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From: Margaret Harrison
To: VOCALIST <vocalist>
Subject: Re: Olga Borodina and "Mon coeur..."
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"Jennifer L. Fretwell" wrote:
I
> noticed that she sings the optional notes at the end of "Mon coeur"
> ("Samson...Samson). I have never heard anyone sing this aria with those
> optional notes at the very end. Olga sings those notes with a wonderful,
> beautiful, floating style to great effect. Is there a story behind those
> optional notes in "Mon coeur"? There aren't too many arias with optional
> notes.

I believe these notes are as written in the opera. Sometimes, when arias are excerpted,
people leave out "extraneous" portions - like things sung by the chorus, and transitional
material.

In the production I saw, Samson and Dalila were lying in each other's arms during the
aria, and afterwards do some embracing, which is the context for her saying his name
twice.

Peggy

--
Margaret Harrison, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
"Music for a While Shall All Your Cares Beguile"
mailto:peggyh-at-ix.netcom.com