Saverio Mercadante - "Sulle materne ceneri" (Virginia) - Janet Price

Saverio Mercadante - Virginia (1866) Act I: Coro di donne e Cavatina Virginia 00:00 Coro di donne "Là della madre" 04:37 Scena "Figlia, ti scuoti" 06:37 Cavatina "Sulle materne ceneri" 09:32 Tempo di mezzo "Icilio! quel magnanimo" 11:09 Cabaletta "È grande al par d'Icilio" Virginia - Janet Price Tullio - Hilary Western Chorus of the Northern Ireland Opera Trust Ulster Orchestra James Judd, Conductor Queen's University, Belfast 27 November 1976 In this scene from Mercadante's last opera "Virginia", which was composed in 1849 but due to problems with censorship premiered as late as in 1866, the heroine Virginia lies mourning in front her mother's urn while her nurse Tullia and the maidens try to cheer her up. Virginia explains that her sadness is extreme and that mourning is sacred to a child when a parent is lost. The maidens then remind her of her love to the hero Icilio, to whom Virginia is engaged. In a ferocious and highly virtuosic cabaletta, Virginia explains that her love for him is the only thing that makes her life worth living. Described by Opera Rara's Patric Schmid as one of the most taxing pieces of vocal writing he ever saw, this legendary performance features the fantastic Welsh soprano Janet Price, whose command of this beautiful and extraordinarily difficult piece has lost nothing of its appeal and dazzling quality. Note: in this performance, the Cavatina "Sulle materne ceneri" is transposed from the original A-flat major to G major, whereas the Cabaletta "È grande al par d'Icilio" is sung in F instead of G major.