Lina Pagliughi - Rimsky-Korsakov: GOLDEN COCKEREL, Hymn to the Sun (in Italian), 1939 High D

THE SONGBIRD: Lina Pagliughi (1907 – 1980) remains a very well regarded singer of her era, primarily in the 1930s and 1940s. She was born in New York, displayed an early vocal talent and moved to Italy with her family when she was 15 years old. Her debut came in 1927 in Milan as Gilda -- resulting in a contract to sing the role in an early commercial recording. She also provided the singing voice of Snow White in the original Italian dub of Disney's 1938 animated movie. Pagliughi performed primarily in the major Italian opera houses (Turin, Parma, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples, and Milan). She sang often on the radio, but was rarely heard in person outside Italy beyond an Australian tour in 1932 and guest roles in Monte Carlo and London.

THE MUSIC: "The Golden Cockerel" is an opera in three acts composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1907 and premiered in 1909 in Moscow, after the composer's death. Outside Russia it has often been performed in French as "Le coq d'or." This fantastical fable of an opera is considered to have set the foundation for modernist opera in Russia. The Queen of Shemakha is an alluring character who seductively dances and sings this aria known as "Hymn to the Sun."

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