La Traviata - N17 Scena e duetto

Description

In Act III of La Traviata, the maid Annina rushes in with news, and Alfredo returns to Violetta. Overjoyed at their reunion, the two sing the duet “Parigi, o cara”, dreaming of leaving Paris for a quiet life together. But Violetta cannot even rise from her bed, and the scene turns to her lament at dying so young.

The mood shifts in three broad stages: the elation of reunion, a gentle and tender duet, and then despair. In “Parigi, o cara” the two voices pass the same melody between them while the accompaniment supports discreetly. In this file it runs about seventeen minutes with 5,109 notes, and its range from B1 to A6 spans 59 keys, but no octave shift fits it on the C2 to C7 of a 61-key keyboard.

A long piece for advanced players, it requires both lyrical phrasing and dramatic tension within the same number. In the duet, what to listen for is whether the two voices passing the melody can be joined in one tone colour. Practise it section by section with the A-B loop and follow the hand-over of the melody with the hand colours, and the shape of the scene stays clear across its length.

A broad collection of standalone piano pieces not belonging to any specific set, offering hundreds of varied character pieces to explore and compare.