Crescentini, the last famous male Sopranist, is reputed by history or legend-the two are not infrequently synonymous-to have been himself the composer of the well-known aria "Ombra adorata," introduced by him in Zingarelli's opera Romeo e Giulietta, as also of the prayer sung by Romeo in the same work.
"Style in Singing"
W. E. Haslam
Then ye who listened in that earlier day When to my careless lay I matched its chords and stole their first-born thrill, With untaught rudest skill Vexing a treble from the slender strings Thin as the locust sings When the shrill-crying child of summer's heat Pipes from its leafy seat, The dim pavilion of embowering green Beneath whose shadowy screen The small Sopranist tries his single note Against the song-bird's throat, And all the echoes listen, but in vain; They hear no answering strain,- Then ye who listened in that earlier day Shall sadly turn away, Saying, "The fire burns low, the hearth is cold That warmed our blood of old; Cover its embers and its half-burnt brands, And let us stretch our hands Over a brighter and fresh-kindled flame; Lo, this is not the same, The joyous singer of our morning time, Flushed high with lusty rhyme!
"The Poetical Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Vol. 5 Poems Of The Class Of '29 (1851-1889)"
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
The pride of the young composer was deeply wounded; the opera failed, and the Sopranist alone succeeded.
"The Great Musicians: Rossini and His School"
Henry Sutherland Edwards