476 6905
Vienna
CITY OF MY DREAMS
YVONNE KENNY
MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
RICHARD BONYNGE
JOHANN STRAUSS II 1825-1899
Grüss dich Gott (Entrance of the Countess) from Wiener Blut (Viennese Spirit)
4’00
KARL ZELLER 1842-1898
Schenkt man sich Rosen in Tirol (Roses from Tyrol) from Der Vogelhändler
(The Birdseller)
2’56
3
RUDOLF SIECZYNSKI 1879-1952
Wien, du Stadt meiner Träume (Vienna, City of My Dreams)
3’41
4
EMMERICH KÁLMÁN 1882-1953
Heia, Heia (Entrance Song) from Die Csárdásfürstin (The Gypsy Princess)
3’03
1
2
5
6
KARL ZELLER
Sei nicht bös (Don’t Be Cross) from Der Obersteiger (The Mine Foreman)
FRANZ LEHÁR 1870-1948
Einer wird kommen (Someone Will Come) from Der Zarewitsch (The Czarevitch)
7
JOHANN STRAUSS II arr. Douglas Gamley
The Nuns’ Chorus from Casanova
Calvin Bowman organ
8
ROBERT STOLZ 1880-1975 arr. Julie Simonds
Mein Liebeslied muss ein Walzer sein (My Love Song Must Be a Waltz)
from Im weissen Rössl (White Horse Inn)
9
@
£
3’56
2
$
%
FRANZ LEHÁR
Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss (My Lips Kiss So Hotly) from Giuditta (Judith)
Vilia from The Merry Widow
Doug de Vries mandolin
Love Unspoken (The Merry Widow Waltz)
Wilma Smith violin
Hör’ ich Cymbalklänge (When I Hear the Sound of the Cimbalom)
from Zigeunerliebe (Gypsy Love)
Wilma Smith violin, Janis Cook keyboard
FRITZ KREISLER 1875-1962 arr. Douglas Gamley
Stars in My Eyes
PAUL ABRAHAM 1892-1960
Toujours l’amour (All for Love) from Ball im Savoy (The Ball at the Savoy)
Doug de Vries banjo
4’51
5’45
3’48
3’32
3’14
3’30
3’32
3’30
RICHARD HEUBERGER 1850-1914
Im Chambre séparée (A Private Room) from Der Opernball (The Opera Ball)
0
!
3’27
4’11
^
&
IVOR NOVELLO 1893-1951 arr. Julie Simonds
Some Day My Heart Will Awake from King’s Rhapsody
My Dearest Dear from The Dancing Years
2’21
2’30
*
PAUL ABRAHAM
Good Night from Viktoria und ihr Husar (Victoria and Her Hussar)
3’43
Total Track Timing
65’28
Yvonne Kenny soprano
Richard Bonynge conductor
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus 4, 7, !
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
3
VIENNA, CITY OF MY DREAMS
Despite being the city where Haydn, Mozart,
Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Berg and
Schoenberg lived and created many of their
greatest masterpieces, many people in Vienna
still consider that the spirit of the place is best
exemplified in the music of Johann Strauss the
younger. Although the Viennese are immensely
proud of their glorious musical heritage, they
have always been characterised as enjoying the
finer things of life (particularly food and wine),
and are noted for their keen sense of pleasure.
Strauss would be a ‘natural’ in the new genre,
and at a ball in 1864 proposed the idea himself
to the other composer. This ball was significant,
as it was the scene of a waltz competition
between the two friendly rivals. Offenbach
produced a waltz called Evening Papers which
was encored four times but is now totally
forgotten, while Strauss produced his immortal
Morning Papers which was played only once.
For all of Strauss’ ability at writing great dance
music, he never developed great theatrical
intuition, and much of his operetta labour was
spent on libretti that seldom rose above the level
of doggerel. His preferred working method was
to write the tunes first, leaving his librettists to
fit words to them as best they could.
It is understandable, then, that the city willingly
welcomed the new theatrical genre of ‘operetta’
in the 1860s, though it had been pioneered by
Jacques Offenbach in Paris. Frequently satirical,
and lighter in subject matter than grand opera,
operetta required scores that were immediately
comprehensible to its audience, brimming with
hummable melodies that could easily find a
second home in ballrooms. They were
performed in theatres that received no
government funding, and so success was solely
measured by takings at the box office.
Not surprisingly, theatrical managers began to
clamour for scores which utilised his vast
catalogue of dance music, thereby assuring
themselves of a piece packed with hits. Just
before his death, Strauss himself sanctioned the
practice with an operetta ‘compiled’ by Adolf
Müller in 1899. This became Wiener Blut (the
title means ‘Viennese Spirit’) which uses for the
Entrance of Countess none other than the waltz
that had been composed for the competition
with Offenbach, Morning Papers. Other Johann
Strauss pastiche operettas followed with varying
success. Of those which survive, Casanova
Given his seemingly unlimited ability to turn out
great tunes, it is not surprising that Johann
Strauss II turned his hand to operetta
composition, although initially he was not at all
willing and had to be inveigled into it by his first
wife, Jetty Treffz. Even Offenbach thought that
4
the need to create songs that could be easily
extracted from a dramatic context and sung by
anyone. In the 20th century, until the advent of
Elvis Presley, pop music was primarily show
music, and it became almost unthinkable to create
a lyric that could not be sung by either a man or a
woman. Much the same fate happened to the
song Sei nicht bös which comes from an 1894
operetta by Zeller, Der Obersteiger (The Mine
Foreman), which is now otherwise forgotten.
(1928) has proved more enduring, particularly by
the utilisation of one of Strauss’ lesser-known
waltzes as the basis of what would become the
celebrated Nuns’ Chorus, where the heroine
prays that she will not be forced to enter a
convent. This song became a hit for Anni Frind
and then Gracie Fields and has, somewhat
surprisingly, featured many times on albums of
religious songs.
With Viennese stages inundated by Offenbach’s
works, local composers were inspired to try
their hands at composing pieces which would
attempt to rival the popularity of the French
master (who had actually been born in Germany).
A flurry of activity ensued, by an army of
composers amongst whom only a handful are
now remembered – and then frequently only
in German-speaking countries – for a tiny
proportion of their gigantic output.
Richard Heuberger is now only remembered for
one operetta, the charming Opernball of 1898.
It is a sort of Così fan tutte story, only here the
women test the fidelity of the men. The hit song
of the piece, Im Chambre séparée, has also
been frequently performed and recorded by male
and female singers, although in the operetta it is
part of a duet where the disguised maid
Hortense lures her employer’s nephew Henri
into a private room at the Opera Ball with this
beguiling melody.
Amongst these must be counted Karl Zeller,
whose fame rests today principally on one work:
Der Vogelhändler (1886). With his song Schenkt
man sich Rosen in Tirol, a curious situation
arose that would continue until well into the
middle of the 20th century. In the operetta, this
song is sung by the principal tenor, Adam, the
birdseller of the title, as part of the first-act
finale. However, such was the popularity of the
Rosen-lied, as it became known, that all singers,
of both sexes, wanted to perform it. From then
on, composers became much more conscious of
The success of Der Opernball was such that the
directors of the Theater an der Wien turned to
Heuberger as their first choice to write the score
of a new operetta, Die lustige Witwe (The
Merry Widow). Sadly, Heuberger was suffering
an immense dose of what we would now term
writer’s block and could make nothing of the
libretto by Viktor Léon and Leo Stein. Reluctantly,
the theatre directors turned to the young Franz
Léhar who had achieved some small successes,
5
most notably with the dance piece The Gold and
Silver Waltz. Even after submitting to an audition,
the directors were far from happy with the final
results; one even going so far as to declare:
‘This isn’t music!’
sentimental in tone; that concentrated far less
on comedy and (while no-one died in the course
of the story) were not reliant on having a happy
ending at all. This new, more serious style of
operetta is reflected in Lehár’s subsequent
works: Zigeunerliebe (Gypsy Love, 1910),
Der Zarewitsch (The Czarevitch, 1927) and
Giuditta (Judith, 1934) – the latter
commissioned by the Vienna State Opera. In all
of these pieces, exotic locales are reflected in
lavish orchestrations for large orchestras: gypsy
influences fill Zigeunerliebe’s score; Der
Zarewitsch requires an ensemble of balalaikas;
and the title-role heroine of Giuditta winds up
performing her ‘turn’ in a nightclub in Morocco,
where she tells how ardent her kisses are.
After a respectable if not overwhelming success
at its Viennese premiere in 1905, The Merry
Widow created a furore at its London and New
York seasons in 1907. Every woman wanted a
copy of the hat that Lily Elsie wore in the third act
and the title was used to publicise everything
from cocktails to railway engines. The Merry
Widow is the one operetta, along with Strauss’
Die Fledermaus, which is now standard repertoire
in almost every opera house in the world. Its
infectious Waltz and Vilia have been performed
by innumerable sopranos the world over.
Lehár’s new romantic, musically lush style,
replete with folk music influences, is also to be
felt in the scores of the Hungarian Emmerich
Kálmán, who absorbed elements of American
ragtime into his music. In his greatest success,
Die Csárdásfürstin (1915), Sylva, the gypsy
princess of the title, makes a dazzling entrance
to music that bristles with Magyar influences.
Despite having achieved such success with The
Merry Widow, Lehár’s career floundered for a
while. The Great War had cast a pall over
Europe, with the feeling that the end of an era
had been reached. While operetta remained
popular, the frivolities of an Offenbach farce
seemed out of tune with the times. Lehár noted
that a new medium had seized public
imagination: silent movies, and not just the
Chaplin or Keaton comedies, but in particular,
the romantic melodramas that were being made
by an amazingly talented new breed of German
directors. Sensing this mood-swing, Lehár now
began to write operettas that were more overtly
Surviving the jazz age of the 1920s, operetta
experienced its last great flourishing during the
Depression that followed the crash of the stock
market in 1929. Simple stories of love and
romance were welcomed by audiences who
wanted to escape the gloomy realities of
everyday life. The genre also received a boost
6
with the advent of sound in movies; many of the
great operettas were made into movie musicals,
albeit with the stories changed and the scores
reduced to a few major hits.
three additional numbers, one of which had to
be a grand waltz song. Stolz obliged and came
up with a song appropriately named Mein
Liebeslied muss ein Walzer sein (My Love
Song Must Be a Waltz).
Operettas for the theatre continued to be
written, but gone were the connections with
opera buffa that had existed in Johann Strauss’
time. Instead of scores having large multimovement finales and elaborate ensembles, the
push for ‘hit tunes’ moved the balance more
towards songs and duets, with refrains being
repeated as dance breaks.
The rise of the Nazi party in the 1930s was to
shatter the highly successful career of Paul
Abraham. Despite the immense popularity of
works such as Viktoria und ihr Husar (Victoria
and Her Hussar, 1930) and Ball im Savoy (Ball
at the Savoy, 1932), he, his librettists and his
leading lady in many of his pieces, Gitta Alpar,
were forced to leave Germany. Abraham
resettled in Vienna, Budapest, Paris and then
New York, always just managing to stay one
step ahead of the Nazis.
The one musical form that was considered
indispensable in any Viennese operetta was the
grand waltz. While scores such as The Mikado or
Orphée aux Enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld)
may not have required one to ensure their
success, it was unthinkable for a German or
Austrian operetta not to contain a waltz. Imagine
then the consternation of the directors of the
Grand Theatre in Berlin when Ralph Benatzky
turned in a score to Im weissen Rössl (White
Horse Inn, 1930) that had no grand waltz.
While there were numbers in triple time, they
reflected the Tyrolean setting of the piece and
had lyrics such as:
Happy cows
As you browse
Fritz Kreisler is now remembered for his
charming encore pieces that are part of every
violinist’s repertoire. He also wrote romantic
songs in the popular idiom of the day, for the
stage and for film; which is where the song
Stars in My Eyes comes from. It was written in
1936 for an English movie musical, The King
Steps Out, which was created to highlight the
talents of the glamorous Grace Moore who had
been a star of the Metropolitan Opera and
whose roles included Mimì in La bohème and
the title role in Charpentier’s opera Louise.
but this was hardly the stuff of romantic
operetta. In desperation, the theatre directors
turned to another composer, Robert Stolz, for
Clearly inspired by the Viennese operetta
tradition, Englishman Ivor Novello created
elaborate theatrical confections that lightened
7
the mood in war-torn London. In these
extravaganzas, Novello wrote the book, the lyrics
and the score; he acted and frequently danced
in them, always showing his celebrated profile
to advantage; but he left the singing mostly to
others, notably his favourite soprano Mary Ellis.
1
This then leaves us with the title song of this
disc, Vienna, City of My Dreams, which does
not come from an operetta. Instead, it belongs
to an immense genre called the Wienerlied
where the glories – past and present – of the
city of Vienna are lovingly extolled in a song,
admittedly through rose-coloured glasses. This
Wienerlied is the only one that is really familiar
to English-speaking audiences, finding a place in
the recital repertoire of many great singers.
Andrew Greene
8
Entrance of the Countess
Es hat dem Grafen nicht genützt,
Das Warnen und das Bitten,
Die Neugier ist in mir erwacht,
Ich bin hieher geritten!
Es steckt was dahinter, das ist klar,
Den Grund muss ich erspäh’n.
Ich finde alles, wie es war,
So lieb, so traut, so schön!
To no avail has the Count
warned me and begged me;
curiosity is awakened in me,
and so I rode here.
There is something behind it all, clearly,
I must spy out the land.
I find everything as it was,
so dear, so trusty, so charming!
Grüss dich Gott, du liebes Nesterl!
Wie du warst, find’ ich dich noch,
So wie einst ich dich verlassen,
Als mich drückt’ das Ehejoch!
Oft, ach, schmollt’ ich da im Erker,
Weil der Graf just mich gefreit.
Ach, wie oft an diesem Schreibtisch,
Klagte ich Mama mein Leid!
Wie hab’ auf dir ich musiziert,
Armes Spinett, dich malträtiert.
Die Bibliothek! Mancher Roman,
Den man wohl liest – doch nicht erleben kann!
Alter Homer, Wieland, Voltaire,
Euch hielt ich mir als Aufputz hier.
Was seh’ ich da? Da schau, ei, ei!
Der Casanova? Das ist mir neu!
Mein Schlafgemach, es scheint wohl verlassen,
Alles ist so wie’s war,
Hier löst’ ich zaghaft mein Myrtenkränzchen
Bebend aus dem Haar!
Hier nahm als Braut ich zitternd
Den Schleier zögernd vom Gesicht,
Und aus den Augen flossen mir Tränen,
Greetings, my lovely little nest!
I find you just as you were
when I left you
as the marriage-yoke pressed too hard!
Often I brooded there by the window,
because the Count left me to myself.
Oh, how often at this desk
did I complain to Mama of my sorrows!
On you poor spinet did I play music,
or rather, mistreated you.
The library! So many novels
one could read – but not experience!
Old Homer, Wieland, Voltaire,
I kept you here for show.
What do I see over there? Look here, my my!
Casanova? That’s new to me!
My bedroom looks untouched,
everything is as it was,
here the bridal flowers fell
trembling from my hair!
Here, as a bride I
lifted the veil nervously from my face,
and from my eyes flowed tears;
9
2
3
Na, heute heult’ ich nicht!
Grüss dich Gott, du liebes Nesterl,
Wie du warst find’ ich dich noch,
So wie einst ich dich verlassen,
Als mich drückt das Ehejoch!
Doch wer weiss, es kann gelingen,
Dass du meine Neugier stillst,
Und ich doch was Neues finde,
Das du mir verbergen willst!
no, today I won’t howl!
God’s greetings to you, my lovely little nest,
I find you just as you were
when I left you
as the marriage-yoke pressed too hard!
But who knows,
perhaps you can satisfy my curiosity,
and I will find out what is new,
that you want to hide from me!
Da bin ich halt z’Haus
Bei Tag und noch mehr bei der Nacht,
Und keiner bleibt kalt,
Ob jung oder alt,
Der Wien, wie es wirklich ist, kennt.
I am at home there,
by day and even more so by night;
and no one can be unmoved,
whether young or old,
who really knows the true Vienna.
Schenkt man sich Rosen in Tirol
Schenkt man sich Rosen in Tirol
Weiss man was das bedeuten soll:
Man schenkt die Rose nicht allein,
Man gibt sich selber auch mit drein!
Darf ich es wirklich so verstehen,
Kann ich auf dieses Zeichen gehen,
Dann machst du wahrhaft selig mich,
Schenkst mit der Rose du auch dich!
Müsst ich einmal fort
Von dem schönem Ort,
Da nähm’ meine Sehnsucht kein End?
Dann hört ich aus weiter Ferne ein Lied,
Das klingt und singt, das lockt und zieht.
If I have to leave
that most beautiful place,
will there be no end to my longing?
I hear a distant melody,
it sounds and sings, it lures and draws me.
In the Tyrol, when you give roses
everyone knows what it means:
it’s not just the rose you’re giving,
you give yourself with it!
Can I take it to mean the same here?
Can I act on this sign?
It would make me blissfully happy
if, with a rose, you gave your own self.
Wien, Wien, nur du allein
Sollst stets die Stadt meiner Träume sein,
Dort wo die alten Häuser stehn,
Dort wo die lieblichen Mädchen gehn.
Wien, Wien, nur du allein
Sollst stets die Stadt meiner Träume sein,
Dort wo ich glücklich und selig bin
Ist Wien, ist Wien, mein Wien!
Vienna, Vienna, only you alone
shall remain the city of my dreams,
its historic buildings,
its lovely girls.
Vienna, Vienna, only you
shall remain the city of my dreams,
I am fortunate and happy
only in Vienna, Vienna, my Vienna!
Amsel und Star zieh’n jedes Jahr
Nach ihrer Heimat wieder,
Singen die alten Lieder.
Hält mich das Glück hier jetzt zurück?
Wag’ es zu hoffen kaum,
Denn in mir klingts wie ein Traum:
Each year the blackbird and the starling
return to their home again,
they sing the old songs.
Am I kept here by happiness?
I hardly dare to hope
as a dream chimes within me:
Schenkt man sich Rosen in Tirol…
In the Tyrol, when you give roses…
Wien, du Stadt meiner Träume
Mein Herz und mein Sinn
Schwärmt stets nur für Wien,
Für Wien es weint, wie es lacht,
Da kenn ich mich aus,
My heart and my mind
are always full of Vienna,
in tears, or in laughter, Vienna.
I know myself there;
Ob ich will oder net,
Nur hoff’ ich, recht spät,
Muss ich einmal fort von der Welt.
Geschieden müss sein von Liebe und Wein,
Weil alles, wie’s kommt, auch vergeht.
Ah das wird ganz schön,
Ich brauch ja nicht z’gehn,
Ich flieg doch in’ Himmel hinauf,
Dort setz’ ich mich hin,
Schau runter auf Wien,
De Steffel, der grüsst ja herauf.
Whether I want to or not,
(but I hope, not too soon),
one day I must depart from the world.
I will be parted from Love and from Wine,
because all things which come must also go.
Oh it would be lovely,
if I didn’t have to go,
but could fly up to Heaven,
and sit myself there,
gazing down on Vienna,
greeting the dome of St Stephen’s once more.
Dann hört ich aus weiter Ferne ein Lied…
Then I hear a distant melody…
10
11
4
5
Entrance Song
Heia, heia,
In den Bergen ist mein Heimatland!
Oheia, oheia!
Hoch dort oben meine Wiege stand,
Dort wo scheu blüht das Edelweiss,
Dort wo rings um glitzern Schnee und Eis.
Heia, oheia,
Schlagen Herzen wild und heiss!
Hey there,
My homeland is in the mountains!
Oh hey there!
There, high above, was my cradle,
there where the edelweiss shyly blooms,
there where snow and ice glisten all around.
Hey ho,
Hearts beat wild and hot!
Wenn ein Siebenbürger Mädel
Sich in dich verliebt,
Nicht zum spielen, nicht zum scherzen
Sie ihr Herz dir gibt.
Willst du dir die Zeit vertreiben
Such’ ein and’res Schätzelein.
Bist du mein, musst mein du bleiben,
Musst mir deine Seel verschreiben,
Muss ich Himmel dir und Hölle sein!
Olala! So bin ich gebaut.
Olala! Auf dem Tanz!
Kuss’ mich, ach, kuss’ mich,
Denn wer am besten küssen, küssen kann,
Nur der wird mein Mann!
If a girl from Transylvania
falls in love with you,
it’s not playing, it’s not joking,
she gives you her heart.
If you just want to kill time,
seek another sweetheart.
If you are mine, you must remain mine,
you must commit your soul to me,
I will be Heaven and Hell to you!
La la! This is how I’m made.
La la! To the dance!
Kiss me, ah, kiss me;
for the one who is best at kissing,
only he shall be my husband!
Sei nicht bös’
Wo sie war die Müllerin,
Zog es auch den Fischer hin,
Doch sie lachte ihn nur aus,
Denn sie wollte hoch hinaus!
Nachts, da er zum Fischen geht,
Klopft er leise an und fleht:
Werde mein und mach mir auf!
Where there was a miller-maid,
a fisher-boy was drawn there too.
But she only laughed at him,
she had her sights set higher than that!
At night, when he was going fishing,
he knocked lightly and implored:
Be mine, open up!
12
6
Doch sie singt spöttisch drauf:
Sei nicht bös’, es kann nicht sein,
Sei nicht bös’, und schick dich drein,
Sei nicht bös’, und mach kein G’sicht,
B’hüt’ dich Gott, vergiss mein nicht.
But she sneeringly replied,
Don’t be cross, it cannot be;
Don’t be cross, and send yourself away,
Don’t be cross, and don’t make a face,
God keep you, forget me not.
Kann nicht sein,
Schick dich drein.
Mach kein G’sicht…
It cannot be,
send yourself away.
Don’t make a face…
Und zu zog die Müllerin
In die Welt mit stolzem Sinn.
Endlich kommt sie wieder her,
Aber stolz ist sie nicht mehr.
Fährt nun nachts der Fischer aus,
Ruft sie bang zu ihm hinaus:
Tröste mich und komm zu mir!
Doch jetzt singt er zu ihr:
Sei nicht bös’,…
And so the miller-maid
went off into the world with a proud mind.
Finally she returned,
but she was no longer proud.
Now she went to the fisher-boy,
and called out to him timidly:
come and comfort me!
But this time he sang to her:
Don’t be cross…
Einer wird kommen
Einer wird kommen, der wird mich begehren,
Einer wird kommen, dem soll ich gehören.
Werd’ ich bei seinen Küssen erbeben?
Werd’ ich der Liebe Wunder erleben?
Einer wird kommen, dem werd’ ich gehören.
Someone will come, who will desire me;
someone will come, to whom I should belong.
Will his kisses make me tremble?
Shall I experience love’s miracle?
Someone will come to whom I shall belong.
Mir ist so bang,
Als hielt mich ein Traum befangen,
Fiebernde Glut steigt
Heiss mir zu Herz und Wangen.
Schweigende Nacht mich lokkend umfängt
Mit wonniger Macht die Sinne bedrängt,
Ich möchte entflieh’n und wart’ doch auf ihn!
I feel so uncertain,
as though embarrassed by a dream,
a feverish glow
warms my heart and my cheeks.
The silent night lures and grabs me
with a strange power, overcomes my senses;
I want to flee, and yet wait for him!
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7
Wüsst’ ich doch, zieh’ ich das grosse Los,
Wird das Glück mir scheinen?
Werd’ ich als Spielzeug blos
Diese Stund’ beweinen?
Werde, was will, daraus,
Liebe, nach dir, breite ich meine Arme aus!
Yet I wish I knew: have I drawn the lucky card,
will Fortune shine on me?
Would I be a mere plaything,
and rue this hour?
Come what may,
Love, to you I open my arms!
Einer wird kommen…
Someone will come…
Nuns’ Chorus
Nonnen
Oh Madonna auf uns sieh!
Schirm, du himmlische, uns’re Pfade,
Betend beugen wir das Knie,
Schenkt uns Gnade, heil’ge Marie.
Nuns
O Madonna gaze on us!
Protect our paths, heavenly one,
we pray on bended knee,
grant us mercy, Holy Mary.
Laura
Oh Marie,
Wie entflieh’
Ich dem Kloster und dem Schleier?
Huldvoll sei,
Schick’ herbei
Mir noch heute den Befreier!
Auf dem Hauptaltar
Bring’ ich Rosen dar
Dir zum Dank, dir zum Gruss,
Tu ein Wunder tu’s!
Laura
O Mary,
how can I escape
from the cloister and the veil?
Be gracious,
send a saviour to me
here today!
On the high altar
I will place roses
to give you thanks, to greet you,
Perform a miracle, do!
Nonnen
Oh Marie,
Segne sie,
Nimmt sie heut’ den Nonnenschleier.
Huldvoll sei,
Komm und weih’
Deine Magd bei frommer Feier!
Nuns
O Mary,
bless her,
today she takes the nun’s veil.
Be gracious,
come and bless
your handmaid at the solemn celebration!
14
8
Laura
Auf dem Hauptaltar
Bring’ ich Rosen dar
Dir zum Dank, dir zum Gruss,
Tu’s Maria, tu’s.
Laura
On the high altar
I will place roses
to give you thanks, to greet you,
Do it, Mary, do!
Nonnen
Mit Gebet und Buss.
Nuns
With prayer and repentance.
Mein Liebeslied muss ein Walzer sein
Was mein Herz zu sagen hat,
Fühlst auch du,
Was die Uhr geschlagen hat,
Weisst auch du.
Und hast du kein Ohr für mich,
Finde ich keine Ruh’,
Drum hör zu, drum hör zu.
Sag’ ich es in Prosa dir, klingt es kühn.
Das ist nicht das Rechte für mein Gefühl.
Aber, wenn die Geigen zärtlich für mich fleh’n
Wirst du gleich mich versteh’n:
What my heart has said,
you feel too;
what hour the clock has struck,
you know too.
And if you will not listen to me,
I shall find no peace,
so listen, listen.
If I say it to you in prose, it sounds bold.
That is not right for my feelings.
But, if the violin sweetly pleads on my behalf,
you will understand me:
Mein Liebeslied muss ein Walzer sein,
Voll Blütenduft und voll Sonnenschein.
Wenn beim ersten du, ich mich an dich schmieg,
Braucht mein Herz dazu süsse Walzermusik.
Mein Liebeslied muss ein Walzer sein,
Der süss berauscht, wie Champagnerwein.
Und das Lied, das dir sagt, „Ich bin dein“,
Kann doch nur ein Wiener Walzer sein.
My love song must be a waltz,
full of floral scents and sunshine.
The first time that you and I cuddle up,
my heart will need sweet waltz music.
My love song must be a waltz,
sweetly intoxicating, like champagne.
And the song which says, ‘I am yours’
can only be a Viennese waltz.
Wenn der Liebe Lust und Schmerz einen packt,
Schlägt ein jedes Menschenherz seinen Takt!
Jeder singt für sich partout
When Love bundles pleasure and pain together into one,
every human heart beats its own rhythm!
Everyone everywhere sings their own song
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Und auch der Text dazu heisst:
„Chacun à son goût!“
Einer gibt den grössten Reiz der Gavott’
Und der and’re seinerseits liebt mehr flott!
Und es wechseln Moll und Dur,
Ja, c’est l’amour. Aber ich sage nur:
Mein Liebeslied…
and that’s what the old saying means:
‘Each to their own!’
One is most attracted by the gavotte;
another prefers, for his part, to love more quickly!
And it switches minor and major keys;
yes, that is love. But I say only this:
My love song must be a waltz…
Im Chambre séparée
Geh’n wir in’s Chambre séparée
Ach, zu dem süssen Tête-à-tête,
Dort beim Champagner und beim Souper,
Man alles sich leichter gesteht!
Geh’n wir in’s Chambre séparée…
Let’s go into a private room
for a sweet tête-à-tête,
there with champagne and with supper,
one can confess more easily!
Let’s go into a private room…
Ach, kommen Sie, mein Herr, dass ich gestehe,
Was längst für Sie ich ja empfinde,
So kommen Sie zum Tête-à-tête und zum Souper,
Dass ich gestehe, ja gestehe,
Was längst für Sie ich ja empfinde,
Dort beim Champagner und beim Souper…
Ah, come, sir, that I may confess,
what I have felt for you so long,
come for a tête-à-tête and supper,
so that I may confess, yes confess,
what I have felt for you so long,
there with champagne and supper…
Ach, kommen Sie zum Tête-à-tête
Im Chambre séparée.
Ah, come for a tête-à-tête
in a private room.
Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss
Ich weiss es selber nicht,
Warum man gleich von Liebe spricht,
Wenn man in meiner Nähe ist,
In meine Augen schaut und meine Hände küsst.
Ich weiss es selber nicht,
Warum man von dem Zauber spricht.
Denn keine widersteht,
I really don’t know
why men immediately talk of love,
as soon as they’re near me,
why they gaze into my eyes and kiss my hands.
I really don’t know
why men talk about magic.
None can resist,
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Wenn sie mich sieht, wenn sie an mir vorüber geht.
Doch wenn das rote Licht erglüht,
Zur mitternächt’gen Stund’
Und alle lauschen meinem Lied,
Dann wird mir klar der Grund.
when they see me, when they pass me.
But when the red light glows,
at the midnight hour,
and everyone listens to my song,
then the reason becomes clear.
Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss,
Meine Glieder sind schmiegsam und weiss.
In den Sternen, da steht es geschrieben,
Du sollst küssen, du sollst lieben.
Meine Füsse, sie schweben dahin,
Meine Augen, sie locken und glühn.
Und ich tanz’ wie im Rausch,
Denn ich weiss,
Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss.
My lips kiss so hotly,
my limbs are pliant and white.
It is written in the stars,
you should kiss, you should love.
My feet, they float along,
my eyes, they beckon and glow.
And I dance as though I’m intoxicated,
because I know,
my lips kiss so hotly.
In meinen Adern drin,
Da läuft das Blut der Tänzerin,
Denn meine schöne Mutter war
Des Tanzes Königin im gold’nen Alcazar.
In my veins
runs the blood of a dancer;
my mother was
Queen of the Dance in golden Alcazar.
Sie war so wunderschön,
Ich hab’ sie oft im Traum geseh’n.
Schlug sie das Tambourin
So wild im Tanz,
Da sah man alle Augen glüh’n.
Sie ist in mir aufs Neu’ erwacht,
Ich hab’ das gleiche Los.
Ich tanz’ wie sie um Mitternacht
Und fühl’ das Eine bloss:
Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss…
She was so marvellous,
I have often seen her in dreams.
She struck the tambourine
so wildly in her dance,
that everyone’s eyes lit up.
Her spirit wakes in me again,
I have the same destiny.
I dance like her at midnight
and know just one thing:
My lips kiss so hotly…
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!
Vilia
Let’s all now awaken memories.
We’ll sing our native melodies,
And find a song that we all know,
The tale of Vilia long ago.
@
A Vilia who lived by a cool forest glade,
Had fallen asleep in the deep leafy shade.
A youth wandered near to the place where
she lay,
Her beauty entranced him, he’d not look away.
The Merry Widow Waltz
Love unspoken, faith unbroken,
All life through.
Strings are playing, hear them saying,
‘Love me true.’
Now the echo answers,
‘Say you want me too.’
All the world’s in love with love
And I love you.
£
I hear the music play,
It carries me away.
All sorrow will have flown
When you are mine and mine alone.
Suddenly the nymph awoke, and music filled
the air above,
How he sighed, swearing eternal love.
Vilia, oh Vilia, O nymph of delight,
Haunting the woodland, enchanting the night.
Vilia, oh Vilia, be tender, be true.
Love me, and I’ll die for you.
So that music seems to sing
While still not saying anything.
It’s wanting you to know
I love you so.
Now the echo answers…
Vilia, oh Vilia…
She then wove a spell with a wave of her hand,
Transporting him into a strange fairyland.
No mortal e’er knew such enchanting delight,
Entwined in her arms for one magical night.
Suddenly at dawn of day, she vanished far away,
Hill and vale echo to his mournful tale.
Vilia, oh Vilia…
$
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Hör’ ich Cymbalklänge
Hör’ ich Cymbalklänge,
Wird ums Herz mir enge,
Süsses Land der Muttersprache,
Heimatland!
Seufz’ nach deinen Wäldern,
Nach den gold’nen Feldern,
Sehne mich nach dir,
Mein süsses Ungàrland!
When I hear the sound of the cimbalom,
it makes my heart contract;
sweet land of my mother-tongue,
Homeland!
I sigh for your forests,
for your golden fields,
I long for you,
my sweet Hungary!
Ziehst du weit hinaus,
Gehst die Welt du aus,
Überall ist’s schön und doch
Am schönsten ist’s zu-haus!
Hör’ ich Cymbalklänge…
If you travel far,
wide across the world,
everything is beautiful
and yet home is the most beautiful!
When I hear the sound of the cimbalom…
Macht nichts! Hol’s der Teufel!
Macht nichts! Ohne zweifel
Kann der Mensch nicht immer traurig sein!
Liebt mein Schatz mich nimmer,
Find’t man And’re immer,
Schad’ um jede Träne, die ich wein’!
Doesn’t matter! Curse it!
Doesn’t matter! Without a doubt
people can’t always be sad!
If my sweetheart never loves me,
one always finds another,
shame on every tear that I cry!
Will nicht ohne Küsse leben, nein, nein!
Keine Stunde ohne Liebsten sein!
Jaj, jaj, hol’s der Teufel!
Jaj, jaj, ohne Zweifel,
Immer kann der Mensch nicht traurig sein!
Will nicht ohne Küsse leben…
Don’t want to live without kisses, no, no!
Don’t want to be without a lover for an hour!
Yes, yes, curse it!
Yes, yes, without a doubt
people can’t always be sad!
Don’t want to live without kisses…
Stars in My Eyes
My song has wings,
Eternal springs,
No longer but a dream.
My cheeks aglow,
Emotions flow
Like sunlight on a stream.
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My step is gay
Along my way
The roses bloom at my feet.
My love’s arranged,
My being’s changed,
My life is now complete.
Stars in my eyes tell how I feel
For this tender passion is real.
I am loved, I am blessed;
All that eager longing is laid to rest.
Stars in my eyes will always shine
While your heart beats with mine.
Till your love for me dies
There’ll be stars in my eyes.
%
^
Toujours l’amour
Ich war verliebt, wie jede Frau,
Ich ward enttäuscht, wie jede Frau,
Das ist vorbei, nun bin ich frei, will leben!
I was loved, like every woman,
I was disappointed, like every woman,
that’s all past, now I am free, I want to live!
Die Liebe kommt, die Liebe geht,
Für einen Kuss ist’s nie zu spät,
Wer immer kommt, ich will mein Herz ihm geben!
Love comes, Love goes,
it’s never too late for a kiss;
whoever comes, I’ll give my heart to him!
Toujours l’amour, das ist mein Prinzip,
Ich liebe die Liebe allein.
Toujours l’amour, wohin sie mich trieb,
Dort wusste ich glücklich zu sein!
All for love, that is my principle,
I love only Love.
All for love, wherever it drove me,
there I knew how to be happy!
Was sind mir die Männer gewesen?
Romane, nur flüchtig gelesen!
Toujours l’amour, ich bleibe dabei:
Ich bin stets der Liebe nur treu!
What were men to me?
Novels, only fleetingly read!
All for love, I stand by that:
I only stay true to Love!
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Sie ist kokett, wie jede Frau,
sie spielt mit mir, wie jede Frau,
doch sieht man gleich,
sie ist ein Weib von Rasse.
She is a coquette, like every woman;
She plays with me, like every woman;
but one can see
she’s a real woman.
Wohl wunderschön, doch raffiniert,
Ich kenn’ mich aus, ich bin versiert,
Wohl Demimonde, jedoch von grosser Klasse.
Quite wonderful, yet refined,
I know my way around, I am experienced,
quite of the demi-monde yet high class.
Toujours l’amour…
All for love…
Some Day My Heart Will Awake
Some day my heart will awake,
Some day the morning will break.
Music will open my eyes,
Showing the skies golden with rapture.
Maybe this gentle refrain
Some day will echo again,
Bringing my lover’s caress,
Bidding my heart say ‘Yes’.
Lazy heart! Lazy heart!
The leaves of summer fall and die,
But still you drift along the stream,
Not even troubled by a dream.
The birds are mating,
But while you’re waiting
Time slips by.
Someday my heart will awake…
&
My Dearest Dear
My dearest dear,
If I could say to you
In words as clear
As when I play to you,
You’d understand
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Your lonely hours will spread their wings and fly;
The passing show’rs will only pass you by.
If you can trust me, trust the secret in my song.
When love is true the road is never long.
My dearest dear…
*
Fairy Queen for English National Opera; and The
Countess (The Marriage of Figaro ) for
Washington Opera and Bavarian State Opera.
She returns frequently to Australia where she
has sung Gilda (Rigoletto ), Pamina, Susanna,
Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Cleopatra, Alice Ford
(Falstaff ) and the title toles in Maria Stuarda,
Alcina, Massenet’s Manon and The Coronation
of Poppea.
Yvonne Kenny AM
How slight the shadow that is holding us apart.
So take my hand,
I’ll lead the way for you.
A little waiting and you’ll reach my heart.
Good Night
Einmal, da schlägt für uns die Stunde,
In der wir unser Sehnen einsam tragen.
Einmal, da blutet eine Wunde,
Und du musst unter Tränen zu mir sagen:
Once, there was a time
when we bore our longings alone.
Once, a wound was bleeding,
and through tears you said to me:
Reich’ mir zum Abschied noch einmal die Hände!
Good night! Good night! Good night!
Schön war das Märchen, nun ist es zu Ende.
Good night! Good night! Good night!
Still kommt der Abend, wir fühlen es kaum,
Liebe und Glück sind nur ein Traum!
Reich’ mir zum Abschied noch einmal die Hände!
Good night! Good night! Good night!
Give me your hands just once in farewell!
Good night! Good night! Good night!
It was a lovely fairytale, now it must end.
Good night! Good night! Good night!
Quietly comes the evening, we hardly feel it,
Love and happiness are only a dream!
Give me your hands just once in farewell!
Good night!
Einmal, da wirst du an mich denken,
Jedoch dein Mund wird schweigen
und nicht fragen!
Einmal, da wirst den Blick du senken,
Wenn die verliebten Geigen leise klagen:
Once, you will think of me,
but your mouth will be silent
and not question!
Once, you will glance away,
when the dear violin lightly plays:
Reich’ mir zum Abschied…
Give me your hands…
English translations by K.P. Kemp
22
Yvonne Kenny is one of the most distinguished
sopranos of her generation. Born in Sydney, she
made her operatic debut in 1975 in Donizetti’s
Rosmonda d’Inghilterra at the Queen Elizabeth
Hall in London. After winning the Kathleen
Ferrier Competition she joined the Royal Opera
House, Covent Garden, where her roles have
included Pamina (The Magic Flute ), Ilia
(Idomeneo ), Marzelline (Fidelio), Oscar (A
Masked Ball ), Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro),
Adina (The Elixir of Love ), Liu (Turandot ), Aspasia
(Mitridate ) and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni ).
Yvonne Kenny appears regularly on the concert
platform throughout Europe and North America
and has appeared at the Edinburgh, Salzburg
and Aix-en-Provence Festivals; in Carnegie Hall;
and as a regular guest at the BBC Proms
concerts. She was also the first artist to give an
official performance at the newly reopened
Royal Opera House (a recital in Floral Hall). In
Australia she has appeared with Bryn Terfel at
Leeuwin Estate Winery in Western Australia –
televised nationally by the ABC – and she has
toured for Musica Viva, the Australian Chamber
Orchestra and the Australian Brandenburg
Orchestra as well as being a regular guest with
the Australian symphony orchestras in a broad
range of repertoire.
She has built herself an enviable international
reputation as a interpreter of Handel’s soprano
roles and has enjoyed particular success in the
title roles in Semele and Alcina (Covent Garden,
La Fenice, Venice and Opéra de Nancy); Romilda
(Xerxes) for English National Opera and Bavarian
State Opera; Cleopatra (Julius Caesar ) and
Armida (Rinaldo ) for Opera Australia (winning a
Green Room Award for the former); and the title
role in Deborah at the BBC Proms concerts.
International appearances have included
Susanna, Cinna (Lucia Silla) and The Countess
(Capriccio) for Vienna State Opera; Pamina at La
Scala; The Countess (Capriccio) and the title role
in La Didone at the Staatsoper, Berlin; Donna
Elvira (Don Giovanni ) in Paris, Zurich and at
Glyndebourne; Oscar for Hamburg Opera; The
Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier ) and Purcell’s The
Her numerous recordings include Mozart’s The
Marriage of Figaro, The Abduction from the
Seraglio, Mitridate and Lucio Silla; Elgar’s The
Kingdom; Stravinsky’s Pulcinella; Britten’s The
Beggar’s Opera and Gloriana; Handel’s Deborah;
a collection of Mozart arias with the Australian
Chamber Orchestra; The Marschallin in Der
23
Rosenkavalier and a disc of Great Operatic Arias.
She is internationally recognised for her
recordings of French and Italian bel canto
repertoire for Opera Rara, including the awardwinning Emilia di Liverpool and most recently
Entre Nous; and was the voice of Dame Nellie
Melba in the TV mini-series. On the ABC
Classics label her recordings include the awardwinning Simple Gifts, Something Wonderful,
Handel Arias with the Australian Brandenburg
Orchestra (Best Classical Recording in the 1998
ARIA Awards), A Christmas Gift, A Portrait of
Yvonne Kenny, a recording of Broadway songs
entitled Make Believe, The Salley Gardens,
Clair de lune and, most recently, The Divine
Yvonne Kenny.
Bologna in 2007. He married the soprano Joan
Sutherland in 1954 and has one son.
He recorded over fifty complete operas, has made
videos and DVDs of many operas and recorded
numerous ballets. As a conductor Richard
Bonynge is widely regarded as being
extraordinarily sympathetic to singers on the stage
and his instinct, knowledge and feel for voices
have become legendary. He is acknowledged as a
scholar of bel canto, 19th-century French opera
and 19th-century ballet music.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
With a reputation for excellence, versatility and
innovation the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
is Australia’s internationally-acclaimed and oldest
orchestra, founded in 1906. Following integration
with the Melbourne Chorale in 2008, the
Orchestra has responsibility for its own choir –
the MSO Chorus.
Richard Bonynge AO, CBE
Maestro Richard Bonynge was born in Sydney
and studied piano at the New South Wales
Conservatorium of Music and the Royal College
of Music, London. He made his conducting
debut in Rome in 1962 with the Santa Cecilia
Orchestra and has since conducted at most of
the world’s opera houses. He was Artistic
Director of Vancouver Opera and Musical
Director of Australian Opera. He was made a
Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1977,
Officer of the Order of Australia in 1983,
Commandeur de l’Ordre National des Arts et
des Lettres, Paris in 1989 and made an honorary
member of the Royal Philharmonic Academy of
The Orchestra is renowned for its performances
of the great symphonic masterworks with
leading international and Australian artists. It has
also enjoyed hugely successful performances
with popular artists including Elton John, Dionne
Warwick, Harry Connick Jr, Ben Folds, Burt
Bacharach, Meat Loaf and KISS.
The MSO has received widespread international
recognition in overseas tours including Europe
(2000), China (2002) and St Petersburg, Russia
25
(2003). In 2007 Chief Conductor and Artistic
Director Oleg Caetani led the Orchestra on its
second highly successful European tour to
Spain, Paris, Berlin and Milan.
The MSO Chorus is committed to developing
Australian and international choral repertoire.
Recent commissions include Brett Dean’s Katz
und Spatz (co-comissioned with the Swedish
Radio Choir), Ross Edwards’ Mountain Chant
(co-commissioned with Cantillation), Christopher
Willcock’s Miserere and Etiquette with Angels
and Ian Munro’s Libera me. Recent Australian
premieres include works by James MacMillan,
Arvo Pärt, Hans Werner Henze, Alfred Schnittke,
Gavin Bryars and Valentin Silvestrov.
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Pty Ltd is a
member of the Symphony Australia network. The
Orchestra is funded principally by the Australia
Council, the Commonwealth Government’s arts
funding and advisory body, and is generously
supported by the Victorian Government through Arts
Victoria, Department of Premier and Cabinet. The
MSO is also funded by the City of Melbourne; its
Principal Partner, Emirates; and individual and
corporate sponsors and donors.
Guest engagements have included appearances
with The Australian Ballet, Sydney Symphony
Orchestra, West Australian Symphony Orchestra,
Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli and John
Farnham and performances at the Melbourne
International Arts Festival, Sydney Olympic Arts
Festival, Castlemaine Festival, The Fremantle
Festival and for the Macedon and Peninsula
Music Societies. In July 2008 the MSO Chorus
made its international debut visiting Kuala
Lumpur for performances of Beethoven’s
Symphony No. 9, in partnership with the
Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra under
conductor Matthias Bamert.
MSO CHORUS
Jonathan Grieves-Smith chorus master
Under the artistic leadership of Chorus Master
Jonathan Grieves-Smith, the Melbourne
Symphony Orchestra Chorus has established an
enviable reputation for the inspiring standards
of its singers and the breadth of its artistic
vision. The Chorus sings regularly with the
world’s finest conductors, including Oleg
Caetani, Markus Stenz, Yan Pascal Tortelier,
Edo de Waart, Sir Charles Mackerras, Mark
Wigglesworth and Manfred Honeck. Recent
highlights with the MSO include Verdi’s Otello,
Kancheli’s Styx, the Orchestra’s 100th
anniversary concert of Beethoven’s Symphony
No. 9, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius and
Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West.
Executive Producers Martin Buzacott, Robert Patterson
Recording Producer Stephen Snelleman
Recording Engineer Jim Atkins
Engineering/Editing Alex Stinson
Editorial and Production Manager Hilary Shrubb,
Katherine Kemp
Publications Editor Natalie Shea
Booklet Design Imagecorp Pty Ltd
Cover Photo Paul Gosney
Vocal Coach Sharolyn Kimmorley
Cimbalom Sample Keyboard Technician Robert Clark
Music Copying Vi King Lim, Julie Simonds,
Jessica Wells, Craig Allister Young
For the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Oleg Caetani
Chairman Elizabeth Proust
Managing Director Trevor Green
Recorded 4-8 February and 5 and 7 May 2008 in the Iwaki
Auditorium of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s
Southbank Centre, Melbourne.
1-5, 7, 9, $, %, * are published by
Josef Weinberger Ltd.
6, 0-£ are published by Glocken Verlag.
8, ^, & are published by Samuel French.
ABC Classics thanks Alastair McKean, Alexandra Alewood
and Melissa Kennedy.
2008 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2008 Australian
Broadcasting Corporation. Distributed in Australia and New Zealand by
Universal Music Group, under exclusive licence. Made in Australia. All rights
of the owner of copyright reserved. Any copying, renting, lending, diffusion,
public performance or broadcast of this record without the authority of the
copyright owner is prohibited.
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