Aprile Millo: Verdi - Otello, 'Mi parea... Piangera cantando... Ave Maria'

Aprile Millo (born April 14, 1958) is an American operatic soprano of Italian and Irish ancestry who is particularly admired for her interpretations of the works of Giuseppe Verdi. Possessing a spinto voice of power, warmth and temperament, Millo became one of the most celebrated opera singers of the late twentieth century. Although she has performed at many of the world's leading opera houses and with many orchestras and ensembles internationally, Millo has spent much of her career appearing in productions at the Metropolitan Opera. Aprile Millo was born in New York City, the daughter of two opera singers, tenor Giovanni Millo (John Hamill) and soprano Margherita Girosi. Millo became interested in music at an early age and received her musical education primarily from her parents. Millo is noted for the beauty of her voice and her nuanced interpretation. On April 4, 1986, Donal Henahan wrote in the New York times of Millo's performance in Don Carlo: "Miss Millo sounds more and more like the Verdi soprano we've been waiting for." Later in 1986 (June 18), reviewing a Metropolitan Opera production of Aida in Central Park, Mr. Rockwell wrote, "Miss Millo has a real Verdi sound...her darkly yet delicately colored lower voice, full of urgency in the phrasing, and her overall mastery of this role from a technical and interpretive standpoint, are already very moving. Her performance reached its high point just where it must, in the third act, when Aida grows from a supplicating ingenue into a woman torn by her conflicts. With singing like this, nothing could dull the intensity of Verdi's drama. The concert formality, the populist setting, the amplification, all fell away in the face of real operatic drama embodied in song. If Mr. Domingo and Mr. Pavarotti can match that in the next two parks openers, the Met and its fans will be fortunate indeed."... en.wikipedia.or...
Lyrics & English Translation
He seemed so to me
He told me to undress, get into bed and
Wait for him
Emila, please
Lay out my pure white wedding garments
Upon my bed.
Listen! If I happen to die before you
Bury me in one of those veils.
I am sad always, always.
My mother had a poor maid
She was in love and beautiful
Her name was Barbara;
She loved a man that then abandoned her,
And she sang a song;
The song of the willow.
Undo my hair.
This evening I have haunted memories
of this lullaby.
"She wept singing in the lonely land,
The sad girl wept.
O Willow, Willow, Willow!
She sat with her head inclining upon her breast,
Sing! Let's sing!
The willow will be my funeral garland."
Hurry; Otello will be coming in a little while.
"The brook flowed between the flowering banks,
She moaned in grief,
And her eyes flowed with bitter tears
In which her heart sought solace.
Willow! Willow! Willow!
Let's sing! Let's sing!
The willow will be my funeral garland."
"The birds flew down from branches
Towards this sweet singing
And her eyes wept so much that
The rocks pitied her."
Here take this ring.
Poor Barabara!
She used to end her song with this simple saying:
"He was born for glory, I for love."
Listen! I heard a moan.
Who knocks at the door?"
"I to love him and to die.
Let's sing! Let's sing!
Willow! Willow! Willow!
Emilia, farewell,
How my eyes do weep this evening!
Is it the presence of weeping?
Good night.
Ah! Emilia, Emilia, farewell!
Emilia, farewell!
Ave Maria... etc...
A link to this wonderful artist's personal website: operavision.org/
Please Enjoy!
I send my kind and warm regards,