G.Bizet The Pearl Fishers Pt4 A1 Léopold Simoneau "A cette voix...Je crois entendre encore"
Georges Bizet Les pêcheurs de perles Act One
Act One
Scène et Choeur "Seule au milieu de nous" cont'd
Récit "A cette voix"
Romance "Je crois entendre encore"
Nadir--Léopold Simoneau
an operbathosa avideo
Role : Nadir, a fisherman
Voice Part : tenor
Fach : lyric tenor
Range : F3 to B5.
Tessitura : A4 to G4
Georges Bizet Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers) 1953
Leila--Pierrette Alarie
Nadir--Léopold Simoneau
Zurga--René Bianco
Nourabad--Xavier Depraz
Elisabeth Brasseur
Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux/Jean Fournet 1953
Part2
Léopold Simoneau (Tenor)
Born: May 3, 1916 - St.Plavien, near Quebéc, Canada
Died: August 14, 2006 - Victoria, BC, Canada
Léopold Simoneau was appointed deputy head of the music division of Quebecs Ministry of Cultural Affairs, a position which led directly to the creation of lOpéra du Québec in 1971. That same year he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. He was also made an Officer of the Ordre des arts et des lettres de France in 1990.
A profile in the International Dictionary of Opera sums up the voice of Léopold Simoneau, claiming he was the Mozart tenor of his generation. To celebrate the 1956 bicentennial of Mozarts birth, Simoneau made several records with some of the worlds outstanding conductors including Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir John Pritchard, Herbert von Karajan, and Bruno Walter, who universally praised his consummate musicianship, silvery tone, faultless technique and heartfelt projection of the inner drama of the Mozart roles.
Over a 30-year professional career, Léoppold Simoneau performed on stages worldwide with such other world-famous conductors as Busch, Otto Klemperer, Krips, and Georg Solti, and sang, in the opinion of one critic, more beautifully than any tenor since John McCormack.
Léoppold Simoneaus repertoire was not confined to Mozart. Eric McLean, a former music critic of the Montreal Star wrote that Simoneau sang a repertoire that ranged from Antonio Vivaldi to Verdi, Gluck to I. Stravinsky and Mozart to Offenbach. Many of his performances on stage, in concerts, and in recording studios were made with his Montréal-born wife, Pierrette Alarie. Together they sang such well-known couple roles as Romeo and Juliet, Vincent and Mireille, Tonio and Marie, Almaviva and Rosina, Alfredo and Violetta, and, most often, Belmonte and Blondchen.
The Simoneaus with their two daughters moved in 1972 to California where he taught voice at the conservatory and Pierrette Alarie became stage director of a number of small opera companies along the California coast. By 1978, the family had moved to Victoria, British Columbia, to join the Festival Concert Society summer music program, and there he and Pierrette Alarie established the Canada Opera Piccola that was soon recognized as one of the most successful centres for advanced training in opera. Cutbacks in government support, however, forced the project to close after the 1988 season, and the Simoneaus, who once had an article about them titled Their Lives Blend as Happily as their Voices, now live relatively quiet lives on Vancouver Island.
Watch videos with other singers performing Seule au milieu de nous:
ZURGA s'avançant vers Léïla Seule au milieu de nous Vierge pure et sans tache promets-tu de garder Le voile qui te cache?
LÉÏLA Je le jure!
ZURGA Promets-tu de rester fidèle à ton serment? De prier nuit et jour au bord du gouffre sombre?
LÉÏLA Je le jure!
ZURGA D'écarter par tes chants Les noirs esprits de l'ombre De vivre sans ami, sans époux, sans amant?
LÉÏLA Je le jure!
ZURGA Si tu restes fidèle et soumise à ma loi, Nous garderons pour toi la perle la plus belle, Et l'humble fille alors sera digne d'un roi! avec menace Mais si tu nous trahis, si ton âme succombe Aux pièges maudits de l'amour, Malheur à toi!
CHŒUR Malheur à toi!
ZURGA C'est ton dernier jour!
CHŒUR Malheur à toi!
ZURGA Pour toi s'ouvre la tombe!
CHŒUR Malheur à toi!
ZURGA La mort t'attend!
CHŒUR Oui!
NADIR se levant et s'avançant vers Léïla Ah! funeste sort!
LÉÏLA à part Ah! c'est lui!
ZURGA saisissant la main de Léïla Qu'as-tu donc? Ta main frissonne et tremble, D'un noir presentiment ton cœur est agité! Eh bien, fuis ce rivage où le sort nous rassemble Reprends ta liberté!
CHŒUR Parle! réponds!
LÉÏLA les yeux tournés vers Nadir Je reste! Je reste ici quand j'y devrais mourir! Que mon sort glorieux ou funeste s'accomplisse! Je reste, mes amis, ma vie est à vous.
ZURGA C'est bien à tous les yeux tu resteras voilée. Tu chanteras pour nous sous la nuit étoilée, Tu l'as promis!
LÉÏLA Je l'ai juré!
ZURGA Tu l'as juré!
NADIR Tu l'as juré!
CHŒUR Brahma, divin Brahma, que ta main nous protége! Des esprits de la nuit, viens écarter le piège! O Dieu Brahma, nous sommes tous à tes genoux! O Brahma, divin Brahma, que ta main nous protége!
Sur un ordre de Zurga, Léïla gravit le sentier qui conduit au temple, suivie de Nourabad; ils disparaissent bientôt dans les profondeurs du temple; les hommes descendent sur le rivage; Zurga se rapproche de Nadir qui n'a cessé de suivre du regard de Léïla qui, une seule fois, s'est retournée vers lui, lui tend la main et s'éloigne avec un dernier groupe de pêcheurs. Le jour baisse peu à peu.
English Libretto or Translation:
ZURGA Alone amongst us, pure and unsoiled virgin, do you promise to keep the veil that hides you?
LEILA I promise!
ZURGA Do you promise to remain true to your oath, to pray, night and day, on the edge of the dark abyss?
LEILA I promise!
ZURGA To keep away with your chants the dark spirits of night, to live friendless, without a husband or a lover?
LEILA I promise!
ZURGA If you remain loyal and obey my law, we shall keep for you the finest pearl and then the humble girl will be worthy of a king. But if you betray us, if your soul weakens before the accursed snares of love, woe unto you!
CHORUS Woe unto you!
ZURGA Your last day has come!
CHORUS Woe unto you!
ZURGA A grave yawns before you!
CHORUS Woe unto you!
ZURGA Death awaits you!
CHORUS Yes!
NADIR standing up and going towards Leila Ah! terrible fate!
LEILA aside as she recognizes Nadir Ah! it is he!
ZURGA grabbing Leila 's hand What is wrong with you? Your hand shivers and trembles; your heart is moved by a gloomy foreboding. Well then, leave this shore where Fate has brought us together, take back your freedom!
CHORUS Speak! Answer!
LEILA looking at Nadir I shall stay! forcefully I shall stay, even though I should die here! Let my fate follow its course, whether glorious or fatal, I shall stay, my friends, my life is yours!
ZURGA Very well, you shall remain veiled to all eyes, you shall sing for us under the starry vault. You have promised...
LEILA I have promised.
ZURGA You have promised!
LEILA I have promised!
ZURGA and NOURABAD You have promised!
CHORUS Brahma, holy Brahma, may your hand protect us, come and dispel the snares of the nightly spirits! O holy Brahma we are all prostrate in front of you! O Brahma, etc.
At Zurga 's word, Leila climbs up the path leading to the temple, followed by Nourabad; they soon disappear into the temple; the men go down to the seashore. Zurga joins Nadir, who has been gazing after Leila. Only once, has she turned round to look at him. Zurga holds out his hand to Nadir and goes away with a last group of pearl fishers. The light is gradually fading.