My mother had a book of German folk songs inherited from her father. There was a version of Die Lorelei in that book, but this is a whole new level of gorgeous.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=era5jL4wlx0&hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0]And speaking of gorgeous, allow me to digress for a moment while I mention the extreme gorgeousness that was Liszt as a young man. I saw his portrait in the Museum of Paris several years ago, and was absolutely mesmerised by it. Those eyes! That intensity! I can even forgive him his unplayable piano music…
See what I do for you? Not just gorgeous music for a Monday morning, but also a gorgeous musician. Excuse me while I swoon…
Anyway. Back to the song. Firstly, the piano part is gorgeous, and ripples like the water – in fact, I think the music paints this song wonderfully all the way through. The Lorelei, you should know, is a beautiful, golden-haired maiden who sits on the banks of the Rhine, enticing sailors to their deaths with her lovely voice. (That’s what happens if you let someone get at the Rhine maidens’ gold. They go evil and start shipwrecking people. Let that be a lesson to you, Alberich!) I love the way the piano accompaniment paints the waves and the shipwreck, while Diana Damrau’s voice floats ethereally over it all. Glorious.
Here’s the story for you:
| Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten, dass ich so traurig bin. Ein Märchen aus alten Zeiten, das kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn….Die Luft ist kühl, und es dunkelt und ruhig fliesst der Rhein der Gipfel des Berges funkelt im Abendsonnenschein.Die schönste Jungfrau sitzet dort oben wunderbar, ihr goldenes Geschmeide blitzet, sie kämmt ihr goldenes Haar. Sie kämmt es mit goldenem Kamme Den Schiffer im kleinen Schiffe Ich glaube, die Welllen verschlingen am Ende Schiffer und Kahn Und das hat mit ihrem Singen die Lorelei getan. |
I don’t know what it means that I am so sad A fairy-tale from bygone times… I can’t get it out of my mindThe air is coolAnd night is falling and the Rhine flows peacefully The peak of the mountain sparkles in the evening sun. The fairest maiden sits,Up above, wondrous She combs it with a golden comb The boatman in his little boat I think that the waves will devour And that, with her singing, was done by the Lorelei. |