A Night at the Opera
May 2, 2023
Originally composed in 1898, for 75 years only one composer was attributed as the creator of the classic Italian song O sole mio: that was Eduardo di Capua. But then, in 1972, the daughter of Alfredo Mazzuchi asked that her father be recognized as co-composer of O sole mio, along with 17 other songs. It turns out that Mazzuchi had sold 18 melodies – without any accompaniment – to di Capua in 1897, and in 2002 a judge finally ruled that both composers were in fact co-creators of the music. All that for a lovely song about sunshine in Southern Italy.
That’s one of many works we’ll hear on this episode of Arizona Encore, as we enjoy a night at the opera. We’ll hear Rossini’s famous Barber of Seville Overture, then performances from the Tucson Desert Song Festival of love duets by Puccini and Gounod, and dramatic arias by Verdi, Massenet, and others. Plus, a performance of Franz Liszt’s piano arrangement of Richard Wagner’s Liebestod, the climactic final moment from his opera Tristan und Isolde.
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