Vincenzo Bellini’s final opera, I Puritani (The Puritans) premiered at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris on January 24, 1835. The libretto was provided by Count Carlo Pepoli, a poet and frequent guest of fellow opera composer Gioacchino Rossini, and was based on the play Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine. Their play in turn was based on the immensely popular novel by Sir Walter Scott titled Old Morality. Indeed, Bellini’s title was chosen for its direct reference to Scott’s novel which was published in France as Les puritains d'Ecosse and in Italy as I puritani di Scozia. Though Bellini was a master of the belcanto style, he crafted I puritani with a cunning awareness of the story’s drama. An overture was completely discarded and in its place stands a terse, almost Wagnerian-like prelude of sharp accented chords, ominous drum rolls and hunting calls. The prelude then leads directly into the opera’s action. Even the lyrical, melodic quality of Bellini’s operatic style was subjugated to the unusual rhythmic structure and drama of the libretto. On top of all of this are the spectacular sets and stage effects that create the world of Bellini’s I Puritani.
Set during the English Civil War, the action opens on a fortress near Plymouth where Puritan soldiers anticipate victory over the Royalists. Riccardo has been promised Elvira’s hand in marriage by her father Lord Walton, commander of the Puritan fortress. However, when he returns to Plymouth, Riccardo learns that Elvira is in love with the Royalist, Arturo (Lord Arthur Talbot). Troubled by his loss of Elvira, he confides in his comrade Bruno in the aria, “Ah! Per sempre io ti perdei” (“Have I lost thee indeed forever?”). Preceded by a recitative, the aria is in the key of A-flat major, despite the doleful state of Riccardo, and is accompanied by gentle, almost consoling, chords. Joseph DuBose
Ah! Per sempre io ti perdei, from I Puritani Vincenzo Bellini
Classical Music | Baritone
Vincenzo Bellini
Ah! Per sempre io ti perdei, from I Puritani Play
Recorded on 04/06/2005, uploaded on 03/21/2009
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
Vincenzo Bellini’s final opera, I Puritani (The Puritans) premiered at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris on January 24, 1835. The libretto was provided by Count Carlo Pepoli, a poet and frequent guest of fellow opera composer Gioacchino Rossini, and was based on the play Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine. Their play in turn was based on the immensely popular novel by Sir Walter Scott titled Old Morality. Indeed, Bellini’s title was chosen for its direct reference to Scott’s novel which was published in France as Les puritains d'Ecosse and in Italy as I puritani di Scozia. Though Bellini was a master of the bel canto style, he crafted I puritani with a cunning awareness of the story’s drama. An overture was completely discarded and in its place stands a terse, almost Wagnerian-like prelude of sharp accented chords, ominous drum rolls and hunting calls. The prelude then leads directly into the opera’s action. Even the lyrical, melodic quality of Bellini’s operatic style was subjugated to the unusual rhythmic structure and drama of the libretto. On top of all of this are the spectacular sets and stage effects that create the world of Bellini’s I Puritani.
Set during the English Civil War, the action opens on a fortress near Plymouth where Puritan soldiers anticipate victory over the Royalists. Riccardo has been promised Elvira’s hand in marriage by her father Lord Walton, commander of the Puritan fortress. However, when he returns to Plymouth, Riccardo learns that Elvira is in love with the Royalist, Arturo (Lord Arthur Talbot). Troubled by his loss of Elvira, he confides in his comrade Bruno in the aria, “Ah! Per sempre io ti perdei” (“Have I lost thee indeed forever?”). Preceded by a recitative, the aria is in the key of A-flat major, despite the doleful state of Riccardo, and is accompanied by gentle, almost consoling, chords. Joseph DuBose
Ah! Per sempre io ti perdei, from I Puritani Vincenzo Bellini
Now wherever will I flee?
Wherever will I hide my terrible sufferings?
How those songs resound in my soul
as bitter weeping!
Oh Elvira, oh my gentle desired one,
I have lost you forever!
Without hope and love,
what is left for me now in this life?
Ah, I have lost you forever,
flower of love, oh my hope.
Ah, the life that is left to me
will be full of sorrow!
As I wandered for years and years
in the power of destiny,
I defied misfortune and sufferings
in the hope of your love.
More music by Vincenzo Bellini
Casta Diva, from Norma
A Te, O Cara, from Act I of I Puritani
Malinconia, Ninfa gentile
Vaga luna, che inargenti
Care compaggne, et voi, teneri amici and Come per me sereno, from La Sonnambula
Mira, o Norma, from Act II of Norma
la sonnambula
Il Pirata, final scene
Ma di l'amato giovane, from Norma
A te, o cara, from I puritani
Performances by same musician(s)
Beau Soir
Cinq Mélodies Populaires Grecques
Die Beiden Grenadiere
The Vagabond, from Songs of Travel
Alte Liebe
Black Max
Feldeinsamkeit
O! du mein holder Abendstern, from Tannhäuser
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