I had no idea until recently that Bernstein had written an opera based on Voltaire’s Candide. Cunegonde’s aria, Glitter and Be Gay, is the only piece from it that I have heard so far, and it’s absolutely brilliant fun.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVsLMxam21I&hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0]
Time for a final fling with opera before we plunge into Advent and my annual Advent Calendar for the next few weeks! Today’s aria is a favourite of mine, because you can do so much with it, and because it contains so much potential for humour, pathos, and creepiness. This version contains all three of those aspects…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InAxtPyZVKI&w=420&h=315]
I was going to rain down death, despair and the vengeance of hell, soprano style, on you today, but that seemed like a bit much for a Monday morning. Instead, I’m going to give you the Queen of the Night’s other aria, in which she persuades and even seduces the young and extremely persuadable tenor, Tamino, to her cause. You can always go hunting for hell’s boiling vengeance later.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov1hRqPnm58&w=560&h=315]