Marilyn Horne - Don Carlo - O Don Fatale

Marilyn Horne wrote in her book "The song continues" : "My next role at the Metropolitan was as Princess Eboli in verdi's Don Carlo. Look, I never said I was above reproach. On opening night, February 5, 1979, the verdict was: Verdi, si: Horne, no. My "Veil Song" was well received but I took it on the chin principally because I had committed the unpardonable operatic sin - I had transposed Eboli's big third act aria, "O don fatale", down a minor third. Why? Because I no longer was comfortable singing in what had become the "accepted" key. Furthermore, I remembered that my dear old coach Fritz Zweig had told me that the composer himself sanctioned a transposition. Verdi transposed down a full tone and a half. Moreover, until the 1950s "O don fatale" was sung in the lower key at the Metropolitan. Honestly, I wish some of my critics had taken the trouble to do the kind of research I did in preparing my roles. Oh well, as an American poet once wrote, Between me and my critics, I leave you decide"."

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