Lisa Newill-Smith, soprano
David Wishart, pianist
Performed in Stralsund on 23 May 2020
Shakespeare Songs (1897)
1. O Mistress Mine
2. Take, O take those lips away
3. Fairy Lullaby
Nocturne for solo piano Op. 107 (1924)
3 Browning Songs (1900)
1. The Year’s at the Spring
2. Ah, Love but a day!
3. I send my heart up to thee!
Enjoy our livestream concert from 20 June 2020 featuring Josina van Boetzelaer and Marianna Martines! For more information on the composers, visit their bio pages.
Repertoire & Translations
Josina van Boetzelaer
Che non mi disse un di, Op. 4 (1780)
What hasn’t he already said to me? Which gods hasn’t he sworn to? And how, oh God, could he be, how could he still be so lacking in faith! I have lost everything for him; Today I lose it again. My poor feelings! This is what you give back to me, Love, This is your mercy?
Marianna Martines
Sonata in E Major (1762)
La Tempestà (1778)
As a storm approaches, a young shepherd approaches the shepherdess Nice promising that he will not try to court her again. He warns her of the storm and offers to help her guide her flock to safety. When she doesn’t respond, he eventually convinces her to hide from the storm in the caves with him.
While the storm rages outside, the shepherd remarks that Nice is shivering and afraid. He promises once again to not speak of love, and that he will leave once the sky has cleared up. He says he will protect her in the storm, and she clings to him. By her blushes and her eyes, he can see that she does in fact love him. After this realization, he wishes for the storm to never end because it has brought him the greatest joy – that of love.
Interested in the sheet music for the Martines? Send me a message!
Mini-Concert of Clara Schumann’ Op. 13 and Amy Beach’s Ye banks and braes (Robert Burns) on 14 April 2020
English Translation by David Wishart
Six songs op.13
1. I stood in dark dreams (Heinrich Heine)
I stood in dark dreams and gazed at her portrait,
and that beloved face furtively came alive.
Around her lips a wonderful smile appeared
and as if from melancholy tears her two eyes gleamed.
My tears also flowed down from my cheeks, and ah, I can’t believe,
that I have lost you!
2. They loved one another (Heinrich Heine)
They both loved one another, but neither
would confess it to the other.
They glared at each other so coldly,
yet wanted to die of love.
They finally separated and saw each other
only occasionally in their dreams.
They were already long dead
and hardly even knew it.
3. Love’s Spell (Emanuel Geibel)
Love sat like a nightingale
in the rose bush and sang;
the wondrous sweet sound flew
all across the green forest.
And as it sounded, there rose in a circle
perfume from a thousand flowers,
and all the treetops rustled softly,
and the air went even more quietly;
the brooks were silent, they hardly
rippled down from the heights
the little deer stood as if in a dream
and listened to the sound.
And bright and ever brighter flowed
the sun’s brilliance,
around flowers, forest and canyon
a golden red glow poured.
I however was walking along the path
and heard the sound too.
Alas! From that hour on what I sang
was just its echo.
4. the moon comes silently (Emanuel Geibel)
The moon comes silently
with its golden shine,
meanwhile in beautiful splendor
the tired earth sleeps.
And on the skies sway
from many a faithful mind
many thousand thoughts of love
over the sleepers.
And down in the valley
the windows of my beloved’s house sparkle;
I however am in the dark
silently staring out into the world.
5. I have seen in your eyes (Friedrich Rückert)
I have seen in your eyes
the shine of eternal love,
I saw on your cheeks
the roses of heaven blooming.
And though the shine in your eyes is extinguished
and though the roses are scattered,
their reflection, eternally refreshed,
has stayed in my heart,
And never will I look at your cheeks
and never gaze in your eyes,
without the roses blooming on them
without them sending the shine to me.
6. The silent lotus flower (Emanuel Geibel)
The silent lotus flower
rises from the blue lake,
the leaves flicker and flash,
the cup is white as snow.
On it the moon pours from the sky
all its golden shine,
it pours all its rays
into the flower’s bosom.
In the water around the flower
a white swan circles,
it sings so sweetly, so softly
and looks at the flower.
It sings so sweetly, so softly
and wants to perish in singing.
O flower, white flower,
can you understand the song?