“Parting is such sweet sorrow”. Saying goodbye is never easy and operatic goodbyes can be especially painful. Relationship break-ups, leaving your homeland, punishing your wayward daughter, death… it’s a messy business. Emotions ran high and tissues were required for Mark and Elisabeth to dry their tears as they selected their top ten operatic farewells for your misery… um, enjoyment.
1Verdi: Don Carlo – Death of Rodrigo
Opera’s greatest bromance also contains its most beautiful farewell. In order to save Don Carlos from the clutches of the Spanish Inquisition, Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa, sacrifices himself. Carlos visits his friend in prison, but the Inquisition strikes and Posa is shot. By the miracle that is opera, Rodrigo is able to sustain a beautiful legato with his dying breath as he sings farewell to his best friend, happy that Carlos will be in a position to save his beloved Flanders. It is one of my favourite baritone moments, accompanied by rippling harp and interrupted by a brief reminder of Carlos and Rodrigo’s Friendship Duet. [Mark]
2Verdi: La traviata – “Addio del passato”
Parisian courtesan Violetta is dying. She’s given up her young lover, Alfredo, sacrificing her happiness to save the reputation of his priggish father. In this scene, she re-reads a letter from Alfredo’s father, wishing her a happier future. Bitterly, she knows it is too late and sings farewell to her dreams of the past, recognising that her rosy cheeks are fading. Most Violettas have me in tears at this point but I have special memories of Anna Netrebko singing the role at Covent Garden back in 2008. [Mark]
3Puccini: Tosca – “E lucevan le stelle”
Cavaradossi is in prison, waiting for his execution. He doesn’t yet know about Scarpia’s murder and Tosca’s (ill-conceived) escape plan. He asks the jailer for a pen and a piece of paper to write his last farewell to a “very dear person” he leaves behind. After a few lines, he recalls a memory when Tosca entered the garden, fell into his arms and kissed him while “the stars shone and the earth was perfumed”. But he realises that this dream of love has now vanished and he has to die, never having loved so much before. [Elisabeth]
4Puccini: La bohème – “Addio dolce svegliare alla mattina”
There are plenty of teary goodbyes in Act 4 of La bohème – not least Colline saying farewell to the coat he’s about to pawn to buy medicine for the dying Mimì – but the Act 3 quartet takes some beating. Here are not one, but two couples splitting up: Mimì and Rodolfo break up amicably, agreeing to stay together until the spring, while Marcello and Musetta have a volcanic tiff caused by her flirtatious behaviour. Needless to say, both men begin Act 4 feeling very sorry for themselves… when will we ever learn?! [Mark]
5Wagner: Die Walküre – Wotan’s farewell
There are some complicated family relationships in opera, but Wagner takes it to extremes. Womanising god Wotan promises his mortal son, Siegmund, that he shall find a sword when he most needs it. However, he orders Brünnhilde, his Valkyrian love child with Erda, to obey his wife Fricka’s order to grant victory to Hunding in battle. Long story short, Brünnhilde disobeys her father’s orders, Wotan shatters Siegmund’s sword (who’s then fatally stabbed by Hunding) and – as a punishment – Wotan sends his favourite daughter to sleep until someone can penetrate the ring of fire to awaken her. Getting grounded by your parents doesn’t sound so bad now, does it? [Elisabeth]