Clara Schumann's 'Lorelei' depicts the ancient fairytale of a poor sailor being tempted into the rocks by a beautiful sea nymph and her siren song. 

Mezzo soprano - Marienella Phillips
Piano - Masha Tataru

Recorded March 2019 at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff.

Poem: 'Lorelei' by Heinrich Heine

Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten,
Daß ich so traurig bin;
Ein Märchen aus alten Zeiten,
Das kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn.

Die Luft ist kühl und es dunkelt,
Und ruhig fließt der Rhein;
Der Gipfel der Berge funkelt
Im Abendsonnenschein.

Die schönste Jungfrau sitzet
Dort oben wunderbar,
Ihr goldnes Geschmeide blitzet,
Sie kämmt ihr goldenes Haar.

Sie kämmt es mit goldenem Kamme
Und singt ein Lied dabei,
Das hat eine wundersame,
Gewalt’ge Melodei.

Den Schiffer im kleinen Schiffe
Ergreift es mit wildem Weh;
Er schaut nicht die Felsenriffe,
Er schaut nur hinauf in die Höh’.

Ich glaube, die Wellen verschlingen
Am Ende Schiffer und Kahn;
Und das hat mit ihrem Singen
Die Loreley getan.

Translation: 'Loreley'
English Translation © Richard Stokes

I do not know what it means
That I should feel so sad;
There is a tale from olden times
I cannot get out of my mind.

The air is cool, and twilight falls,
And the Rhine flows quietly by;
The summit of the mountains glitters
In the evening sun.

The fairest maiden is sitting
In wondrous beauty up there,
Her golden jewels are sparkling,
She combs her golden hair.

She combs it with a golden comb
And sings a song the while;
It has an awe-inspiring,
Powerful melody.

It seizes the boatman in his skiff
With wildly aching pain;
He does not see the rocky reefs,
He only looks up to the heights.

I think at last the waves swallow
The boatman and his boat;
And that, with her singing,
The Loreley has done.

Translations by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)

Lorelei -  Clara Schumann

Reynaldo Hahn composed 'A Chloris' in 1913. It is an elegant setting of Théophile de Viau’s sixteenth century verse. 

“Vocal phrases are a mixture of short fragments, which capture the natural speech cadences of the breathless lover, and longer lyric lines.” (The French Song Anthology)

The protagonist asks his love if it is true that she loves him and how happy he is that she loves him as much he loves her. The voice interweaves into the piano accompaniment and combines elements of the Baroque with Hahn’s own “salon” style.

Recorded July 2018 at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff

Mezzo soprano - Marienella Phillips
Piano - Jeslyn Assir

Poem: 'A Chloris' by Théophile de Viau

S'il est vrai, Chloris, que tu m'aimes,
Mais j'entends, que tu m'aimes bien,
Je ne crois point que les rois mêmes
Aient un bonheur pareil au mien.

Que la mort serait importune
De venir changer ma fortune
A la félicité des cieux!

Tout ce qu'on dit de l'ambroisie
Ne touche point ma fantaisie
Au prix des grâces de tes yeux.

Translation: 'To Chloris'
English Translation © Richard Stokes

If it be true, Chloris, that you love me,
(And I'm told you love me dearly),
I do not believe that even kings
Can match the happiness I know.

Even death would be powerless
To alter my fortune
With the promise of heavenly bliss!

All that they say of ambrosia
Does not stir my imagination
Like the favour of your eyes!

Translation © Richard Stokes, from 'A French Song Companion' (Oxford, 2000)

A Chloris - Reynaldo Hahn

'Les Études Latines' is a group of eighteen poems by Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle, ten of which Hahn chose to set. 'Néère' is the second in the cycle with a manner of late Fauré, such as 'Dans la Nymphée' and 'Diane, Séléné'. Crotchets in the piano, almost monotonous, change the harmonies discreetly while the vocal line weaves its spell in quavers. While hypnotically gentle and personal, the songs message is much darker and unsettling. 

Recorded July 2018 at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff

Mezzo soprano - Marienella Phillips
Piano - Jeslyn Assir

Poem: 'Néère' by Charles-Marie-René Leconte de Lisle

II me faut retourner aux anciennes amours:
L’Immortel qui naquit de la Vierge Thébaine,
Et les Jeunes Désirs et leur Mère inhumaine
Me commandent d’aimer toujours.

Blanche comme un beau marbre, avec ses roses joues,
Je brûle pour Néère aux yeux pleins de langueur;
Venus se précipite et consume mon cœur:
Tu ris, ô Néère, et te joues!

Pour appaiser les Dieux et pour finir mes maux,
D’un vin mûri deux ans versez vos coupes pleines;
Et sur l’autel rougi du sang pur des agneaux
Posez l’encens et les verveines.

Translation: 'Neaera'
English Translation © Richard Stokes

I must return to the loves of old:
The Immortal One, born of the Theban Virgin,
And youthful Desires and their cruel Mother
Command me to love anew.

White as beautiful marble, with her pink cheeks,
It is Neaera I burn for with her languishing look;
Venus rushes up and consumes my heart:
You laugh, O Neaera, and frolic!

To appease the gods and end my woes,
Fill your goblets with two-year-old wine;
And on the altar, stained with lambs’ pure blood,
Set the incense and verbena.

Translation © Richard Stokes, author of A French Song Companion (Oxford, 2000)

Néère - Reynaldo Hahn

Voi Che Sapete - Le nozze di Figaro by W. A. Mozart

Que fais-tu blanche tourterelle - Romeo et Juliette (Gounod)

Website: www.marienellaphillips.com
E-mail: marienellaph@gmail.com