Sally-Anne Russell

476 5963
Enchanting
SALLY-ANNE RUSSELL
ADELAIDE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
NICHOLAS MILTON
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GEORGES BIZET 1838-1875
Seguidilla: Près des remparts de Séville
(Near the walls of Seville) from Carmen
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GIOACHINO ROSSINI 1792-1868
Una voce poco fa (A voice I just heard)
from The Barber of Seville
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WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART 1756-1791
Voi, che sapete (You ladies, who know
what love is) from Le nozze di Figaro
(The Marriage of Figaro)
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CHARLES-FRANÇOIS GOUNOD 1818-1893
Faites-lui mes aveux (Make my confession
to her) from Faust
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CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK 1714-1787
Sposa! Euridice!...Che farò senza Euridice
(My bride! Eurydice!... What will I do
without Eurydice) from Orfeo ed Euridice
(Orpheus and Eurydice)
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GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL 1685-1759
Verdi prati (Green pastures) from Alcina
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HENRY PURCELL 1659-1695
Dido’s Lament: Thy hand, Belinda…When I
am laid in earth from Dido and Aeneas
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GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL
Iris, Hence Away from Semele
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GIOACHINO ROSSINI
Cruda sorte (Cruel fate) from L’italiana in Algeri
(The Italian Girl in Algiers)
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PYOTR IL’YICH TCHAIKOVSKY 1840-1893
Oui, Dieu le veut…Adieu, forêts
(Yes, it is God’s will…Farewell, forests)
from The Maid of Orléans
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CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS 1835-1921
Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix
(My heart opens to your voice)
from Samson et Dalila (Samson and Delilah) 0’00
GEORGES BIZET
Habanera: L’amour est un oiseau rebelle
(Love is a rebellious bird) from Carmen
Total Playing Time
Sally-Anne Russell mezzo-soprano
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Nicholas Milton conductor
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what appeared to be the compromise world of
musical theatre. “I’d always been dying to get
into Cats,” she says. “That didn’t happen but I
got into the original Australian cast of The
Phantom of the Opera and sang in the
Melbourne season for two and a half years.”
As a child, Sally-Anne Russell had her heart set
on becoming a dancer, but by her mid-teens she
had damaged her knees so badly that she had to
give up any intention of making it as a prima
ballerina. Devastated, she sought solace in vocal
studies at the Elder Conservatorium of Music in
her native Adelaide. As second options go, it
wasn’t a bad one. Ever since she was singled out
as a nine-year-old by the musical director of an
Adelaide children’s theatre, she’d been pursuing
singing lessons, and her enforced lay-off from
ballet coincided with the State Opera of South
Australia running an active youth program.
In the end, though, opera lured her back.
In 1993, still touring with Phantom, she
auditioned for the chorus of the Victoria State
Opera and soon afterwards received a letter
confirming her engagement with the dynamic
Melbourne-based opera company. One of the
Phantom cast, who was singing the role of
Piangi, had a connection with the music staff at
the VSO; when he congratulated Sally-Anne on
her successful audition, he was surprised to find
that she wasn’t especially excited. She explained
that she’d already done operatic chorus work in
Adelaide and regarded the latest such
appointment as merely a stepping-stone to a
solo career. He told her that in fact she hadn’t
just been appointed to the chorus – instead she’d
been chosen for the VSO’s elite Young Artists
Program. “I didn’t realise until then!” she says.
With vocal coaching from Rae Cocking, SallyAnne became a regular participant in the SOSA’s
productions of children’s operas like The Snow
Queen and new Australian work. Her background
as a dancer gave her a natural stage confidence
and with her mezzo-soprano developing a glorious
lyric timbre, she made an effortless transition
from arabesques to arias. After finishing her
schooling she auditioned successfully for the
SOSA’s adult chorus while pursuing a full-time
Bachelor of Music performance program at the
Elder Conservatorium.
“I was 18 years old and it was the time when Bill
Gillespie and David Kram were running the opera
company,” Sally-Anne recalls. “Anyway, I
completed my degree but by the age of 20 I’d
had enough of opera!”
“It was wonderful. With Young Artists programs
you really do get thrown in at the deep end and
are completely overworked, but it’s a good thing
because it gets you to the next level very quickly.”
Still frustrated by her inability to pursue a career
in dance, she found herself being drawn toward
Fortunately her voice was still young enough to
swap back into the classical technique after
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comfortably in an alto role which troubles the
bottom range of many other mezzos. With friend
and frequent collaborator, the soprano Sara
Macliver, she gave majestic performances of
Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. The two of them ended
up making two successful recordings together for
ABC Classics, both nominated for ARIA Awards:
Bach Arias and Duets in 2004 and Baroque
Duets, featuring the Pergolesi Stabat Mater, the
following year. Baroque Duets won the 2005 ABC
Classic FM Listener’s Choice Award.
hundreds of performances of Andrew Lloyd
Webber show-tunes. For the next two years she
learned the craft of the solo operatic performer,
achieving success in singing competitions like
the Herald-Sun Aria and the Australian Singing
Competition, and gaining not just financial rewards
but also the opportunity to study overseas.
A freelancer since 1996, she spent a year in
Vienna and then six months in London, reaching
the final of the 1999 Belvedere International
Singing Competition in Vienna and winning
prizes at the Royal Overseas League 46th
Annual Music Competition in England. “Those
competitions really opened up doors for me,”
she says. “I was offered performances in
different countries, worked with new people
and increased my repertoire.”
For some time, concert work took priority over
opera, but when Opera Australia’s Music Director
Richard Hickox offered her a series of principal
roles with the national company, operatic
appearances once more took precedence.
“Concert work is so much more concentrated
than opera,” she says. “You go in with a different
mentality and put things together really quickly.
In contrast, you’ve got to find your arc with
operatic roles. It’s very easy to go hard at the
start of rehearsal periods and by the time you hit
the stage you can be completely wiped out,
having used up your energy for six days a week
putting the show together. So you have to work
out how to pace yourself through the opera and
it’s a very different challenge from recording and
concert work.”
Increasingly in demand as a concert performer,
upon her return to Australia she became a
regular with the Australian symphony orchestras,
her lyric mezzo proving versatile enough to cover
everything from the Baroque through to
Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer.
She became a favourite collaborator with
specialist Classical-period conductors Nicholas
McGegan and Bruno Weil, while her
performances of her beloved Bach with Richard
Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra
proved inspirational for both performers and
audiences alike. In Handel’s Messiah,
meanwhile, her powerful lower register sat
The bulk of the repertoire on this, Sally-Anne’s
first solo album, derives from her operatic career
– she had already sung seven of the roles
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represented on the disc, and not long after the
intensive three-day recording session with the
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under Nicholas
Milton she took on an eighth in The Italian Girl in
Algiers. “I suppose you could say these are my
party-pieces!” Sally-Anne laughs.
Handel’s Iris, Hence Away from Semele also
offered her a learning experience as a young
singer. She first sang the opera with Victoria
State Opera and later followed it up with an
appearance in the doubled roles of Ino and Juno
with Pinchgut Opera in Sydney – a performance
that was recorded for ABC Classics.
Some, like Gluck’s immortal Che farò senza
Euridice from Orfeo ed Euridice (1762) were
there with her right from the beginning of her
career. In the aria itself, sung by Orfeo, the great
musician of Greek mythology, whose songs
could charm even the rocks and stones to dance,
the singer has been allowed to rescue his wife
Euridice from Hades on the provision that he
doesn’t look at her until their return to earth.
However, she tempts him to do so, with fatal
consequences. In the famous aria, he wonders
how he will ever survive without his love.
“In the first production I got to sing with Yvonne
Kenny, and at that early stage of my career she
was a complete idol!” Sally-Anne says. “I had
the Ino–Semele duet to sing with her. That was
quite a highlight of that production for me. And
obviously doing it with Pinchgut was great
because Juno’s got such a great aria. She’s such
a vile character – wonderful, wicked and crazy!”
In ‘Iris, Hence Away’, the furious Juno swears an
oath of vengeance against her husband Jupiter’s
new love Semele, and resolves to call on the god
of sleep to subdue the dragons who protect
Semele’s palace. “After I recorded this version for
the album, I listened to the Pinchgut recording,
which is almost double the speed. I couldn’t
imagine how I managed to sing it so fast!” SallyAnne says. The Pinchgut performance, recorded
live with a Baroque-style orchestra, crackles with
Juno’s fury, whereas the heavier tone of the
modern Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, together
with the studio environment, allows for the richer
and more considered interpretation heard here.
“‘Che faro’ was one of the first arias I learnt in
my career,” Sally-Anne recalls. “I sang it for Bill
Gillespie and David Kram at the Opera in South
Australia when I first gained an inkling that they
were thinking of taking on younger singers.
Thomas Edmonds was scheduled to head the
cast and I remember sitting in the chorus
rehearsal and there were these massive voices
– 40-year-old mature voices – and here was I, 18
years old, screaming my head off! I walked out
of the first rehearsal and I couldn’t speak. That
was a large lesson – what not to do in a Gluck
opera, or any opera!”
Another of the album’s arias that has been with
Sally-Anne for a long time is Mon cœur s’ouvre
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weddings and parties regularly! It too was one
of the arias that I first did in Adelaide when I
was with the opera chorus. I remember the
difficulty of that season, because we ended up
going through five Carmens as a result of
various illnesses and other reasons. Although I
didn’t know the music, I remember thinking,
‘Wouldn’t this be a great role to sing one day!’”
à ta voix from Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah,
and it reminds her of two people who were
highly influential in her career. “The late
conductor Brian Stacey first introduced me to this
aria when I was doing Phantom with him,” she
says, “and it resulted in my first meeting with the
amazing Denise Shepherd who was to become
my French coach and who helped me with this
disc too. (Brian was also the person who
introduced me to the Berio Folksongs.) Anyway, I
briefly touched on ‘Mon cœur’ at a coaching
session during Phantom and then was
reintroduced to it as a Young Artist with the VSO.”
In Bizet’s masterpiece from 1875, the Habanera
(‘L’amour est un oiseau rebelle’) is Carmen’s
paean to the unpredictability of love. Whenever
she sings it, Sally-Anne likes to wander through
the audience, inviting reactions like all good
gypsies should! The Seguidilla (‘Près des
remparts de Séville’) on the other hand is sung
after Carmen is arrested for fighting and Don
José is assigned to keep watch on her. Here she
tries to charm her captor into escaping with her
to the inn.
In this erotically-charged aria from the opera of
1877, Delilah tries to ensnare Samson in her
seductive trap. Enticing him to succumb to her
caresses, she says that she is completely his.
But what he doesn’t know is that if he gives in
to her, he will become a prisoner of the High
Priest of Dagon!
Recording Gounod’s Faites-lui mes aveux for
the album gave Sally-Anne the opportunity to
revisit an old favourite that she hadn’t sung in a
long time. “I sang the role of Siebel in a VSO
production of Faust in 1994 and I remember that
just before the aria, I had to climb this enormous
wall. I sang the first part of the aria from the top
of the wall, then had to jump down, run around
a few times and then sing the main aria!” This
tour-de-force, composed by Gounod in 1859, is
not the sort of aria that should be sung when
out of breath! In it, the young man Siebel
gathers flowers which he hopes will convey his
“For me, ‘Mon coeur’ is a very comfy sing,”
Sally-Anne says, “and along with the pieces
from Carmen it forms a nice balance with the
Italian arias on the disc.”
Sally hasn’t actually sung those two famous
arias from Carmen in the opera itself (although
she has sung the role of Mercédès) but they
remain two of her most popular concert and
recital items. “The Carmens are definitely my
party-pieces!” she laughs. “The Habanera in
particular gets trotted out quite a lot – it goes to
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complement to everything else on the CD and
gives me another chance to indulge my love of
Baroque music!”
love to Marguerite, but they die as if cursed by
the evil Méphistophélès. To cast off his evil
influence, Siebel washes his hands in holy
water and returns to the flowers. “A lot of these
pants roles are little vignettes in which the
characters are angst-ridden young boys,” SallyAnne says. Another of these is Cherubino in
Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro from 1786. In
Voi, che sapete from Act Two, the young page
parades in his new military uniform while
singing of the love which he has to offer
women. “Cherubino’s just like Siebel in Faust,”
she laughs. “He’s cheeky, angst-ridden, in
despair, in love – up and down like a yo-yo!” It’s
an aria she’s sung often, both in concert and
onstage – most recently in an acclaimed Opera
Australia production directed by Neil Armfield.
Dido’s Lament from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas
(1689) is another of Sally-Anne’s Baroque
favourites. “I’ve sung it onstage so many times,”
she says, “and it was in the top five in ABC
Classic FM’s Classic 100 Opera survey. I was
quite surprised at that because there was little
other Baroque music in the top 30, so that’s an
indication of how much it’s loved. For me it’s a
great sing, very comfortable vocally and the
opera itself is wonderful.” In this revered aria,
Dido despairs at Aeneas’s departure to Rome,
and asks her lady-in-waiting to think fondly of
her when she’s dead.
By way of contrast, Rossini’s cavatina ‘Cruda
sorte’ from The Italian Girl in Algiers (1808) and
‘Una voce poco fa’ from The Barber of Seville
(1816) represent comic opera at its best. SallyAnne loves playing Rossini characters because
“they’re charming, conniving and manipulative.”
Not that they’re necessarily easy to sing.
Rosina’s Una voce poco fa, in which she sings
of her love for Lindoro, may delight audiences
throughout the world, even though mezzos
regard it as a formidable technical challenge. But
for Sally-Anne it will always bring back happy
memories of a tour that she did with Canterbury
Opera in New Zealand, where the hilarity
offstage, led by irrepressible tenor Benjamin
Butterfield, rivalled that in Beaumarchais’ original
comic masterpiece!
In yet another breeches part, Verdi prati from
Act Two of Handel’s Italian opera Alcina (1735) is
sung by the knight Ruggiero as he realises that
the beautiful island of the sorceress Alcina is an
illusion: the island is a wasteland and its trees,
stones and animals are Alcina’s former lovers,
transformed into whatever shape takes her
fancy. Ironically, not long after recording the aria,
Sally-Anne was cast as Ruggiero’s fiancée
Bradamante in an Opera Australia production.
“It’s obviously Ruggiero’s aria so I’m actually
singing my husband’s part!” she laughs. “In any
case, ‘Verdi prati’ is one of those glorious pieces
of music – a typical Largo-style Handel aria just
like ‘Ombrai mai fù’ from Xerxes. It’s a
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It’s an indication of the new repertoire
possibilities opening up for Sally-Anne Russell.
Now with an album of such broad-ranging styles
under her belt, there’s little doubt that her
illustrious singing career has eclipsed her initial
ambitions as a dancer. “I was devastated when I
had to give up dancing but I’d definitely be
retired by now,” she says, “and I don’t think I
would have reached as high a level as I have
with the singing. It just seems that singing was
something I was destined to do.”
The Italian Girl in Algiers on the other hand is
rarely performed, so Sally-Anne welcomed the
recent opportunity to sing the role of Isabella
with the Melbourne Opera Company. In Cruda
sorte, Isabella has come to Algeria to find her
love (another Lindoro) but pirates threaten to
abduct her into a harem. She sings of her
confidence that she can outwit them. “I’m lucky
in that it sits beautifully in my voice,” Sally-Anne
says of the aria’s notoriously low tessitura. “One
of the reasons that The Italian Girl is tricky to
produce onstage is because it’s hard to find the
right singers, and for a mezzo in particular it’s
often just not the right sound – Isabella’s voicetype is almost a contralto. I think possibly if I
lived in a different era I may have been a
contralto myself, because my voice naturally sits
a lot lower, whereas I’ve had to work it up into
the mezzo repertoire.”
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Martin Buzacott
Now in her thirties, she’s finding that her voice is
maturing too, and while it’s still clearly a lyric
mezzo, she’s finding herself more and more
capable of taking on dramatic mezzo roles as
well. Tchaikovsky’s Maid of Orléans, aka Jeanne
d’Arc (1878-79), suits her developing vocal sound
ideally, especially Adieu, forêts, the eponymous
heroine’s great farewell aria in Act One. “Jeanne
d’Arc is a big sing,” she says, “but it’s such
exciting repertoire. Orchestrally it’s just
wonderful and it suits my voice now that the
sound has changed and it’s fattening up.”
Carmen:
Près des remparts de Séville,
Chez mon ami, Lillas Pastia
J’irai danser la Séguedille
Et boire du Manzanilla.
J’irai chez mon ami Lillas Pastia.
Oui, mais toute seule on s’ennuie,
Et les vrais plaisirs sont à deux;
Donc, pour me tenir compagnie,
J’emmènerai mon amoureux!
Mon amoureux, il est au diable,
Je l’ai mis à la porte hier!
Mon pauvre cœur très consolable,
Mon cœur est libre comme l’air!
J’ai des galants à la douzaine,
Mais ils ne sont pas à mon gré.
Voici la fin de la semaine;
Qui veut m’aimer? Je l’aimerai!
Qui veut mon âme? Elle est à prendre.
Vous arrivez au bon moment!
Je n’ai guère le temps d’attendre,
Car avec mon nouvel amant,
Près des remparts de Séville,
Chez mon ami, Lillas Pastia,
Nous danserons la Séguedille
Et boirons du Manzanilla.
Tra la la!
Near the walls of Seville
at my friend Lillas Pastia’s place
I’ll go dancing seguedillas
and drinking manzanilla.
I’ll go to my friend Lillas Pastia’s place.
Yes, but all alone, one gets bored,
and the real pleasures are for two;
so, to keep me company,
I’ll take along my lover.
My lover, he has gone to the devil,
I got rid of him yesterday!
My poor heart, very easy to console,
my heart is free as the air!
I have suitors by the dozen,
but they are not to my taste.
Here it is the weekend;
who wants to love me? I will love him!
who wants my soul? It’s for the taking.
You’re arriving at the right time!
I hardly have time to wait,
for with my new lover,
near the ramparts of Seville
at my friend Lillas Pastia’s place,
we’ll go dancing seguedillas
and drinking manzanilla.
Tra la la!
Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
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Rosina:
Una voce poco fa
Qui nel cor mi risuonò;
Il mio cor ferito è già,
E Lindor fu che il piagò.
Sì, Lindoro mio sarà;
A voice I just heard
is ringing here in my heart;
my heart has already been wounded
and it is Lindoro who struck the blow.
Yes, Lindoro will be mine;
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Lo giurai, la vincerò.
Il tutor ricuserà,
Io l’ingegno aguzzerò.
Alla fin s’accheterà
E contenta io resterò.
Sì, Lindoro mio sarà;
Lo giurai, la vincerò.
Io sono docile, son rispettosa,
Sono obbediente, dolce amorosa;
Mi lascio reggere, mi fo guidar.
Ma se mi toccano dov’è il mio debole
Sarò una vipera e cento trappole
Prima di cedere farò giocar.
I swear I will win him.
My guardian will say no,
so I will sharpen my wits.
In the end he will accept
and I will be happy.
Yes, Lindoro will be mine,
I swear I shall win him.
I am submissive and respectful,
obedient, gentle, loving;
I allow myself to be ruled and guided.
But if they touch my weak spot
I will be a viper and lay a hundred snares
before I give in.
Cesare Sterbini
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Cherubino:
Voi, che sapete che cosa è amor,
Donne vedete, s’io l’ho nel cor!
Quello ch’io provo, vi ridirò,
È per me nuovo; capir nol so.
Sento un affetto pien di desir,
Ch’ora è diletto, ch’ora è martir.
Gelo, e poi sento l’alma avvampar,
E in un momento torno a gelar.
Ricerco un bene fuori di me,
Non so chi il tiene, non so cos’è.
Sospiro e gemo senza voler,
Palpito e tremo senza saper,
Non trovo pace notte nè di,
Ma pur mi piace languir così!
You ladies, who know what love is,
see if I have it in my heart!
I’ll tell you what I’m feeling;
it’s new to me, I can’t understand it.
I feel an affection full of desire
that one moment is pleasure, the next is agony.
I freeze, and then feel my soul burning,
and in an instant I’m freezing again.
I’m looking for a happiness outside myself;
I don’t know who has it, I don’t know what it is.
I sigh and groan without wanting to,
I quiver and tremble without knowing it,
I find no peace night or day,
and yet I like suffering this way!
Lorenzo da Ponte
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Siebel:
Faites-lui mes aveux, portez mes vœux!
Fleurs écloses près d’elle,
Dites-lui qu’elle est belle,
Que mon cœur, nuit et jour,
Languit d’amour!
Faites-lui mes aveux, portez mes vœux!
Révélez à son âme
Le secret de ma flamme,
Qu’il s’exhale avec vous
Parfums plus doux!
Make my confession to her; carry my wishes!
You flowers in bloom, when you are close to her,
tell her that she is beautiful,
that my heart, night and day,
languishes with love!
Make my confession to her; carry my wishes!
Reveal to her soul
the secret of my passion,
that the perfume you breathe together
may be all the sweeter!
Fanée! hélas! ce sorcier que Dieu damne
M’a porté malheur!
Je ne puis, sans qu’elle se fane,
Toucher une fleur!
Si je trempais mes doigts
Dans l’eau bénite!
C’est là que chaque soir
Vient prier Marguerite!
Voyons maintenent! Voyons vite!
Elles se fanent? Non!
Satan, je ris de toi!
C’est en vous que j’ai foi,
Parlez pour moi!
Qu’elle puisse connaître
L’émoi qu’elle a fait naître,
Et dont mon cœur troublé
N’a point parlé!
C’est en vous que j’ai foi,
Parlez pour moi!
Si l’amour l’effarouche,
Que la fleur sur sa bouche
Sache au moins déposer
Un doux baiser!
Wilted! Alas! This sorcerer damned by God
has brought me ill fortune!
As soon as I touch a flower
it withers.
What if I dipped my fingers
into holy water!
That’s where Marguerite comes
every evening to pray!
Let’s see now! Let’s see quickly!
Do they wilt? No!
Satan, I laugh at you!
Flowers, it is in you that I put my faith,
speak for me!
May she know
the turmoil she has stirred in me,
of which my troubled heart
has spoken not a word!
It is in you that I put my faith,
speak for me!
If love alarms her
may the flower
at least place on her lips
a sweet kiss!
Jules Barbier and Michel Carré
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Orpheus:
Sposa! Euridice! Consorte!
Ah, più non vive,
La chiamo invan!
Misero me!
La perdo e di nuovo e per sempre!
Oh legge! Oh morte! Oh ricordo crudel!
Non ho soccorso, non m’avanza consiglio!
Io veggo solo (Oh fiera vista!)
Il luttuoso aspetto dell’orrido mio stato!
Saziati, sorte rea, son disperato!
My bride! Eurydice! beloved partner!
Ah, she is no longer alive,
I call her in vain.
Wretched me!
I have lost her again, and for ever!
Ah, law! Ah, death! Ah, cruel memory!
For me there is no help, no counsel.
I see only (ah, cruel sight!)
the signs of mourning that mark my terrible plight.
Be sated, evil fate; I am in despair.
Che farò senza Euridice?
Dove andrò senza il mio ben?
Euridice! O Dio, rispondi!
Io son pure il tuo fedele.
Euridice! Ah! non m’avvanza
Più soccorso, più speranza
Nè dal mondo, nè dal ciel.
What will I do without Eurydice?
Where will I go without my beloved?
Eurydice! O God, answer me!
I am still your faithful lover.
Eurydice! Ah, there is
no help for me, no hope
in this world or in heaven.
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When I am laid in earth,
May my wrongs create
No trouble in thy breast.
Remember me!
But ah! forget my fate!
Nahum Tate
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Ranieri de’ Calzabigi
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Ruggiero:
Verdi prati, selve amene,
Perderete la beltà.
Vaghi fior, correnti rivi,
La vaghezza, la bellezza
Presto in voi si cangerà.
E cangiato il vago oggetto,
All’orror del primo aspetto
Tutto in voi ritornerà.
Green pastures, pleasant woods,
you will lose your beauty.
Lovely flowers, running streams,
your charm, your beauty
will soon change.
And, changed, each fair object
will resume the horror
of its former shape.
Anonymous
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Dido:
Thy hand, Belinda!
Darkness shades me.
On thy bosom let me rest.
More I would, but death invades me.
Death is now a welcome guest.
Juno:
Hence, Iris, hence away,
Far from the realms of day!
O’er Scythian hills to the Mæotian lake
A speedy flight we’ll take!
There Somnus I’ll compel
His downy bed to leave, and silent cell;
With noise and light I will his peace molest,
Nor shall he sink again to pleasing rest,
Till to my vow’d revenge he grants supplies,
And seals with sleep the wakeful dragons’ eyes.
William Congreve
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Isabella:
Cruda sorte! Amor tiranno!
Questo è premio di mia fé:
Non v’è orror, terror, nè affanno
Pari a quel ch’io provo in me.
Per te solo, o mio Lindoro,
Io mi trovo in tal periglio.
Da chi spero, oh Dio, consiglio?
Chi conforto mi darà?
Cruel fate! Tyrant Love!
This is the reward for my constancy:
there is no horror, terror or anguish
equal to what I am feeling inside.
It is for you alone, my Lindoro,
that I find myself in such peril.
From whom, ah God, can I hope for counsel?
Who will give me comfort?
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Qua ci vuol disinvoltura.
Non più smanie, nè paura;
Di coraggio è tempo adesso,
Or chi sono si vedrà.
Già so per pratica
Qual sia l’effetto
D’un sguardo languido,
D’un sospiretto...
So a domar gli uomini
Come si fa.
Sien dolci o ruvidi
Sien flemma o foco,
Son tutti simili
A presso a poco...
Tutti la chiedono,
Tutti la bramano
Da vaga femmina
Felicità. Sì sì!
Detachment is what’s wanted here.
No more rages or terror:
now is the time for courage;
now they’ll see who I am.
From experience I already
know the effect
of a languishing look,
of a little sigh...
I know what to do
to tame men.
Be they gentle or rough,
cool or ardent,
they’re all alike,
more or less...
They’re all looking for,
they’re all longing for,
the happiness that comes from
a pretty woman. Yes indeed!
Angelo Anelli
0
Jeanne:
Oui, Dieu le veut! Je dois suivre ton ordre,
Obéir à ton appel, sainte Vierge!
Pourquoi, mon cœur, pourquoi bats-tu si fort?
Pourquoi frémir? L’effroi remplit mon âme!
Yes, it is God’s will! I must obey your command.
I must follow your call, holy Virgin.
O my heart, why do you beat so wildly?
Why do you tremble? Terror fills my soul.
Adieu, forêts, adieu, prés fleuris, champs d’or,
Et vous, paisibles vallons, adieu !
Jeanne aujourd’hui vous dit à jamais, à jamais adieu.
Oui, pour toujours, toujours, adieu!
Mes prés fleuris et mes forêts ombreuses,
Vous fleurirez pour d’autres que pour moi.
Adieu, forêts, eau pure de la source,
Je vais partir, et ne vous verrai plus.
Jeanne vous fuit, et pour jamais, oui pour jamais.
Farewell, forests! Farewell, flowery meadows,
golden fields, peaceful valleys, farewell!
Today Joan bids you farewell for ever.
Yes, for ever, farewell!
My flowery meadows, my shady forests,
you will blossom for others, not for me.
Farewell, forests, pure spring water,
I am about to leave, and I shall not see you again.
Joan flees from you for ever, yes, for ever.
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!
Ô doux vallon où j’ai connu la joie!
Aujourd’hui que je te quitte, doux vallon!
Et mes agneaux dans les vertes prairies
Demanderont en vain leur guide.
Au champ d’honneur je dois guider les braves,
Cueillir les palmes sanglantes de la victoire!
Je vais où les voix m’appellent,
Voix saintes, voix saintes qui m’appellent.
Seigneur, vous voyez au fond de mon âme!
Mon cœur se brise, mon âme souffre,
Mon cœur se brise, mon cœur saigne!
Ô monts aimés, adieu, adieu, forêts ombreuses.
Et vous, paisibles vallons, adieu!
Jeanne aujourd’hui vous dit à jamais, à jamais adieu!
Oui, pour toujours, toujours, adieu.
Prés fleuris, arbres verts, si chers
à mon enfance,
Vous fleurirez pour d’autres que pour moi.
Adieu, mes champs, adieu, vallon, source pure,
Il faut partir, il faut partir et pour toujours.
Ah! Recevez mon éternel adieu!
O gentle valley where I knew such joy,
today I must leave you, gentle valley!
and my lambs in the green pastures
will look in vain for their guide.
I must guide warriors to the field of honour,
to win the bloody palms of victory.
I go where the voices call me,
the holy voices which call me.
Lord, you see into the depths of my soul;
my heart is breaking, my soul is in torment,
my heart is breaking, my heart is bleeding!
O beloved mountains, shady forests, farewell.
And you, peaceful valleys, farewell!
Today Joan bids you farewell forever.
Yes, for ever, for ever farewell.
Flowery meadows, green trees, so precious
to me as a child,
you will blossom for others, not for me.
Farewell, my fields, farewell, valley, spring water.
I must leave, I must leave you for ever.
Ah! Accept my eternal farewell!
Dalila:
Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix comme s’ouvrent
les fleurs
Aux baisers de l’aurore.
Mais, ô mon bien-aimé, pour mieux sécher
mes pleurs,
Que ta voix parle encore!
Dis-moi qu’à Dalila tu reviens pour jamais,
Redis à ma tendresse
Les serments d’autrefois, ces serments
que j’aimais!
Ah! réponds à ma tendresse,
Verse-moi, verse-moi l’ivresse!
My heart opens to your voice, as the
flowers open
to the kisses of the dawn!
But, O my beloved, to better dry
my tears,
let your voice speak again!
Tell me that you are returning to Delilah forever,
speak to my tender feelings
by repeating the vows of former times, the vows
that I loved!
Ah! respond to my tender feelings,
pour out for me the wine of ecstasy!
17
Ainsi qu’on voit des blés les épis onduler
Sous la brise légère,
Ainsi frémit mon cœur, prêt à se consoler,
A ta voix qui m’est chère!
La flèche est moins rapide à porter le trépas,
Que ne l’est ton amante, à voler dans tes bras!
Ah! réponds à ma tendresse!
Verse-moi, verse-moi l’ivresse!
Samson! Samson! Je t’aime!
Just like the ears of wheat one sees waving
in the light breeze,
so my heart trembles, ready to be consoled,
at the sound of your voice which is dear to me!
The arrow is less quick to carry death,
than is your lover to fly into your arms!
Ah! respond to my tender feelings!
Pour out for me the wine of ecstasy!
Samson! Samson! I love you!
Ferdinand Lemaire
@
Carmen:
L’amour est un oiseau rebelle
Que nul ne peut apprivoiser,
Et c’est bien en vain qu’on l’appelle,
S’il lui convient de refuser.
Rien n’y fait, menace ou prière,
L’un parle bien, l’autre se tait;
Et c’est l’autre que je préfère
Il n’a rien dit; mais il me plaît.
L’amour!
Love is a rebellious bird
which none can tame,
and there is absolutely no point in calling him
if it suits him not to reply.
Nothing can compel him, neither threat nor prayer;
One man speaks well, another is silent
and it’s the second one I prefer:
he has said nothing, but he pleases me.
Love!
L’amour est enfant de Bohême,
Il n’a jamais, jamais connu de loi,
Si tu ne m’aimes pas, je t’aime;
Mais si je t’aime, prends garde à toi!
Love is a gypsy child,
he has never ever recognised any law.
If you don’t love me, then I love you,
But if I love you, watch out!
L’oiseau que tu croyais surprendre
Battit de l’aile et s’envola;
L’amour est loin, tu peux l’attendre;
Tu ne l’attends plus, il est là!
Tout autour de toi vite, vite,
Il vient, s’en va, puis il revient;
Tu crois le tenir, il t’évite;
The bird you thought you could sneak up on
flapped its wings and flew away;
when love is far away, you can wait and wait for it,
but as soon as you give up waiting, there it is!
All around you, quickly,
he comes and goes and comes again!
When you think you have him in your grasp,
he slips away,
when you think you have escaped him,
he holds you fast!
Love!
Tu crois l’éviter, il te tient!
L’amour!
Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy
18
19
New Zealand. Sally-Anne Russell also sits as a
member of the International Jury for Canada’s
Kathaumixw Festival and for the Belvedere
International Singing Competition.
Sally-Anne Russell
Sally-Anne Russell has performed in America,
the Netherlands, Austria, the UK, Italy, Germany,
New Zealand, Japan and Canada.
Her discography includes Baroque Duets,
featuring the Pergolesi Stabat Mater (ABC
Classic FM Listeners’ Choice at the 2005 ARIA
Awards), Bach Arias and Duets (nominated for
an ARIA award in 2004), the Swoon DVD, and
Pinchgut Opera’s performances of Semele and
The Fairy Queen, all on ABC Classics.
Her opera roles include Sesto (Julius Caesar),
Rosina (The Barber of Seville), Mistress Quickly
(Falstaff), Lucienne (Die tote Stadt), Amastris
(Xerxes), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Stéphano
(Roméo et Juliette), Second and Third Ladies
(The Magic Flute), Juno/Ino (Semele), Dido (Dido
and Aeneas), Ursula (Béatrice et Bénédict),
Nicoletta (The Love for Three Oranges),
Mercédès (Carmen), Mallika (The Pearl Fishers)
and the title role in La Cenerentola.
In 2007, Sally-Anne Russell performs the role of
Jo March in the Australian premiere of Little
Women for the State Opera of South Australia,
and the title role in Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans
for Pinchgut Opera, as well as appearing as
Bradamante (Alcina) and Cherubino (The
Marriage of Figaro) for Opera Australia.
Recent concert performances include the
Carmel Bach Festival in California, Voices of
Light (Australian Chamber Orchestra), Mozart’s
Requiem and Iain Grandage’s Sleep (West
Australian Symphony Orchestra), Handel’s
Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Melbourne
Symphony Orchestra), Stravinsky’s Pulcinella
(Melbourne Festival), Bach’s Magnificat (Adelaide
Symphony Orchestra), Bach’s St Matthew
Passion, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mahler’s
Symphony No. 2 and the Immortal Bach cantata
series (Sydney Philharmonia Choirs), Bach’s
B minor Mass (Melbourne Chorale), Falla’s
El amor brujo (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra),
Handel’s Lucretia and Dixit Dominus in
Vancouver and Britten’s Spring Symphony in
Nicholas Milton
Nicholas Milton has
established an
international reputation
as one of the leading
Australian conductors
of his generation. He
is currently General
Music Director of the
Jena Philharmonic
Orchestra in Germany,
Chief Conductor and
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Artistic Director of the Canberra Symphony
Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the
Willoughby Symphony Orchestra in Sydney.
and a Doctoral degree in Music from the City
University of New York. He was Concertmaster
of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra from 1996
to 2002 and Violinist with Macquarie Trio
Australia from 1998 to 2005, and won Symphony
Australia’s 1999 Young Conductor of the Year
competition. In 2003, Nicholas Milton was
awarded the Australian Centenary Medal, for
Service to Australian Society and the
Advancement of Music.
Nicholas Milton has conducted in Germany,
Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Croatia and
Finland. He has been a regular guest conductor
with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra,
made his debut with the China National
Symphony Orchestra in 2006, and appears
frequently with all of the major Australian
orchestras. He served as Chief Conductor and
Artistic Director of the Dubrovnik Symphony
Orchestra from 2000 to 2004, and made his US
debut in 2005 with the Phoenix Symphony.
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
With a reputation for its youthful vitality and
superb artistry, the Adelaide Symphony
Orchestra plays a central role at the heart of
the South Australian community.
A devoted interpreter of opera, Nicholas Milton’s
recent performances have included The
Marriage of Figaro, Hansel and Gretel, The
Barber of Seville, The Elixir of Love and Don
Pasquale. In 2007 he conducts Franz Schmidt’s
The Book with Seven Seals at the German
National Theatre in Weimar. Other forthcoming
new productions include Die Fledermaus and
Don Giovanni.
In 2006, the ASO proudly celebrated its 70th
anniversary season under the leadership of
Music Director and Chief Conductor, Arvo
Volmer. It is the largest performing arts
organisation in South Australia, each year
performing over 100 concerts across a diverse
musical spectrum. The ASO provides the
orchestral support for the State Opera of South
Australia, the Australian Ballet and Opera
Australia, and is the most prolific contributor to
the biennial Adelaide Festival.
Originally a violinist, Nicholas Milton graduated
from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He
continued his studies in the United States at
Michigan State University, Boston University, the
Mannes College of Music and the Juilliard
School, and holds Master’s degrees in
Conducting, Violin, Music Theory and Philosophy,
The ASO’s commitment to artistic excellence
has also strengthened its reputation within the
international community. Following its groundbreaking 1996 tour to China, the ASO won
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world acclaim in 1998 with Australia’s first
production of Wagner’s Ring cycle. This
monumental project was repeated in 2004
under the baton of Israeli conductor Asher Fisch.
In December 2005, the ASO appeared in Kuala
Lumpur at a mega-concert with British tenor
Russell Watson at the special invitation of
Malaysia’s YTL Corporation Berhad.
For ABC Classics
Executive Producers Robert Patterson, Lyle Chan
Recording Producer and Mastering Kevin Roper
Recording Engineer Wayne Baker, tba
Editorial and Production Manager Hilary Shrubb
Publications Editor Natalie Shea
Booklet Design Imagecorp Pty Ltd
Cover Photo Arsineh Houspian
Sally-Anne Russell photographs pp 19, 23
Paul Henderson-Kelly
Nicholas Milton photograph tba
Translations of song texts Natalie Shea
( 2 and @ © Symphony Services Australia)
The ASO excels as a dynamic, versatile
orchestra, performing with such outstanding
artists as Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti,
Split Enz, Shirley Bassey, Tony Bennett, James
Morrison, Dionne Warwick, Andrea Bocelli,
kd lang, Lalo Schifrin, Ben Folds – and even
Bugs Bunny!
For Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Chief Executive Officer Rainer Jozeps
Artistic Administrator James Koehne
Orchestra Manager Karen Frost
The ASO reaches out to all sections of the
community with music experiences that are
accessible, affordable, informal and entertaining.
The popular annual tradition of Santos
Symphony under the Stars, the outdoor Alfresco
concerts, daytime Tea and Symphony Series, the
innovative Education Program, ASO on Tour, and
the entertaining Showcase Series are just some
of the diverse concerts bringing music to South
Australians each year.
Recorded 11-13 April 2006 in the Adelaide Town Hall.
ABC Classics thanks Alexandra Alewood and
Melissa Kennedy.
2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
© 2007 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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