth's "Ambizioso spirto", Abigaille's "Ben io t'invenni", Elvira's "Surta è la notte" and of course Norma's "Sediziose voci":


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

If we may go beyond opera, a favorite of mine is "Thy rebuke hath broken his heart" from Handel's _Messiah._


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## ma7730 (Jun 8, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> If we may go beyond opera, a favorite of mine is "Thy rebuke hath broken his heart" from Handel's _Messiah._


Or, "Thus saith the lord, the lord of hosts".


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Good topic! Recitatives don't get nearly the recognition they deserve.

One of my favorites is the recitative beginning "O dove fuggo mai," before Riccardo's Act I aria in Bellini's I PURITANI. Another would be the exchange between the title character and Alidoro, prior to his aria, in Rossini's LA CENERENTOLA.


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

Good thread, hope to discover more musical values of the recitative.

The one I can think of right now is from Medea. The recitative itself probably was not originally composed by *Cherubini *(I'm not so sure), but by Lachner in a later edition.

The recitative as sung in the 1958 Medea at Dallas by Maria Callas is absolutely hair-raising. She was fired by Bing that night. When the news reached her, hell unleashed!

*Numi, venite a me, infeeeeeeeerni Dei!
*





The recitative preceding _D'Oreste, D'Aiace_ is pretty dramatic and well-placed:






Another from Idomeneo, probably the most melodious recitative ever _"Popoli, a voi l'ultima legge"_






I just re-listened to Idomeneo this afternoon. An amazing work, saturated with great aria, duet, quartet etc. Even the recitatives reflect all sort of emotions. No wonder Brahms called it _"in general a miracle"_.


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

Oh, and don't forget this superb moving recitative (_"Piangete voi?"_) in Anna Bolena mad scene (0:00 to 3:55)


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Is "Ah forse lui" considered a recitative?


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

nina foresti said:


> Is "Ah forse lui" considered a recitative?


That's an aria, but I think what comes before it ("E strano, e strano...") is a recitative.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Bellinilover said:


> That's an aria, but I think what comes before it ("E strano, e strano...") is a recitative.


Thank you. I always get that mixed up.


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## Scott in PA (Aug 13, 2016)

If I may choose Bach, here's a recitative as dramatic as anything in opera. Christopher Maltman's reading is so moving that it has brought tears to my eyes.

It begins at the 10:50 mark and lasts about a minute. (Sorry, I don't know how to isolate.)


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

In 19th century French opera, récitatifs (including Meyerbeer, Halévy, Berlioz, Massenet and Saint-Saëns) are often lyrical. Meyerbeer's récitatifs in particular are beautiful and/or dramatic - when Bertram tells Robert he's his father (_Robert le Diable_); the conspiracy in _Huguenots_; the council scene in _Vasco (L'Africaine)_ - but also small phrases like "Il sait par coeur toute la Bible" (Act II of _Le Prophète_).


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

I don't know if this is technically a recitative, but I love "Fine al rito..." (the passage that connects "Casta Diva" to its cabaletta) in NORMA.


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## Buoso (Aug 10, 2016)

I would like to nominate the recitative between the chorus (Fervono amori e danze) and Oscars second aria (Saper Voreste) as brilliant recitative because the background ball music that accompanies it makes it incredibly catchy despite not being an aria or trio or duet in the conventional sense at all. Despite reaming recitative it sets the bar higher.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Fiorenza Cossotto: Bellini - Norma, 'Sgombra è la sacra selva'

:clap:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

ma7730 said:


> Or, "Thus saith the lord, the lord of hosts".


Yes, that's a good one. It really *shaaaaaakes* me up!!

The problem is Messiah is an oratorio, not an opera.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Mozart Don Giovanni. Need I say anymore? What a freakin' genius!


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

EDDA MOSER - Mia speranza adorata! ARIA DI BRAVURA 1978 
Lovely and do enjoy the aria also.


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## Eddy Rodgers K (Feb 12, 2017)

Bellinilover said:


> I don't know if this is technically a recitative, but I love "Fine al rito..." (the passage that connects "Casta Diva" to its cabaletta) in NORMA.


I absolutely adore that one!


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## bravenewworld (Jan 24, 2016)

Bach BWV 123: Die Himmelssüßigkeit, der Auserwählten Lust (Recording with Leonhardt/Harnoncourt: that boy soprano voice - so pure and clear!)
Bach BWV 51: Wir beten zu dem Tempel an (Recording with Maria Stader: when the harpsichord starts playing it is divine)



Bettina said:


> One of my favorite recitatives is "Mein Angst und Not" from Bach's cantata Ich steh mit einem Fuss im Grabe, BWV 156. Hauntingly beautiful, with dramatic chord progressions and dissonances.


What a shame, I've always passed by that Recitative in favour of the subsequent Aria. I'll give it a real go from now on  In my defence, however, I have the Rilling recording and I found the version you posted more moving in this case.

'Thus saith the Lord' is also tremendous but I really can't ignore 'There were shepherds abiding in the field'.

Nothing really springs to mind after 1800 - an excuse for me to pick through my Rossini and Donizetti collection to find the best recitatives .


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Celeste Aida/Kuda kuda/Vesti la giubba/Io morro/D'amor sull ali rosee


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## gellio (Nov 7, 2013)

I hate recitative. If it's not accopagnato I delete the track. So annoying when recordings don't separate out the recitative into separate tracks.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

The best recitatives were written by Mozart. He seemed to be able to bring anything to life. Absolutely wonderful


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## LaContessa (Jun 5, 2018)

I'd say any recits by Verdi or Mozart are perfection. I also nominate "E Susanna non vien."
Any of the long, beautiful, seas of recitative that usually precede a long bel canto scene. "Oh! Se una volta" from La Sonnambula, "Oh! s io potessi" from Il Pirata etc.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

What first comes to mind is the recitative before Casta Diva in Norma so I say that


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Azucena's bits in Trovatore.

skip to 4:05





skip to 2:30





Tosca right after she kills Scarpia






at the beginning of O Don Fatale


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The traditional differences between aria and recitative haven't always been sharp, and frequently they vanish altogether. The term _arioso_ ("aria-like") exists to describe passages that have definite melodic character but don't have clear formal boundaries and thus don't constitute "numbers." The conventional alternation of aria and recitative didn't begin at the beginning of opera: much of Monteverdi's writing is arioso, wherein he sets the text to a flexible line whose melodic contour and harmonic accompaniment are focused on heightening the expressive content of the words as they are uttered. The distinct alternation of aria and recitative soon became the norm for Baroque and Classical opera, but arioso never went away.

I think we may make the mistake of calling passages which are not arias "accompanied recitative" (which of course really is a thing) when "arioso" may be more accurate. I would apply it to most operatic writing since about the last third of the 19th century: there is very little true recitative in late Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, Mussorgsky, Debussy, Berg, et al. When Stravinsky adopted the aria/recitative convention, complete with harpsichord, in _The Rake's Progress,_ he was deliberately harking back to a Baroque and Classical concept which was mostly extinct in contemporary opera.


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## dwelch (Sep 12, 2017)

I like 'Madamigella Valery' from La Traviata, in particular the phrase 'or amo alfredo e Dio lo cancelló col pentimento mio'. So beautiful


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## Macbeth (Sep 6, 2017)

What Tamino sings before taming the beasts playing his flute, is that an arioso? There's a choir aswell


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## Macbeth (Sep 6, 2017)

_"Teneste la promessa"_: As difficult as it is to meet all the demands present in la Traviata's soprano's part, there is no complete Violetta if she's not able to make the reading of the letter interesting.

To me, only Callas and Zeani could fully extract from this recitative all the dramatic intensity that the moment requires.
Zeani perhaps a tad too histrionic, but that was her style. I much prefer how sober Callas is here, and as always, gives us a good example of how contention can be more effective and moving.
Anyway Zeani, who performed this role more than any other during her long career, also realized the importance of this crucial moment.


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

russetvelvet said:


> some really feel inseparable from the ensuing arias in terms of both emotions, and more importantly, *even musicality.*










not sure why there are seccos instead of spoken speech in this one; probably because it's a miniature work, like Bach's Kaffee.

Anyway, a Kute performance of the Kantata-


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## Francasacchi (7 mo ago)

russetvelvet said:


> I don't know if we've been down that path before (a quick search returns nothing), but the idea just popped up. Normally I don't care much about recitatives, but some really feel inseparable from the ensuing arias in terms of both emotions, and more importantly, even musicality. There're a few I can think of now:
> 
> "Alzati" before "Eri tu";
> "E Susanna non vien" before "Dove sono"
> ...


Erbarm es Gott from Saint Matthew Passion though it is really an arioso. It occurs before the aria Koennen Tranen.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

I love 
*|"Don Ottavio, son morta..." which is before "Or sai chi l'onore"*


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

--------------------------------


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Eddy Rodgers K said:


> I absolutely adore that one!





Bellinilover said:


> I don't know if this is technically a recitative, but I love "Fine al rito..." (the passage that connects "Casta Diva" to its cabaletta) in NORMA.


Technically, within the solita forma structure it's called 'tempo di mezzo'. 

The recitative in this 'scena e cavatina' is sediziose voci.

I just love everything here from the recitative to the cabaletta.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

schigolch said:


> Technically, within the solita forma structure it's called 'tempo di mezzo'.
> 
> The recitative in this 'scena e cavatina' is sediziose voci.
> 
> I just love everything here from the recitative to the cabaletta.


When Ponselle or Callas sang Sediziose voci it was hard to beat for vocal splendor, drama and beauty of such a level that people who skip recitatives ( me sometimes) would never dream of skipping to get to the aria.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

I like "Ecco mi, in lieta vesta", the recitative before "Oh, quante volte" from I Capuleti e i Montecchi. The really pretty part of that recitative starts when the French horn is playing, at around the words "Ardo, una vampa, un fuoco..."


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Seattleoperafan said:


> When Ponselle or Callas sang Sediziose voci it was hard to beat for vocal splendor, drama and beauty of such a level that people who skip recitatives ( me sometimes) would never dream of skipping to get to the aria.


I think of Bellini in general and would say that his recitatives had stronger musical merit ( melodies as it were) than most composers likely because he had a unique gift for musical composition


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

Ihr verblühet, süße Rosen (3:46)




Nein, es ist nicht genung (0:36)




Mein herz ist nun von aller Welt entfernt? (2:09)




Hörst du, er hat geschworen (0:19)


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

+ a few others in the opera I find memorable-




Sieh mich, Heil'ger, wie wie ich bin (0:57)




Ich komme hier mir überflüssig vor (3:16)


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