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med_cat: (woman reading)
med_cat: (woman reading)

Чайковский, Пиковая дама."Если б милые девицы..."/Chaikovsky, The Queen of Spades. "If sweet girls..

med_cat: (woman reading)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFcPosSnfuI

Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, 2010 Пётр Ильич Чайковский. Опера "Пиковая дама". Песенка Томского "Если б милые девицы..."

Tomsky's song, "If the sweet girls..."

(yes, this takes place in a casino, and they've all had a few, as you can tell by the state of their dress)

([livejournal.com profile] lindahoyland and I were discussing this opera, and we both thought other people here might enjoy this comic piece from it)
------------------------------

Т о м с к и й
Если б милые девицы
Так могли летать, как птицы,
И садились на сучках,
Я желал бы быть сучочком,
Чтобы тысячам девочкам
На моих сидеть ветвях,
На моих сидеть ветвях!

Tomsky

If the sweet girls
Could fly around like the birds do
And sit on tree branches,
I would wish to be a tree branch,
So that thousands of girls
Could sit on my branches,
Could sit on my branches!

Х о р г о с т е й и и г р а ю щ и х
Браво! Браво! Ах, спой ещё куплет!

The chorus of guests and gamblers

Bravo! Bravo! Ah, do sing another verse!

Т о м с к и й
Пусть сидели бы и пели,
Вили гнезда и свистели,
Выводили бы птенцов!
Никогда б я не сгибался,
Вечно б ими любовался,
Был счастливей всех сучков,
Был счастливей всех сучков!

Tomsky

I would let them sit there and sing,
Build their nests and whistle,
Bring up their fledglings!
I would never bend,
I would forever gaze at them admiringly,
And I'd be happier than any other branch,
Happier than any other branch!

Х о р г о с т е й и и г р а ю щ и х
Браво! Браво! Вот так песня! Это славно! Браво! Молодец!
"Никогда б я не сгибался,
Вечно б ими любовался,
Был счастливей всех сучков,
Был счастливей всех сучков!"

The chorus of guests and gamblers

Bravo! Bravo! What a song! That's wonderful! Bravo! Well done!
"I would never bend,
I would forever gaze at them admiringly,
And I'd be happier than any other branch,
Happier than any other branch!"

Comments

Jan. 23rd, 2019 03:35 am (UTC)
So much nicer than the production I watched.
med_cat: (Default)
Jan. 29th, 2019 01:11 am (UTC)
Hehe, well, the production you watched wasn't the actual "Queen of Spades", as you and the reviewer both mentioned.

Here's a production from the Bolshoi, with English subtitles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Cdka1BCuc
Jan. 25th, 2019 07:54 pm (UTC)
Bravo; a very fine song. I had never heard of this opera before.
med_cat: (Default)
Jan. 29th, 2019 01:12 am (UTC)
Glad you enjoyed. The opera is less well-known outside Russia; it is based on Pushkin's "Queen of Spades".

Here's a subtitled production:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2Cdka1BCuc
Jan. 30th, 2019 06:34 am (UTC)
Thank you; that was most interesting. I did not expect the ending.
med_cat: (Default)
Feb. 1st, 2019 12:00 am (UTC)
Glad you found it interesting! I should watch it myself sometime soon; it's been a while since I saw it performed.

And yes, they made the ending more dramatic in the opera.

You can see the synopsis of the original story here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Queen_of_Spades_(story)

vs. the opera

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Queen_of_Spades_(opera)
Mar. 1st, 2019 11:37 pm (UTC)
Apologies that I did not reply to your comment until now, and thank you for the links. I like the opera better, but the original story is good too.

I found an article today that made me think of what you said once about the need to "be grateful for every unassisted breath": also for those who will do the assisting if it comes to that.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dear-america-you-need-to-be-nice_n_59407687e4b03e17eee087cb
med_cat: (Default)
Jul. 27th, 2019 08:57 am (UTC)
's OK, look how late I'm replying to your comment ;)

Glad you liked the opera and the story. I liked the story better, but that's probably because I read it long before I attended the opera.

The article is a good one, thank you.

and--yes--every unassisted breath...and the 15 millimeters--I think I wrote about the 15 millimeters, on another occasion?
Aug. 2nd, 2019 11:04 pm (UTC)
It is good to see you here on Livejournal again - I hope all is well with you.
med_cat: (cat and books)
Aug. 5th, 2019 02:23 am (UTC)
Thank you! It's good to be back :)

Yes, all is well, thank you for asking; and I hope the same is true for you and yours?
Aug. 8th, 2019 02:33 am (UTC)
It has been; thank you - a lot of family events. Summer flies fast, this far North.
med_cat: (Default)
Aug. 9th, 2019 04:48 am (UTC)
:)