| "Ricondita Armonia" ("Hidden Harmony" in English) | | | | Floria la ardente amante mia" (she is a brunette, |
| is an aria which in my opinion seems to have been | | | | my ardent lover) while the sacristan complains |
| composed specially for Placido Domingo, in the | | | | about his speaking of his desires for Tosca inside |
| same way that "Nesun Dorma was for Luciano | | | | the church; whom he compares to the saints. |
| Pavarotti; as there is something about it that | | | | Mario Cavarodossi however is moved by his love |
| lends itself so perfectly to Domingo's voice. | | | | for Tosca, whom he describes with all the |
| Domingo, having one of those voices which I | | | | devotion some in the very place he finds himself |
| would describe as "pastosa" while at the same | | | | might have dedicated to the virgin Mary yet to |
| time powerful and full of passion yet does not | | | | him as he explains; it is Tosca who is his only |
| streak in the fashion other tenors. | | | | thought while he creates with colors on canvas. |
| As for the aria "Ricondita Armonia", it is taken | | | | Cavaradossi's love for Tosca in this aria is all too |
| from Puccini's "Tosca" which is in part about the | | | | clear in the way he allows us to envision her with |
| love affair between the famous singer, Floria | | | | his phrases yet it is also Puccini's music which |
| Tosca and the painter Mario Cavaradossi; who at | | | | permits us to feel what he must be experiencing |
| the start of the opera finds himself in a church | | | | at just the thought of she so complete in sensual |
| where he has been commissioned to paint a | | | | femininity. This all with a harmony that like the |
| portrait of Maria Magdalena. It being almost at the | | | | title is hidden yet seems to slowly pour out, as if |
| very begging that we hear this aria sung by Mario | | | | honey that gives yet obliges us to wait in |
| Cavaradossi about the love of his life, Tosca who | | | | anticipation for that which we so much long for in |
| does not make her entrance until after "Ricondita | | | | Cavaradossi's words "il mio sol pensier se tu, sei |
| Armonia" which serves both as an introduction to | | | | tu". This being "my only thought is you, is you" in |
| her as well as the sentiments felt by the one who | | | | English. |
| so passionately sings praises to the one he | | | | For my part I can only declare that "Ricondita |
| adores. | | | | Armonia" is one of my favorite arias dedicated to |
| "Ricondito Armonia" in fact starts when the | | | | love and the desires to arise from it, as it with |
| church's sacristan notices in almost horror how | | | | suffering that equals passion describes the one |
| much Cavaradossi's painting of the Magdalena | | | | who to me is Angela Gheorghiu. Angela Gheorghiu, |
| resembles a woman he recognizes as a regular at | | | | the one whose exquisite beauty this aria |
| his church; who in fact is the famous singer Floria | | | | describes not only in the physical aspect to include |
| Tosca. Mario Cavaradossi however feels Tosca as | | | | her dark mane but the sensuality of the woman |
| his inspiration as he goes back to work with the | | | | she is who performs the role of Tosca with all |
| words "dami color" (give me paint) and starts in | | | | the fervent characteristics I associate with her. |
| on the aria "Ricondita Armonia" in which he | | | | This leading me to the conclusion that the role of |
| describes his beloved Tosca whose features can | | | | Tosca was intended to be sung by a great diva |
| be found in the painting his brush has created. | | | | with the temperament of Angela, so capable of |
| Mario Cavaradossi continues with lust and | | | | lending her talent and at times capricious ways to |
| tenderness in his voices as the words "E bruna | | | | this most dramatic of opera characters. |