Tune or No Tune - La donna è mobile by Giuseppe Verdi

[Corki]

"Tune or No Tune" continues with the 2 threads per week policy as I still play catch up for the large chunks of 2010 that I missed. And we continue with our Classical Music theme for March.

 

"Tune or No Tune" is a simple, weekly thread hosted by the Band of the Red Hand Social Group. All you need to do is decide whether the song I have chosen is a TUNE (i.e. you love it) or a NO TUNE (i.e. you hate it). Quite simple, really!

 

So, every year, the Band of the Red Hand Social Group has a classical music month. This year, it is now, March 2011. So we will be focusing on the many different forms of music that form the world of Classical music. I hope to spread our look over some well known pieces to some lesser known, as well as how pop music is entering the world of Classical music. All 6 pieces chosen so far have ended up as a "Tune", which have been 1812 Overture by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, The Great Gates of Kiev by Modest Mussorgsky, Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia by Aram Khachaturian, Palladio by Escala, Hallelujah by George Frideric Handel and The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Paul Dukas.

 

One area that we haven't focused on yet in "Tune or No Tune" is opera. This week, we are having a double whammy! First up is a famous aria from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto - La donna è mobile. Translated, it means "woman is fickle". It is sung by cynical Duke of Mantua. When the aria appears in the opera, Rigoletto realizes that the Duke is still alive, even though he had paid Sparafucile, an assassin, to kill the Duke. On hearing the Duke's lively voice coming from within the tavern (offstage), he knows that the body in the sack over which he has grimly triumphed earlier is not that of the Duke but Gilda, Rigoletto's beloved daughter, instead.

 

The piece is famous for its showcasing of the tenor vocals. Many famous tenors have sung the piece of the years, including Enrico Caruso, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti.

 

The three act opera was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 1851. Many consider the opera to be the first of the operatic masterpieces of Verdi's middle-to-late career.

 

This is one of the best known pieces from the world opera. Therefore I give La donna è mobile by La donna è mobile the vote of TUNE!

 

For those of you who haven't heard the piece, here is a link to YouTube.

 

 

The poll closes in a week's time, which is Monday 28th March 2011. So make sure you vote now before the time for the latest "Tune or No Tune" poll finishes!

 

Also, if you want to suggest a tune for "Tune or No Tune", do not hesitate to drop me a PM.

[Corki]

Banders, Please Note:

 

Voting in "Tune or No Tune" threads counts towards posting in an activity thread for points gained through the roll call. However, in order for that to qualify, you need to post that you voted. Otherwise you won't get the recognition or the promotion points via the roll call.

 

Corki

Marshal-General

Social Group Leader

[Jeannaisais]

I'm kinda on the fence with this one, but it didn't want to make me plug my ears so TUNE

[Adrian44]

Tune