It's 4 a.m.-ish on Sunday. Time for another "? of the Week."
Nico Castel.
Nico Castel is a language coach and character tenor who sings with the Met. He also does Master Classes for singers. I have never actually met him, but when I do, I am going to shake his hand and thank him for his fantastic series of Opera Libretti Translations.
What Mr. Castel has done is to take the librettos (or words) of famous operas. He then translates them "word for word" and adds International Phonetic Alphabet (or IPA) translations underneath that. Additionally, he will add a line if the grammer does not work well in English that clarifies what each character is saying. Not only that (whew, I'm getting out of breath), if there is an obscure reference to something specific to the setting of the opera, Mr. Castel adds a footnote that explains what the words mean.
As I start my book on the role of Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore, I am sitting down with Italian Bel Canto Operas (vol. 1) and translating the entire opera. Every single word. Without this Mr. Castel's series, the work would completely be overwhelming, but this book makes the process relatively efficient and painless.
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