Diva Dance Song from The Fifth Element
In the movie The Fifth Element , there's a memorable scene of a crazy alien soprano singer. It is, the best part of that movie.
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The first part of the song, the aria, is Act 3 scene 2 Oh, giusto cielo!…Il dolce suono (Oh, merciful heaven! … The sweet sound) (the Lucia Mad Scene), from Gaetano Donizetti's tragic opera Lucia di Lammermoor.
The second part, the dance, is called The Diva Dance song, composed by French composer Éric Serra (born 1959) . Parts of the vocal performance is computer enhanced, because no human can change pitch that fast and that high in quality. In the movie, the song is composed to be sung by extraterrestrial.
- The song in the movie is sung by Albanian soprano Inva Mula (born 1963) (with help of computer enhancement on the Diva Dance part)
- The actress playing the singer is Maïwenn Le Besco (born 1976).
- The fictional alien character's name is Diva Plavalaguna.
What is “Mad Scene”?
The first part of the beautiful song, the Oh, giusto cielo!…Il dolce suono is known as Lucia's Mad Scene. A Mad scene is:
A mad scene is an enactment of insanity in an opera or play. It was a popular convention of Italian and French opera in the early decades of the nineteenth century.
Mad scenes were often created as a way to offer star singers a chance to show off their abilities, though many of them are also very dramatic. The vocal writing is often exciting and highly demanding, requiring immense skill. Most mad scenes were composed for the soprano voice, but there are examples for the baritone and the tenor.
[Wikipedia Mad scene]
Full Scene of the Diva Dance
“Il dolce suono” Lyrics
Il dolce suono mi colpì di sua voce! Ah, quella voce M'è qui nel cor discesa! Edgardo! Io ti son resa. Edgardo! Ah! Edgardo, mio! Si, ti son resa fuggita io son da' tuoi nemici. Ah nemici! Un gelo mi serpeggia nel sen! Trema ogni fibra! Vacilla il piè! Presso la fonte meco t'assidi alquanto. Si, presso la fonte meco t'assidi.
The sweet sound of his voice struck me! O, that voice Has entered my heart! Edgardo! I am given back to you. Edgardo! Oh! My Edgardo! I have escaped from your enemies. O your enemies! A chill creeps into my breast! Every fibre trembles! My foot falters! Sit down by the fountain with me for a while. Sit down by the fountain with me.
It is a part of the whole tragic opera Lucia di Lammermoor .
The story concerns the emotionally fragile Lucy Ashton (Lucia) who is caught in a feud between her own family and that of the Ravenswoods. The setting is the Lammermuir Hills of Scotland (Lammermoor) in the 17th century.
[Wikipedia]
Act 3 Scene 1: The Wolf's Crag
Enrico visits Edgardo to challenge him to a duel. He tells him that Lucia is already enjoying her bridal bed. Edgardo agrees to fight him. They will meet later by the graveyard of the Ravenswoods, near the Wolf's Crag.
Act 3 Scene 2: A Hall in Lammermoor Castle
Raimondo interrupts the marriage celebrations to tell the guests that Lucia has gone mad and killed her bridegroom Arturo. Lucia enters. In the aria - “Il dolce suono” she imagines being with Edgardo, soon to be happily married. Enrico enters and at first threatens Lucia but later softens when he realizes her condition. Lucia collapses. Raimondo blames Normanno for precipitating the whole tragedy.
Human Performance of the Diva Dance Song
Note: She is singing with the original performance playing in the background.
I've watched tens of others on YouTube trying to sing this song. None comes close.
Compare to Castrato Singing.