O Vilja What Are You Doing To Me?

Today we are going to the opera!!! Jim Adams, aka Newepicauthor, the creator of A Unique Title For Me, is hosting SONG-LYRIC-SUNDAY and this week he has chosen the theme: MUSICAL/OPERA

I was very pleased to see Jim’s choice for today. Funny enough, the first time I ever participated in SONG-LYRIC-SUNDAY, I chose an Italian operatic aria that matched the theme. I love OPERA. Not all OPERA. I am a little intimidated by some hardcore OPERA. But I am equally charmed and enraptured by other sensational and unforgettable nuggets of musical genius and vocal gymnastics that make my spirits soar.

My problem with today is…where do I begin? Did I ever tell you I trained to sing operatically? I can’t remember how much I have written about it. So many stunning songs spring to mind! I think I am going to limit myself to two choices. My first choice is classic OPERA. But later today I will feature a track from an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical that I enjoyed so much when it finally made the silver screen.

It is the OPERA umbrella where I find it hard to choose just one track. To me the most moving arias are “O Belle Nuit D’Amour” from Offenbach’s Barcarolle…as well as a host of Puccini and Verdi showstoppers. However, I think today I am going to choose the first operetta I ever saw on stage.

“The Merry Widow” is probably the best place to start if you have never seen live OPERA before. (When it comes to OPERA, in my opinion, it is better to start with light OPERA and build up to the more hardcore OPERA!) “The Merry Widow” is a light hearted OPERA (some opera is drastic and dire) with so much fun and great costumes. This is the creation of composer Franz Lehár, and  Viktor Léon and Leo Stein. The basic story line is that of a very rich widow who becomes the center of a matchmaking comedy. The other characters want to keep her money local so they try to engineer her marriage to a local Count. There are other intrigues going on though…and the scandal of a fan that bears the words “I LOVE YOU” is amusing to watch unfold.

I have included the lyrics and the English translation below, but I distinctly hear these lines which don’t appear in the lyrics.

Vilja oh Vilja, I’m under your spell

Am I in heaven? Or am I in hell

Vilja oh Vilja what can I do?

I cannot live without you

At the bottom of this post, I have tagged an amazing treat from Renée Flemming! (I almost chose her version of “Casta Diva” for today.

I am going to start with an English translation of the aria…

But now let’s do as we do at home
Let’s sing our ring dance rhyme
About a fairy known whom
at home we call Vilja!

Once lived a Vilja, a maid of the woods,
And hunter spotted her in rocky outcroppings!
The young boy, who was
Affected curiously by her presense,
He looked and looked
at the wood-maiden.
And a shudder the boy had never known
Took hold of him,
Longingly he began quietly to sigh!
Vilja, oh Vilja, you maid of the woods,
Take me and let me
be your dearest true love!
Vilja, O Vilja what are you doing to me?
Begs a lovesick man!

The maid of the woods stretched
her hand to him
And pulled him into her rocky home.
The boy nearly lost all his sense
And so she loved him and kissed him as no earthly child.
When she kissed him to his content
She disappeared in an instant!
The hunter waved goodbye only once before she vanished:
Vilja, oh Vilja, you maid of the woods,
Take me and let me
be your dearest true love!
Vilja, O Vilja what are you doing to me?
Begs a lovesick man!

_______________

…and here are the original lyrics…

Nun lasst uns aber wie daheim
Jetzt singen unseren Ringelreim
Von einer Fee, die wie bekannt
Daheim die Vilja wird genannt!

Es lebt eine Vilja, ein Waldmägdelein
Ein Jäger erschaut’ sie im Felsengestein!
Dem Burschen, dem wurde
So eigen zu Sinn
Er schaute und schaut’
Auf das Waldmägdlein hin
Und ein niegekannter Schauder
Fasst den jungen Jägersmann
Sehnsuchtsvoll fing er still zu seufzen an!
Vilja, o Vilja, Du Waldmägdelein
Fass mich und lass mich
Dein Trautliebster sein!
Vilja, O Vilja, was tust Du mir an?
Bang fleht ein liebkranker Mann!

Das Waldmägdelein streckte
Die Hand nach ihm aus
Und zog ihn hinein in ihr felsiges Haus
Dem Burschen die Sinne vergangen fast sind
So liebt und so küsst gar kein irdisches Kind

Als sie sich dann satt geküsst
Verschwand sie zu derselben Frist!
Einmal hat noch der Arme sie gegrüsst:
Vilja, o Vilja, Du Waldmägdelein
Fass mich und lass mich
Dein Trautliebster sein!
Vilja, O Vilja, was tust Du mir an?
Bang fleht ein liebkranker Mann!