Rita Streich - Verdi: LA TRAVIATA, Sempre libera (in German), 1962, High E-flat

THE SONGBIRD: I think of Rita Streich (1920 - 1987) as a quintessentially German coloratura soubrette, but she was actually born in Siberia and moved to Germany as a child (her father was German). She studied with Maria Ivogün and Erna Berger, and made her debut as Zerbinetta in a regional opera house in Bohemia in 1943. In 1946 Streich was contracted in Berlin where she started getting noticed, then shot to stardom in Vienna and Salzburg, becoming a fixture with those companies until the early 1970s. International guest appearances included Sophie in Rome and San Francisco, Blonde at La Scala, Susanna in Chicago, and Zerbinetta at Glyndebourne. She never appeared at The Met -- probably because Roberta Peters had the typical Streich roles covered. Streich was extremely prolific in the recording studio with at least a dozen solo recitals and many complete operas and concert works -- her long association with DGG began in 1952. This recording of Violetta's aria from "La traviata" comes from an excepts disc on the Philips label issued in 1963, sung in German.

THE MUSIC: Verdi's "La traviata" is the most popular opera in the world. According to Operabase statistics (https://www.operabase.com/statistics/en), since 1996 it's had 3,805 productions, more than any other opera. It was not a success at its premiere in Venice in 1853, due to the audience reactions to the singers, however productions in the following few years took hold (Madrid, Vienna, London, New York, and in a French translation in Paris). Violetta, the principal soprano role and title character is a long, very challenging and rewarding role with consistently brilliant music and a compelling story arc. Her multipart aria at the end of Act One begins with an introspective recitative that segues into an intimate and probing aria "Ah fors'e lui" where she ponders her burgeoning attraction to Alfredo and what their life together might be like. She stops herself cold when she realizes such a domestic life would be against her nature, and her fate, and in the highly florid cabaletta "Sempre libera" vows to continue living in the carefree lifestyle of a courtesan.