Do you know Catalanis La Wally? Is it *your* favorite opera where the heroine dies by leaping into an avalanche? Mine too? (Also, good luck with that one, stage directors!) Yeah... I confess...I dont know the whole show; I really just adore that one aria. It. Is. Sublime. Here: listen to it! youtube/watch?v=E0pAWzw2100 Incredible, no? Yes. Definitely. Well.... if pressed, Ill admit the text leaves a bit (ok a lot) to be desired. Im going away. Far away. Far, far away. Very far away. This is a simplification, but not by too much. (This is the kind of thing that gives Billy Connolly a fun evening ridiculing the very concept of opera!) At any rate, a truly incredible aria. But was a whole opera necessary? No, it turns out! Ebben! ne andrò lontana is a pre-existing, free-standing art song! Catalani originally wrote it as Chanson Groenlandaise (Greenlandish Song). It is a free-standing song with *beautiful* text by none other than everybodys favorite sci-fi pioneer, Jules Verne! Check it out: The sky is black, And the sun barely remains! My pour, uncertain soul is full of despair. This blond child laughs at my tender songs And over his heart, winter creeps with his ice. Angel of dreams, Your love which makes life Intoxicates me, And to see you, I braved The frost. Alas! With my kisses and their sweet warmth I could not dissipate the snows of your heart! Ah! That tomorrow Your soul should join Mine And that my hand Lovingly should take Yours! The sun will burn high in our sky, And love will force the thawing of your heart! Trust me on the French. Or make your own English out of it here: recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=16336 Now imagine that heartbreaking, compact, evocative poem is what is being conveyed by the exquisite music you heard. Does it give you chills? It sure does me. This music is fantastic as we know it. It is *spellbinding* with the original text. Frankly, this much and Im done. No leaping into a moving glacier necessary. Lets hear it for the economy of song literature! There are not so many recordings of this in French, sopranos, and none I felt like posting here. An honest, heartfelt request: somebody, please record this and reduce me to days of tears and one track on repeat? (Im looking at you Susanna Phillips & Nataly Wickham :) ) Or maybe you prefer the drama of Catalanis orchestration? Well, I sure cant fault you for that. Its glorious. But seriously, try this one out as an art song. See what you think. Or not. The cold never bothered me anyway.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 06:41:55 +0000