‘È la solita storia’ (Federico’s Lament, L’arlesiana, Act II)

Program notes

About the Work

Francesco Cilea’s L’arlesiana is based on a story by Alphonse Daudet (best known through Bizet’s incidental music to the play). Federico, a young man from a farming family in Provence, is obsessed with a woman from Arles: the “arlesiana” of the title, who never actually appears on stage. When he discovers that she has been the mistress of another man, his family pushes him towards the faithful Vivetta, but he cannot forget the woman he loved, and the opera ends in his suicide.

The opera was first performed in Milan at the Teatro Lirico on 27 November 1897, and the role of Federico was sung by the young Enrico Caruso, then at the very start of his career. The opera itself never became a repertoire staple, but Federico’s lament from Act II, “È la solita storia del pastore” (“It is the same old story of the shepherd”), has been a favourite of tenors ever since. Federico sings it after listening to his simple-minded younger brother fall asleep; he compares himself to the shepherd in a folk tale who tries to tell his story and falls asleep before he can finish. Then, alone, he admits that he cannot forget the woman who betrayed him.

It is a perfect example of the Italian verismo style around 1900: direct, intimate emotion, a singable melody, and a climax that pushes the tenor voice to the limit of its intensity.

What to Listen For

The aria begins very quietly, almost as recitative, over a gently rocking accompaniment; the orchestra recalls a simple, folk-like tune, the “shepherd’s story” Federico is telling. Listen for how Kaufmann shapes these opening phrases softly, almost as if he were talking to himself.

The mood changes when Federico stops talking about the shepherd and starts talking about himself. The melody rises, the orchestra swells beneath him, and the words become a cry: he wants to forget, but he cannot. Listen for the great climax at the top of the tenor’s range and then the sudden collapse into despair at the very end: the whole emotional arc of the opera compressed into about four minutes.