English title "Swallow's Nest" Genre Romance song Lyricist(s) L. Sica | Written 1926 Composer(s) Vincenzo de Crescenzo Language Italian | |
Rondine al nido is a romance and one of the best known works of the Italian composer Vincenzo de Crescenzo, whose music was in the repertoire of Beniamino Gigli, Tito Schipa, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Richard Tucker, Luciano Pavarotti, Luigi Infantino, Ramón Vargas, Robert Dean Smith, Francesco Albanese, among many others.
Contents
Written by de Crescenzo in the early 20th century (1926), it deals with lost love. While written and performed as a Neapolitan song, but with lyrics in Italian, it is more like an aria of the late Romantic period, demanding of the singer high intensity, high notes, and excellent breath control.It begins calmly and lightly, and then it becomes a passionate outburst. The second stanza repeats this scheme.
The song was sung by tenor Agostino Castagnola as The Doctor (EMH) portrayed by Robert Picardo in the 13th episode, Virtuoso, of the sixth season of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. The episode was first aired on 26 January 2000 in the United States. The song is performed in Las Vegas at the Bellagio's fountain, which dances to Luciano Pavarotti's version of the song.
Libretto
Every performer interprets the song in his own way and there have been several changes from version to version. The following version is from the booklet of the 1990 album, Carreras Domingo Pavarotti in Concert.
Selected recordings
The following is a selection of recordings that includes "Rondine al nido" sung by some of its most famous interpreters. Recordings are listed in chronological order by year.