Song Lyrics Sunday: A little light music…Opera and Musicicals

Good morning and it is Sunday again time for Song Lyric Sunday. Our gracious host Jim Adams has come up with a novel prompt this week :

September 6, 2020 – Musical/Opera

My first thought was Evita, I have always loved this Musical. The original cast with David Essex and Julie Covington are my firm favourites. Sorry about the boring video but it’s the only one I could find of them together.

Julie Covington and David Essex.

Evita is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics and book by Tim Rice. It concentrates on the life of Argentine political leader Eva Perón, the second wife of Argentine President Juan Perón. The story follows Evita’s early life, rise to power, charity work, and eventual death.

The musical began as a rock opera concept album released in 1976. Its success led to productions in London’s West End in 1978, winning the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical, and on Broadway a year later, where it was the first British musical to receive the Tony Award for Best Musical.

This has been followed by a string of professional tours and worldwide productions and numerous cast albums, as well as a 1996 film adaptation of the musical. The musical was revived in London in 2006, and on Broadway in 2012, and toured the UK again in 2013–14 before running for 55 West End performances at the Dominion Theatre in September–October 2014. More information here

Then l fell in love with the film staring Antonio Banderas as Ché and Madonna as Evita.

Evita is a 1996 American musical drama film based on the 1976 concept album of the same name produced by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, which also inspired a 1978 musical. The film depicts the life of Eva Perón, detailing her beginnings, rise to fame, political career and death at the age of 33. Directed by Alan Parker, and written by Parker and Oliver Stone, Evita stars Madonna as Eva, Jonathan Pryce as Eva’s husband Juan Perón, and Antonio Banderas as Ché, an everyman who acts as the film’s narrator. More information here

High flying adored is my favourite song from the Musical Evita, it set in a meeting between the two that probably never happened.

“High Flying, Adored”
(from “Evita” soundtrack)

[Che:]
High flying, adored
So young, the instant queen
A rich beautiful thing, of all the talents
A cross between a fantasy of the bedroom and a saint
You were just a backstreet girl
Hustling and fighting, scratching and biting

High flying, adored
Did you believe in your wildest moments
All this would be yours
That you’d become the lady of them all?

Were there stars in your eyes
When you crawled in at night
From the bars, from the sidewalks
From the gutter theatrical
Don’t look down, it’s a long, long way to fall

High flying, adored
What happens now, where do you go from here?
For someone on top of the world
The view is not exactly clear
A shame you did it all at twenty-six
There are no mysteries now
Nothing can thrill you, noone fulfill you

High flying, adored
I hope you come to terms with boredom
So famous so easily, so soon
It’s not the wisest thing to be

You won’t care if they love you
It’s been done before
You’ll despair if they hate you
You’ll be drained of all energy
All the young who’ve made it would agree

[Eva:]
High flying, adored
That’s good to hear but unimportant
My story’s quite usual
Local girl makes good, weds famous man
I was stuck in the right place at the perfect time
Filled a gap, I was lucky
But one thing I’ll say for me
Noone else can fill it like I can

And now for something completely different, some opera . Let’s look at Philippe Jaroussky a wonderful Countertenor. This is opera at its most interesting a man who sings like a woman .

Philippe Jaroussky (born 13 February 1978) is a French countertenor. He began his musical career with the violin, winning an award at the Versailles conservatory, and then took up the piano before turning to singing.

Unusually for a countertenor, Jaroussky performs entirely in falsetto register. He has said that his natural singing voice is in the baritone range.

Jaroussky was inspired to sing by the Martinique-born countertenor Fabrice di Falco. He received his diploma from the Early Music Faculty of the Conservatoire de Paris. Since 1996, he has studied singing with Nicole Fallien. He cofounded the ensemble Artaserse in 2002, and has also often performed with the Ensemble Matheus under Jean-Christophe Spinosi and with L’Arpeggiata under Christina Pluhar.

On 29 July 2016 he performed David Bowie‘s “Always Crashing in the Same Car” in the David Bowie Prom, a tribute to the late singer as part of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

In September 2017, as a part of the opening of La Seine Musicale, Jaroussky launched his education program, Académie musicale Philippe Jaroussky more information here.

Mournful that day.When from the ashes shall rise a guilty man to be judged.Lord, have mercy on him.Gentle Lord Jesus,grant them eternal rest.Amen.

Lyrics from here

Happy Sunday Everyone ☺️