The legendary Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti gave a concert at New York’s Central Park on June 28, 1993, accompanied by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Leone Magiera. More than 500,000 listeners gathered for Pavarotti’s free performance on that day.
Pavarotti’s Central Park Concert Program
With start times in the video above:
- 0:00:00 Overture
- 0:06:47 Giuseppe Verdi: Quando le sere al placido (from Luisa Miller)
- 0:12:55 Saverio Mercadante: Flute Concerto in E minor, 3rd Movement “Rondò russo (Allegro vivace scherzando)”. Soloist: Andrea Griminalli.
- 0:19:58 Gaetano Donizetti: Fra poco a me ricovero (Edgardo’s aria) from Lucia di Lammermoor
- 0:27:00 Giuseppe Verdi: I vespri siciliani overture. I vespri siciliani is a five-act opera by Giuseppe Verdi, first written in French for the Paris Opéra under the title Les vêpres siciliennes. It premiered in June 1855 and was translated into Italian soon afterward. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier, based on their earlier work Le duc d’Albe. The opera’s story is loosely inspired by the Sicilian Vespers, a historical uprising that took place in Sicily in 1282.
Lyrics
Verdi: Quando le sere al placido, Rodolfo’s aria from Luisa Miller
Luisa Miller is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano (1801-1852), based on the play Kabale und Liebe (Intrigue and Love) by the German dramatist Friedrich von Schiller (10 November 1759 – 9 May 1805).
Quando le sere al placido
chiator d’un ciel stellato
meco figgea nell’eterelo
sguardo innamorato,
e questa mano stringer
midalla sua man senita…
Ah! mi tradita!
Allor, ch’io muto, estatico
da’ labbri suoi pendea,
ed ella in suon angelico,
“amo te sol” dicea,
tal che sembrò l’empiereo
apirisi all’alma mia!
Ah! mi tradia!
English translation
When the nights are placid
cheater of a starry sky
meco figgea in the ether
the look in love,
And this holds me
from his senite man…
Ah! betray me!
Then, I am silent, ecstatic
from his lips his pendea,
and she in angelic sound,
“I love you,” he said,
so that he seemed the impiereo
open yours to mine!
Ah! it betrays me!
Fra poco a me ricovero
“Fra poco a me ricovero” is Edgardo’s aria from Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, sung by the tenor near the end of the opera. It comes in Act III, at the tombs of the Ravenswood family, shortly before Edgardo kills himself.
At this point, Edgardo believes Lucia has betrayed him by marrying Arturo. In reality, she was manipulated and forced into the marriage. Edgardo does not yet know the full truth.
He is waiting near the Ravenswood tombs for a dawn duel with Enrico, Lucia’s brother. He is not afraid of death; he actually welcomes it. The Opera Guide synopsis describes the scene this way: Edgardo waits at the tombs, thinks bitterly of Lucia’s apparent faithlessness, later learns of her death, realizes he has misjudged her, and stabs himself, hoping to join her in death.
The phrase “Fra poco a me ricovero” means roughly “Soon, a refuge for me…”
The opera was written by Gaetano Donizetti, with a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, and was first performed at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples on 26 September 1835. Ricordi describes it as one of Donizetti’s most continuously performed and popular operas.
Italian
Tombe degli avi miei, l’ultimo avanzo
D’una stirpe infelice
Deh’! raccogliete voi. – Cessò dell’ira
Il breve foco … sul nemico acciaro
Abbandonar mi vo’.
Per me la vita
È orrendo peso! … l’universo intero
E’ un deserto per me senza Lucia! …
Di liete faci ancora
Splende il castello! Ah! scarsa
Fu la notte al tripudio! Ingrata donna!
Mentr’io mi struggo in disperato pianto
Tu ridi, esulti accanto
Al felice consorte!
Tu delle gioje in seno, io … della morte!
Frà poco a me ricovero
Darà negletto avello …
Una pietosa lagrima
Non scorrerà sù quello!
Fin degli estinti, ahi misero!
Manca il conforto a me!
Tù pur, tù pur dimentica
Quel marmo dispregiato.
Mai non passarvi, o barbara,
Del tuo consorte a lato …
Rispetta almen le ceneri
Di chi morià per tè.
English translation
Tombs of my ancestors,
Take in the last remnant
of a doomed family.
The brief fire of anger is gone.
I shall give myself up
to my enemy’s sword.
Life is now a dreadful weight to me.
The entire world is empty,
a desert without Lucia.
The castle still glitters
with joyful lights.
Ah, the night was too short
for their merrymaking!
Ungrateful woman!
While I am consumed
by hopeless tears,
You laugh and rejoice
beside your fortunate husband.
You live in joy.
I go to death.
Soon, a forgotten grave
will be my refuge.
Not one merciful tear
will fall upon it.
Even the comfort of the dead
is denied to me.
And you, you too, forget
that scorned tombstone.
Never pass by it, cruel one,
beside your husband.
Only respect the ashes
of the man who died for you.
Sources
- Quando le sere al placido text on Operas-Arias website
- Lucia di Lammermoor on Wikipedia
- Fra poco a me ricovero lyrics on the Operas-Arias website
