II. PRAYERS OF FEMALE PROTAGONISTS IN GIUSEPPE VERDI’S OPERAS. GISELDA’S PRAYER: “SALVE MARIA” FROM VERDI’S „I LOMBARDI ALLA PRIMA CROCIATA”

Abstract

With this analysis the author continues the journey of presenting the prayers of female protagonists from Giuseppe Verdi’s operas, a lesser-known topic within the vast bibliography dedicated to the oeuvre of the great Italian Maestro. Giselda’s Prayer from I Lombardi alla prima crociata is the second – and an unusually modern example for Verdi’s early period – in the author’s series of analyses of preghiere written for the solo female voice found in ten of the composer’s works[1], covering all three of Verdi’s creative periods. Further analyses published in this series will shed light upon well-known examples of preghiere – like the famous prayers of Leonora from La Forza del Destino –, as well as arias which bear bel canto influences (preghiere from Giovanna d'Arco and Stiffelio), but also ones illustrating the language transformation of the female prayer in more mature operatic works, such as Aida and Otello.

[1] The aforementioned analyses focus only on prayers uttered to divinities (both in Christian and pagan contexts), saints or the Virgin Mary, but exclude prayers addressed to the dead (e.g. Lina’s second act prayer from Stiffelio – Ah, dagli scanni eterei).