Comments on: Help with Italian translation

Question: Help with Italian translation

Lotto — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 19:35:35 -0800

What does this Italian note say?

I'm looking at an edition of part of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, and in the very first bar there's an explanatory note about something. What does it mean? (I've tried babelfish etc and I have a rough idea, but not really enough).

"La declamazione sempre libera, segue il significato della parola percio nei recitativi non si troveranna indicazioni di tempo, ne molti segui di espressione."

Thankyou!

By: katemonster

katemonster — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:19:58 -0800

Basically, the declamation is not to follow a specific tempo, but to follow the sense of the words.

More or less literally, "The declamation [is to be] free, following the significance of the words, so you will not find in the recitative tempo indications or many expression markings."

By: matteo

matteo — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 09:43:53 -0800

spot on

By: matteo

matteo — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 09:48:33 -0800

and by the way, if Monteverdi's your thing, la Scala will stage Orfeo, Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria and L'incoronazione di Poppea in 2009-2011, all conducted by Alessandrini. might be worth a trip.