"Che gelida manina" (; "What a frozen little hand") is a
tenor
A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...
aria
In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...
from the first act of
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...
's opera, ''
La bohème
''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
''. The aria is sung by Rodolfo to Mimì when they first meet. In the aria he tells her of his life as a poet, and ends by asking her to tell him more about her life. It is one of the most recorded arias by tenors.
Dramatic context
The scene takes place on
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...
in the
Latin Quarter
The Latin Quarter of Paris (, ) is an urban university campus in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne.
Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros, t ...
of Paris. Rodolfo, a struggling poet, is in his room when he hears someone knocking at the door. He opens the door and sees Mimì, a neighbour who has come to his room because her candle has been extinguished and she needs light to go to her room. While in his room, she feels faint and he helps her to sit, and she accidentally drops her room key. Afterwards, with her candle lit, Mimì starts to leave, but finds her key missing. Both their candles then go out, and the two of them search for her room key together in darkness. Rodolfo finds her key but hides it. Rodolfo then touches her hand in the dark and feels the coldness of her hand, and he starts to sing the aria.
The song begins in a
recitative
Recitative (, also known by its Italian name recitativo () is a style of delivery (much used in operas, oratorios, and cantatas) in which a singer is allowed to adopt the rhythms and delivery of ordinary speech. Recitative does not repeat lines ...
manner with "''Che gelida manina, se la lasci riscaldar''" ("What a frozen little hand, let me warm it for you"), which quickly turns into an aria. In the song Rodolfo tells Mimì that he is a poet – "''Chi son? Sono un poeta''" ("Who am I? I am a poet"), talks of his life as a poet living in carefree poverty, and about his hopes and dreams. He then admits that she has stolen his heart, and ends by asking her about her life.
In reply, Mimì sings her aria "Sì, mi chiamano Mimì" ("Yes, they call me Mimì"), and the scene concludes in a duet "
O soave fanciulla
("O gentle maiden") is a romantic duet from the first act of Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera . It is sung as the closing number in act 1 by Rodolfo (tenor) and Mimì (soprano) where they realise they have fallen for each other.
Music
The duet, bet ...
" where they realise that they have fallen for each other.
Composition
The aria was composed by Puccini with libretto by
Luigi Illica
Luigi Illica (9 May 1857 – 16 December 1919) was an Italian librettist who wrote for Giacomo Puccini (usually with Giuseppe Giacosa), Pietro Mascagni, Alfredo Catalani, Umberto Giordano, Baron Alberto Franchetti and other important Italian ...
and
Giuseppe Giacosa
Giuseppe Giacosa (21 October, 1847 – 1 September, 1906) was an Italian poet, playwright and librettist. Regarded at the turn of the 20th century as one of Italy’s leading playwrights, Giacosa is remembered chiefly for his association with P ...
. It contains an original feature that Puccini introduced – it has three distinct musical paragraphs that lack tonal balance but are nonetheless coherent as a whole. The initial part is tender, the second part (starting with ) is distinctly different in tone, bolder and contains a motif for Rodolfo. The third part starts with , the beginning of the 'love' motif used in the opera.
In the autograph score of the opera, the opening section of the aria and the preceding passage was originally written in
C major
C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...
rather than
D-flat major
D-flat major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature has five flats.
The D-flat major scale is:
Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in w ...
that is used. The song however may be transposed down half a step by those who find the unwritten climactic
high C
C or Do is the first note of the C major scale, the third note of the A minor scale (the relative minor of C major), and the fourth note (G, A, B, C) of the Guidonian hand, commonly pitched around 261.63 Hz. The actual frequency has depen ...
(on ) or high
tessitura
In music, tessitura ( , , ; ; ) is the most acceptable and comfortable vocal range for a given singer (or, less frequently, musical instrument). It is the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding (or characteristic) tim ...
difficult to sing.
Performances and recordings
''La bohème'' is one of the most popular operas, and "Che gelida manina", being the best-known tenor aria of the opera, is consequently one of the most recorded arias by tenors. Between 1900 and 1980, almost 500 tenors recorded this aria in at least seven different languages. The opera premiered in
Turin
Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...
in 1896 with the role of Rodolfo played by
Evan Gorga
Evangelista Gennaro Gorga (6 February 1865 – 5 December 1957) was an Italian lyric tenor. He is best known for originating the role of Rodolfo in the original production of Giacomo Puccini's ''La bohème'' at the Teatro Regio Torino in 1896.
...
, although Gorga had difficulty with the high tessitura and the music had to be transposed down for him.
Recordings of the aria began a few years after the premiere. An early recording was made by
Enrico Caruso
Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that r ...
in 1906. Caruso had reputedly sung the aria in 1897 for Puccini, who was said to have exclaimed: "Who sent you to me—God?"
Beniamino Gigli
Beniamino Gigli ( , ; 20 March 1890 – 30 November 1957) was an Italian opera singer ( lyric tenor). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tenors of his generation.
Early life
Gigli was born in Recanati, in the Marche, the son of a sho ...
performed the aria in the 1936 film ''
Ave Maria
The Hail Mary or Ave Maria (from its first words in Latin), also known as the Angelic or Angelical Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical pa ...
''. The aria was one of
Mario Lanza
Mario Lanza ( , ; born Alfredo Arnold Cocozza ; January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959) was an American tenor and actor. He was a Hollywood film star popular in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Lanza began studying to be a professional singer a ...
's first recordings in 1949; his recording of "Che gelida manina" won the Operatic Recording of the Year (awarded by the National Record Critics Association), and was later included in
RCA
RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...
's Hall of Fame historical recordings. The first known recording by
Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...
is of this aria, recorded in 1961 during his professional debut at the
Teatro Municipale in
Reggio Emilia
Reggio nell'Emilia (; ), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until Unification of Italy, 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 172,51 ...
. He would record the aria again in 1963 in London. Pavarotti made many notable recordings of the song in his performances of ''La bohème'', including the 1979
La Scala
La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...
performance and a 1973 recording conducted by
Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan (; born ''Heribert Adolf Ernst Karajan''; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, ...
.
Lyrics
Che gelida manina,
se la lasci riscaldar.
Cercar che giova?
Al buio non si trova.
Ma per fortuna
è una notte di luna,
e qui la luna
l'abbiamo vicina.
Aspetti, signorina,
le dirò con due parole
chi son, chi son, e che faccio,
come vivo. Vuole?
Chi son? Chi son? Sono un poeta.
Che cosa faccio? Scrivo.
E come vivo? Vivo.
In povertà mia lieta
scialo da gran signore
rime ed inni d'amore.
Per sogni e per chimere
e per castelli in aria,
l'anima ho milionaria.
Talor dal mio forziere
ruban tutti i gioielli
due ladri, gli occhi belli.
V'entrar con voi pur ora,
ed i miei sogni usati
e i bei sogni miei,
tosto si dileguar!
Ma il furto non m'accora,
poiché, poiché v'ha preso stanza
la dolce speranza!
Or che mi conoscete,
parlate voi, deh!
Parlate. Chi siete?
Vi piaccia dir!
Your tiny hand is frozen!
Let me warm it into life.
Our search is useless;
In darkness all is hidden.
Ere long the light
of the moon shall aid us,
Yes, in the moonlight
our search let us continue.
So listen, pretty maiden,
while I tell you in a moment
Just who I am, what I do,
and how I live. Shall I?
I am, I am, I am a poet.
What's my employment? Writing!
Is that a living? Hardly!
I've wit tho' wealth be wanting;
Ladies of rank and fashion
all inspire me with passion.
In dreams and fond illusions
or castles in the air.
Richer is none on earth than I!
Bright eyes as yours, believe me,
Steal my priceless jewels
In Fancy's storehouse cherish'd.
Your roguish eyes have robb'd me,
Of all my dreams bereft me,
dreams that are fair yet fleeting.
Fled are my truant fancies,
Regrets I do not cherish.
For now life's rosy morn is breaking,
now golden love is waking!
Now that I've told my story,
pray tell me yours, too,
tell me frankly, who are you?
Say will you tell?[''La bohème'', piano vocal score, pp. 64–70, Ricordi 1896, translation by William Grist (1840–1896)]
References
External links
Italian and English text
(Italian and English text), pp. 64–70,
William and Gayle Cook Music Library
The William and Gayle Cook Music Library, recognized as one of the largest academic music libraries in the world, serves the Jacobs School of Music and the Bloomington Campus of Indiana University. It occupies a four-floor, 55,000 square-foot faci ...
* ,
Roberto Alagna
Roberto Alagna (; born 7 June 1963) is a French operatic tenor. He obtained French citizenship in 1981, while also retaining his previous Italian citizenship.
Early years
Alagna was born in Clichy-sous-Bois, outside the city of Paris, in 1963 t ...
with
Angela Gheorghiu
Angela Gheorghiu (; ; born 7 September 1965) is a Romanian soprano, especially known for her performances in the operas of Puccini and Verdi, widely recognised by critics and opera lovers as one of the greatest sopranos of all time.
Embarking ...
* ,
Plácido Domingo
José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...
with
Kiri Te Kanawa
Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". On 1 December ...
Sheet music The Opera Database
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Arias by Giacomo Puccini
Tenor arias
Opera excerpts
Compositions in D-flat major