Brindisi (music)

Abrindisi(pronounced[ˈbrindizi];Italian for "toast" ) is a song in which a company is exhorted to drink, adrinking song.

The word is Italian, but it derives from an old German phrase,(ich) bringe dir's– "(I) offer it to you", which at one time was used to introduce atoast.The transformation of that phrase into the current Italian word may have been influenced by similar-sounding name of the Italian city ofBrindisi,but otherwise the city and the term areetymologicallyunrelated.

The termbrindisiis often used inopera.Typically, in an operaticbrindisi,one character introduces a toast with a solo melody and the full ensemble later joins in the refrain.

Some well-known operatic numbers labeledbrindisiare:

• "Cantiamo, facciam brindisi", chorus inGaetano Donizetti'sL'Elisir d'Amore
• "Libiamo ne' lieti calici",sung by Alfredo and Violetta in act 1 ofVerdi'sLa traviata
• "Viva, il vino spumeggiante", sung by Turiddu in scene 2 ofMascagni'sCavalleria rusticana
• "Il segreto per esser felici", sung by Orsini in act 2 ofDonizetti'sLucrezia Borgia
• "Inaffia l'ugola!", sung by Iago in act 1 ofVerdi'sOtello
• "Si colmi il calice", sung by Lady Macbeth in act 2 of Verdi'sMacbeth
• "The Tea-Cup Brindisi", in the finale of act 1 ofGilbert and Sullivan'sThe Sorcerer
• "Ô vin, dissipe la tristesse" sung by Hamlet in act 2 ofThomas'sHamlet

References

• Lo Zingarelli:Vocabolario della lingua italiana.Zanichelli. 1997.

External links

• "Libiamo ne' lieti calici"onYouTube,Glyndebourne Festival Opera2014 (with English subtitles)