Cappelli (ed. Crawford) - La Traviata Pot-Pourri for E-flat Clarinet and Piano

Giuseppe Cappelli - La Traviata Pot-Pourri for E-flat Clarinet and Piano, edited by Elizabeth Crawford. Giuseppe Cappelli adapted themes from Giuseppe Verdi’s opera La Traviata to create this short ‘pot-pourri’ for Eb clarinet and pinao. La Traviata is a three-act lyric opera set to a libretto by Franceso Maria Piave. The opera was based upon Alexandre Dumas’ novel, La dame aux Camelias, and its first performance took place at the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, on March 6, 1853.

Giuseppe Cappelli’s pot-pourri for E-flat clarinet begins with the music from the Baccanale at the opening of Act III, a scene in which the revelry of Carnevale is contrasted with the image of Violetta dying. At the Andante (m. 49) Cappelli uses the E-flat clarinet to express Alfredo’s aria De miei bollenti spiriti, from Act II Scene 1, in which Alfredo sings of his happy life with Violetta in their country house. Music at the Allegro vivace (m. 79) comes from the orchestral tutti of Act 1 Scene 2 at the house of Violetta and is followed by an adaptation of Alfredo’s aria, O mio rimorso! from Act II Scene 3a (m. 99). Cappelli closes the work with a spirited finale of original music.