Blogocentric Formulations

Il Dolce Suono

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Song: "Il Dolce Suono"
Original: Gaetano Donizetti (composer, d. 1848)
Cover: Inva Mula (from The Fifth Element OST)


The Soundtrackers opened at the perfect time; I was just reading an article about some of the most difficult operatic pieces to perform (don't judge... I can't help where the Wikipedia click-throughs take me!) and coming across this one reminded me how incredible I thought it was when I first heard it. This will come as little surprise to regular readers of my blog, but I originally discovered it as part of a movie soundtrack. In this case, Donizetti's classic compilation is performed by Albanian opera lyric soprano Inva Mula. Rumor has it director Luc Besson originally wanted to use a recording by Maria Callas ( d. 1977

Ooh... a hidden dead cover easter egg inside my first entry! {e:fistpump}

), but they couldn't get clear enough audio off of her existing recordings so Callas' agent produced the new recording and recommended Mula for the job.

Commonly known as "the mad scene," this aria is about the character Lucia descending into madness and stabbing her new husband on their wedding night. That opera's cheery stuff, huh? What makes this aria particularly difficult is that Donizetti composed it so that the singer has to essentially use her vocal range to duel with the sounds produced by a glass harmonica (or a flute, more commonly). Can you imagine trying to match the high notes of a flute? Well, Inva Mula can. If classical opera isn't your thing, just listen to this video starting at 3:15 to hear what it sounds like to have one of the toughest arias in the opera world juxtaposed against some badass industrial/techno underscoring. It's a really unique sound; haunting and incredibly beautiful at the same time.

Opera isn't really my thing, but every once in a while I discover a piece that just leaves me breathless. I blogged about "Vide Cor Meum"  from the Hannibal OST during a previous Soundtrackers challenge, so I think it's time to throw in another one. I remember sitting in the theater watching The Fifth Element (which is a fun, kind of ridiculous movie) and being totally entranced by this scene. My friends were all paying attention to the action that this song is set against, but I felt more like Bruce Willis listening to it... completely entranced. I'm not sure I'm going to be running out to the opera anytime soon, but I can still appreciate a stunning piece when I come across it.

This first video is the best quality recording I could find, and below it is the scene from the actual movie with the action mixed in while the character performs: