DISC ONE BAROQUE, CLASSICAL, AND BEL CANTO

01. George Frideric Handel, Serse (Xerxes), 1738: Ombra Mai fu Yoshikazu Mela (3:04)

02. Handel, Semele, 1743: Whereer You Walk - Ian Bostridge (4:51)

03. Henry Purcell, Dido and Aeneas, 1688: Thanks to these lonesome vales Camilla Tilling (3:15)

04. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), 1786: Dove sono Kiri Te

Kanawa (5:08)

05. Mozart, La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus), 1788: Ah, Perdona Al Primo Affetto Lucia

Popp & Frederica von Stade (3:08)

06. Gioachino Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution), 1816: Ecco,

ridente in cielo Richard Conrad (5:08)

07. Vincenzo Bellini, Beatrice di Tenda, 1833: Angiol di pace Richard Conrad, Joan Sutherland, &

Marilyn Horne (3:28)

08. Bellini, Norma, 1831: Casta diva Maria Callas (5:37)

Gaetano Donizetti, Anna Bolena (Anne Boleyn), 1830:

09. Oh, amor! Mi inspira Patricia Kern (2:22)

10. Legger potessi in me! Beverly Sills (5:20)

11. Donizetti, Lelisir damore (The Elixir of Love), 1832: Una furtiva lagrima Tito Schipa (4:22)

12. Donizetti, Maria Stuarda (Mary Stuart), 1835: Deh! Tu Di Un Umile Preghiera Beverly Sills (4:27)

13. Donizetti, Don Pasquale, 1843: Tornami a dir che mami Joan Sutherland & Richard Conrad (3:32)

Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor, 1835:

14-17. Lucias Mad Scene Beverly Sills with William Bennett (flute) and Bruno Hoffmann (glass

harmonica) (21:20)

18 Giacomo Puccini, Turandot, 1926: Nessun dorma Luciano Pavarotti (2:59)

DISC TWO THE FRENCH ALBUM

01. Daniel Auber, La muette de Portici (The Mute Girl of Portici), 1828: Ferme tes yeux Richard Conrad

(4:36)

02. Ambroise Thomas, Hamlet, 1868: A Vos Jeux, Mes Amis Joan Sutherland (8:52)

Georges Bizet, Les pcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers), 1863:

03. Au fond du temple saint David Hobson & Teddy Tahu Rhodes (5:51)

04. Je crois entendre encore David Hobson (3:46)

05-06. O Dieu Brahma! Barbara Hendricks & John Aler (7:58)

07. Jules Massenet, Esclarmonde, 1889: Voici le divin moment Joan Sutherland & Giacomo Aragall

(6:44)

08. Massenet, Thas, 1894: Meditation Religieuse Renaud Capuon (violin) with Orchestre National

Bordeaux Aquitaine conducted by Yves Abel (5:49)

Jules Offenbach, Les contes dHoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), 1881:

09. Il tait une fois la cour dEisenach Plcido Domingo (5:30)

10-11. Epilogue Plcido Domingo, Huguette Tourangeau, Joan Sutherland, Gabriel Bacquier, Pedro di

Proenza & Lausanne Pro Arte Chorus (3:59)

Hector Berlioz, Les Troyens (The Trojans), 1863:

12. Blonde Cres Kenneth Tarver (4:43)

13. Nuit DIvresse et DExtase Infinie! Jon Vickers & Josephine Veasey (10:07)

14. Charles Gounod, Faust, 1859: O Dieu! Que De Bijoux Joan Sutherland (4:42)

15. Franois Boieldieu, Angela, 1825: Ma Fanchette est charmante Richard Conrad, Marilyn Horne, &

Joan Sutherland (4:13)

DISC THREE THE VERDI ALBUM

Giuseppe Verdi, La traviata (The Fallen Woman), 1853:

01. Prelude to Act I Bonn Classical Philharmonic Orchestra, Heribert Beissel (3:50)

02-03. Libiamo NeLieti Calici.Un Di Felice Joan Sutherland & Luciano Pavarotti (6:31)

04-06. Sempre libera Leontyne Price (11:09)

Verdi, Il trovatore (The Troubadour), 1853:

07-09. Che Piu TArresti? Leontyne Price (8:29)

Verdi, Rigoletto, 1851:

10. La donna e mobile Luciano Pavarotti (2:28)

11. Caro Nome Joan Sutherland (6:20)

Arrigo Boito, Mefistofele, 1868:

12. Lontano, lontano, lontano Mirella Freni & Luciano Pavarotti (2:52)

13-14. Forma Ideal, Purissima Luciano Pavarotti & Montserrat Caball (9:48)

Verdi, Ada, 1871:

15 O Patria mia Leontyne Price (5:16)

16-17. Finale (O terra, addio) Plcido Domingo & Katia Ricciarelli, with Elena Obraztsova (10:44)

Verdi, Otello, 1887:

18 Gia Nella Notte Leontyne Price & Plcido Domingo (11:08)

DISC FOUR ROMANTIC OPERA

Richard Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen: Das Rheingold (The Ring of the Nibelung: The Rhine

gold), 1869:

1. Vorspiel Wiener Philharmoniker, Georg Solti (4:13)

2. Weia! Waga! Woge, du Welle! Oda Balsborg, Hetty Plmacher, Irsa Malaniuk & Gustav Niedlinger

(2:25)

3. Giacomo Puccini, Tosca, 1900: E lucevan le stele Franco Corelli (3:25)

Bla Bartk, A Kkszakll Herceg Vra (Duke Bluebeards Castle), 1918:

4-5. Doors 4 & 5 - Gustv Belacek & Andrea Melth (10:53)

6 Camille Saint-Sans, Samson et Dalila, 1877: Mon coeur souvre a ta voix Elena Obraztsova &

Plcido Domingo (5:33)

7 Puccini, La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the Golden West), 1910: Che Faranno I Vecchi Miei

Gwynne Howell, Francis Egerton, Paul Crook, Robin Leggate, Jonathan Summers & Chorus of the

Royal Opera House (3:44)

8 Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky, Eugene Onegin, 1879: Tatyanas Letter Scene Lucia Popp (12:10)

9 Puccini, Madama Butterfly, 1904: Humming Chorus Wiener Philharmoniker, Vienna State Opera

Chorus, Herbert von Karajan (3:05)

Puccini, La rondine (The Swallow), 1917:

10 Chi il bel sogno di Doretta Angela Gheorghiu & London Voices (2:24)

11-14. Party scene from Act II [excerpts] Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, William Matteuzzi, Inva

Mula-Tchako, with Patrizia Biccire & London Voices (14:54)

15 Rossini, Semiramide, 1823: Bel raggio Lusinghier Joan Sutherland (6:42)

16 Benjamin Goddard, Jocelyn, 1888: Berceuse David Hobson (4:47)

17 Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen: Die Walkure (The Valkyrie), 1870: Hans Hotter & Wiener

Philharmoniker, Georg Solti (4:54)

DISC FIVE PRE-WAR OPERA

Giacomo Puccini, La boheme (The Bohemian Life), 1896:

1. O soave fanciulla Cheryl Barker & David Hobson (4:41)

2. Musettas Waltz Shu-Cheen Yu (2:31)

Benjamin Britten, Peter Grimes, 1945:

3. Sea Interlude #1: Dawn Covent Garden Orchestra & Colin Davis

Erich Korngold, Die tote stadt (The Dead City), 1920:

4. Glck, das mir verblieb Dame Joan Hammond (3:45)

5. Prelude to Act II Leif Segerstam & The Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra (4:32)

Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sir John in Love, 1929

6-7. Act I Love Sequence Robert Tear & Wendy Eathorne (4:06)

8-11. Act II Letter Scene Felicity Palmer, Elizabeth Bainbridge & Helen Watts (7:57)

12-15. Orchestral Excerpts Meredith Davies & New Philharmonia Orchestra (6:50)

16. Richard Strauss, Salome, 1905:

Final Scene Cheryl Studer (4:42)

George Gershwin, Porgy and Bess, 1935:

17. Overture Wayne Marshall (piano) with The London Philharmonic, Simon Rattle (4:19)

18. Summertime Harolyn Blackwell (3:29)

19. Oh, Im agoin out to the Blackfish banks Bruce Hubbard with The Glyndebourne Chorus (3:30)

20. My mans gone now Cynthia Clarey with The Glyndebourne Chorus (3:59)

21. Bess, you is my woman now Willard White & Cynthia Haymon (6:16

22. Oh deys so fresh an fine Camellia Johnson, with cast (5:02)

23. Theres a boat dats leavin soon for New York Damon Evans (4:27)

DISC SIX MODERN OPERA

1. Gyrgy Ligeti, Le grand macabre, 1977: Car-horn prelude Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka

Salonen (0:57)

2. Thomas Ads, The Tempest, 2004: Five Fathoms deep Cynthia Sieden (3:59)

3. Jake Heggie, Moby-Dick, 2010: Overture Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Timothy Sexton (3:54)

4. Ads, The Tempest, 2004: What was before Toby Spence & Kate Royal (8:31)

Benjamin Britten, Peter Grimes, 1945:

5-6. Third and Fifth Sea Interludes Covent Garden Orchestra, Colin Davis (7:25)

7. Now the Great Bear and Pleiades Jon Vickers (4:08)

John Adams, Nixon in China, 1987:

8. Tropical storm Orchestra of St. Lukes, Edo de Waart (4:45)

9. I Am the Wife of Mao Tse-tung Trudy Ellen Craney (6:30)

Francis Poulenc, Dialogues des Carmlites (Dialogues of the Carmelites), 1957:

10-11. Final (guillotine) scene Denise Duval, Liliane Berton, Janine Fourrier, Gisle Desmoutiers (9:42)

Leonard Bernstein, Candide, 1956:

12. Life is Happiness Indeed Jerry Hadley, June Anderson (2:59)

13. Words, Words, Words (Martins Laughing Song) Adolphe Green (3:13)

14. John Corigliano, The Ghosts of Versailles, 1994: Come Now, My Darling Sequence Teresa Stratas,

Hakan Hagegard, Rene Fleming, Stella Zambalis [live] (10:25)

15. Carlisle Floyd, Susannah, 1956: The trees on the mountain Cheryl Studer (5:04)

16. Britten, A Midsummer Nights Dream, 1960: Finale - James Bowman, Lillian Watson, Dexter Fletcher

(5:04)

In the church-way paths to glide:

And we fairies, that do run

By the triple Hecates team,

From the presence of the sun,

Following darkness like a dream,

Now are frolic:

And a mouse shall disturb

This hallowd house.

PUCK (chasing the Fairies)

I am sent with broom before,

To sweep the dust behind the door.

OBERON

Through the house give

Glimmering light,

Every elf and fairy sprite

Sing this ditty, after me,

Sing, and dance it trippingly.

TITANIA

First, rehearse your song by rote

To each word a warbling note.

TITANIA / OBERON

Hand in hand with fairy grace,

Will we sing and bless this place.

OBERON / TITANIA / FAIRIES

Now until the break of day,

Through this house each fairy stray.

To the best bride-bed will we,

Which by us shall blessed be;

And the issue there create

Ever shall be fortunate.

So shall all the couples three

Every true in loving be.

With this field-dew consecrate,

Every fairy take his gait;

And each several chamber bless,

Through this palace

With sweet peace;

Ever shall in safety rest,

And the owner of it blest.

OBERON

Trip away, make no stay,

Meet me all by break of day.

(Exeunt all but Puck)

PUCK

If we shadows have offended,

Think but this, and all is mended,

That you have but slumberd here,

While these visions did appear.

Gentles, do not reprehend:

If you pardon, we will mend.

Else the Puck a liar call;

So, good night unto you all.

Give me your hands,

If we be friends,

And Robin shall restore amends!

Who made me love him, then left me alone.

The coals in the hearth have turned gray and cere,

The blue flame just vanished and left them there.

Like a false-hearted lover, just like my own,

Who made me love him, then left me alone.

Come back, oh summer, come back, blue flame,

My heart wants warming, my baby a name.

Come back, oh lover, if just for a day,

Turn bleak December once more into May.

The road up ahead lies lonely and far

There's darkness around me and not even a star

To show me the way, or lighten my heart

Come back, my lover, I fain would start.

The poor baby fox lies all cold in his lair

His mother just vanished and left him there

Like a false-hearted lover, just like my own

Who made me love him, then left me alone.

Come back, oh summer, come back, blue flame,

My heart wants warming, my baby, a name.

Come back, oh lover, if just for a day,

Turn bleak December once more into May.

Come back! Come back! Come back!

16. Britten, A Midsummer Nights Dream, 1960, after William Shakespeares play

James Bowman (Oberon), Lillian Watson (Titania), Dexter Fletcher (Puck), Trinity Boys Choir, City of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox

Finale. After the petty misunderstandings of the humans have been sorted out, the fairies and sprites appear to

clear the stage and bring on the night.

COBWEB / MUSTARDSEED /

PEASEBLOSSOM / MOTH

Now the hungry lion roars

And the wolf behowls the moon;

Whilst the heavy ploughing snores,

All with weary task fordone.

Now the wasted brands do glow,

Whilst the screech-owl,

Screeching loud, puts the wretch

That lies in woe

In remembrance of a shroud.

Now it is the time of night

That the graves all gaping wide

Every one lets forth his sprite,

DISC ONE BAROQUE, CLASSICAL, AND BEL CANTO

01. George Frideric Handel, Serse (Xerxes), 1738

Yoshikazu Mela (Serse), Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Shigeo Genda

Act I. The earnest young Xerxes sings to a tree, praising its beauty.

Ombra mai fu Never was made

Di Vegetabile, A plant

Care ed amaile more dear and loving

Soave piu. or gentle.

02. Handel, Semele, 1743

Ian Bostridge (Jupiter), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Harry Bicket

Act II. The god Jupiter tells the maiden Semele of his love for her.

Where'er you walk

Cool gales shall fan the glade

Trees where you sit

shall crowd into a shade

Where'er you tread

the blushing flowers shall rise

and all things flourish

Where'er you turn your eyes

03. Henry Purcell, Dido and Aeneas, 1688

Camilla Tilling (Belinda), Le Concert dAstre, Emmanuelle Ham

Act II. At a sun-dappled picnic, Belinda and the citizens sing of the beauties of nature, while Dido and

Aeneas fall in love.

Thanks to these lovesome vales,

These desert hills and dales,

So fair the game, so rich the sport,

Diana's self might to these woods resort.

04. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), 1786

Kiri Te Kanawa (Countess), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Georg Solti

Act III. Countess Almaviva, miserable at her increasingly unhappy marriage, ponders the loss of her

happiness.

Dove sono i bei momenti Where are the lovely moments

Di dolcezza e di piacer? Of sweetness and pleasure?

Dove andaro i giuramenti Where have the promises gone

Di quel labbro menzogner? That came from those lying lips?

Perch mai, se in pianti e in pene Why, if all is changed for me

Per me tutto si cangi, Into tears and pain,

La memoria di quel bene Has the memory of that goodness

Dal mio sen non trapass? Not vanished from my breast?

Ah! se almen la mia costanza, Ah! if only, at least, my faithfulness,

Nel languire amando ognor, Which still loves amidst its suffering,

Mi portasse una speranza Could bring me the hope

Di cangiar l'ingrato cor! Of changing that ungrateful heart!

05. Mozart, La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus), 1788

Lucia Popp (Servilia), Frederica von Stade (Annio), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Colin Davis

Act I. The beautiful Servilia and young patrician Annio celebrate their love.

ANNIO

Ah, perdona al primo affetto

Questo accento sconsigliato:

Colpa fu del labbro usato

A cos chiamarti ognor.

SERVILIA

Ah, tu fosti il primo oggetto,

Che finor fedel amai;

E tu l'ultimo sarai

Ch'abbia nido in questo cor.

ANNIO

Cari accenti del mio bene.

SERVILIA

Oh mia dolce, cara speme.

SERVILIA, ANNIO

Pi che ascolto i sensi tuoi,

In me cresce pi l'ardor.

Quando un'alma all'altra unita,

Qual piacere un cor risente!

Ah, si tronchi dalla vita

Tutto quel che non amor.

ANNIUS

Ah, forgive, my former love,

that thoughtless word;

it was the fault of lips

accustomed always to call you so.

SERVILIA

Ah, you were the first person

whom I ever truly loved;

and you will be the last

to be sheltered in my heart.

ANNIUS

Dear words of my beloved!

SERVILIA

O my sweet, dear hope!

SERVILIA and ANNIUS

The more I hear your words,

the greater grows my passion.

When one soul unites with another,

what joy a heart feels!

Ah, eliminate from life

all that is not love!

06. Gioachino Rossini, Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precuation), 1816

Richard Conrad (Count Almaviva), London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge

Act I. Young Count Almaviva, disguised as a poor student, hires a band of musicians to serenade at the

window of the wealthy but petulant Rosina.

Ecco, ridente in cielo

spunta la bella aurora,

e tu non sorgi ancora

e puoi dormir cosi'?

Sorgi, mia dolce speme,

vieni, bell'idol mio;

rendi men crudo, oh Dio,

lo stral che mi feri'.

Oh sorte! gia' veggo

quel caro sembiante;

quest'anima amante

ottenne pieta'.

Lo in the smiling sky,

the lovely dawn is breaking,

and you are not awake,

and you are still asleep?

Arise, my sweetest love,

oh come, my treasured one,

soften the pain, oh God,

of the dart which pierces me.

Oh joy! Do I now see

that dearest vision:

ROSINA / CHERUBINO

Though hours pass swiftly,

Love is eternal

BEAUMARCHAIS

To the North is the Village of Shy Glances

MARIE

My soul is closed to sweet pleasures

BEAUMARCHAIS

To the East is the Grove of Tender

Touching

MARIE

Rage, bitterness, and hate consume me.

BEAUMARCHAIS

To the West is the River of Sighs

MARIE

Oh, Beaumarchais, let me be,

I am unworthy of paradise.

BEAUMARCHAIS

And South, past the arching willow,

Is the Temple of Love.

(King Louis has woken up, and watches the

scene, uncomfortably.)

ROSINA / CHERUBINO

The birds are hushed,

Your cheeks are flushed,

The earth is sweet and soft.

Cool and safe.

BEAUMARCHAIS

Come now, my darling, come with me,

Come to the room I have made for thee.

Let us strew the bed with flowers,

MARIE

Yes, yes, my darling, Ill come with thee,

Come to the room that is made for me,

Let us strew the bed with flowers.

ALL FOUR

There we will spend the hours.

LOUIS

(appearing suddenly between them)

No,

15. Carlisle Floyd, Susannah, 1956

Cheryl Studer (Susannah), Kent Nagano, Orchestre de lOpra de Lyon

Act II. Sweet, playful Susannah is the subject of lust to many of the men in her small Appalachian community.

The jealousy of the women, combined with the self-hatred of the men, leads the small, heavily Christian

community to turn against her, calling her a lecherous whore. Gradually, Susannah is accused of greater and

greater scenes by the people and their pious reverend. Alone at home, friendless in her brothers absence from

town, Susannah sings an old American folk song.

The trees on the mountains are cold and bare

The summer just vanished and left them there

Like a false-hearted lover, just like my own,

(King Louis is asleep. As a fantastic stage unfolds

before them,

In full colour (as opposed to the blues and grays of

their existence),

Beaumarchais tells the ghosts his story).

COUNTESS

That man is a saint, but even he cant help

me now.

I am truly lost. Ah, Cherubino!

I gave up my life for you.

Cherubino! Cherubino!

BEAUMARCHAIS

Now we go back in time,

Let it be Spain, twenty years before,

Let it be Seville in the full bloom of spring!

(The Countess, now younger, is blindfolded and

playing

Hide-and-seek with her lover.)

COUNTESS

Cherubino! Cherubino!

Where are you taking me, young

shepherd?

CHERUBINO

Look at the green here in the glade.

Feel the mild breeze and the scent of wild

thyme.

Hear the vixens shrill cry and the lambs

complaint

Were in the garden of earthly delights.

COUNTESS

I am not acquainted with these parts.

Im lost in this land and frightened

CHERUBINO

To the north is the Village of Shy Glances

COUNTESS

My heart is closed to such pleasures.

CHERUBINO

To the east is the Grove of Tender

Touching.

COUNTESS

Rage, bitterness, and hate consume me.

CHERUBINO

To the west is the River of Sighs.

COUNTESS

Oh, Cherubino, take me home, I am

unworthy of paradise.

CHERUBINO

And south, past the arching willow, is the

Temple of Love.

Come now, my darling, come with me.

Come to the room I have made for thee.

Let us strew the bed with flowers,

There we will spend the hours,

There we will spend the hours.

ROSINA

Yes, yes, my darling, Ill come with thee,

Come to the room that is made for me.

Let us strew the bed with flowers,

There we will spend the hours

BEAUMARCHAIS (to Marie)

Look at the green here in the glade.

Feel the mild breeze and the scent of wild

thyme.

Hear the vixens shrill cry, and the lambs

complaint,

Were in th Garden of Earthly Delights.

Oh istante d'amore!

Oh dolce contento!

Soave momento

che eguale non ha!

has she taken pity

on this soul in love!

Oh, moment of love!

Oh, moment divine!

Oh, sweet content

which is unequalled!

07. Vincenzo Bellini, Beatrice di Tenda, 1833

Richard Conrad (Orombello), Marilyn Horne (Agnese) & Joan Sutherland (Beatrice)

Act II. Beatrice and Orombello, a married Duchess and a noble lord, have fallen in love but have been

chaste in the face of her marriage. The jealous Agnese conspired to implicate them in adultery, and both

have now been condemned to death. As they await their sentence, Agnese moved by their love

tearfully confesses the truth, allowing them to acknowledge their own freedom to God, even as it is too

late to save their lives.

OROMBELLO

(dalle torri)

Angiol di pace all'anima

La voce tua mi suona.

Segui, o pietoso, e inspirami

Virt di perdonar...

AGNESE

Egli... perdona!...

BEATRICE

Con quel perdono, o misera,

Ricevi il mio perdono.

Salga con queste lagrime

A un Dio di pace e amor.

AGNESE

Ah! la virt di vivere

Da te ricevo in dono...

Vivr, vivr per piangere

Finch si spezzi il cor.

OROMBELLO

(locked in his cell)

Angel of peace to the soul,

Your voice sounds to me of pity, and inspires

my virtue to forgive.

AGNESE

He forgives!

BEATRICE

With this forgiveness, o misery,

Receive my forgiveness.

Rise with these tears

To a God of peace and love.

AGNESE

Ah, the virtue of living!

Since you receive such a gift.

I will live, I will live to mourn,

Even as you break my heart.

08. Bellini, Norma, 1831

Maria Callas (Norma) the Coro & Orchestre Del Teatro Alla Scala, Tullo Serafin

Act I. 50 B.C. Praying for victory against the invading Romans, the Druids gather in a mistletoe-strewn grove as their high priestess, Norma, makes a plea to the Chaste Goddess. Unbeknownst to her people, Norma has broken her vows to love the Roman Proconsul, Pollione, and bear him two children.

NORMA and PRIESTESSES

Casta Diva, che inargenti

Queste sacre antiche piante,

NORMA and PRIESTESSES

Chaste goddess, who dost bathe in silver light

These ancient, hallowed trees,

Al noi volgi il bel sembiante,

Senza nube e senza vel!

Tempra, o Diva,

Tempra tu de' cori ardenti,

Tempra ancora lo zelo audace.

Spargi in terra quella pace

Che regnar tu fai nel ciel.

NORMA

Fine al rito.

E il sacro bosco

Sia disgombro dai profani.

Quando il Nume irato e fosco

Chiegga il sangue dei Romani,

Dal druidico delubro

La mia voce tuoner.

Turn thy fair face upon us,

Unveiled and unclouded...

Temper thou the burning hearts,

The excessive zeal of thy people.

Enfold the earth in that sweet peace

Which, through Thee, reigns in heaven....

NORMA

The holy rites are ended.

From the sacred wood

Let every unbeliever go.

When God, in his dark anger,

Shall demand the Romans' blood,

Then from the Druid temple

My voice will thunder forth.

09-10. Gaetano Donizetti, Anna Bolena (Anne Boleyn), 1830

Patricia Kern (Mark Smeaton), Beverly Sills (Anne Boleyn), Shirley Verrett (Jane Seymour), the John Alldis

Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Julius Rudel

Act I. In the court of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn is despondent at the arrival of lady-in-waiting Jane Seymour,

who has clearly caught the Kings eye. Her courtier, Mark Smeaton, hopelessly in love with her, sings a

ballad to cheer her spirits.Anne, however, cannot focus.

SMETON:

Oh! amor, mi inspira.

(Un'arpa recata a Smeton. Egli preludia un

momento, indi canta la seguente romanza.)

Deh! non voler costringere

a finta gioia il viso:

bella la tua mestizia,

siccome il tuo sorriso.

Cinta di nubi ancora

bella cos l'aurora,

la luna malinconica

bella nel suo pallor.

(Anna diviene pi pensosa.

Smeton prosegue con voce pi animata)

Chi pensierosa e tacita starti cos ti mira, ti crede

ingenua vergine che il primo amor sospira: ed

obliato il serto

onde il tuo crin coperto, teco sospira, e

sembragli esser quel

primo amor.

SMEATON:

Oh! love, inspire me.

(A harp is given to Smeton. He plays for a while

then sings the following ballad.)

Ah! Do not desire to constrain

your face to feigned joy:

your sorrow is as lovely

as your smile.

Thus is the dawn still beautiful

when girded with clouds,

the melancholy moon

is lovely in its pallor.

(Anna becomes more thoughtful.

Smeton continues in a more animated voice)

Who beholds you thus pensive and silent, would

believe you

to be an innocent maiden who sighs for her first

love:

and forgetting the crown which covers your head,

CANDIDE / PAQUETTE

Though of noble birth were not,

Were delighted with our lot.

CANDIDE / CUNEGONDE / PAQUETTE

Were innocent and unambitious,

Thats why life is so delicious!

We have everything we need.

ALL

Life is happiness indeed!

Indeed!

13. Adolph Green (Martin), London Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein

Act II. Despite travels from Spain to South America, having witnessed all his most beloved friends killed or sold

or raped, Candide still expresses remarkable optimism. This is not a trade shared by his current travelling

companion, an old grump named Martin.

MARTIN

Free will. Humanity. Love.

Huh! Hah! Ha, ha!

Words, words, words, words.

I have no words

To describe the vanity of life,

The insane inanity of life.

I have no words, but ha!

Mid grime and slime,

Why waste our time

Spouting some Spinoza monograph

Even one short Shakespeare epitaph,

They make me laugh but wait!

It just occurred to me,

A word that may just possibly

Apply to all of us,

Trapped on this ball of dust.

Two tiny syllables,

But spiny syllables.

One simple word: absurd. Ha! Absurd.

Dont make me laugh.

It hurts to laugh.

Dont make me laugh,

Dont make me titter!

All wheat is chaff,

All pills are bitter.

Nothing to trust in

This worst of all possible worlds.

All ends in dust in

This worst of all possible worlds.

Any questions? Dont ask me now,

Theyre useless anyhow.

Were you in my position, friend,

Were you a humble sweeper,

Your thoughts on mans condition, friend,

Would be a little deeper.

If every blessed day, my friend,

Brought dung and bone and spittle

For you to clear away, my friend,

twould change your life a little.

Yes, dung and bone and spittle

And mud and trash

And blood and ash

And souvenirs of lust

And every sort of residue

In process of reduction

To the final state of dust.

Youd laugh along with me, my friend,

Youd laugh until youd bust!

Ha!

14. John Corigliano, The Ghosts of Versailles, 1994

Teresa Stratas (Marie Antoinette), Hakan Hagegard (Beumarchais), Rene Fleming (Countess Almaviva),

Stella Zambalis (Cherubino), James Courtney (Louis XVI), Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, James Levine

Act I. In the faded court of Versailles, the ghosts of Marie Antoinette and her court live out their eternity in

boredom. The poet Beaumarchais, hopelessly in love with the Queen (who is tired of her boring, older

husband), conjures up a play a third in his Figaro trilogy in the aims of convincing her to love him. As he tells

the story of how the much older Countess recalled her final rendezvous with her young lover, Cherubino,

Beaumarchais attempts to woo the Queen for himself.

(Incroyablement calme, Blanche merge de la

foule stupfaite et monte au supplice)

BLANCHE

Deo Patri sit gloria

Et Filio qui a mortuis

Surrexit ac Paraclito

In saeculorum saecula.

In saeculorum...

(La foule se disperse lentement)

resumes her journey to the scaffold, with a

gentle smile to Blanche.)

O pia, o dulcis Virgo Ma...

(Incredibly calm, Blanche steps forward,

amid the stupefaction of the crowd, and

mounts the scaffold.)

BLANCHE

Deo Patri sit gloria

Et Filio qui a mortuis

Surrexit ac Paraclito

In saeculorum saecula,

In saeculorum...

(The crowd begins to disperse.)

Leonard Bernstein, Candide, 1956

12 Jerry Hadley (Candide), June Anderson (Cunegonde), Kurt Ollmann (Maximillian), Della Jones

(Paquette), London Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein

Act I. In the highly class-bound European country of Westphalia live a quartet of eager young things. Maximillian, best friends with every mirror; Cunegonde, so rich and beautiful her favourite pastime is crushing roses, to ensure nothing competes with her; Paquette, the serving girl who is proud to be linked to so many great men and women through the social network of sexually-transmitted diseases; and Candide, an illegitimate boy living in the palace who sees every day with nave and unchecked optimism, coddled by their tutor Dr. Pangloss, who insists by apparent logic that they must exist in the best of all possible worlds.

CANDIDE

Life is happiness indeed:

Mares to ride and books to read.

Though of noble birth Im not,

Im delighted with my lot.

Though Ive no distinctive features

And Ive no official mother,

I love all my fellow creatures

And the creatures love each other!

MAXIMILIAN

Life is absolute perfection,

As is true of my complexion,

Every time I look and see me,

Im reminded life is dreamy.

Although I do get tired

Being endlessly admired,

People will go on about me

How could they go on without me?

If the talk at times is vicious,

Thats the price you pay when youre

delicious!

Life is pleasant, life is simple

Oh my God, is that a pimple?

No, its just the odd reflection,

Life and I are still perfection!

I am everything I need!

Life is happiness indeed!

CUNEGONDE

Life is happiness indeed:

I have everything I need.

I am rich and unattached,

And my beauty is unmatched.

With the rose my only rival,

I admit to some frustration;

What a pity its survival

Is of limited duration!

CANDIDE / CUNEGONDE / PAQUETTE

Life is happiness indeed,

CANDIDE / CUNEGONDE

Horses to ride and books to read.

will sigh with you, and he would feel that he was

that first love.

ANNA:

(sorge commossa)

Cessa... deh! cessa...

ANNA:

(rises, moved)

CeaseAlas! Cease

SMETON:

Regina! oh ciel!

SMEATON:

My Queen! Oh heavens!

CORO:

(Ella turbata, oppressa.)

CHORUS:

(She is troubled, oppressed.)

ANNA:

(Come, innocente giovine,

come m'ha scosso il core!

Son calde ancor le ceneri

del mio primiero amore!

Ah! non avessi il petto

aperto ad altro affetto,

io non sarei s misera,

nel vano mio splendor.)

ANNA:

(How that innocent boy,

how he has shaken my heart!

The ashes of my first love

are still warm!

Ah! if my heart was not open

to another attachment,

I would not be so unhappy

in this vain splendour of mine.)

ANNA:

Legger potessi in me!

Non v'ha sguardo a cui sia dato

penetrar nel mesto core;

mi condanna

il crudo fato

non intesa a sospirar.

Ah! se mai

di regio soglio

ti seduce lo splendore,

ti rammenta il mio cordoglio,

non lasciarti lusingar.

ANNA:

Could you but read it within me!

To no gaze has it been granted

to penetrate this sad heart;

An incomprehensible

cruel fate condemns me

to sigh in sorrow.

Ah! if ever the splendour

of the royal throne

seduces you,

remember my pain

dont let yourself be dazzled.

GIOVANNA:

(Alzar gli occhi in lei non oso.

Non ardisco favellar.)

JANE:

(I dare not raise my eyes to her,

nor can I make bold to speak)

CORO:

(Qualche istante di riposo

possa il sonno a lei recar.)

CHORUS:

(A few moments of rest

might give her some sleep.)

(Anna parte accompagnata da Seymour e dalle

ancelle. La scena si sgombra,e non rimane dei

lumi che una lampada, la quale rischiara la

sala.)

(Anna leaves, accompanied by Seymour and by

the maids. The stage empties and there remains

no light but one lamp stand to light the room.)

11. Donizetti, LElisir DAmore (The Elixir of Love), 1832

Tito Schipa (Nemorino), Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Carlo Sabajno

Act II. After having taken a sham potion in the hopes of making Adina fall in love with him, Nemorinos

plans seem to have failed. However, when the other women of the town begin showing interest in him

(when rumour spreads that Nemorino is about to receive a large inheritance), he is elated by only one thing:

in the moment he ignored Adina, Nemorino saw a single tear in the corner of her eye

Una furtiva lagrima A sullen and secretive tear

negli occhi suoi spunt... That started there in her eye...

quelle festose giovani Those socialising bright young things

invidiar sembr... Seemed to provoke its envy...

Che pi cercando io vo? What more searching need I do?

M'ama, lo vedo. She loves me, that I see.

Un solo istante i palpiti For just one moment the beating

del suo bel cor sentir!.. Of her hot pulse could be felt!..

Co' suoi sospir confondere With her sighing confounding

per poco i miei sospir!... Momentarily my sighs!...

Cielo, si pu morir; Oh God, I shall expire;

di pi non chiedo. I can't ask for more.

12. Donizetti, Maria Stuarda (Mary Stuart), 1835

Beverly Sills (Maria) with Patricia Kern (Anna), the John Alldis Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Aldo

Ceccato

Act II. At the site of her intended execution, Mary calls the people together (including her loyal lady-in-

waiting Anna) for a final prayer.

MARIA (and Anna, Citizens)

Deh! Tu di un'umile preghiera il suono

Odi, o benefico Dio di piet.

All'ombra accoglimi del tuo perdono,

Altro ricovero il cor non ha.

Ah! s ... Dio!

Fra l'ali accoglimi del tuo perdono,

Altro ricovero il cor non ha.

vano il pianto, il ciel m'aita.

Scorda l'incauto della tua vita.

Tolta al dolore, tolta agli affanni,

D'eterno amore mi pascer.

MARIA

I pray, a humble prayer of the soul.

Hear, o beneficent God of mercy.

Receive me in the shade of your pardon,

The heart has no other shelter.

Ah! Yes, God!

Between your wings take my pleas of

forgiveness,

The heart has no other shelter.

It is in vain to cry,

Heaven aid me.

Forget the incautiousness of my life.

Take away the pain, remove anxieties.

Feed me only on the eternal love.

of history I sucked and pissed,

thoughtless and heartless, red and blind,

I cut my teeth upon the land

and when I walked my feet were bound

on revolution. Let me be

a grain of sand in heaven's eye

and I shall taste eternal joy.

(The people express their bitterness against

counter-revolutionary elements)

Francis Poulenc, Dialogues des Carmelites (Dialogues of the Carmelites), 1957

10-11. Denise Duval (Sister Blanche), Liliane Berton (Sister Constance), Janine Fourrier (Mother Jeanne),

Gisle Desmoutiers (Sister Mathilde), Chorus & Orchestra of the Opra Paris, Pierre Dervaux

Act III. In 1794, a convent of Carmelite nuns at Compiegne have after much internal dispute refused en

masse to renounce their vocation despite the French Revolution.One by one, the nuns slowly mount the scaffold

joined lastly by the conflicted Blanche and fall to the guillotine, defiantly singing a Catholic hymn.

(Prieure monte l'chafaud la premire. A

mesure qu'elles disparaissent, une une, le

choeur se fait plus menu)

LA PRIEURE, MRE JEANNE, SOEUR

MATHILDE, CONSTANCE, CARMLITES

Salve Regina, Mater misericordiae, vita

dulcedo et spes nostra, salve, et spes nostra,

salve.

Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae; ad te

suspiramus gementes et flentes. in

hac lacrimarum, lacrimarum valle. Eia ergo

Advocata nostra, illos tuos misericordes

oculos ad nos converte. Et Jesum benedictum

fructum ventris tui nobis post hoc exsilium

ostende. O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo

Maria, o dulcis Virgo Maria.

(Constance, la dernire des carmlites, monte

l'chafaud. Blanche, le visage dpouill de

toute crainte, se fraye un passage dans la

foule o elle se confond)

CONSTANCE

O clemens...

(Constance l'aperoit et son visage s'irradie

de

bonheur. Elle s'arrte un court instant.

Reprenant sa marche l'chafaud, elle sourit

doucement Blanche)

O pia, o dulcis Virgo Ma...

(The Prioress is the first to mount the

scaffold. As each nun in turn disappears, the

voices of the chorus become fewer and

fewer.)

PRIORESS, MOTHER JEANNE, SISTER

MATHILDE, CONSTANCE, CARMELITES

Salve Regina, Mater misericordiae,

vita dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.

Ad te clamamus exsules fi

lii Hevae;

ad te suspiramus gementes et fl

entes in hac lacrimarum valle.

Eia ergo advocata nostra,

illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos

converte.

Et Jesum benedictum fructum ventris tui

nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.

O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria, o

dulcis Virgo Maria.

(Constance, the last of the Carmelites,

ascends the scaffold. Blanche, her face free

from every vestige of fear, makes her way

through the crowd in which she had been

lost.)

CONSTANCE

O clemens...

(Constance catches sight of her friend and

her face becomes radiant with happiness.

She stops short for a brief moment, then

05-06. Third and Fifth Sea Interludes Covent Garden Orchestra, Colin Davis

07. Jon Vickers (tenor), Jonathan Summers (Balstrode), John Dobson (Boles), Covent Garden Chorus &

Orchestra, Colin Davis

Act I. The loner Peter ponders the skies. The recent death of one of his apprentices had made him somewhat of

an outcast, but it doesnt take much gossip among the drinking, seemingly merry local people to make him

even more of a pariah.

PETER

Now the great Bear and Pleiades

where earth moves

Are drawing up the clouds

of human grief

Breathing solemnity in the deep night.

Who can decipher

In storm or starlight

The written character

of a friendly fate

As the sky turns, the world for us to

change?

But if the horoscopes

bewildering

Like a flashing turmoil

of a shoal of herring,

Who can turn skies back and begin again?

CHORUS

Hes mad or drunk,

Whys that man here?

NIECES

His song alone would sour the beer.

CHORUS

His tempers up.

O, chuck him out

NIECES

I wouldnt mind if he didnt howl.

CHORUS

He looks as though hes nearly drowned.

BOLES

(staggers up to Grimes)

Youve sold your soul, Grimes.

BALSTRODE

Come away.

BOLES

Satans got a hold of him.

BALSTRODE

Leave him alone, you drunkard.

BOLES

Ill hold the gospel light before

The cataract that blinds his eyes.

PETER

Get out.

BOLES

His exercise is not with men

But killing boys!

AUNTIE

For Gods sake, help me keep te peace?

Dyou wane me up at the next Assize?

BALSTRODE

For peace sake, someone start a song!

John Adams, Nixon in China, 1987

08. Carolann Page (Pat Nixon), Orchestra of St. Lukes, Edo de Waart

09. Trudy Ellen Craney (Madame Mao), Orchestra and Chorus of St. Lukes, Edo de Waart

Act II. On their famous diplomatic trip to China, Richard and Pat Nixon are taken to see a Chinese political play.

The subject matter quickly gets out of hand, with a seeming parody of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger

portraying a dominating West. Pat can no longer stand the ruthlessly obvious anti-revolutionary propaganda

piece. While a tropical storm brews outside, Madame Mao leads the people in song.

I am the wife of Mao Tse-tung

who raised the weak above the strong.

When I appear the people hang

upon my words, and for his sake

whose wreaths are heavy round my neck

I speak according to the book.

When did the Chinese people last

expose its daughters? At the breast

ANNA, FAMIGLIARI

Distendi un velo su' corsi affanni,

Benigno il cielo ti perdon.

MARIA

Dio! ah! s!

D'eterno amore mi pascer.

Mi perdon.

ANNA, FAMIGLIARI

O Dio! Piet! Ah, piet!

Beningno il cielo ti perdon.

ANNA, CITIZENS

Stretch out a veil to course over your troubles.

Kind Heaven has forgiven you.

MARIA

God! Yes!

I am forgiven.

ANNA, CITIZENS

Oh God, have mercy!

13. Donizetti, Don Pasquale, 1843

Joan Sutherland (Norina), Richard Conrad (Ernesto), London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonygne

Act II. After a riotous series of events, young lovers Ernesto and Norina are at last together, although their

refusals to be outdone by one another are never far behind.

Tornami a dir che m'ami,

dimmi che mia/mio tu sei;

quando tuo ben mi chiami

la vita addoppi in me.

La voce tua s cara

rinfranca il core oppresso:

sicuro/sicura a te dappresso,

tremo lontan da te.

Tell me again that you love me.

Tell me again that youre mine.

When you call me your treasure,

Life is twice as precious.

Your voice is so dear.

It soothes my anguished heart.

How safe I feel when I am near you,

But how I worry when were apart.

14-17. Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor, 1835

Beverly Sills (Lucia), Piero Cappuccilli (Enrico), Justino Diaz (Raimondo), Patricia Kern (Alisa), Ambrosian

Opera Chorus, William Bennett (flute), Bruno Hoffmann (glass harmonica), London Symphony Orchestra,

Thomas Schippers

Act III. Having been forcibly married by her brother to an older man, Lucia has lost her true love, Edgardo. On her wedding night, Lucia goes mad, brutally killing her brideroom. She descends, garbed in white, blood across her body, to the horror of her brother Enrico and the guests of the Lammermoor hall.

Although originally written with a glass harmonica line in the orchestra, most performances omit this, as the muted sounds of the instrument dos not travel well in vast opera houses. This recording is one of the few to adhere to Donizettis original scoring.

(Lucia enters, garbed simply in white, her

hair

(Lucia entra in succinta e bianca veste, ha le

chiome scarmigliate, ed il suo volto, coperto

dishevelled, a pallor of death on her face,

giving her a ghostly appearance. Her stony

stare, convulsive movements and bitter smile

disclose not only a violent insanity, but also

that death for her is imminent.)

di uno squallore di morte, la rende simile ad

uno spettro. Il di lei sguardo impietrito, i

moti convulsi, e fino un sorriso amaro,

manifestano non solo una spaventevole

demenza, ma anche i segni di un'imminente

fine.)

RAIMONDO

Here she comes!

CHORUS

Oh, merciful Heaven!

She looks as if she has risen from the grave!

LUCIA

I was stirred

by the sweet sound of his voice! Ah, that

voice

won this heart of mine!

Edgardo, I am yours again,

Edgardo, ah, my Edgardo!

Yes, I am yours again,

I escaped from your enemies.

An icy shiver creeps in my bosom.

Every nerve quivers! My step falters!

Sit with me a while near the fountain.

Alas! The terrible spectre rises

and parts us! Alas!

Alas! Edgardo! Edgardo! Ah!

The spectre...parts us!

Here let us hide, Edgardo, at the foot of the

altar.

it is strewn with roses! Celestial harmony,

do you not hear it? Ah, strains

of our wedding-hymn! The ceremony

awaits us.Oh, how happy I am!

Edgardo, Edgardo, how happy I am!

Oh, joy that I feel but cannot express!

The incense is burning - the sacred

torches are glowing all around!

Here is the minister! Give me

your hand...Oh, happy day!

At last I am yours, at last you are mine,

God has given you to me.

RAIMONDO

Eccola!

CORO

Oh giusto cielo!

Par dalla tomba uscita!

LUCIA

Il dolce suono

mi colp di sua voce!...Ah, quella voce

m' qui nel cor discesa!

Edgardo, io ti son resa,

Edgardo, ah, Edgardo mio!

S, ti son resa,

fuggita io son da' tuoi nemici.

Un gelo mi serpeggia nel sen!

Trema ogni fibra!...Vacilla il pi!

Presso la fonte meco t'assidi alquanto.

Ohim! Sorge il tremendo

fantasma, e ne separa! Ohim!

Ohim! Edgardo! Edgardo! Ah!

Il fantasma ne separa!

Qui ricovriamo, Edgardo, a pi dell'ara.

Sparsa di rose!...Un'armonia celeste,

di', non ascolti? Ah! L'inno

suona di nozze! Il rito

per noi s'appresta!...Oh me felice!

Edgardo, Edgardo, oh me felice!

Oh, gioia che si sente e non si dice!

Ardon gli incensi...splendon

le sacre faci, splendon intorno!

Ecco il Ministro! Porgimi

la destra...Oh, lieto giorno!

Alfin son tua, alfin sei mio,

a me ti dona un Dio.

NORMANNO, RAIMONDO and CHORUS

What a cruel plight!

Take pity on her, Lord.

LUCIA

Every rare pleasure

NORMANNO, RAIMONDO e CORO

Ambi in s crudo stato

di lei, Signore, di lei piet.

LUCIA

Ogni piacer pi grato,

Toby Spence (Ferdinand), Kate Royal (Miranda), Simon Keenlyside (Prospero), Orchestra of the Royal Opera

House, Thomas Ads

Act II. Ferdinand, a young nobleman aboard the wrecked ship, has washed up on the island and been chained

up by the spirits. Miranda sent into exile with her father as a small child has never met another man. The

two quickly fall in love, to the dismay of her father..

FERDINAND, then MIRANDA,

then PROSPERO unseen.

FERDINAND:

What was before

Is no more

My fathers gone

I live on

Bound and tied

Till I die

Trees and stones

To be my home

Lost like a dream

All thats been

Nothing left

But this grief

Only she

Comforts me

In this night

She is the light

(MIRANDA enters.)

MIRANDA:

How can I offer

What Id give?

How can I ask for

What Id have?

Do you love me?

Why do I weep?

Love is strong

I am weak

FERDINAND:

As soon as I saw you

My heart flew to serve you

As if it had waited

My whole life to love you

(PROSPERO enters unseen.)

Whats your name?

MIRANDA:

Miranda

Ive disobeyed

Father said not to say

FERDINAND:

Admired Miranda

Wonder of my life

My wife

(MIRANDA frees FERDINAND.)

MIRANDA and FERDINAND:

High on the headland

Low in the dry sand

Deep in the woodland

There well lie

Or on a rock face

Near where the waves break

Hearing the tide race

You and I

Oh will you have me

Tell me you love me

If you are with me

I am entire

My lover smiling

Blessed asylum

Bountiful island

All I desire

PROSPERO:

Miranda

Ive lost her

I cannot rule their minds

My child has conquered me

A stronger power than mine

Has set the young man free

Britten, Peter Grimes, 1945

You'll be forgettin',

There'll be no frettin',

Jes' nothin' but smiles.

Come along wid me, dat's de place,

Bess,

Don't be a fool, come along, come along.

There's a boat dat's leavin' soon for New

York.

Come wid me,

dat's where we belong, sister,

dat's where we belong!

Come on, Bess!

BESS

You low crawlin' hound!

Get away from my door,

I tells you, leave it, you rattlesnake,

Dat's what you is, rattlesnake!

SPORTING LIFE

(hands her a second paper, she knocks it

out of his hand)

Don't want take a second shot, eh!

All right, Ill leave it here

maybe you'll change yo' mind.

(He tosses the paper on the doorstep. She

runs suddenly into room and slams the

door behind her. Sporting Life smiles,

lights a cigarette, blows smoke rings and

starts

sauntering away. After a long, arduous

moment, Bess looks around and realizes

her predicament. She reaches for the paper,

and then watching him go gives chase,

as the music rises to the swell of far distant

New York City.)

DISC SIX MODERN OPERA

01. Gyrgy Ligeti, Le grand macabre, 1977

Philharmonia Orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen

Prelude, set to 12 car-horns at different pitches.

02. Thomas Ads, The Tempest, 2004

Cynthia Sieden (Ariel), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Thomas Ads

Act I. The exiled magician Prospero lives on an island with his daughter and several spirits. When his cruel

brother, the new Duke of Milan, sails nearby, Prospero commands Ariel to conjure a great tempest and

wreck their ship.

Five fathoms deep

Your father lies

These are pearls

That were his eyes

Nothing of him

That was mortal

Is the same.

His bones are coral

He has suffered

A sea change

Into something

Rich and strange

Sea-nymphs hourly

Ring his knell.

I can hear them

Ding dong bell.

03. Jake Heggie, Moby-Dick, 2010

Overture Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Timothy Sexton.

04. Ads, The Tempest, 2004

I shall share with you.

Life for us will be

a gentle smile from heaven.

(Enrico enters.)

Shed bitter tears

on my earthly garment,

while in Heaven above

I will pray for you.

Only when you join me,

will Heaven be blissful for me,

ah yes, for me,

etc.

RAIMONDO and CHORUS

It is impossible

to hold back the tears,

etc.

ENRICO

Remorse will bring me

days of bitter weeping,

etc.

LUCIA

Ah! shed bitter tears,

etc.

mi fia con te diviso,

Del ciel clemente un riso

la vita a noi sar!

(Entra Enrico.)

Spargi d'amaro pianto

il mio terrestre velo,

mentre lass nel cielo

io pregher per te.

Al giunger tuo soltanto,

fia bello il ciel per me,

ah s, per me,

ecc.

RAIMONDO e CORO

Pi raffrenare il pianto

possibile non ,

ecc.

ENRICO

Giorni d'amaro pianto

serba il rimorso a me,

ecc.

LUCIA

Ah! spargi d'amaro pianto,

ecc.

18. Giacomo Puccini, Turandot, 1926

Luciano Pavarotti (Calaf), John Alldis Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta

Act III. The icy Princess Turandot has avoided marriage by setting three impossible riddles to her suitors, but

the Unknown Prince, Calaf, has answered them all. He offers her one last way uot: if she can learn his name

by dawn, he will die rather than marrying her. The lovelorn Prince spends the night in the palace gardens,

waiting for dawn.

Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!

Tu pure, o, Principessa,

nella tua fredda stanza,

guardi le stelle

che tremano d'amore

e di speranza.

Ma il mio mistero chiuso in me,

il nome mio nessun sapr!

No, no, sulla tua bocca lo dir

quando la luce splender!

Ed il mio bacio scioglier il silenzio

che ti fa mia!

(Il nome suo nessun sapr!...

e noi dovrem, ahime, morir!)

Nobody shall sleep!...

Nobody shall sleep!

Even you, o Princess,

in your cold room,

watch the stars,

that tremble with love and with hope.

But my secret is hidden within me,

my name no one shall know...

No!...No!...

On your mouth I will tell it when the light

shines.

And my kiss will dissolve the silence that

makes you mine!...

(No one will know his name and we must,

Dilegua, o notte!

Tramontate, stelle!

Tramontate, stelle!

All'alba vincer!

vincer, vincer

alas, die.)

Vanish, o night!

Set, stars! Set, stars!

At dawn, I will win!

I will win! I will win!

DISC TWO THE FRENCH ALBUM

01. Daniel Auber, La muette de Portici (The Mute Girl of Portici), 1828

Richard Conrad (Maisanello), London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge

Act I. The Neapolitan Maisanello is attempting an uprising against Spanish rule. As the city falls to the

horrors of revolution, Maisanello takes refuge and lets his sister, the mute Fenella, rest.

Ferme tes yeux, la fatigue taccable:

Repose en paix, je veillerai sur toi.

Du pauvre seul ami fidle,

Descends ma voix qui tappelle

Sommeil, descends du haut des cieux!

De son coeur bannis les alarmes:

: Quun songe heureux sche les larmes

Qui tombent encore de ses yeux.

Descends, toi par qui lon oublie

Sur sa paupire appesantie.

De ton coeur bannis les alarmes

Quun songe heureux sche les larmes

Qui tombent encore de ses yeux.

Close your eyes, fatigue overtakes you:

Lie there in peace, I shall watch over you.

Sleep, the poor mans only faithful friend,

Descend at the call of my voice,

Descend from the heights of the skies!

Banish alarms from her heart

Let happy dreams dry up the tears

That still fall from her eyes.

You who bring forgetfulness,

descend upon her heavy eyelids.

Banish alarms from her heart:

Let happy dreams dry up the tears

That still fall from her eyes.

02. Ambroise Thomas, Hamlet, 1868

Joan Sutherland (Ophlie), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Franceso Molinari-Pradelli

Act IV. Manipulated by her father and brother, and rejected by the insane Hamlet, Ophelia wanders in a

budding grove, garlanded with flowers, attempting to play with the locals, inching ever closer to suicide.

A vos jeux, mes amis, At your game, my friends,

permettez-moi de grace de prendre part! would you permit me to take part!

Nul n'a suivi ma trace! No one has followed my path!

J'ai quitte le palais I left the palace

aux premiers feux du jour... at the first fires of the day...

Des larmes de la nuit Of the tears of night,

la terre etait mouillee: the earth was damp:

Et l'alouette, avant l'aube eveillee, And the lark, high in the trees,

planait dans l'air. hovers in the air.

Act II. After a tempestuous storm, which has taken the lives of some citizens and left Porgy at risk of going to

jail for defending Bess, Catfish Row comes alive with the activity of street vendors calling.

STRAWBERRY WOMAN

Oh dey's so fresh an' fine,

An' dey's jus' off de vine,

Strawberry, strawberry, strawberry.

Oh, dey's so fresh an' fine

An' dey's jus' offen de vine,

Strawberry, strawberry, strawberry.

PETER

Here come de honey man,

yes mam, this de honey man.

WOMAN

Oh, honey man, honey man!

PETER

(not hearing her, keeps walking)

You got honey in the comb.

Yes mam, I got honey in the comb.

WOMAN

Hey there! I wants some honey!

PETER

An is yo honey cheap?

ANNIE

Peter, honey man!

PETER

Yes mam, my honey very cheap,

here come de honey man.

-

ANNIE

Gawd amighty, Is jus

wasting my breath on you,

cause you ain never goin to hear no how.

CRAB MAN

Im talkin' about devil crabs,

I'm talkin' about de food I sells,

She crab, she crab, devil crab.

PORGY

On yo' way, brother.

CRAB MAN

Devil crab!

MARIA

Hey, crab man!

CRAB MAN

Im talkin' about de food I sell.

When I done talkin' about de food I sell,

talkin' about devil crab.

Now I's talkin' about yo' pocketbook,

Im talkin' about devil crabs,

she crab, she crab,

devil crab... Im talkin about de food I sells.

PORGY

Now de time, oh Gawd, now de time.

23. Damon Evans (Sportin Life), Cynthia Haymon (Bess), London Philharmonic, Simon Rattle

Act III. Seemingly abandoned again, with Porgy in jail and her former protector Crown dead, Bess is tempted by

the pusher Sportin Life, who offers her drugs and riches. Any port in a storm for easily-swayed, desperate Bess..

SPORTING LIFE

There's a boat dat's leavin' soon for New

York,

Come wid me, dat's where we belong,

sister.

You an' me kin live dat high life in New

York.

Come wid me, dere you can't go wrong,

sister.

Ill buy you de swellest mansion

Up on upper Fi'th Avenue,

An' through Harlem well go struttin',

Well go a-struttin',

An' dere'll be nuttin'

Too good for you.

Ill dress you in silks and satins

In de latest Paris styles.

All de blues you'll be forgettin',

21. Willard White (Porgy), Cynthia Haymon (Bess), Damon Evans (Sportin Life), London Philharmonic,

Simon Rattle

Having taken refuge with the crippled Porgy, Bess a low woman who has lived a life on the arm of drug

dealers and gamblers has fallen in love with him.

PORGY

Bess, you is my woman now,

you is, you is!

An' you mus' laugh an' sing an' dance

for two instead of one.

Want no wrinkle on yo' brow, nohow,

because de sorrow of de past is all done

done.

Oh, Bess, my Bess!

De real happiness is jes' begun.

BESS

Porgy, l's yo' woman now,

I is, I is!

An' I ain' never goin' nowhere

'less you shares de fun.

Dere's no wrinkle on my brow, nohow,

but I ain' goin'! You hear me sayin',

if you ain' goin', wid you I'm stayin'.

Porgy, l's yo' woman now! I's yours

forever,

Mornin' time an' evenin' time

an' summer time an winter time.

PORGY

Mornin' time an' evenin' time

an' summer time an' winter time,

Bess, you got yo' man.

BESS

Porgy, l's yo' woman now

I is, I is!

An' I ain' never goin' nowhere...

etc.

PORGY

Bess, you is my woman now an' forever.

Dis life is jes' begun,

Bess, we two is one now an' forever.

Oh, Bess, don' min' dose women.

You got yo' Porgy, you loves yo' Porgy,

I knows you means it, I seen it in yo' eyes,

Bess.

We'll go swingin' through de years a-

singin'

BESS

Mornin' time an' evenin' time

an' summer time an' winter time.

PORGY

(humming)

Hmm...

Mornin' time an' evenin' time

an' summer time an' winter time.

BESS

(humming)

Hmm...

Oh, my Porgy, my man Porgy,

From dis minute I'm tellin' you,

I keep dis vow:

Porgy, I's yo' woman now.

PORGY

My Bess, my Bess,

From dis minute I'm tellin' you,

I keep dis vow:

Oh, my Bessie, we's happy now,

We is one now.

22. Camellia Johnson (Strawberry Woman), Mervin Wallace (Peter, the Honey Man), Paula Ingram

(Annie), Colenton Freeman (Crab Man), Marietta Simpson (Maria), Willard White (Porgy), the

Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic, Simon Rattle

Mais vous, pourquoi vous parler bas? But you, why do you speak so softly?

Ne me reconnaissez pas? Do you not recognize me?

Hamlet est mon epoux.. Hamlet is my bridegroom...

et je suis Ophelie! and I am Ophelia!

Un doux serment nous lie. A sweet oath binds us.

Il m'a donne son couer He gave me his heart

en echange du mien... in exchange for mine...

Et si quelqu'un dit And if anyone says

qu'il me fuit e m'oublie, that he has left me and forgotten me,

n'en croyez rien! I do not believe it!

Non, Hamlet est mon epoux No, Hamlet is my bridegroom

e moi je suis Ophelie. and I am Ophelia.

S'il trahissait sa foi, If he should betray me now,

j'en perdrais la raison! I would lose my reason!

Partagez-vous mes fleurs! Share my flowers!

A toi cette humble branche For you, this humble branch

de romarin sauvage. of wild rosemary.

A toi cette pervenche For your, this periwin

Et maintenant ecoutez ma chanson! And now, listen to my song!

Pale et blonde dors sous l'eau profonde Pale and fair, sleeping under the water,

La Willis au regard de feu! La Willis, with their firey gaze!

Que Dieu garde celui May God protect anyone

qui s'attarde dans la nuit, who loiters at night

au bord du Lac bleu! by the shores of the blue lake!

Heureuse l'epouse aux bras de l'epoux! Happy wife in the arms of her groom!

Mon ame et jalouse d'un bonheur si doux! My soul is jealous of such a sweet happiness!

Nymphe au regard de feu, helas! Nymph with the firey gaze, alas!

tu dors sous les eaux du Lac bleu! you sleep under the waters of the blue lake!

La sirene passe et vous entraine The Siren passes and drags you

sous l'azur du Lac endormi. under the blue of the sleepy lake.

L'air se voile, adieu! blanche etoile! The air is veiled, goodbye, white stars,

adieu ciel, adieu doux ami! goodbye sky, goodbye sweet friend!

Heureuse l'epouse aux bras de l'epoux! Happy wife in the arms of her groom!

Mon ame et jalouse d'un bonheur si doux! My soul is jealous of such a sweet happiness!

Sous les flots endormi, Under the sleepy tide,

ah, pour toujours, adieu, mon doux ami! ah, forever, goodbye my sweet friend!

Ah, cher epoux, ah, cher amant! Ah, dearest groom, dearest love!

Ah, doux aveu!, ah, tendre serment! Ah, sweet vow, tender oath!

Bonheur supreme! Happiness supreme!

Ah, cruel, je t'aime! Ah, cruel one, I love you!

Ah, cruel, tu voix mes pleurs! Ah, cruel one, you see my tears!

Pour toi je meurs! For you I die!

Georges Bizet, Les pcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers), 1863

03. David Hobson (Nadir), Teddy Tahu Rhodes (Zurga), Sinfonia Australis, Thomas Woods

Act I. Best friends Nadir and Zurga agree to remain as close as brothers their whole lives, and they recall

their last voyage to Candi, and a beautiful priestess they caught sight of.

NADIR NADIR

Au fond du temple saint, At the back of the holy temple,

Par de fleurs et d'or, adorned with flowers and with gold,

Une femme apparat! a woman appeared!

Je crois la voir encore! I seem to see her still!

ZURGA ZURGA

Une femme apparat! a woman appeared!

Je crois la voir encore! I seem to see her still!

NADIR NADIR

La foule prosterne The prostrate crowd

La regarde, etonne, gaze at her, astonished,

Et murmure tous bas: and murmur very low:

Voyez, c'est la desse! Look, it is the goddess!

Qui dans l'ombre se dresse who stands in the shadow

Et vers nous tend les bras! and stretches her arms towards us!

ZURGA ZURGA

Son voile se soulve! Her veil is lifted!

vision! rve! Oh what a vision! Oh what a dream!

La foule est genoux! The crowd is on its knees!

NADIR ET ZURGA NADIR ET ZURGA

Oui, c'est elle! Yes, it is she!

C'est la desse plus charmante et plus belle! It is the most charming and the most beautiful

goddess!

Oui, c'est elle! Yes, it is she!

C'est la desse qui descend parmi nous! It is the goddess who comes down amongst us!

Son voile se soulve et la foule est genoux! Her veil is lifted and the crowd is on its knees!

NADIR NADIR

Mais travers la foule But she opens a way

Elle s'ouvre un passage! through the crowd!

ZURGA ZURGA

Son long voile dj Her long veil already

Nous cache son visage! hides her face from us!

NADIR NADIR

Mon regard, hlas! My eyes, alas!

La cherche en vain! seek her in vain!

ZURGA ZURGA

Elle fuit! She flees!

NADIR NADIR

Elle fuit! She flees!

Mais dans mon me soudain But in my spirit

Quelle trange ardeur s'allume! what strange fervour lights up!

ZURGA ZURGA

Quel feu nouveau me consume! What new fire consumes me!

NADIR NADIR

Ta main repousse ma main! Your hand pushes my hand away!

ZURGA ZURGA

Ta main repousse ma main! Your hand pushes my hand away!

NADIR NADIR

Oh, yo' daddy's rich, and yo' ma is good lookin',

So hush, little baby, don' yo' cry.

One of these mornin's you goin' to rise up singin',

Then you'll spread yo' wings an' you'll take the sky.

But till that mornin', there's a-nothin' can harm you

With Daddy an' Mammy standin' by.

19. Bruce Hubbard (Jake), the Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic, Simon Rattle

20. Cynthia Clarey (Serena), the Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic, Simon Rattle

Act II. Jake and his men set off for another day at sea. Meanwhile, after the death of her husband, Robbins, in a

brawl, neighbourhood woman Serena is filled with mourning.

JAKE

Oh, I'm a-goin' out to the Blackfish banks

no matter what de wedder say,

An' when I say I'm goin' I means goin',

an' I'm leavin' at de break o' day.

JAKE AND MEN

lt take a long pull to get there, huh!

But I'll anchor in the Promise' Lan'.

JAKE

An`Lawdy, if I meet Mister Hurricane

an` Hurricane tell me no,

I`ll take ole Mister Hurricane by the pants

an` I throw him in de jailhouse do`.

JAKE AND MEN

lt take a long pull to get there, huh!

But I'll anchor in the Promise' Lan'.

JAKE

I got a blister on my settin' down place,

I got a blister in my han',

But I'm goin' row dis li

ttle boat, trust me Gawd,

Till I anchor in de Promise' Lan'.

JAKE AND MEN

lt take a long pull to get there, huh!

But I'll anchor in de Promise' Lan'.

In de Promise' Lan

SERENA

My man's gone now,

ain't no use a-listenin'

For his tired foot-steps

climbin' up de stairs.

Ole Man Sorrow's

come to keep me comp'ny,

Whisperin' beside me

When I say my prayers.

Ain't dat I min' workin'.

Work an' me is travellers,

Journeyin' togedder

to de promise land.

But Ole Man Sorrow's

marchin' all de way wid me

Tellin' me I'm ole now

since I lose my man.

ALL

Since she lose her man.

SERENA

Since I lose my man.

Ole Man Sorrow

sittin' by de fireplace,

Lyin' all night long

By me in de bed.

Tellin' me de same thing

mornin', noon an' eb'nin',

That I'm all alone now

since my man is dead.

SALOME

Ah! Ich habe deinen Mund geksst,

Jochanaan. Ah! Ich habe ihn geksst,

deinen Mund,

es war ein bitterer Geschmack auf

deinenLippen.

Hat es nach Blut geschmeckt?

Nein? Doch es schmeckte vielleicht nach

Liebe. Sie sagen, dass die Liebe bitter

schmecke. Allein was tut's? Was tut's?

Ich habe deinen Mund geksst,

Jochanaan.

Ich habe ihn geksst, deinen Mund.

HERODES

zu den Soldaten

Man tte dieses Weib!

SALOME

Ah! I have kissed thy mouth, John.

Ah! I have kissed they mouth.

There was a bitter taste on thy lips.

Was it the taste of blood?

No! But perchance it is the taste of love.

They say that love hath a bitter taste.

But what of that? What of that?

I have kissed thy mouth, John.

I have kissed thy mouth.

(A moonbeam falls on Salome, covering her

with light.)

HEROD

Kill that woman!

(The soldiers rush forward and crush her

beneath their shields.)

George Gershwin, Porgy and Bess, 1935

17. Wayne Marshall (piano), the Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic, Simon Rattle

18. Harolyn Blackwell (Clara), the Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic, Simon Rattle

Act I. After the ragtime overture, Clara a young mother appears, rocking her baby to sleep in the shabby,

downtrodden Catfish Row, while her husband Jake and the other men return from a day at sea to play poker

into the early hours.

(Catfish Row. A Summer Evening. Catfish Row is quiet.

Jasbo Brown is at the piano, playing a low-down blues

while half a dozen couples dance in a slow, almost

hypnotic rhythm.)

GROUP

Da-doo-da. Da-doo-da.

Wa, wa, wa, wa. Da-doo-da. Da-doo-da.

(Lights find another group on stage, in the center of

which Clara sits with her baby in her arms, rocking it

back and forth.)

CLARA

Summertime and the livin' is easy,

Fish are jumpin', and the cotton is high.

De nos curs l'amour s'empare Love seizes our hearts

Et nous change en ennemis! and changes us into enemies!

ZURGA ZURGA

Non, que rien ne nous spare! No, let nothing separate us!

NADIR NADIR

Non, rien! No, nothing!

ZURGA ET NADIR ZURGA ET NADIR

Jurons de rester amis! Let us swear to remain friends!

Oh oui, jurons de rester amis! Oh yes, let us swear to remain friends!

Oui, c'est elle! C'est la desse! Yes, it is she! She is a goddess!

En ce jour qui vient nous unir, who comes on this day to unite us,

Et fidle ma promesse, and faithful to my promise,

Comme un frre je veux te chrir! I want to cherish you as a brother!

C'est elle, c'est la desse It is she! She is a goddess!

Qui vient en ce jour nous unir! who comes on this day to unite us.

Oui, partageons le mme sort, Yes, let us share the same fate,

Soyons unis jusqu' la mort! Let us be united until death!

04. David Hobson (Nadir)

05-06. John Aler (Nadir), Barbara Hendricks (Lela), Jean-Philippe Courtis (Nourabad), Chorus & Orchestra

of Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson

Act I. When the priestess, Lla, arrives on the island, Nadir reluctantly listens to his heart, breaking his vow

to Zurga in his desire to pursue her love. On the moonlit beach, before he sleeps, Nadir watches the light in

the temple. While she prays, Lla is interrupted by Nadir, and the pair declare their renewed passion.

Although the fishermen below are calling to the priestess to protect them, Lla torn between her sacred

oath and her secular desires pledges to sing for Nadir alone.

NADIR

Je crois entendre encore,

NADIR

I seem to hear her still

Cach sous les palmiers, hidden under those palms,

Sa voix tendre et sonore her voice tender and echoing

Comme un chant de ramier! like the song of a wood pigeon!

O nuit enchanteresse! Oh enchanting night!

Divin ravissement! Divine enchantment!

O souvenir charmant! O charming memory!

Folle ivresse! doux rve! Mad intoxication! Sweet dream!

Aux clarts des toiles, In the light of the stars

Je crois encore la voir, I seem to see her still,

Entr'ouvrir ses longs voiles parting her long veils

Aux vents tides du soir! to the warm winds of the evening!

(Il s'entend sur une natte et s'endort.) (He stretches out on a mat and falls asleep)

CHUR CHOIR

(dans la coulisse) (offstage)

Le ciel est bleu! The sky is blue!

La mer est immobile et claire! The sea is motionless and clear!

Le ciel est bleu! The sky is blue!

(Lla, amene par Nourabad, parat sur le

rocher qui domine la mer.)

(Leila, led by Nourabad, appears on the rock

that dominates the sea.)

NOURABAD NOURABAD

Toi, reste l, debout sur ce roc solitaire! You remain there, standing on that solitary rock!

(Les fakirs s'accropissent aux pieds de Lla, et

s'allument un bcher de branches et d'herbes

sches dont Nourabad attise la flamme, aprs

avoir trac du bout de sa baguette un cercle

magique dans l'air.)

(The fakirs squat at the feet of Leila

and light a fire of branches and dried grasses

whose flame Nourabad stirs, after drawing a

magic circle in the air with his wand.)

Aux lueurs du brasier en feu, In the light of the burning brazier,

Aux vapeurs de l'encense qui monte jusqu'

Dieu,

In the smoke of the incense that mounts up to

god,

Chante, chante, nous t'coutons! Sing, sing, we are listening to you!

NADIR NADIR

( demi endormi) (half asleep)

Adieu, doux rve! Adieu! Farewell, sweet dream, farewell!

LLA LLA

(debout sur la roche) (standing on the rock)

O Dieu Brahma! O god Brahma,

O matre souverain du monde! O sovereign master of the world!

CHUR CHOIR

(dans la coulisse) (offstage)

O Dieu Brahma! O god Brahma!

LLA LLA

Blanche Siva! Pale Shiva!

Reine la chevelure blonde! Queen with golden hair!

CHUR CHOIR

Blanche Siva! Pale Shiva!

LLA LLA

Esprits de l'air, esprits de l'onde . . . Spirits of the air, spirits of the wave

NADIR NADIR

(se rveillant) (waking up)

Ciel! . . . Heavens!

LLA LLA

. . . Des rochers, des prs, des bois! . . . of the rocks, of the meadows, of the woods!

NADIR NADIR

. . . Encore cette voix! That voice again!

LLA LLA

. . . coutez ma voix! Listen to my voice!

CHUR CHOIR

Esprits de l'air, Esprits de l'onde, Spirits of the air, spirits of the wave

Esprits des boix! Spirits of the woods!

LLA LLA

Dans le ciel sans voile, In the sky without cloud,

Parsem d'toiles, Strewn with stars,

Au sein de la nuit in the bosom of the night

Trasparent et pur, transparent and pure,

Comme dans un rve, as if in a dream,

Pench sur la grve, Over the shore,

Mon regard, oui, mon regard vous suit my gaze, yes, my gaze follows you

travers la nuit! across the night!

Ma voix vous implore, My voice implores you,

MRS PAGE

To the forge with it.

MRS FORD

Shape it.

MRS PAGE / MRS FORD

I would not have things cool.

MRS QUICKLY (passing by)

A noble knight there was indeed,

He mounted on his milk-white steed

MRS FORD

Look who comes younder?

MRS PAGE

Mistress Quickly.

MRS FORD

She shall be our messenger.

MRS PAGE

Trust me, shell fit it.

MRS QUICKLY

He rode, he rode himself alone,

Until he came to lovely Joan.

(The women rush to the entering Mrs

Quickly,

And show her their letters.)

MRS FORD

Come Mistress Qucikly, a word with

you.

MRS PAGE

Come Mistress Quickly, go in with us.

MRS PAGE / MRS FORD

You shall be our messenger

To this paltry knight.

MRS QUICKLY

Sigh no more, ladies,

Ladies, sigh no more,

Men were deceivers ever.

MRS QUICKLY / MRS PAGE / MRS

FORD

One foot in sea, and one on shore,

To one thing constant never.

Then sigh not so,

But let them go,

And be you blithe and bonny,

Converting all your sounds of woe,

Into hey, nonny nonny.

Sing no more ditties, sing no more

Of dumps so dull and heavy,

The fraud of men was ever so

Since summer first was leafy.

Then sigh not so,

But let them go,

And be you blithe and bonny,

Converting all your sounds of woe

Into hey, nonny, nonny!

12-15. New Philharmonia Orchestra, Meredith Davies

Orchestral excerpts from Acts III and IV, including Vaughan Williams original Fantasia on Greensleeves.

16. Richard Strauss, Salome, 1905, from a German translation of Oscar Wildes play

Cheryl Studer (Salome), Horst Hiestermann (Herod), Deutsche Oper Berlin Orchestra, Giuseppe Sinopoli

Finale. Young temptress Salome has fallen for her step-fathers prisoner, John the Baptist. After John spurns

her, and in the ultimate display of petulance, Salome demands his head. On being handed the Christians head

on a silver platter, the demented girl kisses the head, thrusting it between her legs to pleasure herself, until

Herod sends his soldiers in to crush her to death with their shields. This scene, and the operas stunning musical

palette, caused extreme disgust amongst society when it first premiered, and kept it from some of the stages of

the better opera houses for years, as a matter of taste.

Thine own true knight, by day or

night,

Or any kind of light, with all his might,

For thee to fight John Falstaff.

John Falstaff! What a Herod of Jewry is

this!

O wicked, wicked world! Have I

scaped love letters

In the holiday time of my beauty,

And am I now a subject for them?

What hath this Flemish drunkard

picked

Out of my conversation, that he dares

In this manner to assay me?

How shall I be revenged on him?

For revenged I will be,

As sure as his guts are made of

pudding.

MRS FORD (entering)

What ho, gossip Page, gossip Page.

MRS PAGE

Mistress Ford, you look very ill!

MRS FORD

O, Mistress Page, give me some counsel.

MRS PAGE

Whats the matter, what is it?

MRS FORD

If I could but go to Hell for an eternal

moment,

I could be knighted.

MRS PAGE

What? Thou liest? Sir Alice Ford?

MRS FORD

Listen, listen, perceive how I might be

knighted.

(Mrs. Ford pulls a letter from her pocket

and begins reading.

Startled, Mrs. Page does the same with

her own.)

MRS FORD / MRS PAGE (in canon)

Ask me no reason why I love you,

For love admits not reason his

counsellor.

You are not young, no more am I,

Go then, theres sympathy.

You are merry, so am I,

Ha ha, then theres more sympathy.

You love sack and so do I,

Would you desire better sympathy?

Let it suffice thee, Mistress Ford/Page,

That I love thee.

Thine own true knight, by day or

knight,

Or any kind of light, with all his might,

For thee to fight John Falstaff.

MRS FORD

Did you ever see the like?

MRS PAGE

The very same.

MRS FORD

The very hand.

MRS PAGE

The very words.

MRS FORD

What doth he think of us?

MRS PAGE

Nay, I know not.

MRS PAGE / MRS FORD

Lets be revenged on him!

MRS FORD

Lets appoint him a meeting.

MRS PAGE

And lead him on.

MRS FORD

And give him hope.

MRS PAGE

With fine-baited delay.

MRS FORD

And bring him to punishment.

Come, to the forge with it.

Mon cur vous adore, My heart adores you,

Mon chant lger, my airy song

Comme un oiseau semble voltiger! seems to flutter like a bird!

CHUR CHOIR

Ah! chante, chante encore! Ah! sing, sing again!

Oui, que ta voix sonore, Yes, that your echoing voice

Ah! que ton chant lger, Ah! that your airy song,

Loin de nous, chasse tout danger! may chase all danger far from us!

LLA LLA

Ah! Ah!

NADIR NADIR

(Il s'est gliss jusqu'au pied du rocher.) (He slid up to the foot of the rock)

Lla! Lla! Leila! Leila!

(Lla se penche vers lui et carte son voile un

instant.)

(Leila leans towards him and lifts her veil for a

moment.)

Ne redoute plus rien! Me voici! Je suis l! Fear nothing any more! Here I am! I am here,

Prt donner mes jours, mon sang pour te

dfendre!

ready to give my life, my blood to defend you!

CHUR CHOIR

Ah! chante, chante, encore! etc Ah! sing, sing again! Etc

LLA LLA

Pour toi, pour toi que j'adore, For you, for you whom I adore,

Ah! je chante encore! Ah! I sing again!

Je chante pour toi que j'adore! I sing for you whom I adore!

Il est l! Il m'coute! Ah! He is there! He hears me! Ah!

NADIR NADIR

Ah! Chante, chante encore! Ah! Sing, sing again!

O toi que j'adore, O you whom I adore,

Ne crains nul danger! Fear no danger!

Je viens pour te protger! I come to protect you!

Ne crains rien, je suis l! Fear nothing, I am here!

Lla, ne crains rien! Leila, fear nothing!

Lla, je suis l! Leila, I am here!

07. Jules Massenet, Esclarmonde, 1889

Joan Sutherland (Esclarmonde), Giacomo Aragall (Roland), John Alldis Choir, National Philharmonic

Orchestra, Richard Bonynge

Act II. The sorceress Esclarmonde, in love with the human knight Roland, has lured him to an enchanted

island so that they can share their love outside of the gaze of her domineering father.

Sutherland, who famously never really recalled what the operas plot was about, called Esclarmonde the most erotic score she had ever sung.

ESCLARMONDE & ROLAND

Voici le divin moment

O celle qui s'est donne

Sans craindre la destine...

Va s'unir son amant!

C'est l'heure... C'est l'heure de l'hymne!

ESCLARMONDE & ROLAND

Here is the divine moment

Where one that is given

Without fear of destiny

Will unite with her lover!

Its time! The time of Hymen!

ESCLARMONDE

Viens! cher amant!

LES ESPRITS

(Choeur invisible)

Hymen! Hymen! Hymne!

ESCLARMONDE

Oui, je suis belle et dsirable!

ESCLARMONDE & ROLAND

Ah! viens!

C'est le divin moment!

ESCLARMONDE

Come, dear lover!

SPIRITS

(Invisible choir)

Hymen! Hymen! Hymen!

ESCLARMODNE

Yes, I am the beautiful and desirous she!

ESCLARMONDE & ROLAND

Ah, come! I love you!

This is the divine moment!

08. Massenet, Thas, 1894

Meditation Religieuse - Renaud Capuon (violin), Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Yves Abel

Act II. The courtesan Thas is being pursued by the monk Athanal, who wants to convince her that her

secular life is one of wickedness, and she must follow his religious ways. Left alone in her lavish suite, Thas

ponders the possibility of a different life.

(The music returns in the final scene of the opera, when the lovestruck Athanal rushes to her bedside to

tell her he has realized that human love is more important than oppressive religion, only to realize he is too

late Thas is dying and, convinced at last of his earlier claims, has given her mind and heart to God.)

Jules Offenbach, Les contes dHoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann), 1881

09. Plcido Domingo (Hoffmann), Pedro di Proenza (Nathanil), Lausanne Pro Arte Chorus, LOrchestre de

la Suisse Romande, Richard Bonynge

Prologue. The storyteller Hoffmann delights his bar mates with the tale of the rat king Kleinzach, although

Hoffmanns own thoughts are with his apparent true love, Stella.

HOFFMANN

Va pour Kleinzach!

Il tait une fois la cour d'Eisenach!...

Un peti