The short motif the pianist plays twice at the end is the opening notes to Schubert's "Ave Maria," which was Clara Schuman's favorite of the Schubert songs.
The English translation -for those of us with little command of German- combines with the wonderful music to reveal the glory of this magnificent piece....no disrespect to any other language.
For details see here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Diva_de_l%27Empire TEXT (French and English): Sous le grand chapeau Greenaway, Mettant l'éclat d'un sourire, D'un rire charmant et frais De baby étonné qui soupire, Little girl aux yeux veloutés, C'est la Diva de "L'Empire", C'est la rein'dont s'épren'nt Les gentlemen et tous les dandys De Piccadilly. Dans un seul yes elle met tant de douceur Que tous les snobs en gilet à coeur L'accueillant de hourras frénétiques, Sur la scène lancent des gerbes de fleurs, Sans remarquer le rire narquois De son joli minois. Sous le grand chapeau Greenaway, etc. Elle danse presque automatiquement, Et soulève, aoh! très pioudiquement, Ses jolis dessous de fanfreluches De ses jambes montrant le frétillement. C'est à la fois très innocent Et très excitant. Sous le grand chapeau Greenaway, etc. __________________________________ Beneath the large Greenaway hat, Putting on her brilliant smile, The fresh and charming laugh Of a wide-eyed sighing babe, Little girl with velvet eyes, That's the Diva of the Empire, That's the queen they're smitten with, The gentlemen And all the dandies Of Piccadilly. Into a single "Yes" she puts such sweetness, That all the snobs in waistcoats Welcome her with frenzied hurrahs, Toss bunches of flowers on the stage, Without observing the sly smile On her pretty face. She dances almost mechanically And lifts, Oh! so modestly, Her pretty frilly underwear, Showing her wriggling legs, At the same time it's is very, very innocent And very, very exciting.
Wow, it's a mess rythmically. Take a drink every time she casually and bluntly discards a full value on half notes! She sticks the landing, true, but at the ruthless expense of a dozen precious notes before it!
The difficulty in this, deceptively simple, song is that the pace of the piano can urge the voice on, and rush the tempo. I sang this for a recital, after working on the heavy weights, like Handel, and it took some time, in rehearsal, to pull back on the voice. The nature of this song is that it should feel elastic; the beginning is an awakening that is liquid and dreamy, and the end is urgent and full of despair, and the tempo should reflect this. In music history we learned that the French did not take to the new heavy operatic voice styles and developed their own, lighter, techniques, often using little in the way of 'head voice'. This 'lighter' voice is more able to trip about on the quick changes in musical direction and create the 'feel' of the French musical style. You can hear that in very old recordings of French singers. I enjoy all genres and all voice types and this one is no exception; a very lovely voice.
I’m intrigued that Elly Ameling in her introduction contends that the setting for this song is a French music hall. I had always imagined that the setting is a London music hall.
Also I query the accuracy of describing Kate Greenaway as a fashion designer. Greenaway was a book illustrator - albeit a book illustrator who influenced children’s fashion.
The recording does justice to the artistry of neither singer nor pianist. It works best to reduce the volume and use the imagination more: it' s a lovely rendition of Widmung.
Seit ich ihn gesehen, Glaub' ich blind zu sein; Wo ich hin nur blicke, Seh' ich ihn allein; Wie im wachen Traume Schwebt sein Bild mir vor, Taucht aus tiefstem Dunkel, Heller nur empor. Sonst ist licht- und farblos Alles um mich her, Nach der Schwestern Spiele Nicht begehr' ich mehr, Möchte lieber weinen, Still im Kämmerlein; Seit ich ihn gesehen, Glaub' ich blind zu sein
Brava! Charming spoken introduction. Sublime singing. Adorable song. Love listening to Elly Ameling. Satie could compose delicious pop melodies or quirky avant-garde dities. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JVJy-GOm_H8.html
