willowy songs, first installment

willow pattern, William Morris

"Willow" always leaps out and grabs me, for obvious reasons. The other night, I was surprised to hear The Duke (that's John Wayne, Lorenzo, not Duke Ellington, by the way) actually sing "Willow, Tit Willow" in The Shootist. It's amazing how many songs have been written about the magical, mystical weeping willow tree. I thought it might be kinda fun to do a series of posts on willow songs. So, without further ado...

You know I adore opera, so the series must kick off with "The Willow Song" from the opera Otello, by Rossini. It's sung by Desdemona, the night before she is murdered by her jealous husband, Otello, the Moor. Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato sings the song in this cool monochrome video montage, made from some of her opera performances. (outclick on her name for her blogspot blog)

In the 1995 film adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello, the lovely Irene Jacob sings a completely different version of the willow song, known as "The Willow Song" or "Desdemona's Song", the earliest version being found in a lute book dated 1583.

The poor soul sat sighing by a sycamore tree

Sing all a green willow

Her hand on her bosom, her head on her knee

Sing willow, willow, willow, willow.

Sing willow, willow, willow, willow.

My garland shall be;

Sing all a green willow, willow, willow, willow

Sing all a green willow my garland shall be.

The fresh streams ran by her, and murmer'd her moans

Sing willow, willow, willow

Her salt tears fell from her and soft'ned the stones.

Let nobody blame him, his scorn I approve

Sing willow, willow, willow

He was born to be fair, I to die for his love,

I call'd my love false love but what said he then?

Sing willow, willow, willow

If I court more women, you'll couch with more men.

So, there you have it, my bloggy friends....more wickedly willow songs coming up next week.

Theme Thursday - Stage

It is impossible for me to write about the subject of "stage" without bringing up the opera stage and my favorite opera singer, who also happens to be my daughter, by the way, the talented and lovely mezzo-soprano, Elspeth Kincaid.

Elspeth's most recent role was that of Siebel in Opera Tampa's production of Gounod's Faust this past April. If you're not familiar with this opera, the role of Siebel is a "pants role", a male character sung and acted by a female, usually a mezzo-soprano. I was completely amazed at the transformation. Not only does Elspeth have a rich, beautiful mezzo voice, but she has the uncanny ability to completely step into a role and become that character, whether it be a flighty girl, an old hag, or even a handsome young man.

Can you believe this? She really has a "Leonardo Dicaprio" thing going on here, don't you think? Amazing. I'll have to admit, the makeup artist did a marvelous job, too, with the wig and makeup

She had the good fortune to work with the renowned American opera conductor and composer, Maestro Anton Coppola, in this production of Faust. Most of you will recognize the talented family name. He is the uncle of film director Francis Ford Coppola, with family ties to Nicholas Cage and director Sophia Coppola.

The opera took place in the beautiful Tampa Bay performing Arts Center. Here's a view from the back of the stage during one of her rehearsals.

A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer,

it sings because it has a song.

Maya Angelou

Pagliacci

That Smokey Robinson song, Tears of a Clown, has been in my
head all week, since my post on clowns. Did you notice in the lyrics
he mentions Pagliacci? Pagliacci, meaning "clowns", is an opera
consisting of a prologue and two acts, written and composed by
Ruggero Leoncavallo. It portrays the tragedy of a jealous husband
in a commedia dell'arte troupe. The opera premiered in 1892 and it
is the only one of Leoncavallo's operas that is still widely staged
today.

Smokey Robinson isn't the only one who mentions Pagliacci in his
lyrics. Billie Holiday sang a song entitled The Masquerade is Over
which included the lyrics, "I guess I'll have to play Pagliacci and get
myself a clown's disguise / And learn to laugh like Pagliacci with
tears in my eyes." The 1954 song Mr. Sandman contains the line,
"Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci, and lots of wavy hair like
Liberace."

And do you remember "The Opera", a hilarious episode of Seinfeld,
that featured a spoof of Pagliacci, wherein the major characters
attend a performance of the opera while "Crazy" Joe Davola
disguises himself as Pagliaccio the clown to seek a tragic revenge?
Too funny.

I'm including a clip below of the legendary Pavarotti singing the
famous aria from Pagliacci, "Vesti la giubba", which means "Put on
the cosume". The aria is at the conclusion of the first act, when
Canio discovers his wife's infidelity, but must nevertheless prepare
for his performance as Pagliaccio the clown, because "the show must
go on". The scene is so powerfully poignant as Pavarotti applies
the white makeup to his face at the end of the aria. "Vesti la giubba"
is often regarded as one of the most moving in operatic repertoire.
And one more little tidbit of info; the 1904 recording by Enrico
Caruso was the first million selling record in history.

Here's the English translation:

To act! While out of my mind,
I no longer know what I say,
or what I do!
And yet it's necessary... make an effort!
Bah! Are you not a man?
You are Pagliaccio!

Put on your costume,
powder your face.
The people pay to be here, and they want to laugh.
And if Harlequin shall steal your Columbine,
laugh, Pagliaccio, so the crowd will cheer!
Turn your distress and tears into jest,
your pain and sobbing into a funny face - Ah!

Laugh, Pagliaccio,
at your broken love!
Laugh at the grief that poisons your heart!


I'll have to make an exception. This is one clown I happen to adore.

Nessun Dorma and wrong numbers

.

I have had the same cell phone number for about five years now and

I still, to this day, get wrong number calls. At least one per day! My

phone must be a magnet for stray numbers. The funny thing is, it's

always a random guy looking for Elaine, Cheryl or Michelle. And that

is the English speaking guys. I get at least one call a week from some

guy overseas saying, "Salamalekum" and he just won't believe that his

uncle is not somewhere lurking in my house. You would think that

after a while, these guys would recognize my voice and realize that I

am not whoever they're looking for. But no! They hear my voice and

still ask if I'm so and so. I need to change my ring tone, but once I do

something on one of my technical gadgets, I can't remember how to

do it again. So, I'm stuck with Pavarotti singing the opening line of

Nessun Dorma at the top of his lungs, God rest his soul. By the way,

I bought a copy of Pavarotti's Greatest Hits, which was released on

CD shortly after his death last year. I had this as an LP album in the

early 80's and listened to it almost every day the summer I was

expecting our daughter, who is now an opera singer. Hmm, wonder

if it had any influence? It's a wonderful two disc set and I'm thrilled

to have rediscovered it. Even if you are not a big fan of opera, you

would appreciate it just because of his magnificent powerhouse voice.

Di quella pira, from Verdi's Il Trovatore gives me goosebumps.

.

.

The Magnificent Bryn Terfel

I was just over at Lynette's blog reading about the wonderful Scottish baritone, Richard Morrison, who has an incredible voice. I just might have to put him up there on the level with my boy Bryn. Since I didn't have a post ready to go for tonight, I'm dusting off this previous post. As most of you already know, I am totally in love with Bryn Terfel. I am his biggest fan, despite the fact that I have never seen a live performance, believe it or not.

A few years ago, I gave his albums as gifts, even though my recipients might not have been as thrilled as I am about him. It's not just about his rich bass-baritone sound, but his expressive delivery and powerful energy. He can actually sing through several phrases without taking a breath and still hold the ending note for about 17 minutes. Okay, well, I exaggerate just a tad, but not much.

"Madamina, il catalogo e questo" is one of my particular favorites from Don Giovanni. I could listen to it all day long. His versatility is amazing. Listening to him sing a beautiful lullaby, like "Suo-Gan", from his Welsh album, We'll Keep a Welcome, can bring me to tears. I would absolutely love to see him in Falstaff, or in any role for that matter. Not only is he a fabulous singer, but from watching his interviews, he seems like a genuinely nice guy. I am just going to have to start a "Bryn savings account" for tickets and travel. Life is

too short. What am I waiting for?

*photo from Deutsche Grammophon site

When I am laid in earth

This absolutely gorgeous aria, Dido's Lament, sung by the amazing
Jessye Norman, is by the English Baroque composer, Henry Purcell
from his opera Dido and Æneas. It is a very fitting piece to share this
week with all the current seasonal posts on beautiful cemeteries and
thoughts of mortality.