Il dolce suono
Encyclopedia
"Il dolce suono" is the incipit of the recitativo of a "scena ed aria
Aria
An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...

" taken from Act III scene 2, Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor
Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....

by Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...

. It is also commonly known as the “mad scene
Mad scene
In opera, a mad scene is an enactment of insanity in an opera or play. It was a popular convention of Italian and French opera in the early decades of the nineteenth century....

” sung by the leading soprano, Lucia.

Lucia descends into madness, and on her first wedding night, while the festivities are still being held in the Great Hall, she stabs her new husband, Arturo, in the bridal chamber. Dishevelled, unaware of what she has done, she wanders in the Great Hall, recalling her meetings with Edgardo and imagining herself married to him.

Donizetti intended the aria to be accompanied by the eerie sound of the glass harmonica
Glass harmonica
The glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica , is a type of musical instrument that uses a series of glass bowls or goblets graduated in size to produce musical tones by means of friction The glass harmonica, also known as the glass...

, though this instrument is often replaced in performance by a flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

.

An arrangement of the aria was featured in the film The Fifth Element
The Fifth Element
The Fifth Element is a 1997 French science fiction film directed, co-written, and based on a story by Luc Besson, starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Milla Jovovich...

, sung by the alien character Diva Plavalaguna voiced by Inva Mula
Inva Mula
Inva Mula is an Albanian opera soprano and actress. She began her soprano career at a very early age. Her father and mother were also opera singers. -Life and Career:...

. Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 pop countertenor Vitas
Vitas
Vitaliy "Vitalik" Vladasovich Grachyov , better known by his stage name Vitas , is a Russian singer-songwriter.Known for his high falsetto voice, he has been given the nickname "Prince of the Dolphin Voice" in China...

 recorded a similar shortened version under the title "Lucia Di Lammermoor". While singing the part, Vitas had to change the lyric "Edgardo" to "Esther
Esther
Esther , born Hadassah, is the eponymous heroine of the Biblical Book of Esther.According to the Bible, she was a Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus...

" (hence the text "Esther! io ti son reso!"). By coincidence, "Esther" is named after both a biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

 heroine and Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...

's grandmother, Esther Manilova, deceased in 1975.

Libretto


Il dolce suono mi colpì di sua voce!

Ah, quella voce m'è qui nel cor discesa!

Edgardo! io ti son resa. Edgardo! Ah! Edgardo, mio!
Si', ti son resa!

fuggita io son da' tuoi nemici. (nemici)

Un gelo me serpeggia nel sen!

trema ogni fibra!

vacilla il piè!

Presso la fonte meco t'assidi alquanto!
Si', Presso la fonte meco t'assidi.

Ohimè, sorge il tremendo fantasma e ne separa!

Qui ricovriamo, Edgardo, a piè dell'ara.

Sparsa è di rose!


Un'armonia celeste, di', non ascolti?

Ah, l'inno suona di nozze!

Il rito per noi s'appresta! Oh, me felice!

Oh gioia che si sente, e non si dice!

Ardon gl'incensi!

Splendon le sacre faci, splendon intorno!

Ecco il ministro!

Porgimi la destra!

Oh lieto giorno!

Al fin son tua, al fin sei mio,

a me ti dona un Dio.

Ogni piacer più grato,

mi fia con te diviso

Del ciel clemente un riso

la vita a noi sarà.


The sweet sound of his voice struck me!

Ah, that voice has entered my heart!

Edgardo! I surrender to you, oh my Edgardo!

I have escaped from your enemies.

A chill creeps into my breast!

Every fibre trembles!

My foot falters!

Sit down by the fountain with me a while!

Alas, the tremendous phantom arises and separates us!

Let us take refuge here, Edgardo, at the foot of the altar.

It is scattered with roses!


A heavenly harmony, tell me, do you not hear it?

Ah, the marriage hymn is playing!

They are preparing the rite for us! Oh, how happy I am!

Oh joy that is felt but not said!

The incense is burning!

The holy torches are shining, shining around!

Here is the minister!

Give me your right hand!

Oh joyful day!

At last I am yours, at last you are mine,

A god gives you to me.

Let me share

The greatest pleasures with you,

A smile from merciful heaven,

Life will be ours.


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