\'Ebben ? ne andrò lontana\' - La Wally

Maria Callas - "Ebben ? ne andrò lontana" - La Wally

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa sings "Ebben? Ne andrò lontana"

La Wally is a four-act opera by Alfredo Catalani, composed on a libretto by Luigi Illica, and first performed at La Scala, Milan on January 20, 1892, only months after both Verdi's Otello and Puccini's Manon Lescaut received their premieres.

The libretto is based on a hugely successful Heimatroman and theatre piece by Wilhelmine von Hillern (1836-1916), Die Geyer-Wally, Eine Geschichte aus den Tyroler Alpen (literally: "The Vulture-Wally: A Story of the Tyrolean Alps").

The opera is best known for its aria Ebben? Ne andrò lontana, (Act I), sung when Wally decides to leave her home forever. Catalani had composed that aria independently as Chanson Groënlandaise in 1878 and later incorporated it into his opera. It is featured prominently in Jean-Jacques Beineix's film Diva.

The opera also features one of the most memorable of operatic deaths, in which the heroine throws herself into an avalanche. It is seldom performed because of the difficulty of staging this scene, but its arias are sung frequently.