2.1 (above average)
Thursday 22 July 2010
Tune of the Day: La donna è mobile
from Giuseppe Verdi's “Rigoletto”
“La donna è mobile” (“Woman is fickle”) is the cynical Duke of Mantua's song from Giuseppe Verdi's 1851 opera Rigoletto. The inherent irony is that it is the callous playboy Duke himself who is mobile (“inconstant”) This canzone is famous as a showcase for tenors, and has been recorded by Enrico Caruso, Mario Lanza, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and hundreds of others. Before this song's first public performance, which took place in Venice, it was rehearsed under tight secrecy: a necessary precaution, because it proved to be catchy and soon after its first public performance every gondolier in Venice was singing it!