Celine Dion

Celine Dion has sung a few songs with the superstars of the world of music such as Luciano Pavarotti and Barbara Streisand. Listen to one of these gorgeous songs, see the lyrics, and download the sheet music:

Celine Dion & Pavarotti
I hate You Then I Love You
From “Let’s Talk About Love”
Song 4:45 Min 1.11 Mb
Sheet Music 690 Kb (Zip)

I'd like to run away from you,
But if I were to leave you I would die,
I'd like to break the chains you put around me,
And yet I'll never try.

No matter what you do you drive me crazy,
I'd rather be alone,
But then I know my life would be so empty,
As soon as you are gone.

Impossible to live with you,
But I could never live without you,
For whatever you do / For whatever you do,
I never, never, never,
Want to be in love with anyone but you. . .

You make me sad,
You make me strong,
You make me mad,
You make me long for you / You make me long for you.

You make me live,
You make me die,
You make me laugh,
You make me cry for you / You make me cry for you.

I hate you,
Then I love you,
Then I love you,
Then I hate you,
Then I love you, I Love You more.
For whatever you do,
I never, never, never,
Want to be in love with anyone but you.

You treat me wrong,
You treat me right,
You let me be,
You make me fight with you / I could never live without you.

You make me high,
You bring me down,
You set me free,
You hold me bound to you.

I hate you,
Then I love you,
Then I love you,
Then I hate you,
Then I love you more / I love you more.
For whatever you do / For whatever you do,
I never, never, never,
Want to be in love with anyone but you.

I never, never, never,
I never, never, never,
Want to be in love with anyone but you.
But. . . you. . .

A Star Is Born

If you were a teenager in 1970s, it’s most likely you remember the musical love story “A Star Is Born”.

Talented rock star John Norman Howard (Kris Kristofferson) meets the innocent, pure and very talented singer Esther Hoffman (Barbra Streisand). As one of his songs in the movie says "I'm gonna take you girl, I'm gonna show you how." And he does. He shows Esther the way to stardom while forsaking his own career. As they fall in love, her success only makes his decline even more apparent. It was a great love story and a great film for the time.

Listen to the most charming song “Evergreen” as the movie finale, sung by Barbara Streisand live in a concert years after:

Evergreen 3:03 min 742 Kb

Love soft as an easy chair,
Love fresh as the morning air,
One love that is shared by two,
I have found with you.
Like a rose under the April snow,
I was always certain love would grow,
Love ageless and evergreen,
Seldom seen by two.
You and I will make each night a first,
Every day a beginning. . .

Spirits rise and their dance is unrehearsed,
They warm and excite us, cause we have the brightest love.
Two lives that shine as one,
Morning glory and midnight sun,
Time we've learned to sail above,
Time won't change the meaning of one love,
Ageless and ever evergreen. . .

Glenn Gould

Listen to one of the most beautiful performances of the first piano concerto by Brahms, performed by Glenn Gould, with Leonard Bernstein conducting New York Philharmonic. The quality is poor due to the live recording with the equipment used in 1963, but it definitely is worth listening. Also a pre-concert talk by Maestro Bernstein, and a short radio interview with Glenn Gould about the program would be interesting to listen to.

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Piano Concerto No. 1, D Minor Op. 15
Piano: Glenn Gould
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein
Recorded 1963, live at concert

1. 1st Movement, Maestoso, poco piu moderato [6.04 Mb 25:49 min]
4. Pre-concert talk, Leonard Bernstein [0.99 Mb 4:12 min]
5. Radio interview about the concert [0.91 Mb 3:45 min]

Notes about Glenn Gould (1932-1982):

- Gould was born Glen Gold in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 25, 1932. His family was Protestant and changed their name soon after his birth, fearing that it would otherwise be mistaken as Jewish during the growing anti-Semitism of the time.

- Glenn Gould frequently hummed along while he played, and his recording engineers varied in how successfully they could exclude his voice from his recordings. Gould claimed this singing was unconscious, and increased proportionately with the inability of the piano in question to realise the music as he intended.

- Gould also was known for his peculiar body movements while playing and for his insistence on sameness. He would only play concerts whilst sitting on a chair his father made. He continued to use this chair even when the seat was nearly worn through. His chair is so closely identified with him that it is shown in a place of honour in a glass case in the National Library of Canada.

- Gould was very afraid of being cold and wore very warm clothes, including gloves, at all times, even when he was in warm places. Gould also disliked social functions. He had an aversion to being touched and in later life he refused to talk to almost anyone in person, relying on the telephone and letters for communication. He conducted interviews with himself, wrote unusual personal advertisements about himself which he submitted to newspapers, and recorded other people's conversations in public places. When he was still performing publicly, he did a concert with the Cleveland Orchestra, after which conductor George Szell remarked, "No doubt about it - that nut's a genius".

Carmina Burana

Carl Orff (1895-1982)
Carmina Burana, A Scenic Cantata
1. O Fortuna (Audio, 2:37 min 637 Kb)
New England Conservatory Chorus
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Seiji Ozawa

Lyrics, Latin
O Fortuna, velut luna, statu variabilis,
semper crescis, aut decrescis;
vita detestabilis, nunc obdurat, et tunc curat
ludo mentis aciem, egestatem, potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem. . .

Sors immanis, et inanis,
rota tu volubilis, status malus,
vana salus, semper dissolubilis,
obumbrata shadowed
et velata and veiled
michi quoque niteris;
nunc per ludum, dorsum nudum, fero tui sceleris. . .

Sors salutis
et virtutis, michi nunc contraria,
est affectus, et defectus
semper in angaria.
Hac in hora, sine mora
corde pulsum tangite;
quod per sortem, sternit fortem,
mecum omnes plangite!

Lyrics, English
O Fortune, like the moon, you are changeable,
Ever waxing, and waning. . .
Hateful life, first oppresses, and then soothes,
As fancy takes it, poverty, and power,
It melts them like ice. . .

Fate, monstrous, and empty,
You whirling wheel, you are malevolent,
Well-being is vain, and always fades to nothing,
You plague me too;
Now through the game,
I bring my bare back, to your villainy. . .

Fate is against me,
In health, and virtue,
Driven on, and weighted down, always enslaved.
So at this hour, without delay,
pluck the vibrating strings,
Since Fate, strikes down the string man,
Everyone weep with me!

Pathetic

The last symphony No. 6 was premiered nine days before the pathetic death of the composer. It’s often called Tchaikovsky’s suicide note because of the sad aspects of the music.

Finale, after the brilliant second and third movements, returns to the darkness of the first. Without ever quickening, after the shivering sound of the tam-tam, the movement meanders off into a quiet end, leaving a feeling of despair and sadness.

The best performance of the symphony and especially the finale is definitely by the New York Philharmonic under the amazing baton of Leonard Bernstein.

Listen to a small part of this performance:

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Symphony No. 6 B Minor Opus 74 ‘Pathetic’
4. Finale, Adagio lamentoso – Andante
4:14 Min 1.79 Mb

Karajan in Rehearsal

For those who love the extraordinary conductor Herbert von Karajan, listening to his voice in a rehearsal session with the phenomenal Berlin Philharmonic would be amazing, although in German:

W.A. Mozart (1756-1791)
Symphony No. 39 E-flat K.543
Second Movement Andante con Moto

Niccolo Paganini

The first string (E) was torn right in the middle of the main part of the concert that night. Niccolo pretended to be disappointed for seconds. But when he continued playing on 3 strings and the second string (A) was torn minutes later too, everybody at the concert could understand what was going on!

It was written in the papers on the morrow, “In the concert last night, the young violinist Niccolo Paganini played the theme and the first variation on four strings, the second variation on three strings, the third on two strings, and the last variations on one last G string. Only those who could play without any strings may compete with Paganini!”

It was said Devil assisted this nineteenth century violinist from Italy. It’s also said the laughter of Devil could be heard in his thirteenth caprice of the 24 caprices opus one. You listen to the caprice, and decide.

N. Paganini, Caprice No. 13 44 Sec 653 Kb
From 24 Caprices Opus 1
Violin Salvatore Accardo