Mady Mesplé - Adam: LE TOREADOR, Ah! vous dirai-je, maman Variations Trio, 1963

THE SONGBIRD: Mady Mesplé, (1931 - 2020) was the leading French coloratura soprano of the 1960s and 1970s. She was born in Toulouse, and studied music there from an early age, later working with soprano Janine Micheau in Paris. Mesplé's debut came in 1953 as Lakme in Liege; she sang the role again in Brussels in 1954 and nearly 150 times across her career. Her star rose quickly in France and soon she was singing the standard French and Italian coloratura roles around the world and in commercial recordings. She was also an advocate for both French operetta and contemporary vocal music. She retired from opera in 1985, though she continued to appear in recital for several more years.
THE MUSIC: Adolphe Adam's "Le toréador" is an opera-comique that premiered 1849. The character Coraline is an opera singer and she sings thesse famous variations on a theme of an old French children's folk song "Ah, vous dirai-je, maman" (known in English as the melody of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"). This tune has been referenced in over a dozen classical works by composers including Haydn, Liszt, Saint-Saens, Montsalvatge, John Corigliano, and most famously in variations set by Mozart for piano (K.265). Whereas Adam's aria is most often heard a free-standing concert showpiece with soprano and flute interplay -- and a long cadenza -- in the context of his opera here, it is actually a performed as trio. Coraline warbles away while her husband (the bass) and her lover (the tenor) add vocal interjections.

[@user-mx1tz1kl6w]

I would love to hear her sing this by herself, those tensors ruin this song!!

[@oliviero.m750]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤