Fabulous Friday: "Io son l'umile ancella"

I've had this aria stuck in my head every day lately. It's Adriana's entrance aria from Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, a shamelessly overripe Italian confection from 1902. I first heard it in this peerless recording by Leontyne Price:

Magda Olivero was the Adriana of choice for much of her career. Here she is singing it in Amsterdam. Thank you, Signora Olivero, for including the little scena before:

Hm, I wasn't expecting to see Elīna Garanča singing this, she's a mezzo and this is definitely a soprano role. But the aria only goes up to an A flat and why not. She's a little mush-mouthed for my taste, much of her vowel phonation has a default of "aw." It might be only something I notice or care about. I also have mixed feelings about her gown.

Let's cap things off with Monserrat Caballe, singing it at a glacial pace, sometimes making up the words as she goes along. Bless her heart, rest her soul.