The Love and the Life

• Clara Weick Schumann Sechs Lieder (1844) Op. 13 (English Translation © Richard Stokes)

1.I Stood Darkly Dreaming

I stood darkly dreaming
And stared at her picture,
And that beloved face
Sprang mysteriously to life.
About her lips
A wondrous smile played,
And as with sad tears,
Her eyes gleamed.
And my tears flowed
Down my cheeks,
And ah, I cannot believe
That I have lost you!
Translations by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)

2.They Loved One Another

They loved one another, but neither
Wished to tell the other;
They gave each other such hostile looks,
Yet nearly died of love.
In the end they parted and saw
Each other but rarely in dreams.
They died so long ago
And hardly knew it themselves.

3.Love’s magic

Love, as a nightingale,
Perched on a rosebush and sang;
The wondrous sound floated
Along the green forest.
And as it sounded, there arose a scent
From a thousand calyxes,
And all the treetops rustled softly,
And the breeze moved softer still;
The brooks fell silent, barely
Having babbled from the heights,
The fawns stood as if in a dream
And listened to the sound.
Brighter, and ever brighter
The sun shone on the scene,
And poured its red glow
Over flowers, forest and glen.
But I made my way along the path
And also heard the sound.
Ah! all that I’ve sung since that hour
Was merely its echo.

4.The moon rises silently

The moon rises silently
With its golden glow.
The weary earth then falls asleep
In beauty and splendour.
Many thousand loving thoughts
From many faithful minds
Sway on the breezes
Over those who slumber.
And down in the valley
The windows sparkle of my beloved’s house;
But I in the darkness gaze
Silently out into the world.

5.I saw in your eyes

I saw in your eyes
The ray of eternal love,
I saw on your cheeks
The roses of heaven.
And as the ray dies in your eyes,
And as the roses scatter,
Their reflection, forever new,
Has remained in my heart,
And never will I look at your cheeks,
And never will I gaze into your eyes,
And not see the glow of roses,
And the ray of love.

6.The silent lotus flower

The silent lotus flower
Rises out of the blue lake,
Its leaves glitter and glow,
Its cup is as white as snow.
The moon then pours from heaven
All its golden light,
Pours all its rays
Into the lotus flower’s bosom.
In the water, round the flower,
A white swan circles,
It sings so sweetly, so quietly,
And gazes on the flower.
It sings so sweetly, so quietly,
And wishes to die as it sings.
O flower, white flower,
Can you fathom the song?

• Clara Weick - improvisation for piano solo (Petr Aidu)

  • Selected songs of J. BRAHMS English Translation © Richard Stokes

1.Good Evening, Good Night
Lullaby

Good evening, good night,
Bedecked with roses,
Adorned with carnations*,
Slip under the covers.
Tomorrow morn, if God wills,
You'll awake once again.
Tomorrow morn, if God wills,
You'll awake once again.

Good evening, good night,
Little angels watch over;
In a dream they show
You a Christmas tree.
Sleep only blessed and sweet,
See paradise in your dream.
Sleep only blessed and sweet,
See paradise in your dream

2.True love

‘Oh drown, oh drown your grief, my child,
In the sea, the fathomless sea!’ –
A stone may stay on the ocean bed,
My grief will always surface. –
‘And the love you bear in your heart,
Pluck it out, pluck it out, my child!’ –
Though a flower will die when it is plucked:
Faithful love will not fade so fast. –
‘Faithful, faithful – is but a word,
Away with it to the winds!’ –
Though a rock, O mother, will split in the wind,
My faithful love will withstand it.

3.My sleep grows ever quieter

My sleep grows ever quieter,
Only my grief, like a veil,
Lies trembling over me.
I often hear you in my dreams
Calling outside my door,
No one keeps watch and lets you in,
I awake and weep bitterly.
Yes, I shall have to die,
You will kiss another
When I am pale and cold.
Before May breezes blow,
Before the thrush sings in the wood;
If you would see me once again,
Come soon, come soon!

4.Songs of Youth I: My love’s as green

My love’s as green as the lilac bush,
And my sweetheart’s as fair as the sun;
The sun shines down on the lilac bush,
Fills it with delight and fragrance.
My soul has a nightingale’s wings
And sways in the blossoming lilac,
And, drunk with fragrance, exults and sings
Many a love-drunk song.

NATALIA PAVLOVA

Moscow and Rome-based soprano Natalia Pavlova (who is a descendant of Russian national poet Alexander Pushkin) has graced the stages of Carnegie Hall, Moscow Chaikovsky State Conservatory, Auditorium Parco della Musica (Rome), and many others throughout the world.

Active in performing music from antiquity to today, she was a soloist for 6 years in the Moscow theater School of Dramatic Art, directed by Anatoly Vasiliev. Natalia has sung world premiere performances and recordings of works by composers Giovanni Sollima, Venus Rey and Iraida Yusupova, composed specially for her voice, as well as pieces by Vladimir Martynov. She serves on Artistic Council of The First Cultural International Festival, Russian-Rome, Palazzo Poli in Rome, and was recently awarded the Silver Lion at the Narnia International Festival, as well as the International "Clean Sound" Award.
She has recorded 3 CD with contemporary music of Rey Jr and Yusupova in Da Vinci Classics and in Art Classics.

PETR AIDU

The winner of numerous international competitions Peter Aidu is a truly virtuoso pianist. His mastery and performance range regularly astound his audiences: from Baroque to contemporary, from the delicate performance of the finest compositions to grand scale opuses that require two-hands performance on two grand pianos at the same time.

Peter Aidu has been a part of everything new and vital that’s been happening on the Russian acoustic scene for the last ten years. The graduate of Moscow Conservatory with specialization in piano and organ is an architect, archeologist and artist of sound. He plays a number of instruments, some of them common, such as the harpsichord and grand piano, others — less common, such as the hammer clavier and lute. He performs on a giant bagpipe in Moscow parks; or arranges a show with marimbas, rung ladders, and rusty gear-wheels; or puts together a construct of sliced metal sheets that explores the correlation of sound and form.

Peter Aidu has organized a hospice for elder pianos and spends part of his time reconstructing vintage rarities. Using the 18th century textbook, he reconstructed some French dance music. His other creations include an experimental orchestra without a conductor, and Popov sound machines — clunky, but touching monsters that “speak” in place of thunderstorm, trains and fighter aircraft. His latest work is called the Sound Landscapes performance: it’s a presentation of four audio canvases made with a help of old-time theatrical machinery, and as a result the audience experiences a transcendental listening experience of alternate injections of sounds such as a carpet bombing, or a tropical rain, or the Atlantic surf.