Concert Program Copy
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AMERICAN LYRIC THEATER PRESENTS FROM ERASED TO SELF-EMPOWERED CELEBRATING BIPOC COMPOSERS AND LIBRETTISTS TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS “O Viviane, auprès de toi” from Brocéliande (1892) Composer: Lucien Lambert (1858-1945) LibreDst: André Alexandre (1860-1928) GILDAS GILDAS O Viviane, auprès de toi l’heure trop brève O Viviane, the too brief hour, Dans un enchantement s’enfuit. In enchantment, has fled. Combien de fois le jour a remplacé la nuit How many Lmes has day replaced the night, Depuis qu’en ce château je rêve Since I dreamt, in this castle, De ton regard exquis et de ton front divin! Of your exquisite gaze and your divine face. Mais je dois regagner enfin but I have to go back Le palais de mon maître; To my master’s palace; O blonde charmeresse, O blonde charmer, Laisse moi parLr, le temps presse. me leave, Lme presses. VIVIANE VIVIANE J’ai marché ce=e nuit dans le bois merveilleux That night, I walked into the wonderful woods Où la source murmure à l’ombre des cyLses Where the spring whispers in the shades of the trees, Et les on des surprises And the all the wonders, M’ont demandé Asked me, ‘Pourquoi ces larmes dans tes yeux?’ ‘Why the tears in your eyes?’ J’ai répondu I responded, ‘Le mal d’aimerest chose étrange. ‘The evil of loving is a strange thing. Quand je voudrais sourire il me tombe des pleurs, When I want to smile, I fall into tears, Et mon être languit, mystérieux mélange And my being languishes, mysterious mixture De chansons d’allégresse et d’hymnes de douleurs.’ Of songs of joy and hymns of pain.’ Reste, Gildas, pour toi mes lèvres Stay Gildas, for you my lips Ont appris de charmants aveux; Have learned charming confessions; Nous vivrons d’éternelles fièvres, We will live in an eternal fever, De parfums et de songes bleus. Of perfumes and blue dreams. GILDAS GILDAS Hélas! Je bois chaque parole Alas! I drink every word Que tu murmures, et pourtant That you whisper, and yet, Je dois parLr, l’heure s’envole, I must leave, the hour is flying, Làbas une vierge m’a=end. There, a virgin is waiLng for me. VIVIANE VIVIANE Reste encor! À ta voix je tressaille enivrée. Stay! I tremble at your voice, intoxicated. Tristan, ce chevalier dont tu m’as délivrée, Tristan, that knight you rescued me from, Ne fut pour moi jamais Was never for me Qu’un seigneur et qu’un maître. He was only a lord and a master. C’est toi, Gildas, toi que j’aimais It’s you, Gildas, I loved. Et c’est toi qu’appelait mon être. And it is you that I was called to. Oh! Ne me qui=e pas. Oh! Do not leave me. Esclaves, versez-nous Slaves, pour us Dans des coupes d’argent l’ambroisie odorante. Silver cups of fragrant ambrosia. Gildas, à nos amours. Gildas, to our love. GILDAS GILDAS Ciel! Ma pensée errante Heaven! My wandering thoughts! Malgré moi s’égare en des désirs fous. Despite myself, I get lost in mad desires. O magie, O magic, Sur ma face pâlie. On my pale face Voici qu’un jour descend Here the day descends! Divin resplendissant! Divine resplendent! Vivane, c’est toi qu’en songe Vivian, it is you in a dream Admiraient mes yeux éblouis. Dazzling my admiring eyes. Si ton sourire est un mensonge, If your smile is a lie, C’est que tu mens, astre des nuits. It is your lie, star of the night. C’est que tout est couvert d’un voile It is all covered with a veil D’infamie et de fausseté Of infamy and falsehood. C’est que ton regard, douce étoile, It is your gaze, sweet star, Ne luit pas dans l’immensité. Does not glow in the immensity. Je t’aime, ô Vivane. I love you, oh Viviane. VIVIANE Ecoute: on nous appelle, Listen, we are called, Le grand lac nous sourit et la vague éLncelle. The great lake smiles at us and the waves sparkle. GILDAS GILDAS Je t’aime. I love you. VIVIANE VIVIANE Viens voguer sur les flots aux magiques clartés. Come sail on the waves of magical light. bientôt viendra le soir, heure des voluptés. Soon the evening will come, the hour of delight. VIVIANE/GILDAS VIVIANE/GILDAS Viens et que notre beau songe Come and let our beauLful dream Erre làbas sur les flots bleus. Wander over the blue waves. VIVIANE VIVIANE Si mon regard est un mensonge, If my gaze is a lie, C’est que l’astre ment dans les cieux. It is the star that lies in the heavens. GILDAS GILDAS Si ton regard est un mensonge, If your gaze is a lie Qu’importe il m’entr’ouvre les cieux. No ma=er what, it opens the heavens to me. “I was moved first” from We shall not be moved (2017) Composer: Daniel Bernard Roumain (b.1970) LibreDst: Marc Bemuthi Joseph (b.1975) My parents are immigrants, To show and prove I AM the law My brother didn’t live to see this day, I AM the law now I grew up on these streets, North Philly bred. brown girl I bleed blue West Philly beat. I am shaped by loss, Every day I patrol these mostly empty streets And just jaded enough to stay It was easy to tell when the kids moved in On the right side of safe but I waited to watch their next move… I am a trained stoic. Feeling like a vicLm of the system I was moved first by the girl who refused me. That’s why I joined the force Refused us. Ghe=o flower picked and planted in the law. Didn’t want the soluçion I AM the law Told us her school was a trap for her I AM the law now And her niños Boyco=ed. North Philly bred Screamed enough. West Philly beat Every day I patrol these mostly empty streets Went to the haunted block It was easy to tell where the fire burned all them years ago It was easy to tell when the kids moved in but I waited to watch their next move… Refused her teachers Just in case I had to show and prove. Told us she’d rather learn from the ghosts’ Los fantasmas Just in case I had to show and prove Insisted she’d be safer in the ashes Just in case to show and prove…. but as it is she had to move… I’ve been there… A young woman Feeling like a vicLm of the system That’s why I joined the force Ghe=o flower picked and planted in the law. I AM the law. I AM the law now Picked even though my parents are immigrants Even though my brother didn’t live to see this day When I wear this badge all that goes away I grew up on these streets brown girl I bleed blue, Go=a work twice as hard as my brother cops “ErnesWne, que vas-tu faire…Ô Clemangis” from Ernes5ne (1777) Composer: Joseph Bologne (1745-1799) LibreDst: Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (1741-1803) (Recit) (Recit) ErnesLne, que vas-tu faire? ErnesLne, what will you do? As-tu bien consulté ton coeur? Have you consulted your heart? Au fond de ta retraite austère, Deep in your austere withdrawal Vois l’impuissant regret, See the hapless regret, L’éternelle douleur s’a=acher The eternal sadness a=aches  tes pas combler ton malheur. To your steps making your misfortune. Cruel amour, cruel honneur! Cruel love, cruel honor! D’un sacrifice necessaire cessez Stop your conflicts that double the horror Par vos combats de redoubler l’horreur. Of a necessary sacrifice. (Aria) (Aria) Ô Clemangis, lis dans mon âme. Oh Clemangis, read my soul. Vois ma douleur et mon amour. See my pain and my love. Hélas! Tout m’afflige en ce jour, Alas! Everything afflicts me on this day Et tout semble augmenter ma flâme. And everything seems to increase my torment. Pourrai je donc vivre sans toi? Can I live without you? Non, non jamais, le sort barbare; No, no never, the barbaric fate; En vain m’en impose la loi. In vain, the law is imposed on me. Oui, c’est en vain qu’il nous sépare. Yes, it is in vain that he separates us. Toi seul est tout pour moi. You alone are everything for me. Près d’une amante qui t’adore Near a lover who adores you Un moment vient te réunir. A moment comes to reunite you. Qu’elle puisse te voir encore, That she can see you again, Ce sera son dernier plaisir. Will be her last pleasure. “The Moon Duet” from Act 2, Scene 1 of An American Soldier (2018) Composer: Huang Ruo (b.1976) LibreDst: David Henry Hwang (b.1957) DANNY One last thing Josephine, I miss you. JOSEPHINE He says, He says, He says he misses us all. The moon here is so much smaller, Much less bright Than the one that shined When you were in Chinatown. Wish I could see it, One more Lme. I miss that moon with you. DANNY The moon here is so much sadder, Much more harsh, Than the one that shined When I was in Chinatown. DANNY Wish I could see you, one more Lme. I miss that moon with you. JOSEPHINE The moon here is so much sadder. The moon here is so much smaller, Much more harsh Much less bright Than the one that shined Than the one that shined When I was in Chinatown When you were in Chinatown Wish I could see it, Wish I could see it, One more Lme.