rachmaninoff concert 2013

Bel Cantanti Opera2004 – 2013

Photographs by Alexander Souvorov

Rigoletto (2004)

Rigoletto (2004)

Carmen (2005)

Carmen (2005)

La Fille du Régiment (2005)

La Fille du Régiment (2005)

La Fille du Régiment (2005)

Iolanta (2005)

Iolanta (2005)

Iolanta (2005)

L’ elisir d’amore (2006)

L’ elisir d’amore (2006)

L’ elisir d’amore (2006)

L’ elisir d’amore (2006)

L’ elisir d’amore (2006)

Hansel and Gretel (2006)

Hansel and Gretel (2006)

Lucia di Lammermoor (2006)

Lucia di Lammermoor (2006)

Lucia di Lammermoor (2006)

Lucia di Lammermoor (2006)

Le Nozze di Figaro (2006)

Nozze di Figaro (2006)

Le Nozze di Figaro (2006)

Abduction from the Seraglio (2006)

Abduction from the Seraglio (2006)

Abduction from the Seraglio (2006)

Abduction from the Seraglio (2006)

Abduction from the Seraglio (2006)

La Boheme (2007)

La Boheme (2007)

La Boheme (2007)

La Boheme (2007)

La Boheme (2007)

I I Capuleti e i Montecchi (2008)

I Capuleti e i Montecchi (2008)

I I Capuleti e i Montecchi (2008)

Don Pasquale (2008)

Don Pasquale (2008)

Don Pasquale (2008)

Don Pasquale (2008)

Carmen (2009)

Carmen (2009)

Carmen (2009)

Giulio Cesare (2009)

Giulio Cesare (2009)

Giulio Cesare (2009)

Romeo and Juliet (2010)

Romeo and Juliet (2010)

Romeo and Juliet (2010)

Romeo and Juliet (2010)

Amahl and the Night Visitors (2010)

Amahl and the Night Visitors (2010)

Amahl and the Night Visitors (2010)

L’Italiana in Algeri (2010)

L’Italiana in Algeri (2010)

L’Italiana in Algeri (2010)

L’Italiana in Algeri (2010)

L’Italiana in Algeri (2010)

I Pagliacci (2010)

I Pagliacci (2010)

I Pagliacci (2010)

I Pagliacci (2010)

Gianni Schicchi (2010)

Gianni Schicchi (2010)

The Impresario (2011)

The Impresario (2011)

The Impresario (2011)

Monsieur Choufleuri restera chez lui le... (2011)

Monsieur Choufleuri restera chez lui le... (2011)

Monsieur Choufleuri restera chez lui le... (2011)

La Cenerentola (2011)

La Cenerentola (2011)

La Cenerentola (2011)

La Cenerentola (2011)

La Cenerentola (2011)

Eugene Onegin (2011)

Eugene Onegin (2011)

Eugene Onegin (2011)

Barber of Seville (2012)

Barber of Seville (2012)

Barber of Seville (2012)

Barber of Seville (2012)

Barber of Seville (2012)

Cosi fan Tutte (2012)

Cosi fan Tutte (2012)

Cosi fan Tutte (2012)

Madama Butterfly (2012)

Madama Butterfly (2012)

Orphee aux Enfers (2013)

Orphee aux Enfers (2013)

Orphee aux Enfers (2013)

Orphee aux Enfers (2013)

Orphee aux Enfers (2013)

Bel Cantanti Opera

presents

Johann StraussDie Fledermaus (The Bat)

Saturday, December 7, 7:30pmSunday, December 8, 3:00pm

Saturday, December 14, 7:30pmSunday, December 15, 3:00pm

Randolph Road Theater, 4010 Randolph Rd, Silver Spring, MD

Get your tickets at

www.belcantanti.com

Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyIolanta

Friday, January 17,7:30pmSunday, January 19, 3:00pm

Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington 6125 Montrose Rd, Rockville, MD

Get your tickets at

www.belcantanti.com

Rachmaninoff… Rachmaninoff… Rachmaninoff…A concert of Song and Opera

Cristina Nassif (soprano)

Chantelle Grant (mezzo soprano)

Ashley Alden (soprano)

Gustavo Ahualli (baritone)

Jeffrey Springer (tenor)

Michael Celentano (baritone)

Katerina Souvorova (piano)

О нет, молю не уходи!

Oh no, I beg you, do not leave!

Text by D. Merezhkovsky

Michael Celentano

O, no, I beg you, do not leave!

All of my pain is nothing compared to separation.I am too happy in this torment.

Press me tightly to your bosom and say that you love me.

I have come back to you, sick, pale and exhausted.See how weak and pathetic I am,

how much I need your love.

The new torments ahead I await, like a caress or a kiss,

and beg you of one thing:

Stay with me! Do not leave!

Images by V. Vasnetsov,

Images by: V. Borovikovsky, F. Lembersky, V. Vasnetsov

УтроMorning

Text by M. L. YanovChantelle Grant

"I love you!“, dawn whispered to day and, while enfolding the skies, blushed from that confession.

And a sunbeam, illuminating nature, with a smile sent her a burning kiss.

And the day, as if still doubting the fulfillment of his most cherished dreams…

… descended over the land and, with a smile, dried her tears, like rows of glittering diamonds.

Images by: A. Kuindzhi, I. Levitan

В молчаньи ночи тайнойIn the silence of the mysterious night

Text by A. FetMichael Celentano

For a long time, in the silence of the mysterious night, I will sit, remembering your sly words, your smile,

your fleeting glance…

The locks of your dark hair, pliant under your fingertips.

I will be casting these images out of my thoughts and calling them back.

Repeating and correcting the words I said to you, so awkward…

And, drunk with love, against all reason…

Shouting your name into the night!

Oh, for a long time, in the silence of the mysterious night,shall I awake the darkness with the sound of your name!

Images by

M. ChagallA. KuindzhiI. KramskoyL. Lagorio

Не пой, красавица, при мне O, do not sing for me again

Text by A. PushkinCristina Nassif

Do not sing to me, oh beauty, the songs of melancholy Georgia.

They remind me of another life and a distant shore.

Alas! Your cruel melodies remind me of the steppe, and the night,

and in the moonlight…

The features of the distant, misfortunate maiden.

When I see you, I forget that sweet and fateful apparition.But you sing, and in my mind, I see her image again.

Do not sing to me, oh beauty, the songs of melancholy Georgia.

They remind me of another life and a distant shore.

Images by

A. KuindzhiK. MakovskyA. SavrasovV. Surikov

A. Vasnetsov

Полюбила я на печаль свою The Soldier's Wife

Text by A. PlescheyevChantelle Grant

Why did I have to fall in love with a talentless orphan?That was my fate.

Powerful people have separated us. They took him away to be a recruit…

And a soldier's wife, a lonely woman…

I shall grow old in a stranger's home.

This is my fate.

Images by

M. Nesterov

Я жду тебя (I wait for you!)Text by Maria DavidovaCristina Nassif

I wait for you! The sun has set,and the night's dark covers

are ready to descend upon earth and hide us.

I wait for you! With a fragrant mist,night has suffused the sleeping world,

and the past day has bid farewell to earth.

I wait! Tormented and in love, counting each moment, full of anguish and impatience…

I wait for you!

Images by

A. KuindzhiK. Makovsky

K. Somov

Не верь мне, другDo not believe me, my friend

Text by Count A. Tolstoy Michael Celentano

Do not believe me, friend, when in a surge of sorrowI say that I don't love you any more!

When the tide is low, the sea has not abandoned the land. It will come back, filled with love.

I am already pining, full of the same passion.I'll give my freedom back to you again.

And the waves are already running back with a roarTo the beloved shoreline from afar.

ending image, after words

Images by N. Aivazovsky, I.Repin, A. Rylov

O не грусти! Oh, do not grieve! Text by Aleksei ApukhtinChantelle Grant

Oh, do not grieve for me! I am where there is no suffering.

Forget your worries and your tormented dreams.

Let your memories of meBe brighter than the first day of spring.

Oh, do not pine! There is no separation.I am still close to you in spirit, like before.

I'm still touched by your torments,I'm still oppressed by your sadness.

Live! You must live! And if you find relief and peace…

Then know that it was me who answered from the other side

…to the call of your afflicted soul.

Images by

P. FedotovI. Kramskoj

K. MakovskyN. Roerich

Она как полдень хорошаShe is as beautiful as noon

Text by N. MinskyGustavo Ahualli

She is as beautiful as noon.She holds more mystery than midnight.

Her eyes have never filled with tears,her soul has never suffered.

And I, whose life is one of struggle and sorrow,am destined to pine for her…

As ever the roaring sea Is in love with the silent shore.

Images by

N. AivazovskyV. Borovikovsky

A. EdelfeltI. Repin

Пора! It is time!

Text by S. NadsonGustavo Ahualli

Now is the time, come forth, oh prophet!In the strength of anguish,

the strength of love, I call upon you!

Look how feeble and weary we are, forlorn in our torturous struggle.

It is now or never.

The mind dies, shame fades, and conscience sleeps.

There is no gleam of light.Only oblivion raises its voice.

Images by

A. IvanovI. KramskojV. Surikov

I. Tvorozhnikov

Aleko. Cradle Scene.Zemphira: Cristina Nassif

Aleko: Gustavo Ahualli

ZEMPHIRA“Husband old, husband fierce,

Stab me, burn me if you wish.I am brave and do not fear

Flames that scorch, or knives that pierce.”

“Yes, I loathe thee and I scorn thee.For another man I sigh,

And for love of him I’ll die”

ALEKOMy soul’s oppressed with secret sorrow.

Where are the joys of lawless love?

ZEMPHIRA“Slay me, throw me in the flame!

My tongue is tied, I’ll speak no word.Husband old, husband fierce,

You cannot guess my lover’s name.”

ALEKOSilence! I am tired of your singing. I do not like such wild songs.

ZEMPHIRAYou like it not? Well, what care I?

‘Tis for myself I sing.

My lover is as fresh as spring, Warm as a summer day.

He is so young, he is so brave, And ah… he loves me so!

ALEKOSilence, Zemphira.

I can bear no more!

ZEMPHIRASo you understand my song?

ZEMPHIRAYou are entitled to feel angry.

I am singing about you!

Oh how I caressed him in the dark of night!And how we laughed at your grey hair!

My lover is as fresh as spring, warm as a summer day.

He is so young, he is so brave, and ah…he loves me so!

Oh how I caressed him in the dark of night!And how we laughed at your grey hair!

Images by

A. AtroshenkoN. Bessonov

H. MerleS. Rosa

Photographs by

A. Souvorov

Aleko. Aleko’s CavatinaGustavo Ahualli

The entire camp is asleep. The moon above shines with its midnight beauty.

Why does my poor heart quiver? With what sadness am I tormented?

Without care, without regret I spend my days in nomadic roaming.

Having cast off the shackles of civilization, I am free as they are.

I have lived without acknowledging the authority of cruel blind fate.

But, oh God, how the passions play with my helpless soul!

Zemfira! How she loved me!

How tenderly she pressed against me in silence, all through the night!

How often with her lovely chattering and her entrancing kisses she was able to quickly dispel my heavy thoughts.

I remember: full of passion, she whispered to me then: “I love you! I am in your power! Yours, Aleko, forever!”

And I would forget everything as I listened to her words. Like a madman, I kissed…

…her enchanting eyes, the strands of her hair, darker than night, Zemfira’s lips…

Whilst she, in ecstasy, full of passion, clung to me and gazed into my eyes...

But what happened?

Zemfira is unfaithful!

My Zemfira has grown cold!

INTERMISSION

Images by M. Chagall, A. Korin, A. Svedomsky, M. VrubelPhotographs by A. Souvorov

INTERMISSION

14 595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221201918171615141312111009080706050403020100

13 595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221201918171615141312111009080706050403020100

12 595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221201918171615141312111009080706050403020100

11 595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221201918171615141312111009080706050403020100

10 595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221201918171615141312111009080706050403020100

9 595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221201918171615141312111009080706050403020100

8 595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221201918171615141312111009080706050403020100

7 595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221201918171615141312111009080706050403020100

6 595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221201918171615141312111009080706050403020100

5 595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221201918171615141312111009080706050403020100

4 595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221201918171615141312111009080706050403020100

3 595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221201918171615141312111009080706050403020100

2 595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221201918171615141312111009080706050403020100

1 595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221201918171615141312111009080706050403020100

595857565554535251504948474645444342414039383736353433323130292827262524232221201918171615141312111009080706050403020100

Bel Cantanti Opera

presents

Johann StraussDie Fledermaus (The Bat)

Saturday, December 7, 7:30pmSunday, December 8, 3:00pm

Saturday, December 14, 7:30pmSunday, December 15, 3:00pm

Randolph Road Theater, 4010 Randolph Rd, Silver Spring, MD

Get your tickets at

www.belcantanti.com

Pyotr Ilyich TchaikovskyIolanta

Friday, January 17, 7:30pmSunday, January 19, 3:00pm

Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington 6125 Montrose Rd, Rockville, MD

Get your tickets at

www.belcantanti.com

Они отвечали. They answered.

Text by Lev Mey after Victor Hugo Ashley Alden

They asked: "How can we glide in flying barks, like white seagulls over the waves,

so that the guards won't reach us?"

"Keep on rowing!“, they answered.

They asked: "How can one forget forever that this merciless world is full of poverty and troubles, full of menaces and sorrows?"

"Fall asleep!" , they answered.

They asked: "How can we attract beautiful women without love-potions, so that they fall into our arms having heard our words of passion?"

"Be in love!" , they answered.

Images by

N. Roerich

СиреньLilacs

Text by A. BeketovaAshley Alden

In the morning, at daybreak, over the dewy grass, I will go to breathe the crisp dawn.

…and in the fragrant shade, where the lilac crowds, I will go to seek my happiness...

In life, there is only one happiness for me to discover, and that happiness lives in the lilacs.

In the green boughs, in the fragrant bunches, my little happiness blossoms...

Images by

I. GrabarK. KostandiI. LevitanV.Serov

V. TabaninM. Vrubel

Отрывок из МюссеAn excerpt from Musset

Text by A. Apukhtin(after A. de Musset)

Gustavo Ahualli

Why is my sick heart beating so frantically And pleading and yearning for peace?

What so excites and scares me in the night?

The door slammed shut, moaning and weeping,Rays of a flickering lamp dimly flashed...

My God! My breath is caught in my chest!

Someone is calling me, whispering sadly...Someone has come in...?

My room is empty, no one is here.It's only the clock striking midnight...

O, loneliness, O despair!

Images by I. Glazunov, W. Kurelek, F. Lembersky

Здесь хорошоHow fair this placeText by G. Galina

Ashley Alden

How fair this place...Look, in the distance, the river sparkles like fire.

The meadows stretch out like a colored carpet,the clouds are white.

There are no people here…There is just silence...

Only God and I…

Flowers, and an old pine tree…

And you, my dream!

Images by

I. LevitanS. Zhukovsky

Христос воскрес! Christ is Risen!

Text by D. MerezhkovskyMichael Celentano

"Christ is risen“ they sing in church. Yet I am sad… my soul is silent.

The world is steeped in blood and tears,so this hymn before the altars sounds like an insult.

Were He present among us to see what our glorious age has achieved, how brother hates brother,

and how shameful is mankind…

And if, within the shining church, this "Christ is risen"He were to hear, what bitter tears before the crowd would He sob!

Images by I. Repin, V. Perov

У моего окнаBefore my windowText by G. Galina

Sarah Hayashi

Before my window blooms a bird-cherry tree. It blooms thoughtfully under its silver veil.

And with its branch fresh and fragrant it leans in and calls me...

I happily catch the cheerful breath of its quivering petals.

Their sweet fragrance is intoxicating.

And they are singing wordless songs of love.

Images by V. Borisov-Musatov, I. Levitan, V. Soldatkin

Вчера мы встретилисьYesterday we metText by Y. Polonsky

Michael Celentano

Yesterday we met. She halted… as did I...

We looked into each other’s eyes.

Oh God, how she had changed.The fire in her eyes was extinguished, and her cheeks had grown pale.

And for a long time, I looked at her, silently, severely.

The poor little soul offered her hand and smiled…

I wanted to speak; but she, for the sake of God, ordered me to be silent.

…and immediately turned away, knitted her brows, and pulled away her hand…

… and spoke: “Good bye.”

And I wanted to say:”Farewell forever, ruined, but sweet creature.”

Images by

V. Borisov-MusatovI. Kramskoy

K. SomovV. Surikov

МузыкаMusic

Text by Y. PolonskyChantelle Grant

They are swimming and growing, these wonderful sounds. I'm swept up in a wave of sound...

It has come up and lifted me, and it is full of unknown pain and bliss...

And for a moment, a divine image flashed with an illusory beauty and floated up, like a living vision…

Over this airy, crystal-clear wave…

And was reflected, and was swayed,And either smiled... or shed a tear...

Images by

N. Roerich

ВокализVocalize

Ashley Alden

Images by A. Kuindzhi, I. Levitan, A. Makovsky, V. Polenov, I. Ostrouhov, V. Serov, I. Shishkin, S. Zhukovsky

Francesca da RiminiDuet of Francesca and Paolo

Francesca: Cristina NassifPaolo: Jeffery Springer

PAOLO (reading)The fair Guinevere having dismissed her handmaidens and pages, was sitting alone.

Then Galahad, resplendent in his weaponry, appeared, and bending his knee, spoke thus:

Permit a servant of your heavenly beauty, Queen, to bring to you a hero. He has performed in your name a number of great feats.

He is the son of King Guinevis, his name is Lancelot of the Lake.He longs to fall at your feet...

What do you think, Francesca, should Guinevere allow Lancelot to appear before her?

FRANCESCA Oh, yes! I shouldn’t love her

were she not to pity him.

PAOLO Yet you yourself are cruel...

FRANCESCA Be silent, faithless one. Have you forgotten that you swore to me that you would not recall those things which I dare not, must not listen to?

PAOLO Oh, Francesca!

As the early portent of morning colored the east with the tints of tender radiant roses…

So the cheeks of the pale queen began to glow at the name of the “Stranger from the Lake”

With the barest nod of her head Guinevere allowed the hero to come in, and Galahad

brought in him who had once been his enemy.

…but now timorous and anxious, he did not dare to raise his eyes to the queen...

Oh, how sweet, how awe-inspiring it was for them! How fortunate they were!

FRANCESCA Fortunate... Oh, yes!

And now the wondrous voice of the lady rang forth: “Fearless knight, what do you want?’”

…But the poor woman couldn’t continue.

“The Son of the Lake” glanced straight into her eyes. And she saw that there was no need to make any further inquiries.

What he wanted was the same as she:

…to gaze and be struck dumb in rapturous silence...”

FRANCESCA Oh, do not look at me like that... Read!

PAOLO Am I to read how he who is so fortunate clung to the lips of his beloved, how, forgetting everything…

…they abandoned themselves to passion and were frozen in the bliss of an eternal embrace? Oh, Francesca!

FRANCESCA Oh, do not sob, my Paolo, do not...

FRANCESCA Let it be that we are not fated to know kisses,

let it be that here we must be apart...

The time of our earthly wanderings is short, our earthly dreams will flash by in an instant!

Do not weep, for the reward for all our earthly suffering awaits us both…

… in that place where there are no shadows or deprivation, a place that is an imperishable temple of love.

There, on high, beyond the boundaries of this world, soaring in your embraces in the azure of the radiant ether, I shall be forever yours!

PAOLO What to me is paradise with its impassionate beauty

when a tempest is raging in my blood?

PAOLO I am seized by the indomitable will of earthly love.

Oh, the ardent bliss of a kiss! I would forfeit the blessed sight of incorporeal spirits,

paradise and the beauty of heaven just for one instant...

…one instant of the fiery touch of burning lips on lips. My whole life, my whole world in a single moment,

all eternity is there!

FRANCESCA Alas, I am given to another!

PAOLO No! No! Before heaven you are mine!

God bound us together!

Did you not swear before the host of the powers most high that you will bind your life to mine?

FRANCESCA Go away... Go away... leave me... you must not...

PAOLO Before heaven you are mine. FRANCESCA The torments of hell await us!

PAOLO I shall be there with you!

FRANCESCA Oh, Paolo! PAOLO Oh, Francesca!

FRANCESCA With you hell is better than paradise! PAOLO Where you are there is happiness without end!

FRANCESCA Swooning in your embraces, what to me is the divine halo?

PAOLO You are mine in happiness and in suffering... Everywhere and always I shall be will you!

FRANCESCA Take me... I am yours, yours... PAOLO Swoon, swoon in my kisses!

FRANCESCA, PAOLO: Just for one instant! One instant of the fiery touch of burning lips on lips...

My whole life, my whole world in a single moment, all eternity is there...

Oh, blessed instant, the longed-for instant!

PAOLO: My dearest! I shall forfeit everything, everything!

In you is eternal bliss!

FRANCESCA : I am yours forever! In you is eternal bliss!

Images by

P. BordoneS. BotticelliA. Cabanel

W. DyceH. J. Ford

F. HarrisonA. Scheffer

F. R. PickersgillRaphael

D. G. Rosetti

Running and awakening the sleepy shore,Running and glittering and announcing loudly…

They are announcing loudly to every corner:

Spring is coming, Spring is coming!We are the messengers of young Spring!

Spring is coming, Spring is coming!