Verdi Aria
Of course, where there is an opera, there is, conceivably, an aria. As many of us know, an aria is essentially a solo piece, in which a singer will be performing a song with only the orchestra as accompaniment. More often than not, an aria is a window into a character's soul or motivations, as it effectively serves as a sort of monologue for the characters to perform. Arias are meant to express all the things that a character is expressing, which is why many believe that the aria is the soul of an opera. That being said, the Verdi aria is described to be no different, but with a twist; there is, they say, a certain sense of raw simplicity to the Verdi aria which makes the feelings and emotions conveyed in the piece more potent than a significantly more complex aria written by anyone else. That is not to say that the Verdi aria is plain; it simply has a quality that is, as modern musicians would put it, “a little more stripped down” compared to other arias. In order to understand, one simply must hear them.
This is why in this section of the site, we will be providing you with translations of each famous Verdi aria. We will also be posting tracks of Verdi arias here.