THE SONGBIRD: Virginia Zeani (1925 - 2023) was born in Romania and became one of the most admired and versatile sopranos of the 20th century, putting her stamp on 69 coloratura, lyric, and dramatic roles across a career spanning over three decades. Her debut came in 1948 as Violetta, replacing Margherita Carosio on short notice in a production in Bologna. She gained wider attention in 1952, replacing Maria Callas in "I Puritani" in Florence. Her debut at La Scala came in 1956 as Handel's Cleopatra, followed by the Hoffmann heroines, Butterfly, and Blanche in the 1957 world premiere of Poulenc's "Dialogue of the Carmelites." Zeani sang only three performances at The Met in New York, all of Violetta in 1966. In the 1960s she began to transition from coloratura and bel canto roles (Lucia, Gilda, Amina, etc.) into more spinto and dramatic roles (Aida, Tosca, Fedora, etc.). This aria is taken from a radio performance of the work sung in Italian, attributed in the online Zeani performance annals as being from RAI Milan in 1954.

THE MUSIC: Mikhail Glinka's "A Life for the Tsar" was known as "Ivan Susanin" during the Soviet era, which is the main character’s name (and ironically Glinka's original title). It premiered in St. Petersburg in 1836 (the same year as Adam's "Le Postillon de Longjumeau" and Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots"). The story centers around Susanin, a patriotic hero of the early 17th century who dies after getting caught deceiving the invading Polish army in order to protect the new Romanov royal dynasty. His daughter, Antonida, wants to marry the soldier Sobinin and sings this lovey cavatina and florid rondo at the beginning of the opera.

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