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Verdi acknowledged that in a line of music, not every word would be clearly understood. Certain words stand out as landmarks. Here are nine words that ring especially clear in Un ballo in maschera.
amici (pronounced “ah-MEE-chee”): friends. King Gustavus addresses the crowd as amici miei (“my friends”) at his first entrance, and worries that he has betrayed his amicizia (friendship) with Anckarström in Act II. Anckarström claims to be one of Oscar’s amici as he tricks Oscar into identifying Gustav’s costume in Act III.
anima: soul. When Gustavus sees Amelia’s name on the list of invitees near the beginning of Act I, he says that his anima is captivated by her. When he overhears Amelia’s confession to Mam’zelle that she is in love with him, he exclaims (aside), anima mia! When Mam’zelle predicts Gustavus’s death, Oscar and the Chorus say it fills their anima with dread. In Act II, when Amelia reminds Gustavus that she belongs to his friend, he counters that his anima is full of remorse but overwhelmed by love. Amelia laments that she cannot surrender her anima to love. In Act III, Anckarström addresses Gustavus’s portrait, accusing him of staining Amelia’s anima and describing her as the delight of his anima. En route to the ball, Gustavus rejoices that his anima will again glow with love on seeing Amelia. At the ball, Amelia urges him to flee, and he replies that with thoughts of her in his anima, he forgets the rest of the world.
ecco: behold! or “here it is”: Oscar says Ecco about the invitation list, Amelia about the “horrid field” where she comes to gather herbs, and Oscar again about Anckarström in the final scene.
figlio (pronounced “FEEL-yo”): son. Both Count Anckarström and Amelia invoke their son, who never appears in the opera. Amelia wishes to embrace him before she dies, and the Count swears on his son’s life that he will stay with the conspirators. In Act I, the crowd addresses Mam’zelle as figlia d’averno—“daughter of the underworld.”
nulla (pronounced “NOOL-lah”): nothing. In Act I, Gustavus tells Anckarström that being glorified by his people does nulla for his troubled heart. Mam’zelle says that nulla can hide from her powerful sight. The soldier tells Mam’zelle (at first) that he has been rewarded with nulla. In Act III, Anckarström assures Horn and Ribbing that Amelia knows nulla of their plans.
petto: chest or breast (think “pectoral”). In Un ballo in maschera, it’s where characters sense passion, love, terror, and courage, and it’s also where the conspirators wear their ribbons in the final scene so they will recognize each other.
sangue (pronounced “SAHN-gway”): blood. In Act I, Gustavus tells Anckarström that he doesn’t want to risk sangue in pursuit of alleged assassins. The soldier tells Mam’zelle that he deserves a reward for his sangue versato—spilled blood. In Act II, Amelia reminds Gustavus that Anckarström has “given his blood” to save the king. In Act III, Anckarström tells Amelia that she owes sangue for her presumed infidelity.
taci (pronounced “TAH-chee”): hush! Taci appears typically at the beginning of an interruption, as when Gustavus tells Anckarström not to bother him about the assassination plots, Gustavus asks Amelia not to remind him that she is married to Anckarström, or Anckarström commands Amelia not to protest her innocence.
tre: three. Many threes in this opera! Mam’zelle invokes trios of sounds from owls, salamanders, and tombs. Three conspirators, including Anckarström. Three o’clock appointment with Mam’zelle. The soldier who consults Mam’zelle has served the king for tre lustri—a poetic way to say “fifteen years,” as a lustrum is half a decade.
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