NOVEMBER 14, 2021 | 4pm ET
Broadway Presbyterian Church (601 W 114th St, New York, NY 10025)
and on ZOOM

Presented by The American Opera Project and Opera on Tap, in association with Broadway Presbyterian Church

LYRICS

"Dich teure, Halle" from Tannhäuser
Richard Wagner, Eng. Translation Aranyhaj

Dear hall, I greet you once again,
Joyfully, I greet you, beloved place!
In you, his songs awaken
and wake me from gloomy dreams.
When he departed from you,
how desolate you appeared to me!
Peace left me and
Joy took leave of you.
How strongly my heart is leaping now!
Now you appear exalted and sublime to me.
He revives both you and me
And does not stray afar any longer.
I greet you!
I greet you!
You, precious hall,
Receive my greeting!

I Love Being Here with You
Peggy Lee, arr. Dwight Howard

I love the East, I love the West
And North and South, they’re both the best
But I’ll only go there as a guest
'Cause I love being here with you
I love the sea, I love the shore
I love the rocks and what is more
With you there, they'd never be a bore
'Cause I love being here with you
Singing in the shower, laughing by the hour
Life is such a breezy game
Love all kinds of weather, as long as we're together
I love to hear you say my name
I love good wine and fine cuisine
And candlelight, I like the scene
But baby if you know what I mean
I love being here with you!
I like a dance by Fred Astaire
And Brando's eyes, Yul Brynner's hair
But I think to tell you's only fair
That I love being here with you
And Cary Grant, oh do-dah-day
His utter charm takes me away
But don't get me wrong, how do you say
I love being here with you
Basie's band a-swingin, I like Ella's singing
‘Cause there's something else you know
They know how to say it, they know how to play it
They wind it up and let it go
I love the thrill of New York shows
I'd love to kiss Durante's nose
But I'd like to say before I close
I love being here with you!

Touched by an Angel
Maya Angelou

Victoria A. Davis recites:
We, unaccustomed to courage
Exiles from delight
Live coiled in shells of loneliness
Until love leaves its high holy temple
And comes into our sight
To liberate us into life.
Love arrives
And in its train come ecstasies
Old memories of pleasure
Ancient histories of pain.

Attendees are invited to speak along:
Yet if we are bold,
Love strikes away the chains of fear
From our souls.
We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love’s light
We dare be brave
And suddenly we see
That love costs all we are
And will ever be.
Yet it is only love, which sets us free.

My One and Only Love
Robert Mellin, arr. Dwight Howard

The very thought of you makes my heart sing
Like an April breeze on the wings of spring,
And you appear in all your splendor,
My one and only love.
The shadows fall and spread their mystic charms
In the hush of night while you're in my arms.
I feel your lips, so warm and tender,
My one and only love.
The touch of your hand is like heaven,
A heaven that I've never known.
The blush on your cheek whenever I speak
Tells me that you are my own.
You fill my eager heart with such desire.
Ev'ry kiss you give sets my soul on fire.
I give myself in sweet surrender,
My one and only love.

Muse of Memory
Adrienne Danrich, Paul Moravec

Remembering the memories of the melody
From our first dance
Our first kiss
Mmm…
Slow and sultry
The scale…
Winding ’round our auras
Like the twisting curves of the Achelous.
Bending
Looping in on itself until it’s within our veins
The skein…
Not to be untied
Forever bound
In our hearts
Our souls
Remember
Remember
Memory

Una furtiva lagrima" from L’elisir d’amore
Felice Romani, Gaetano Donizetti, Eng. Translation Aaron Green

A single secret tear
From her eye did spring:
As if she envied all the youths
That laughingly passed her by.
What more searching need I do?
What more searching need I do?

She loves me! Yes, she loves me, I see it. I see it.
For just an instant the beating
Of her beautiful heart I could feel!
As if my sighs were hers,
And her sighs were mine!

The beating, the beating of her heart I could feel,
To merge my sighs with hers...
Heavens! Yes, I could die!
I could ask for nothing more, nothing more.
Oh, heavens! Yes, I could, I could die!
I could ask for nothing more, nothing more.
Yes, I could die! Yes, I could die of love.

And I Have You
Nikki Giovanni

Blythe Gaissert recites:
Rain has drops
Sun has shine
Moon has beams
That make you mine

Attendees are invited to speak along:
Rivers have banks
Sands for shores
Hearts have heartbeats
That make me yours
Needles have eyes
Though pins may prick
Elmer has glue
To make things stick
Winter has Spring
Stockings feet
Pepper has mint
To make it sweet
Teachers have lessons
Soup du jour
Lawyers sue bad folks
Doctors cure
All and all
This much is true
You have me
And I have you

"Habanera" from Carmen
Ludovic Halévy, Henri Meilhac, George Bizet, Eng. Translation Lea Frey

Love is a rebellious bird
That nothing can tame,
And it is simply in vain to call it
If it is convenient for it to refuse.
Nothing will work, threat or pleading,
One speaks, the other stays silent
And it's the other one that I prefer
He hasn't said anything, but he pleases me.
Love! Love! Love! Love!

Love is the child of a Bohemians existence,
It hasn’t, ever known about laws,
If you do not love me, I love you
If I love you, watch out for yourself!
If you do not love me,
If you do not love me, I love you!
But if I love you,
If I love you, watch out for yourself!
The bird that you thought to surprise
Flapped its wings and flew away;
Love is far away, you can wait for it;
If you don’t wait for it any longer, it is there.
All around you, quickly, quickly,
It comes, goes, then comes back.
All around you, quickly, quickly,
It comes, goes, then comes back.
You think to have it, it avoids you;
You think to avoid it, it holds you.
Love! Love! Love! Love!

Love is the child of a Bohemians existence,
It hasn’t, ever known about laws,
If you do not love me, I love you
If I love you, watch out for yourself!
If you do not love me,
If you do not love me, I love you!
But if I love you,
If I love you, watch out for yourself!

"Deh, vieni alla finestra" from Don Giovanni
Lorenzo Da Ponte, W.A. Mozart, Eng. Translation Camila Argolo Freitas Batista

Oh, come to the window, my love;
Oh, come and take away all my sorrow!
If you refuse me comfort,
Before your adoring eyes, I will die.
Your lips are sweeter than honey,
Your heart is sweetness itself:
Then, don’t be cruel, my angel,
I beg for one glance, my beloved!

Love is Something if you Give it Away
Melvina Reynolds

Love is something if you give it away
Give it away, give it away
Love is something if you give it away
You end up having more

It's just like a magic penny
Hold it tight and you won't have any
Lend it, spend it, and you'll have so many
They'll roll all over the floor

For love is something if you give it away
Give it away, give it away
Love is something if you give it away
You end up having more
Money's dandy and we like to use it
But love is better if you don't refuse it
It's a treasure and you'll never lose it
Unless you lock up your door

For love is something if you give it away
Give it away, give it away
Love is something if you give it away
You end up having more

So let's go dancing till the break of day
And if there's a piper, we can pay
For love is something if you give it away
You end up having more
For love is something if you give it away
Give it away, give it away
Love is something if you give it away
You end up having more

In This Very Room
Ron and Carol Harris

In this very room,
There's quite enough love for one like me,
And in this very room,
There's quite enough joy for one like me,
And there's quite enough hope
And quite enough power to chase away any gloom,
For Jesus, Lord Jesus is in this very room.

And in this very room,
There's quite enough love for all of us,
And in this very room,
There's quite enough joy for all of us,
And there's quite enough hope
And quite enough power to chase away any gloom,

For we all, yes we all, are in this very room
And in this very room
There's quite enough love for all the world,
And in this very room
There's quite enough joy for one like me
And there's quite enough hope
And quite enough power to chase away any gloom,
For (Jesus) we all, are in this very room

SOPRANO
Rita Dove

Andrew Garland recites, Attendees are invited to speak along:

When you hit
The center
Of a note, spin
Through and off
The bell lip
Into heaven,
The soul dies
For an instant --
But you don't need
Its thin
Resistance
Nor the room
(piano shawl,
mirror, hyacinth)
Dissolving
As one-note
Pours into
The next, pebbles
Clean as moonspill
Seeding a path...
And which is it,
Body or mind,
Which rises, which
Gives up at last
And goes home?

"Ave Maria" from Cavalleria Rusticana
Pietro Mascagni

Hail Mary Holy Mother,
Guide the feet of the wretched one who implores thee
Along the path of bitter grief
And fill the hearts with faith and hope.

O merciful Mother, thou who suffered so greatly,
See, ah! See my anguish.
In the cruel torment of endless weeping,
Ah! Do not abandon me.

Hail Mary! Oppressed by grief,
Do not leave me, O Mother, have mercy!
O Mother, have mercy! Oppressed by grief,
Do not leave me.

"Vissi d’arte" from Tosca
Luigi Illica, Giacomo Puccini, Eng. Translation: Nico Castel

I lived for my art, I lived for love,
I never harmed a living soul!
With a furtive hand
I relieved as many misfortunes as I knew of.
Always with true faith,
My prayer rose to the holy shrines.
Always with true faith
I gave flowers to the altar.
In the hour of grief
Why, why, o Lord,
Why do you reward me thus?
I gave jewels for the Madonna’s mantle,
And I gave my song to the stars, to heaven,
Which smiled with more beauty.
In the hour of grief
Why, why, oh Lord,
Ah, why do you reward me thus?

Music as the Message is presented by The American Opera Project and Opera On Tap, in association with Broadway Presbyterian Church.

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March 27, 2022

Music as the Message is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and from the generosity of these individuals:

The American Opera Project’s current season is made possible by generous support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, Amphion Foundation, The BMI Foundation, The Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

AOP is a member of OPERA America, Fort Greene Association, the Downtown Brooklyn Arts Alliance, the New York Opera Alliance, and Alliance of Resident Theatres/ New York (A.R.T./NY).

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