The Evening Star from Tannhauser

Today's famous aria can be downloaded here. for more information look here, here and here.  "Tannhäuser and the Minnesingers' Contest at Wartburg") is an 1845 opera in three acts, with music and text by Richard Wagner (WWV 70 in the catalogue of the composer's works). It is based on two German legends: Tannhäuser, the mythologized medieval German Minnesänger and poet, and the tale of the Wartburg Song Contest. The story centers on the struggle between sacred and profane love, as well as redemption through love, a theme running through most of Wagner's work. Enjoy!

Then You'll Remember Me from The Bohemian Girl

Today's song can be downloaded here. The Bohemian Girl is an English Romantic opera composed by Michael William Balfe with a libretto by Alfred Bunn. The plot is loosely based on a Miguel de Cervantes' tale, La Gitanilla.
The best-known aria from the piece is "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls" in which the main character, Arline, describes her vague memories of her childhood. It has been recorded by many artists, most famously by Dame Joan Sutherland, and also by the Norwegian soprano Sissel Kyrkjebø and Irish singer Enya. For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Woman Is Changeable (La donna è mobile)

Today's aria from the Opera Rigoletto can be downloaded here. For more information look here and here. Enjoy!

Songs my Mother Taught me (Czech: Když mne stará matka zpívat učívala)

This gypsy song by Dvorak can be downloaded here. for more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Habanera "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" ("Love is a rebellious bird") from Carmen Opera

Today's aria from the opera Carmen can be downloaded here. For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Vocalise (Rachmaninoff)

Today's famous aria by Rachmaninoff can be downloaded here. For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

The Pink Panther

This song can be downloaded here. 

"The Pink Panther Theme" is a jazz composition by Henry Mancini written as the theme for the 1963 film The Pink Panther and subsequently nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score at the 37th Academy Awards but lost to the Sherman Brothers for Mary Poppins. The eponymous cartoon character created for the film's opening credits by David DePatie and Friz Freleng was animated in time to the tune. The tenor saxophone solo was played by Plas Johnson.

The tune was included on the film's soundtrack album (originally issued as RCA Victor LPM/LSP-2795) and available as a single (in the United States) in 1964; the single reached the Top 10 on the U.S. Billboard adult contemporary chart and won three Grammy Awards.

Various recordings of the composition appeared in the opening credits of all The Pink Panther films except A Shot in the Dark and Inspector Clouseau. It has also been used in theatrical shorts, television cartoons, commercials and other works in which the animated Pink Panther appears.

"The Pink Panther Theme" is composed in the key of E minor, temporarily moves to the key of G minor for a bridge, and finishes back in the original key.

In his autobiography Did They Mention the Music?, Mancini talked about how he composed the theme music:

I told [the animators] that I would give them a tempo they could animate to, so that any time there were striking motions, someone getting hit, I could score to it.

[The animators] finished the sequence and I looked at it. All the accents in the music were timed to actions on the screen.

I had a specific saxophone player in mind—Plas Johnson. I nearly always precast my players and write for them and around them, and Plas had the sound and the style I wanted.

From 1976 to 1991, the theme served as the think music for Safe Crackers, a pricing game featured on the American game show The Price Is Right.

In the 1978 film Revenge of the Pink Panther, the theme—and much of the soundtrack from this entry in the series—drew heavily from the disco sound of the late 1970s. The theme itself was reworked to include a dancier bassline, electric keyboard, and a guitar solo. A similar treatment was given to 1983's Curse of the Pink Panther, where the music featured considerably more synthesized elements.

The theme was used in John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola's live version of Chick Corea's "Short Tales of the Black Forest", from the 1981 album Friday Night in San Francisco.

In the 1993 film Son of the Pink Panther, the theme was rearranged and performed by Bobby McFerrin in the opening titles, the only version of the theme to be performed in a cappella style. The credits featured the theme in the traditional style, similar to its appearance in Return of the Pink Panther, with an electric keyboard bassline.

Actresses Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz, along with Los Angeles–based entertainers The Pussycat Dolls, danced to the theme in their film Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003).

Christophe Beck rearranged the music for various uses in the 2006 reboot and its sequel, The Pink Panther 2—DJ Paul Oakenfold remixed the theme song for the 2006 film. Mancini is given a posthumous credit in the opening titles for the theme.

The theme was featured in the film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004).

A rearranged guitar version of Henry Mancini's "Pink Panther Theme", composed by David Ricard, was used for the short-lived Pink Panther and Pals series in 2010.

My Heart At Thy Sweet Voice ("Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix") From Samson and Delilah

Today's famous aria can be downloaded here. For more information look here and here. Enjoy!


My Heart At Thy Sweet Voice Lyrics

My heart at they sweet voice
Swift unfolds like a flower,
When the dawn first is showing.

But Oh! to stop my tears
Thou has it in thy power,
One word more, love be stowing.

To thy Delilah gay
Thou returnest for alway!
Repeat they wooing tender,
All the vows once more tell;
Those sweet vows lov’d so well!

Chorus

Ah! come list to my fond wooing!
‘Tis with ardor my heart imbuing!
Listen unto my wooing, Listen unto my wooing
Ah! ‘Tis with ardor my heart imbuing!




Original French Lyrics

Ah! come list to my fond wooing!
‘Tis with ardor my heart imbuing!
Listen unto my wooing, Listen unto my wooing
Ah! ‘Tis with ardor my heart imbuing!

Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix comme s'ouvrent les fleurs

Aux baisers de l'aurore!

Mais, ô mon bien-aimé, pour mieux sécher mes pleurs,

Que ta voix parle encore!

Dis-moi qu'à Dalila tu reviens pour jamais!

Redis à ma tendresse

Les serments d'autrefois, ces serments que j'aimais!

Ah! réponds à ma tendresse!

Verse-moi, verse-moi l'ivresse!

Ainsi qu'on voit des blés les épis onduler

Sous la brise légère,

Ainsi frémit mon cœur, prêt à se consoler

À ta voix qui m'est chère!

La flèche est moins rapide à porter le trépas,

Que ne l'est ton amante à voler dans tes bras!

Ah! réponds à ma tendresse!

Verse-moi, verse-moi l'ivresse!

Symphony No.40

Today's famous symphony by Mozart can be downloaded here. For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Song to the Moon from "Rusalka"

Today's famous aria from the opera Rusalka can be downloaded here. For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Pisen Rusalky O Mesiku (Song of the Moon), Rusalka's aria from Rusalka

Mesiku na nebi hlubokem               O moon high up in the deep, deep sky,
Svetlo tvé daleko vidi,               Your light sees far away regions,
Po svete bloudis sirokém,             You travel round the wide,
Divas se v pribytky lidi.             Wide world peering into human dwellings

Mesicku, postuj chvili                O, moon, stand still for a moment,
reckni mi, kde je muj mily            Tell me, ah, tell me where is my lover!
Rekni mu, stribmy mesicku,            Tell him. please, silvery moon in the sky,
me ze jej objima rame,                That I am hugging him firmly,
aby si alespon chvilicku              That he should for at least a while
vzpomenul ve sneni na mne.            Remember his dreams!
Zasvet mu do daleka,                  Light up his far away place,
rekni mu, rekni m kdo tu nan ceka!    Tell him, ah, tell him who is here waiting!
O mneli duse lidska sni,              If he is dreaming about me,
at'se tou vzpominkou  vzbudi!         May this remembrance waken him!
Mesicku, nezhasni, nezhasni!          O, moon, don't disappear, disappear!

Translation by Jules Brunelle (brunellejules@videotron.ca)

Funeral March of a Marionette

Today's classical piece by Gounod can be downloaded here. For more information look here and here. Enjoy!

Pavane by Faure

Today's classical piece is by Faure and can be downloaded here. For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Fur Elise

Today's famous classical piece by Beethoven can be downloaded here. For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Evening Prayer from "Hansel and Gretel" opera

Today's famous classical duet can be downloaded here. For more information look here, here and here. Enjoy!

Here are the words, in German:

Abends, will ich schlafen gehn,vierzehn Engel um mich stehn:zwei zu meinen Häupten,zwei zu meinen Füßen,zwei zu meiner Rechten,zwei zu meiner Linken,zwei die mich decken,zwei, die mich wecken,zwei, die mich weisenzu Himmels Paradeisen!

And now the English translation:

When at night I go to sleep,Fourteen angels watch do keep,Two my head are guarding,Two my feet are guiding;Two upon my right hand,Two upon my left hand.Two who warmly coverTwo who o’er me hover,Two to whom ’tis givenTo guide my steps to heaven.