# Referring to arias by character



## marceliotstein (Feb 23, 2019)

Are there others here who, like me, prefer to refer to arias by which character is singing and what they are singing about, rather than by the first words of the aria? This has always come naturally to me, because it makes discussion much easier. 

I don't say "Largo al factotum" - I say "Figaro's first aria". Likewise I don't say "Non piu andrai" - I say "Figaro's military aria", or "Figaro's song to Cherubino".

I don't say "Si, mi chiamano Mimi" - I say "Mimi's first aria". 

I know this doesn't follow the common custom, but I find it much easier to have good conversations about opera this way. Whenever somebody refers to an aria with a series of foreign words, I have to think for a moment to place what opera it is and what place the aria holds within the opera. This makes conversation slow and difficult. If we name the character and identify the situation, recognition is immediate.

I've been doing this unthinkingly for years, including on my podcast "Lost Music: Exploring Literary Opera". I think it works and I wish it would catch on with others! Thoughts?


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

The one thing I like about this is that it is tied to the purpose and context of the arias. And done well, it can be clear and helpful. But we do see this, and the names that stick are often poor.

Some arias/excerpts are commonly referred to by nicknames or descriptions, but these are often just as opaque to those not familiar with the piece. If I say the Flower Duet that's not terribly helpful unless you know that this is what people call the duet from _Lakme_. The Toreador Song is a description of what the piece is, and may be more readily recognizable than "Votre toast," but while with Habanera is a recognizable name for "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" it is otherwise a confusing and ineffective name. Dido's Lament is a well known description but only once we narrow it down to the Purcell. "When I am laid in earth" is more direct. The only real confusion is when some wish to refer to it as "Thy hand, Belinda" (though even if a recording starts there, it is just as likely to be called "When I am laid in earth" or "Thy hand, Belinda... When I am laid in earth.")

If you say "Figaro's first aria" I don't know which opera you mean, but if you say "Largo al factotum" it's already going in my head. I've also never seen _Il barbiere di Siviglia_ live and often forget that that aria comes first. Quick, what's his fourth aria? How well would one have to know an opera to understand that description? Figaro is far from the only character that shows up in multiple popular operas (and/or has multiple arias worth discussing). Many figures from mythology are in quite a few well-known operas.

I think trying to hide from foreign words just feeds that fear. Foreign languages are a part of opera, unless you severely limit yourself. I find it better to treat it like it's not a big deal, and people will often follow from that. Incidentally I have the same feelings about the names of operas, and am disappointed when many American opera companies (and other organizations) use names translated into English, such as The Barber of Seville (I find that warranted only when you're performing the piece in English).

As these (mostly) are not songs that have titles I think the most direct way of referring to them is the system that has developed: using the open line of the aria. If I say "Ô malheureuse Iphigénie" then what is meant is unambiguous.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

mountmccabe said:


> If I say the Flower Duet that's not terribly helpful unless you know that this is what people call the duet from _Lakme_.


Indeed the Flower Duet was often the title given to the short duet of Butterlfy and Suzuki in *Madama Butterfly*. It might not used be so much now, but certainly was in my mother's day (she was born in 1923), so maybe the Flower Duet it's not quite so unambiguous.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

GregMitchell said:


> Indeed the Flower Duet was often the title given to the short duet of Butterlfy and Suzuki in *Madama Butterfly*. It might not used be so much now, but certainly was in my mother's day (she was born in 1923), so maybe the Flower Duet it's not quite so unambiguous.


Probably pretty easy for people to mix up with the Flower Song from Carmen too.

I think in principle, I prefer referring to arias and scenes by the first line from the libretto. I feel like it's even more obscurantist to insist on referring to arias or scenes by non-textual descriptions like Announcement of Death or Rome Narration--you could listen to Walkure and Tannhauser every day for years and not have any idea what people are talking about when using those descriptions.

Having said that, I still use them. Out of habit, I suppose.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Sometimes typing out phrases in foreign languages can be a pain in the badonkadonk.


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

Same problem in Hungarian. We do have nicknames for a lot of arias, except then you have "which Picture aria? which Jewelry aria? which Letter aria?" and similar instances. Also quite a lot of revenge arias and duets...

I have no problem remembering first lines in Italian/German/English, but can't learn even the most popular aria starts in French.


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## marceliotstein (Feb 23, 2019)

Good point that "Figaro's first aria" is ambiguous. I suppose I was thinking that "Largo al Factotum" is the first aria in the first opera about Figaro (in story time, not in terms of when the operas were composed) and is definitely the aria in which the character introduces himself to the world. But then of course there are two operas based on "Barbiere di Siviglia" so yes, I do see the problem here!

If I were to refer to Figaro's first aria in "Nozze" I would say "Figaro's measuring aria". A highly ad hoc naming process, I admit - but this addresses a real stumbling block for people (like me) who like to talk about arias a lot. Using the first line just does not get the job done, as much as I try to master the languages enough that it does.


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## Tuoksu (Sep 3, 2015)

I'm partial to writing the full name of the aria in its original language :lol: I dislike "nicknames" such as "the bell song", "habanera", "Jewel song" etc, but referring to the aria by character is more acceptable in my opinion.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

marceliotstein said:


> If I were to refer to Figaro's first aria in "Nozze" I would say "Figaro's measuring aria".


Figaro's first aria in Nozze is "Se vuol ballare," though--the measuring song, by which I think you mean "Cinque… dieci… venti..." is a duet with Susanna.

Hey, see how I resolved ambiguity here by indicating the exact opening line of the aria? I wonder if that example has some relevance to this discussion


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Tuoksu said:


> I'm partial to writing the full name of the aria in its original language :lol: I dislike "nicknames" such as "the bell song", "habanera", "Jewel song" etc, but referring to the aria by character is more acceptable in my opinion.


On the other hand, I often refer to Mad Scenes from Italian early nineteenth century opera as just that,. " The Mad Scene from Anna Bolena", for instance. Maybe Callas's 1958 record "Mad Scenes" has something to do with that.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Best just to bite the bullet and memorize the first few words, except when "So and So's Lament" or "the mad scene from opera X" is unambiguously clear. I don't know what the first line of Lucia's mad scene is (something about a "suono," isn't it?), but since there's only one Lucia's mad scene in the universe it doesn't matter. I do know the first lines of Isolde's Liebestod and Brunnhilde's immolation scene, but that's only because I've heard their operas about a hundred times as often as _Lucia di Lammermoor._


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Woodduck said:


> Best just to bite the bullet and memorize the first few words, except when "So and So's Lament" or "the mad scene from opera X" is unambiguously clear. I don't know what the first line of Lucia's mad scene is (something about a "suono," isn't it?), but since there's only one Lucia's mad scene in the universe it doesn't matter. I do know the first lines of Isolde's Liebestod and Brunnhilde's immolation scene, but that's only because I've heard their operas about a hundred times as often as _Lucia di Lammermoor._


Well the scene starts with _Il dolce suono_, but the cavatina proper probably starts at _Ardon gl'incensi_, and then of course there's the cabaletta _Spargi d'amaro pianto_. You see the problem? I think the Lucia Mad Scene works just fine.

And of course I know Isolde's final aria in *Tristan und Isolde* starts with _Mild unde leise_. I even know it as _Dolce e calmo_ in Italian, but everyone knows it as the Liebestod, whatever language it's sung in.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

GregMitchell said:


> Well the scene starts with _Il dolce suono_, but the cavatina proper probably starts at _Ardon gl'incensi_, and then of course there's the cabaletta _Spargi d'amaro pianto_. You see the problem? I think the Lucia Mad Scene works just fine.
> 
> And of course I know Isolde's final aria in *Tristan und Isolde* starts with _Mild unde leise_. I even know it as _Dolce e calmo_ in Italian, but everyone knows it as the Liebestod, whatever language it's sung in.


I just knew there was a "suono" in there someplace! I can even hear Callas singing it in that wonderful, sweetly sad, distracted tone...


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## marceliotstein (Feb 23, 2019)

True! I misplaced the fact that it was a duet ...


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

marceliotstein said:


> If I were to refer to Figaro's first aria in "Nozze" I would say "Figaro's measuring aria". A highly ad hoc naming process, I admit - but this addresses a real stumbling block for people (like me) who like to talk about arias a lot. Using the first line just does not get the job done, as much as I try to master the languages enough that it does.


I think I realized the effect of the specific situation here.

On this message board people talk about arias a lot. The first line is clear and effective. In the post I'm quoting from YOU use "Largo al Factotum" to clarify which aria you meant by your contextual description.

Another place arias are referred to a lot is on a track list, such as on a CD or DVD. Almost any collection of arias you look at will list the arias by the first line. And for the Lucia's Mad Scene situation, sometimes one will see "Ardon gl'incensi... Il dolce suono... Spargi d'amaro pianto" or some variation on that (if they are kept as a single CD track). The same system is used for CDs and DVDs of full operas (unless it's a low budget/long track set up where it is just Act 1, Scene 2 and so on, but in that case they're referring to the scene, not what happens or what anyone sings).

So in these situations people use the first line, except for a few that have nicknames (and even then it is not uncommon on say a CD listing to include both the nickname and the first line).

But the above examples are not, precisely, talking. They're writing. It's easy to write something we can't clearly pronounce. Occasionally when I'm speaking with friends I'll need to include context to accurately convey what aria (or even opera!) I'm trying to refer to when I attempt the original language pronunciation. I'm pretty bad at this (I have a Midwestern accent; many of my vowels are very broad and I can't even hear the difference even in other American accents). So it makes sense that it can be tough.

And when I think of when I do hear people say the names of arias outloud, I think of radio announcers and opera performers, many of whom do know the languages they're speaking and have years of experience working with this. They also often have staff, diction coaches, and so on.

A podcast can be a different situation. And one can have interesting things to say about an opera and/or the arias therein even without having a staff. But people are going to have a difficult time understanding what you mean with your custom naming system.

That being said, if you're referring to arias multiple times in a single podcast, you may be able to introduce your descriptive name alongside the standard first line the first time, and then use your descriptive name throughout the rest of the show.

"After the overture we have 'Cinque… dieci… venti...', or Figaro and Susanna's Measuring Duet. They're discussing the room but also their plans...."

The contextual name may help if you think people won't understand your attempt at Italian. And that way you only have to try that Italian once (or once per show).

My Italian pronunciation is really bad. Same with and French, Russian, Czech, and German even though I've been studying it. And mentioning an aria off the cuff or out of context I often forget which rules apply. But with opera there's a distinct advantage over say, poetry or novels: there's a real easy way to hear an example of how to pronounce "Cinque... dieci... venti"! You can sample many Figaros singing those words, if you want. Sure, that's typically not high on the list of what a listener is going to pay attention to... but the information is there.


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