Ritorna Vincitor Hasmik!!

[Arpa]

Ritorna Vincitor!!!???

 

Veni Vidi Vici!

 

Yes she came, she saw (was seen/heard) and she conquered.

I knew quite a bit about Hasmik but the fact that she had sang in Aida with Placido Domingo at the Met in 1999 season had eluded me.

Anyhow her stardom at the Met in the leading role of Aida can only be described in the words of Julius Caesar; VENI VIDI VICI

 

As to Ritorna Vincitor, yes, she will return victoriously as she scheduled to appear in a few more operas this season like in Il Trovatore and the Queen of Spades.

A word about Ritorna Vincitor.

I had known this aria for quite sometime but never stopped to think about the real gist of it. The crowd, including Aida sings and bids Radames success and they send him off singing Ritora Vincitor, Return Victorious. Aida also participates. Then after the crowd dissipates she takes off with her most famous solo, virtually singing to herself where the Aria is in fact a question, a wonderment.

Ritorna Vincitor???

Then she turns to herself and asks; Return triumphantly? What am I saying? What does return victoriously mean? Does it not mean the massacre of my own people? The devastation of my homeland? And, above all does that not mean the defeat, capture or even the death of my father Amonasro the king of Ethiopia?

That may be a real dilemma but what is clear as the skies of NY (?)is that another Armenian star will shine in that sky. In fact it may already be shining as we speak. Tigran Martirosian will be starring in several Met productions this season.

http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:uamxC...&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

 

http://www.metopera.org/cgi-bin/perf.pl?se...03&opera=PRTA09

 

PS. Sorry Martin. I was rushed and hardly had time to meet some friends over dinner and I almost missed the whole thing entering the theater with only one minute left to curtain time. In fact it was so late I had to sit on the steps until intermission to find my seat. This is not my first time there and neither it will the last I will "Ritorna Vincitor" shortly. Perhaps this time at the City Opera. Carmen??