Sunday Serendipity

By Jace, a Trail Mix Contributor

A beautiful duet for a gorgeous Sunday Morning. For me at least, one of the truely stunning and captivating moments in all of opera literature. Performed by two legendary voices.

Enjoy the music and as always enjoy your day!

At the back of the holy temple,
decorated with flowers and gold,
A woman appears!
A woman appears!
I can still see her!
I can still see her!

The prostrate crowd
looks at her amazed
and murmurs under its breath:
look, this is the goddess
looming up in the shadow
and holding out her arms to us.

Her veil parts slightly.
What a vision! What a dream!
The crowd is kneeling.

Yes, it is she!
It is the goddess,
more charming and more beautiful.
Yes, it is she!
It is the goddess
who has come down among us.
Her veil has parted and the crowd is kneeling.

But through the crowd
she makes her way.
Already her long veil
hides her face from us.
My eyes, alas!
Seek her in vain!
She flees!
She flees!

But what is this strange flame
which is suddenly kindled in my soul!
What unknown fire is destroying me?
Your hand pushes mine away!
Your hand pushes mine away!
Love takes our hearts by storm
and turns us into enemies!
No, let nothing part us!
No, nothing!
Let nothing part us!
No, nothing!
Let us swear to remain friends!
Let us swear to remain friends!
Let us swear to remain friends!
Oh yes, let us swear to remain friends!

Yes, it is her, the goddess,
who comes to unite us this day.
And, faithful to my promise,
I wish to cherish you like a brother!
It is her, the goddess,
who comes to unite us this day!
Yes, let us share the same fate,
let us be united until death!

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Pogo
7 years ago

I’m a largely unschooled and lightly experienced opera fan of sorts but I know good music and good voices when I hear them. This passes with flying colors on both counts. As always, thanks Jace for expanding my musical base.

And I gotta say that I am looking forward to a week in NYC. Starting out installing LP in his dorm today. Tomorrow- Billy Joel at MSG. I’m loving it.

patd
7 years ago

jace, beautiful sunday morning wakeup call.

above pic is wiki’s illustration of scene….not exactly  botticelli’s venus on a half shell, but okay for the time and place.

chuckling over this stanza in the libretto with thoughts of the twit & co going to jail and Hillary becoming prez by default:

Yes, it is her, the goddess,
who comes to unite us this day.
And, faithful to my promise,
I wish to cherish you like a brother!

patd
7 years ago

trolling the twit can be fun some days

usatoday via msn: Twitter trolls Trump on ‘heal’ vs. ‘heel’ typo 

sjwny
7 years ago

All the best, Pogo, on your trip.

 

patd
7 years ago

craig, when you write “the messengers attack” sequel don’t forget the humorists/pundits who influence.  the late art buckwald mentioned by keith was one to mention.

Published on Aug 18, 2017

The enduringly lame explanations to excuse a scandalous president.

patd
7 years ago

Starting out installing LP in his dorm today

pogo, hopefully his room is not a 5 story walk-up considering all that audio equipment you have to lug up the stairs in addition to tv, favorite games, books etc.  otherwise your week in the big apple will be nursing sore muscles at the nearest sauna/hotel spa.  if you make it to a late night comedy show, wave to us from the audience and be sure to wear your “make donald drumpf again” hat.  🙂

Jamie44
7 years ago

Jace,  Absolutely lovely and a perfect selection for an opera about jealousy and those in conflict.

Pogo, Safe travels for you and LP.  Hope he settles in well and you have a great time in the apple

Craig, I love the idea of  “The Messenger Attacks”.  There is a major book in there if you feel up to a really big one.

 

Flatus
7 years ago

Jace, I’ve never heard better. But, what should we expect from two extraordinary voices from operatic history in a singular performance. Excellent find on your part. Thank you.

Pogo, good luck and happy studying for LP, and enjoy your vacation.

 

craigcrawford
7 years ago

Enjoy NYC Pogo, post a picture if you can

Katherine Graham Cracker
7 years ago

Thanks Jace

and your above comment is great

Sturgeone
7 years ago

Me old mudda loved opera any and all of them…..these guys were two of her favorites……muchissima gracias, Mein Herr

Sturgeone
7 years ago

And yes, anyone who has the opportunity to publish a book oughta do so……like you say the main thing is thinking of what to say, but hell, once you get that the rest is easy, right?

RebelliousRenee
7 years ago

ahhhhh…  thinking of my father while listening to Jace’s selection…

Hey Solarman…  get your butt back here!

Was so glad to see the overwhelming crowd of anti-racist protestors in Boston yesterday.

I like mustard and ketchup on my hotdogs….   yes…  ketchup….   so… shoot me!

Have a great time Pogo!

RebelliousRenee
7 years ago

oh yeah…  I forgot…

if the spirit moves you…  definitely write that book Craig.

Jamie44
7 years ago

Dick Gregory story (sort of).  In 1970 I worked for Dole in San Jose.  The cannery was all hispanics.  In the offices, all white. Secretaries (before they were called admin assistants) all female.  All management was male, and downstairs in printing all black.  The other secretaries wondered how I got stuff out of printing on almost immediate turn around.  Didn’t have the hear to tell them that most of the guys were friends and actually liked being treated courteously.  One young man was always asking for book suggestions for insight on history & race.

The prohibition in my family over the use of a certain word was so strong, that I could only bring my copy of Gregory’s autobiography and hold it out with, “you might want to read this one”  It is still one I would highly recommend.

 

Sturgeone
7 years ago

Write, write, write, that novelette

write, write, write, until you write yourself to death

Then tell St. Peter at the golden gate, you’re really sorry but he’ll have to wait

cause you’ve got to write another novelette…..

—asleep at the schpiel

 

Katherine Graham Cracker
7 years ago

.

Sturgeone
7 years ago

I’ve heard tell that in parts of NC they put slaw on hotdogs, like they do on that stuff they have up there which they are wont to call Bar-b-q

Katherine Graham Cracker
7 years ago

..
Do you think they serve them at Republiklan meetings

patd
7 years ago

the hill

Poll: Trump’s favorability rating falls in three key states he won in 2016
A new group of polls show President Trump’s favorability rating has fallen below 40 percent in three key states that helped him win the White House in 2016.
The three polls, conducted by NBC News/Marist in the states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, show more than half of voters now have an unfavorable view of Trump.
[….]
The NBC News/Marist poll also found that in all three states, voters prefer a Democrat-controlled Congress to a Republican-controlled Congress. Voters in Michigan prefer a Democrat-controlled Congress by a margin of 48 to 35, while voters in Wisconsin gave Democrats an 8-point advantage and Pennsylvania voters give them a 10-point advantage.
The polls were conducted from August 13 to 17, after the violence at a white supremacist rally in Virginia and following Trump’s initial response to the violence, in which he didn’t directly call out white supremacists and instead placed the blame on “many sides.” Each poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 points.
 

Sturgeone
7 years ago

Probably mandatory.   They’re crazy up there.

Jamie44
7 years ago

Now Jerry Lewis at dead at 91.  https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/4283709/jerry-lewis-dead-comedian-age-91/

Loved everything he ever did with Muscular Dystrophy telethons, but I was a teenager working at The Hill theater and always took my break just to watch this entrance.

https://youtu.be/1MsgHyRGA88

 

craigcrawford
7 years ago

I appreciate the book advice and encouragement, am feeling a gelling of the brain coming on. Driving to Orlando this week, much time for thinking.

patd
7 years ago

have a feeling awhnold is trying to drive the twit crazy… uh, crazier.

wapo:

“The only way to beat the loud and angry voices of hate is to meet them with louder and more reasonable voices. And that includes you, President Trump,” Schwarzenegger says in the video, posted to ATTN’s Facebook page Thursday. “In fact, as president of this great country, you have a moral responsibility to send an unequivocal message that you don’t stand for hate and racism.”

Schwarzenegger then offers an example of what that message might sound like: “‘As President of the United States, and as a Republican, I reject the support of white supremacists,’” he says. “‘The country that defeated Hitler’s armies is no place for Nazi flags. The party of Lincoln won’t stand with those who carry the battle flags of the failed Confederacy.’”

[….]

And even in his newest video — clearly intended to offer an earnest message to Trump, and a scathing condemnation of Nazis — Schwarzenegger couldn’t resist taking one more jab at the commander in chief. After delivering his suggested speech into the camera, Schwarzenegger leans down, and a small Donald Trump bobblehead suddenly comes into view.
“Was that difficult?” Schwarzenegger asks the solemn-faced toy. Then he laughs: “See, I told you!”

patd
7 years ago

craig, hope you and the rest of the trail aren’t on any road going near and during the eclipse pathway. there’ll be a lot of traffic jams and worse for those 3-4 hours.  talk about texting while driving distraction!  there’ll be a texting, taking selfies, stopping starting hell on the highway.

patd
7 years ago

politicoJeh Johnson: Trump’s generals shouldn’t resign

Jeh Johnson, who ran the Department of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama, said Sunday that the cadre of generals and retired generals advising President Donald Trump must remain in place for the good of the country.

“Frankly, if John Kelly, or my friend Jim Mattis, came to me and said I’m thinking about resigning from this White House, I’d say absolutely not. You have to stay,” Johnson said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“As John reportedly said, it’s country first. And we need people like John Kelly, Jim Mattis, H.R. McMaster to right the ship.”

Kelly, the White House chief of staff, and Mattis, the secretary of defense, are retired from the military. McMaster, the president’s national security adviser, remains on active duty.

Johnson said no one expected so many retired generals to be holding civilian positions in the White House, but that he’s glad they remain there despite a raft of resignations from the president’s advisory councils and talk about whether other White House officials might depart.

Johnson also laid out a national security argument for cities removing Confederate monuments, noting that they become “rallying points” for white nationalists and neo-Nazis. 

“We fought a world war against Nazism. The KKK rained terror on African-Americans for generations,” he said.

 “And so a number of Americans, rightly, Republican and Democrat, are very concerned and very alarmed. And I salute those in cities and states who are taking down a lot of these monuments for reasons of public safety and security.”

Jamie44
7 years ago

Jace

You cousin sounds like someone anyone would like to know.  What an interesting man.  Hope everyone stays safe, has a good time, and really enjoys the chili.

Blue Bronc
7 years ago

Jace – Chugwater is a fine place.  I used to work out of Rawlins for several years.  Amoco Production Co.

Katherine Graham Cracker
7 years ago

I wonder if the French will have a national day of mourning

blueINdallas
7 years ago

The French love Jerry Lewis.

 

blueINdallas
7 years ago

So, Trump can’t even  let the sun & the moon have their special day.  He has to ruin it with a prime time address tomorrow night. Jeez.

RebelliousRenee
7 years ago

What?!!  SFB is making a prime time speech tomorrow…

I have a Red Sox game to watch.  Or maybe I’ll be washing my hair.  I think my toe nails need to be clipped.

blueINdallas
7 years ago

I guess tomorrow is national ball of hot gas day.

whskyjack
7 years ago

I thought I had too much to do in 94 when the eclipse went  100 miles south of us. But not this year. I’m taking the day off and  driving 20 miles north to be in the middle of the zone. No funny glasses for me I’m old schooling it. Took a broken piece of glass and did a heavy smoke on it with a candle. Just tested it, it works fine.  Take along some sandwiches and a 6 pack. I’ll be just fine

Jack

Pogo
7 years ago

Thanks for all the good wishes. So far, so good. LP’s in a dorm his first year. 2nd floor, elevator (no lugging shit up 10 flights).  Electronics are hooked up. Roommate is a math grad student guitar player – brought 2 guitars and his own amp.  Not a bad draw. Tried to post a pic from Bryant Park. Couldn’t do it. I’m challenged…

Pogo
7 years ago

Poobah, drive safely. Not stopping in SC to see a sign of end times are you?

Pogo
7 years ago

Renee, I’m a hot dog blasphemer too. Ketchup, mustard onions, sweet relish and I’m happy ?

patd
7 years ago

renee & pogo, that’s really my preference on dog dressing too, the default for sure, and I don’t think we are blasphemers at all, more orthodox traditionalists.
however, I do waiver on the run of the mill oscarmeyernathans type dog, Hebrew national is the best imho.