I was sobbing into my breakfast porridge this morning listening to Maria Callas singing Vissi d'arte from Puccini's Tosca. Thank you Petroc Trelawny and BBC Radio 3!
It was so wonderful, so heart-rending, I was inspired to dig out my old CD of the whole three act opera, and this evening I'll listen to the entire production - a glass of something lovely in one hand, the libretto in the other, and a box of tissues at the ready. What joy.
The aria is from act II of the opera and the opening lines are "I lived for art, I lived for love, I never harmed a living soul!" ("Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore, non feci mai male ad anima viva!"). Is it me, or does opera just sound better in Italian?
Click on the link to see Maria Callas singing the soprano aria Vissi d'arte from the opera Tosca by Giacomo Puccini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9ePgCnLyg8
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