# Puccini’s “Ricondita Armonia” From “Tosca”



## Truvianni (Apr 21, 2011)

An article about the aria “Ricondita Armonia” from the opera “Tosca” which I would sing to Angela Gheorghiu, the love of my opera life; if my voice were of a quality to express what I feel.
“Ricondita Armonia” (“Hidden Harmony” in English) is an aria which in my opinion seems to have been composed specially for Placido Domingo, in the same way that “Nesun Dorma was for Luciano Pavarotti; as there is something about it that lends itself so perfectly to Domingo’s voice. Domingo, having one of those voices which I would describe as “pastosa” while at the same time powerful and full of passion yet does not streak in the fashion other tenors. 

As for the aria “Ricondita Armonia”, it is taken from Puccini’s “Tosca” which is in part about the love affair between the famous singer, Floria Tosca and the painter Mario Cavaradossi; who at the start of the opera finds himself in a church where he has been commissioned to paint a portrait of Maria Magdalena. It being almost at the very begging that we hear this aria sung by Mario Cavaradossi about the love of his life, Tosca who does not make her entrance until after “Ricondita Armonia” which serves both as an introduction to her as well as the sentiments felt by the one who so passionately sings praises to the one he adores. 

“Ricondito Armonia” in fact starts when the church’s sacristan notices in almost horror how much Cavaradossi’s painting of the Magdalena resembles a woman he recognizes as a regular at his church; who in fact is the famous singer Floria Tosca. Mario Cavaradossi however feels Tosca as his inspiration as he goes back to work with the words “dami color” (give me paint) and starts in on the aria “Ricondita Armonia” in which he describes his beloved Tosca whose features can be found in the painting his brush has created. Mario Cavaradossi continues with lust and tenderness in his voices as the words “E bruna Floria la ardente amante mia” (she is a brunette, my ardent lover) while the sacristan complains about his speaking of his desires for Tosca inside the church; whom he compares to the saints. Mario Cavarodossi however is moved by his love for Tosca, whom he describes with all the devotion some in the very place he finds himself might have dedicated to the virgin Mary yet to him as he explains; it is Tosca who is his only thought while he creates with colors on canvas. 

Cavaradossi’s love for Tosca in this aria is all too clear in the way he allows us to envision her with his phrases yet it is also Puccini’s music which permits us to feel what he must be experiencing at just the thought of she so complete in sensual femininity. This all with a harmony that like the title is hidden yet seems to slowly pour out, as if honey that gives yet obliges us to wait in anticipation for that which we so much long for in Cavaradossi’s words “il mio sol pensier se tu, sei tu”. This being “my only thought is you, is you” in English.

For my part, I can only declare that “Ricondita Armonia” is one of my favorite arias dedicated to love and the desires to arise from it, as it with suffering that equals passion describes the one who to me is Angela Gheorghiu. Angela Gheorghiu, the one whose exquisite beauty this aria describes not only in the physical aspect to include her dark mane but the sensuality of the woman she is who performs the role of Tosca with all the fervent characteristics I associate with her. This leading me to the conclusion that the role of Tosca was intended to be sung by a great diva with the temperament of Angela, so capable of lending her talent and at times capricious ways to this most dramatic of opera characters.


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