Self-embrace on Silk Prayer

*With thanks to Hamlet-at-Sea of this incarnation, for being the final catalyst of my poem.


"Is it a blessing for a poet to be a natural poet-magnet?"
The romantic thinker wonders to herself.
'Oh you Little Fool,' she whispered,
A foolish thinker I am.

All these men, coming
in and out of me. All this pleasure and pain,
flickering like dying blue flames.
An instant garden trampled upon for hundreds of years
by those he loves with his Life－ah, such blasphemous
Beauty. An instant paradise turned
into the most exquisite ice ablaze.
A bruised garden amidst the flames.
The love and devotion that it takes to create
－such Beauty－
I can never fully comprehend.

Threads of a thousand hues are weaving themselves
in and out of each other; breathing esoteric,
breathing erotic, into
the weakest Bird of the most powerful strength－
A Bird without a name－

Can I be spared－Can I be
abstract like your patterns of this mesmerising nature, again?
I plead with my heart to be
as romantic and as abstract, like
your Little Brother, again.
Tears from the eyes of his heart are still rolling,
shining on my quill
like dews on those pink Oleander flowers－
falling, falling, fallen.

(And in case you were wondering, I was not speaking of
your little brother, I was speaking of
Mine. Like all these quests for Beauty and pleasure－I was
speaking, and thinking, of Mine.)

Breathing erotic. Breathing esoteric.
All these fiery blossoms burning way below sub-zero,
I could faint,
just listening to them.

I have no refuge in the world other than thy threshold.
There is no protection for my head other than this door. ~Hafiz
(inscription on the Ardabil Carpet)

+See also Lisa Creagh's Floriculture 1 and the artist's website.

Devastating Beauty

"Music expresses that which can not be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." ~Domenico Scarlatti




An exquisite coloratura soprano is as rare and unique as a blue Persian cat...♥

An ancient Egyptian cat (image via).

*Thank you Alain for sharing with me this mesmerising Stravinsky treasure...





"Love cannot express the idea of music, while music may give an idea of love." ~Hector Berlioz

*Bast was said to be the daughter of Ra, though long after he created the primal gods. She was originally a sun goddess, but after contact with the Greeks, she changed to a moon goddess, probably due to the Greeks associating her with Artemis. Like Artemis, Bast was a wild goddess. To those who were in her favor, she gave great blessings, but her wrath was legendary and she was sometimes listed as one of Ra's avenging deities who punish the sinful and the enemies of Egypt. This is of course in keeping with her totem animal, the cat. Cats were sacred to Bast, and to harm one was deemed a great transgression. Bast's importance in the Egyptian pantheon might be due to the great value placed on the domesticated cat by the Egyptians. Cats curtailed the spread of disease by killing vermin, and though the idea of microbes was unknown to the ancient Egyptians, they must have noticed the connection between rats and disease.
(information via From Cairo with Love)

無題 (ii)

(Photo via Stacey)

O Man! Take heed!
What says the deep midnight?
"I slept, I slept—,
from a deep dream have I awoken:—
the world is deep,
...and deeper than the day has thought.
Deep is its pain—,
joy—deeper still than heartache.
Pain says: Pass away!
But all joy
seeks eternity—,
—seeks deep, deep eternity!"

~ From Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 3 (4. Sehr langsam. Misterioso)




Intermezzo from the opera Manon Lescaut by Giacomo Puccini
Herbert von Karajan and Wiener Philharmoniker




Giacomo Puccini: Intermezzo from the opera Suor Angelica

Isolde's Liebestod

Tristan and Isolde (1912), by John Duncan

"As I have never in life felt the real bliss of love, I must erect a monument to the most beautiful of all my dreams, in which, from beginning to end, that love shall be thoroughly satiated. I have in my head 'Tristan and Isolde,' the simplest, but most full-blooded musical conception. With the black flag which floats at the end of it I shall cover myself to die."

~ Richard Wagner in a Letter to Liszt

Herbert von Karajan conducts the prelude of Tristan und Isolde.




Karajan rehearses a performance of Richard Wagner's Isoldes Liebestod ("The Love-Death of Isolde") with Jessye Norman, followed by the actual concert.




Bernstein conducts the finale of Tristan und Isolde.




(Isolde, aware of nothing round about her, fixes her gaze with mounting ecstasy upon Tristan's body.)

Isolde's Aria

How softly and gently
he smiles,
how sweetly
his eyes open -
can you see, my friends,
do you not see it?
How he glows
ever brighter,
raising himself high
amidst the stars?
Do you not see it?
How his heart
swells with courage,
gushing full and majestic
in his breast?
How in tender bliss
sweet breath
gently wafts
from his lips -
Friends! Look!
Do you not feel and see it?
Do I alone hear
this melody
so wondrously
and gently
sounding from within him,
in bliss lamenting,
all-expressing,
gently reconciling,
piercing me,
soaring aloft,
its sweet echoes
resounding about me?
Are they gentle
aerial waves
ringing out clearly,
surging around me?
Are they billows
of blissful fragrance?
As they seethe
and roar about me,
shall I breathe,
shall I give ear?
Shall I drink of them,
plunge beneath them?
Breathe my life away
in sweet scents?
In the heaving swell,
in the resounding echoes,
in the universal stream
of the world-breath -
to drown,
to founder -
unconscious -
utmost rapture!

(Isolde sinks gently, as if transfigured, in Brangaene's arms, on to Tristan's body. Those standing around are awed and deeply moved. Mark blesses the bodies. - The curtain falls slowly.)

*Translations of libretto via.


Jessye Norman performing "Mild und leise wie er lächelt" (Isoldes Liebestod), with Wiener Philharmoniker, conducted by Herbert von Karajan. (C) 2005 DOR Films




Isolde's Liebestod (The Love-Death of Isolde)




Pas de deux from the ballet "Tristan and Isolde," staged by choreographer Krzysztof Pastor to the music of Richard Wagner, performed by Svetlana Zakharova and Andrei Merkuriev.

I had the pleasure of seeing this performance in person on the "Homage to Nureyev" gala evening at the London Coliseum on 21/March/2010. One online review reads, "Zakharova was fluid, willowy, with great extensions and… well, she just reminded me of a naiad in a painting by Waterhouse." I cannot agree more. I feel that Svetlana, as one of the best ballerinas of our time, is still getting better and better. In the gala performance of Tristan and Isolde, she was like water, like prana, like 'chi,' she was one with her dance and her dance was an extension of her.




All about Wagner's Tristan und Isolde:

Bilingual side-by-side German English Libretto (also in Italian)
Wagner Operas. A comprehensive website featuring photographs of productions, recordings, librettos, and sound files.
Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde. A gallery of historic postcards with motifs from Richard Wagner's operas.
Recordings of Tristan and Isolde rated. Recordings reviewed by Geoffrey Riggs.
Discography of Tristan und Isolde. List of recordings and videos from 1901–2004 by Jonathan Brown.
Wagner's Tristan and Isolde BBC / Metropolitan Opera synopsis
Tristan und Isolde resource site Comprehensive website containing source material and musical motives
Tristan und Isolde Performance Watch the opera free of charge
Seattle Opera Performance Seattle Opera link
Tristan und Isolde on Wikipedia

Tristan and Yseult (1887), by Jean Delville

Je crois entendre encore & Una furtiva lagrima

Je crois entendre encore from Bizet's opera Les Pêcheurs de Perles is my favourite of Enrico Caruso's arias. His is also probably the rendition I love the most amongst different tenors—the emotional depth, strength and dramatic power in his voice bring tears to one's eyes. This is a brilliant website on the legendary artist.

Lyrics:

I believe I hear again,
hidden beneath the palm trees,
her tender, resonant voice,
like a dove's song,

o enchanting night,
divine rapture,
o charming memory,
mad intoxication, sweet dream.

In the starlight,
I believe I see her again,
parting her long veils,
in the warm breezes of the evening,

o enchanting night,
divine rapture,
o charming memory,
mad intoxication, sweet dream.
--------------
Mi par d'udire ancora
o scosa in mezzo ai fior
la voce sua talora
sospire l'amor!

O notte dicarezze,
gioir che non ha fin,
o sovvenir divin!
Folli ebbrezze del sogno, sogno d'amor!

Dalle stelle del cielo
Altro menar che da lei,
La veggio d'ogni velo,
Pender li per le ser!

O notte dicarezze!
gioir che non ha fin!
O sovvenir divin!
Folli ebbrezze del sogno, sogno d'amor!

divin sovvenir, divin sovvenir!
--------------
Je crois entendre encore,
Caché sous les palmiers,
Sa voix, tendre et sonore,
Comme un chant de ramier!

Ô nuit enchanteresse!
Divin ravissement!
Ô souvenir charmant!
Folle ivresse! Doux rêve.

Aux clartés des étoiles,
Je crois encore la voir,
Entrouvrir ses longs voiles,
Aux vents tièdes du soir!

Ô nuit enchanteresse!
Divin ravissement!
Ô souvenir charmant!
Folle ivresse! Doux rêve.

Charmant souvenir!
Divin souvenir!

Enrico Caruso


Tino Rossi (1934)


Alfredo Kraus (1960)


Enrico Caruso sings another beloved operatic aria of mine, Una Furtiva Lagrima (L'Elisir d'Amore) by Donizetti. Recorded in 1904 and 1911.


Luciano Pavarotti. From The Essential Pavarotti (DVD), Royal Gala Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Kurt Herbert Adler, recorded on April 13th 1982.


Italian text:

Una furtiva lagrima
Negli occhi suoi spunto:
Quelle festose giovani
Invidiar sembro.
Che piu cercando io vo?
Che piu cercando io vo?
M'ama! Sì, m'ama, lo vedo, lo vedo.
Un solo instante i palpiti
Del suo bel cor sentir!
I miei sospir, confondere
Per poco a' suoi sospir!
I palpiti, i palpiti sentir,
Confondere i miei coi suoi sospir
Cielo, si puo morir!
Di piu non chiedo, non chiedo.
Ah! Cielo, si puo, si puo morir,
Di piu non chiedo, non chiedo.
Si puo morir, si puo morir d'amor.


English translation:

One tear that falls so furtively
from her sweet eyes has just sprung,
as if she envied all the youths
who laughingly passed her right by.
What could I want more than this?
She loves me! Yes, she loves me! I see it, I see it.
One moment just to hear her heart,
beating so close next to mine,
to hear my sighs like they were hers,
her sighings as if they were mine!
Heavens, please take me now:
All that I wanted is mine now!

Schönberg's Gurrelieder (makes me faint)

I have fallen in love with Gurrelieder after attending Philharmonia Orchestra's opening gala concert to The City of Dreams: Vienna 1900~1935 series, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen -- magnificently intense, dazzlingly powerful, heartrendingly beautiful, with delicately tender moments of love. It is likely one of the best concerts I have ever had the pleasure of attending.

The video below is a recording of German Symphony Orchestra (RSO) Berlin's rendition of Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, conducted by Riccardo Chailly, with Susan Dunn as Tove, Brigitte Fassbaender as Waldtaube, Siegfried Jerusalem as Waldemar, Herman Becht as Klaus-Narr, and Hans Hotter as the peasant Sprecher.