maria callas

Listening to Maria Callas recently, I continue to be challenged by the operatic form which seems contrived at times. However, it is hard not to admire the accomplished nature of the performances. In particular I have been struck by Callas' version of Ebben! Ne andrò lontana. It has a slight manic quality at the end which you just don't seem to get in much popular music.

I think above all the classic and operatic has a broader range of both musicality and emotion which is hard to find in the 3 minute pop song. Don't get me wrong, The Beatles prove pop can be great but even they needed to stretch into other forms to get what they wanted to say said as Sgt. Pepper's testifies. Pop is at its best when it breaks its own form, think Nirvana, think Pink Floyd, think Radiohead.

Ebben! Ne andrò lontana (Ah well then! I shall go far away)
Come va l'eco pia campana, (Like the echo of the pious church-bell goes away,)
Là fra la neve bianca; (There somewhere in the white snow;)
Là fra le nubi d'ôr; (There amongst the clouds of gold,)
Laddóve la speranza, la speranza (There where hope, hope)
È rimpianto, è rimpianto, è dolor! (Is regret, is regret, is sorrow!)

O della madre mia casa gioconda(O from my mother's cheerful house)
La Wally ne andrà da te, da te! (La Wally is about to go away from you, from you!)
Lontana assai, e forse a te, (Quite far away, and perhaps to you,)
E forse a te, non farà mai più ritorno, (And perhaps to you, will never more return,)
Nè più la rivedrai! (Nor ever more see you again!)
Mai più, mai più! (Never again, never again!)

Ne andrò sola e lontana, (I will go away alone and far,)
Là, fra la neve bianca, n'andrò, (There, somewhere in the white snow, I shall go,)
N'andrò sola e lontana (I will go away alone and far)
E fra le nubi d'ôr! (And amongst the clouds of gold!)

Ebben! Ne andrò lontana (Ah well then! I shall go far away)
Come va l'eco pia campana, (Just like the echo of the pious church-bell goes away,)
Là fra la neve bianca; (There somewhere in the white snow;)
Là fra le nubi d'ôr; (There amongst the clouds of gold,)
Laddóve la speranza, la speranza (There where hope, hope)
È rimpianto, è rimpianto, è dolor! ( Is regret, is regret, is sorrow!)
O della madre mia casa gioconda (O from my mother's cheerful house)
La Wally ne andrà da te, da te! (La Wally is about to go away from you, from you!)
Lontana assai, e forse a te, (Quite far away, and perhaps to you,)
E forse a te, non farà mai più ritorno, (And perhaps to you, will never more return,)
Nè più la rivedrai! (Nor ever more see you again!)
Mai più, mai più! (Never again, never again!)

Ne andrò sola e lontana, (I shall go away alone and far,)
Come l'eco della pia campana, (Like the echo of the pious church-bell goes away,)
Là, fra la neve bianca, n'andrò, (There, somewhere in the white snow, I shall go,)
N'andrò sola e lontana (I'll go away alone and far)
E fra le nubi d'ôr! (And amongst the clouds of gold!)



Listening to this record, I wonder why the old fool Onassis ever left Callas for Jacqueline Kennedy. Such a force, what a woman, what a voice.

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