Monday, December 19, 2011

Mir ist die Ehre ("Der Rosenkavalier" - Strauss)


Duet with Ellen Malone, mezzo-soprano

Soprano: Pamela Andrews
Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Monday, December 12, 2011

I want magic! ("A Streetcar Named Desire" - Andre Previn)


I WANT MAGIC!

Real! Who wants real?
I know I don't want it. I want magic!
Magic! Yes! That's what I want!
That's what I try to give to people.

I do misrepresent things.
I don't tell the truth.
But I tell what ought to be the truth.
What it ought to be.

Yes, magic. Magic's what I try to give to people.
If that's a sin,
If that is such a sin, then let me be... damned for it!
Don't turn on that light!

It'll all look so ugly in that light.
Why not see by candlelight... or moonlight, or by starlight?
They are bright enough to see by.
Sometimes too bright.


Soprano: Pamela Andrews

Pianist: Alan Hicks


Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.
Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Monday, December 5, 2011

The Black Swan ("The Medium" - Menotti)


THE BLACK SWAN

The sun has fallen and it lies in blood.
The moon is weaving bandages of gold.
O black swan, where, oh, where is my lover gone?
Torn and tattered is my bridal gown,
And my lamp is lost, and my lamp is lost.

With silver needles and with silver thread,
The stars stitch a shroud for the dying sun.
O black swan, where, oh, where has my lover gone?
I had given him a kiss of fire,
And a golden ring, and a golden ring.

Don't you hear your lover moan?
Eyes of glass and feet of stone,
Shells for teeth and weeds for tongue,
Deep, deep, down in the river's bed,
He's looking for the ring.
Eyes wide open, never asleep,
He's looking for the ring, looking for the ring.

The spools unravel and the needles break,
The sun is buried and the stars weep.
O black wave, O black wave, take me away with you.
I will share with you my golden hair,
And my bridal crown, and my bridal crown.

Oh, take me down with you
Take me down to my wand'ring lover
With my child unborn, with my child unborn.




Duet with Bronwyn Douglass, mezzo-soprano

Soprano: Pamela Andrews
Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Monday, November 28, 2011

Monica's Waltz ("The Medium" - Menotti)


MONICA'S WALTZ

Bravo! And after the theatre, supper and dance. Music! Umpapa, umpapa,
Up in the sky, someone is playing a trombone and a guitar.
Red is your tie, and in your velvetine coat, you hide a star.

Monica, Monica, dance the waltz; Monica, Monica, dance the waltz.
Follow me, moon and sun; keep time with me; one, two, three, one.

If you're not shy, pin up my hair with your star, and buckle my shoe.
And when you fly, please hold on tight to my waist; I'm flying with you. Oh,
Monica, Monica, dance the waltz; Monica, Monica, dance the waltz.

Follow me, moon and sun,
Follow me, follow, follow me, follow me, follow, follow me.

What is the matter, Toby? What is it you want to tell me?
Kneel down before me, and now, tell me...

Monica, Monica, can't you see, that my heart is bleeding, bleeding for you?
I loved you, Monica, all my life, with all my breath, with all my blood.
You haunt the mirror of my sleep; you are my night.
You are my light, and the jailer of my day.

How dare you, scoundrel, talk to me like that! Don't you know who I am?
I'm the Queen of Aroundel! I shall have you put in chains!
You are my princess, you are my queen, and I'm only Toby, one of your slaves,
And still I love you and always loved you with all my breath, with all my blood.
I love your laughter; I love your hair; I love your deep and nocturnal eyes.
I love your soft hands, so white and winged; I love the slender branch of your throat.

Toby, don't speak to me like that! You make my head swim.

Monica, Monica, fold me in your satin gown.
Monica, Monica, give me your mouth;
Monica, Monica, fall in my arms.

Why, Toby! You're not crying, are you?
Toby, I want you to know that you have the most beautiful voice in the world!




Soprano: Pamela Andrews
Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Monday, November 21, 2011

The Trees on the Mountain ("Susannah" - Carlisle Floyd)


The trees on the mountains
are cold and bare.

The summer jes' vanished,
an' left them there

Like a false-hearted lover,
jes' like my own

Who made me love him,
then left me alone.



The coals on the hearth
have turned gray and sere.

The blue flame jes' vanished
an' left them there,

Like a false-hearted lover,
jes' like my own

Who made me love him,
then left me alone.



Come back, o summer,
come back, blue flame.

My heart wants warmin',
my baby a name.

Come back, o lover,
if jes' fer a day.

Turn bleak December
once more into May.



The road up ahead lies lonely an' far.

There's darkness around me
an' not even a star

To show me the way,
or lighten my heart.

Come back, my lover,
I fain would start.



The pore baby fox lies all cold in his lair.

His mama jes' vanished
an' left him there,

Like a false-hearted lover,
jes' like my own,

Who made me love him,
then left me alone.



Come back, o summer,
come back, blue flame!

My heart wants warmin',
my baby a name.

Come back, o lover,
if jes' fer a day.

Turn bleak December
once more into May.

Come back! Come back! Come back!



Soprano: Pamela Andrews
Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Monday, November 14, 2011

Ain't It A Pretty Night ("Susannah" - Carlisle Floyd)


Ain't it a pretty night!

The sky's so dark and velvet-like
and it's all lit up with stars.
It's like a great big mirror
reflectin' fireflies over a pond.
Look at all them stars, Little Bat.
The longer y' look, the more y' see.
The sky seems so heavy with stars
that it might fall right down out of heaven
and cover us all up in one big blanket of velvet
all stitched with diamon's.
Ain't it a pretty night.
Just think, those stars can all peep down
an' see way beyond where we can:
They can see way beyond them mountains
to Nashville and Asheville an' Knoxville.
I wonder what it's like out there,
out there beyond them mountains
where the folks talk nice,
an' the folks dress nice
like y' see in the mail-order catalogs.
I aim to leave this valley someday
an' find out fer myself:
To see all the tall buildin's
and all the street lights
an' to be one o' them folks myself.
I wonder if I'd get lonesome fer the valley though,
fer the sound of crickets an' the smell of pine straw,
fer soft little rabbits an' bloomin' things
an' the mountains turnin' gold in the fall.
But I could always come back
if I got homesick fer the valley.
So I'll leave it someday an' see fer myself.
Someday I'll leave an' then I'll come back
when I've seen what's beyond them mountains.
Ain't it a pretty night.
The sky's so heavy with stars tonight
that it could fall right down out of heaven
an' cover us up, and cover us up,
in one big blanket of velvet and diamon's.

Soprano: Pamela Andrews
Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Monday, November 7, 2011

Youth, Day, Old Age, and Night (Ned Rorem)


Youth, large, lusty, loving--youth full of grace, force, fascination,
Do you know that Old Age may come after you with equal grace,
force, fascination?

Day full-blown and splendid-day of the immense sun, action,
ambition, laughter,
The Night follows close with millions of suns, and sleep and
restoring darkness.



(Walt Whitman)



Soprano: Pamela Andrews
Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Monday, October 31, 2011

Alleluia (Ned Rorem)


Alleluia!

Soprano: Pamela Andrews
Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Monday, October 24, 2011

Now sleeps the crimson petal (Ned Rorem)



Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white;
Nor waves the cypress in the palace walk;
Nor winks the gold fin in the porphyry font:
The firefly wakens: waken thou with me.

Now droops the milk-white peacock like a ghost,
And like a ghost she glimmers on to me.

Now lies the Earth all Danaë to the stars,
And all thy heart lies open unto me.

Now slides the silent meteor on, and leaves
A shining furrow, as thy thoughts in me.

Now folds the lily all her sweetness up,
And slips into the bosom of the lake:
So fold thyself, my dearest, thou, and slip
Into my bosom and be lost in me.



(Lord Alfred Tennyson)



Soprano: Pamela Andrews
Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Monday, October 17, 2011

The Serpent (Ned Rorem)



There was a Serpent who had to sing.
There was. There was.
He simply gave up Serpenting.
Because. Because.
He didn't like his Kind of Life;
He couldn't find a proper Wife;
He was a Serpent with a soul;
He got no Pleasure down his Hole.
And so, of course, he had to Sing,
And Sing he did, like Anything!
The Birds, they were, they were Astounded;
And various Measures Propounded
To stop the Serpent's Awful Racket:
They bought a Drum. He wouldn't
Whack it.
They sent, —you always send, —to Cuba
And got a Most Commodious Tuba;
They got a Horn, they got a Flute,
But Nothing would suit.
He said, "Look, Birds, all this is futile:
I do not like to Bang or Tootle."
And then he cut loose with a Horrible Note
That practically split the Top of his Throat.
"You see," he said, with a Serpent's Leer,
"I'm Serious about my Singing Career!"
And the Woods Resounded with many a Shriek
As the Birds flew off to the end of Next Week.



(Theodore Roethke)


Soprano: Pamela Andrews
Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.

Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Oh, quante volte (Bellini)


ECCOMI IN LIETA VESTA ... OH! QUANTE VOLTE

Eccomi in lieta vesta... eccomi adorna...
Come vittima all'ara. Oh! almen potessi
Qual vittima cader dell'ara al piede!
O nuzïali tede,
Abborrite così, così fatali,
Siate, ah! siate per me faci ferali.
Ardo... una vampa, un foco
Tutta mi strugge.
Un refrigerio ai venti io chiedo invano.
Ove se'tu, Romeo?
In qual terra t'aggiri?
Dove, dove invïarti i miei sospiri?

Oh! quante volte,
Oh! quante ti chiedo
Al ciel piangendo
Con quale ardor t'attendo,
E inganno il mio desir!
Raggio del tuo sembiante
Parmi il brillar del giorno:
L'aura che spira intorno
Mi sembra un tuo respir.

Soprano: Pamela Andrews
Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews.
Edited for YouTube by JRR4FILM Productions.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

"Oh! quante volte" is a lyric coloratura aria from the first act of the Italian opera "I Capuleti e i Montecchi" by Vincenzo Bellini, and is performed by the character Giulietta: the daughter of Capellio, and lover of Romeo. The scene is set on Giulietta's balcony in the palace of Capulet, Verona, Italy, in the fifteenth century; Giulietta is longing for Romeo to come and see her; she wishes to see his silhouette in the light of the day, and hear his sigh, which reminds her of the breeze. The opera is based on an opera by Nicola Vaccai, Giulietta e Romeo, which was based on the play by English playwright, William Shakespeare.

Pamela Andrews is a Tasmanian-born lyric soprano and a recent Master's graduate of the Australian National University. Pamela is currently studying with soprano Louise Page (Canberra), having previously studied under Jane Edwards and Marilyn Smith (Hobart). Read more about Pamela at http://www.sopranopamela.com

Alan Hicks is a graduate of Newcastle Conservatorium of Music (DSCM piano and flute) and the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester (Diploma in Professional Performance with distinction). Alan is currently Head of Voice at the Australian National University. Read
more about pianist Alan Hicks at
http://music.anu.edu.au/academic-staff/Alan-Hicks

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Let The Bright Seraphim



LET THE BRIGHT SERAPHIM

Let the bright Seraphim in burning row,
Their loud uplifted Angel-trumpets blow.
Let the Cherubic host, in tuneful choirs,
Touch their immortal harps with golden wires.

Soprano: Pamela Andrews
Pianist: Alan Hicks

Filmed and recorded in Llewellyn Hall, Canberra, by the Australian National University, November 2010, on behalf of Pamela Andrews. Edited for YouTube by Joseph Restubog.

© JRR4FILM Productions 2011

The magnificent trumpet aria, "Let the Bright Seraphim", occurs at the end of Händel's oratorio, Samson (HWV 57), and is a joyous, uplifting aria set directly after a funeral march. Interestingly, it was not the original ending to the work, and was added by Händel some twelve months after he had originally declared the work to be finished. The character of Manoah calls upon the Israelites to cease their mourning for Samson, which is followed thus by the trumpet aria. Sadly, we were not able to find a trumpeter for this performance. The trumpet part is instead written into the piano arrangement.

Pamela Andrews is a Tasmanian-born lyric soprano and a recent Master's graduate of the Australian National University. Pamela is currently studying with soprano Louise Page (Canberra), having previously studied under Jane Edwards and Marilyn Smith (Hobart). Read more about Pamela at http://www.sopranopamela.com

Alan Hicks is a graduate of Newcastle Conservatorium of Music (DSCM piano and flute) and the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester (Diploma in Professional Performance with distinction). Alan is currently Head of Voice at the Australian National University. Read more about pianist Alan Hicks at http://music.anu.edu.au/academic-staff/Alan-Hicks

Saturday, January 1, 2011

2011: the year of dreams coming true

Dear Readers,

So I'm not going to bore you with resolutions for the new year, as I sit here chewing on a few Jaffas (from the 1kg bag of Jaffas I bought - and *obviously* needed). I won't talk about how I'm going to lose weight this year, or finally get a real job -- I'm going to write some lists.

Good Things About 2010
Joseph Restubog
Joseph Restubog
Joseph Restubog
Master of Music degree
ANU School of Music
Dido & Aeneas
Embassy performances
Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food
Pippa, Lucinda & Julia and new friends
Cassie Clare's The Mortal Instruments
Atkins diet (total of 21kg lost so far whilst dieting)
Cream
The Pervy Council
Miranda, Nurse Jackie, Merlin and Jeeves & Wooster

Bad Things About 2010
Missing my family and friends
Being a poor student again
Customers

Great Things Predicted for 2011
Joseph Restubog!
Earning money
Riding a bicycle
Passport
Pelee Island
Philadelphia
New York City
National anthems

*Possibly not comprehensive lists, but summations.

May the adventures continue. Hope your 2011 brings you lovely things!

Always,
Pam