Episode 69

In the second half of my conversation with Italian bass Maurizio Muraro, we discuss the text to Don Bartolo's aria "A un dottor della mia sorte" from Il barbiere di Siviglia. This time we concentrate on the rule of "raddoppiamento sintattico" (called phrasal doubling in English), the combination GLI [ʎ], S before a voiced consonant (which becomes a voiced [z]) and when to roll or not roll Rs! You can find a libretto for Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Opernführer. Scroll down to Aria No.8 (remember to make sure it's on L for libretto and I for Italian!). The fabulous website resources that I mentioned in this episode are: Technology for the Classical Singer, a must-have resource for all of us, with blog postings on everything from foreign language dictionaries to the free treatises on singing at IMSLP to where to find accompaniment tracks. She also has amazing video tutorials to teach us all how to get the most out of our technology! SingersBabel, a diction website with video clips that allow you to see the text and IPA transcription while you listen! Focusing on French, German and English repertoire right now, it has a large selection of pieces to choose from, including Bach Cantatas and choral repertoire! And don't forget to have a good chuckle over Bugs Bunny's classic Rabbit of Seville :-) As always, please feel free to contact me with questions, comments or suggestions here, at the Facebook page, on Twitter or directly at [email protected]