Lines sung from an opera that act like bullets to your heart-what are they?

[yashin]

Are there any lines sung from opera that are like a bullet to your heart and give you goosebumps and the shivvers?

For me, in Die Tote Stadt at the end when Paul sings "Ein Traum hat mir den Traum zerstört" - a dream/nightmare has shattered all my dreams.  I just love this line-it is so beautiful.

And earlier he is tormented by visions Marie coming back to him and he sings that "our love, was, is and will always be" lamented to a beautiful piece of horns (i think) in the background.  Gets me misty-eyed everytime.

What an opera.  I know some people don't like it much, or don't rate it.  But it has some beautiful melodies, sentiment and deep feelings.

In [b]La Boheme[/b] when Rodolpho sings in Che Gelida Manina-"your lovely eyes has robbed me, all of my dreams bereft me, dream and illusions, fantasies that are no more" -depends on your translation i guess.

In Madama Butterfly towards the end when Cio Cio San tells Kate that she and Pinketon can take the child Sorrow away, these few seconds of music are beautiful.  I can never forget how Price sings this on her set with Tucker.

In La Fanciulla Del West when Minnie is playing the card game with Jack Rance -never will Renata Tebaldi shouting out -TRE ASSI E UN PAIO! - rather vulgar but what a woman!! And who doesn't believe that this is a rough and tough bar owner.  Listen here if you have never heard it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjw8knU3sSM

[jochanaan]

"Io vo' mia figlia!" ("I want my daughter!") --from Verdi's Rigoletto, especially as sung--howled, rather--by Robert Merrill as Rigoletto, after the Duke's courtiers had teased him about his supposed "paramour."

"Amfortas!  Die Wunde!  Die Wunde!" --from Parsifal

"Sail out till you lose sight of land.  Then sink the boat!" --from Britten's Peter Grimes, spoken (not sung) by Balstrode as Grimes sails away for the last time

But the most devastating "lines" are not spoken or sung words at all, but the guillotine strokes in Poulenc's Dialogues des carmelites.

[karlhenning]

Seryozha, khoroshy moy from Ledi Makbet Mtsenskovo Uyezda

[Sergeant Rock]

The final line of Act I, Die Walküre, especially when sung by Jon Vickers in Karajan's Ring:

Braut und Schwester bist du dem Bruder,
so blühe denn Wälsungenblut!

(Wife and sister you'll be to your brother,
so let the Volsung blood flourish!)

In Siegmund's moment of triumph, the seeds of disaster are being sown. His assertion that their bloodline will increase and prosper we know is a cruel illusion, the line an ironic pun. That moment is both thrilling and chilling.

Sarge

[karlhenning]

That moment is both thrilling and chilling.

And more than a little seedy.

[Sergeant Rock]

Mrs. Rock wants me to mention the lines that always get to her (I've never seen her not cry while listening to this): in Turandot, Liù sings:

Per non...per non verderlo più!
Prima di questa aurora,
io chiudo stanca gli occhi
per non verderlo più!

(Never...never to see him again!
Before the break of day,
I shall close my tired eyes
never to see him again!)

and then she stabs herself...

Sarge

[karlhenning]

Tu sei morta, mia vita, ed io respiro?

L'Orfeo, Monteverdi

[Sergeant Rock]

And more than a little seedy.

Yes, that's part of it too: cringing at the immorality of it all. Yes, both Shostakovich and Wagner composed such edifying stage works. 

Wanna talk about Salome now? 

Sarge

[karlhenning]

The Sultans of Elevation, Sarge 

[Sergeant Rock]

The Sultans of Elevation, Sarge 

[Anne]

Yeah for Mrs. Rock!  I always feel like crying too.  Good one!

A place where I feel like crying (Karajan again) is during the humming bird chorus in   the movie with Mirella Freni as Madama Butterfly.

[Anne]

"In Siegfried's moment of triumph, the seeds of disaster are being sown. His assertion that their bloodline will increase and prosper we know is a cruel illusion, the line an ironic pun. That moment is both thrilling and chilling."

Sarge, help me out here.  Are you referring to Siegmund?

[Sergeant Rock]

"In Siegfried's moment of triumph, the seeds of disaster are being sown. His assertion that their bloodline will increase and prosper we know is a cruel illusion, the line an ironic pun. That moment is both thrilling and chilling."

Sarge, help me out here.  Are you referring to Siegmund?

Already noticed the horrifying slip of the mind, and fixed it.

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

A place where I feel like crying (Karajan again) is during the humming bird chorus in   the movie with Mirella Freni as Madama Butterfly.

That entire opera is like a bullet through my heart. It doesn't hit too close to home, it scores a bulls-eye. I can rarely listen to it...just too painful.

Sarge

[bhodges]

The final moments of Berg's Lulu.  After Jack the Ripper has killed Lulu he stabs the Countess Geschwitz, who dies after singing "Lulu, my angel" in a thrilling bit of vocal writing. 

--Bruce

[Wanderer]

But the most devastating "lines" are not spoken or sung words at all, but the guillotine strokes in Poulenc's Dialogues des carmelites.

Devastating, indeed.




"Man töte dieses Weib!" (R.Strauss, Salome). Salome's death sentence.

Also, the opera's very first line:
"Wie schön ist die Prinzessin Salome heute Nacht!"

Töt ihn! Töt ihn! ("Kill him! Kill him!") (Zemlinsky, Eine florentinische Tragödie) ~Bianca cries in support of her soon to be killed lover while he duels her husband.

When everything is finished, husband and wife are reunited...

Bianca: -Warum hast du mir nicht gesagt das du so stark?
Simone: -Warum hast du mir nicht gesagt das du so schön!

(Why didn't you tell me you were so strong?/Why didn't you tell me you were so beautiful!)


Wotan: "Denn einer nur freie die Braut, der freier als ich, der Gott!" (Wagner, Die Walküre).

And for some reason...

"Leporello, un' altra cena fa che subito si porti!" (Mozart, Don Giovanni).

[Anne]

Thanks for mentioning Karajan and Vickers.  I will look for that recording.

You're so right about Butterfly; it is one long big ache.

[Sergeant Rock]

Thanks for mentioning Karajan and Vickers.  I will look for that recording.

I'm in the minority here (well, everywhere  ) but I swear by the Karajan Ring. I've never heard Walküre Act I Scene 3 done so well. Janowitz's voice is absolutely breathtaking, the most sheerly beautiful Sieglinde I've ever heard (no wonder Siegmund is so willing to commit incest  ) Vickers, being Vickers, puts himself completely inside the character. Karajan conducts the score likes its chamber music but Berlin just explodes when the music calls for it: the conducting and orchestra both sensitive and powerful.

Sarge

[yashin]

I completely agree with the what has been said about Berg's Lulu.  The Countess singing after the death of Lulu is a special moment.

What about the end of Janecek's Jenufa when Jenufa sings to Laca.  Heartfelt singing. I just love Janacek.

In I Pagliacci "Un Tal Gioco" the line sung is very nice-James MacCracken springs to mind. I recall reading about Jussi Bjorling that when he sang Canio it felt like the walls were falling in.  Special indeed.

In Werther, before "Pourquoi me réveller" where Werthersings "Oui, c'est moi! Je reviens! "

[Anne]

Sarge,

I have a Karajan Die Walkure recording, unfortunately with Birgit Nilsson, 1969, Met, on cheap label, Nuova Era called "Karajan at the Met."  I say "unfortunately" only because you said "Janowitz."

I listened to it anyway as Vickers would be similar.  Wow!  He really puts the bite into that music!!!  It is terrific.  He makes that scene singlehandedly.  Did that man ever do anything haphazardly?  I hope you have heard him in Fidelio and Peter Grimes.  Thanks for bringing it to everyone's attention. 

There is now the first item on my Christmas List 2007.