A bilingual blog containing the perspective of Ng.Uyên (Wyndi) Nicole NN Duong (Nhu-Nguyen)
vung troi tu tuong cua Duong Nhu-Nguyen dien ta bang song ngu Anh-Viet
All mothers' beloved son:
look at the way he played with Sumi Jo's hair in the back as she practiced...
How down to earth, at ease, and playful he was during pre-recording. He sounded awful during vocalese, on purpose, in his unsupported voice, and then all of a sudden, his singing voice...mesmerizing all of us:
...Not heartthrob, but the national treasure of Russia and the world, beyond boundaries. His voice is velvety creamy like the smoothest cappuccino, and lyrical. His mouth and lips belong to someone born to sing. Since I know bel canto, I know why his lip movements, jaw and even tongue appear the way they are. He has won hearts because he is so natural, the smile, the eyes, the expression. He is himself and he becomes his songs, his music. When Russians love their artistic tradition, he becomes nationhood.
But you don't need to be Russian to love him.
So if you love and treasure him the artist, stop thinking about him as "barihunk" (there is website that features him as such). Look at the audience, so respectful and subdued. He is singing for his people, who mime the words of their songs, after him.
He is the country. The world respects the bond between artists and nationhood.
About his death,stop thinking about your loss, but think about his pain when he realized he could no longer sing or act, and had to cancel his performances. Think about him, the artist you love, dying in hospice.
The appreciation of art from humankind must extend to the human being that gives you such art, not because of yourself and what you can take from him, or the enjoyment you receive from him, but what you can give him, even from afar, a different corner of the world...
An artist is someone who gives, in spite of themselves. The star is someone who takes the adoration from his/her public (money, status, fame). If inside the "star" there is no artist, and if someone seeks stardom but not art, then perhaps that's when the "straight gate" is closed.
Give your love to the one who gives, by giving. That's what the "strait gate" means in the case of art.
Sorry to tell the truth: using the standards of 100+ member choirs in the U.S., and justifiably so, I am disappointed. Especially the second number (and the 4th?, right upfront?) (my favorites from the whole symphony): with such great substance, I expected much much more vitality and nhip dieu nhun nhay created with voices, vi la su ca tung sac dep cua me VN... the music and semantics both call for this. More allegro? more uon eo? more nuances? more up and down, high and low, rise and fall, etc. My soul wants to be grabbed. it's not happening. what did pham duy want? he took this from folk, so use tinh tu ngat ngay cua dan toc ma`... set the piece! What did this conductor want? The arrangement and the performance were just dragging in the second number. not "vivant," not vivacious enough.
Come on choir, you don't just stand there and sing well to express volume of a group and be on pitch. You are there to express. Where is the grabbing of the attention, the submerging, emerging, dampening or envigorating of your entire being, with sounds?
The best part, khoan ho ho khoan to express the waterways and ocean coasts of vietnam??? if yes, then NOT DRAMATIC enough. COM ON, CHOIR, I AM FRUSTRATED. YOU NEED TO GIVE ME MORE. THAT STRONG LEGATO AND THEN SLIMMING DOWN, into silence. you are expressing the waterways, the ocean, aren't you? 100+ VOICES collectively, PLEASE. COME ON. I want virtuoso. I want rise and low, small and big.
Some of the solos are not strong enough. again, too much vibrato. not steady enough, not enough control with resonance. not enough skilled, stunning legato. therefore, no or little nuance during solos. LIVE AND DIE WITH YOUR LINES, GUYS AND GALS, LIVE WITH THE CHORAL FOR MONTHS WITH THE WHOLE OF YOUR BEING, BEFORE YOUR PERFORMANCE DAY/NIGHT, PLEASE. and then each one of you, xuat tha^`n for me. GIVE ME ALL OF YOUR BEING, 100 members you are, AND THEN ONE SOLO CAO VUT OR TRAM HUNG, PLEASE. (Even if you don't have that number, 100 of voices, still give THAT EFFECT!
And, I DON'T LIKE the use of individual microphones for the solos, too close to the solo singer like singing night club, because that does not comport with natural acoustics of the whole choir. If you've made it to a 100+ voices for choir, then use natural acoustics with added microphone enhancement strategically positioned only. The individual microphone uproots and upsets the balance of acoustical hy' vien, so i have to be there to tell what the imbalance is. Strictly, tHE USE OF MIC FOR SOLOS CAN BE A FORM OF CHEAT, KIND OF!
i don't know if this has been adjusted sound-wise to make it sound better for the tape, having being recorded professionally during the live performance??? All that technical adjustment, IF ANY, will be affectatious and not true to life. Again, I have to be there to know what i hear, live.
Choir experience is a terrific, almost surreal, OUT-OF-BODY experience. it's unique. when the conductor's hand gives a sign, the voices stop, precision, precision, precision, and the ensuing silence is breathtaking. When the voices rise, forte, or drop/dwindle down, pianissimo, when the voices dance with the pitches, rushing, spreading, or cooling, seemingly catching with timing or elusively letting go with timing, etc. etc.etc. it's out of this world. It grabs your soul. The audience nin tho. Do we have this here? I don't know, but not on this youtube.
The live experience of a choir performance is special and one has to be there. But with all the sound assistance, have it on youtube is still a disappointing experience for me.
It's like a strong train running at the same pace with a few stops here and there, from A to Z.
Good try. but not enough virtuoso to carry the soul of virtuoso spectacular vietnam where it could have been.
It's been almost half a century >40 years. I want more out of you. too much đều đềũ. not enough breathtaking quality. if you just sing, and sing well, that's not enough for me. I want to see and feel what you express as a group. I want to see those images thru your voices.
"Nuoc di la nuoc khong ve, etc." I want more ni? non, more virtuoso, i want all such soprano-range female voice(s) into a string of silky water stream, gleaming thru the airspace, and when the male voices come in, i want all that drama, i want a waterfall!.
And, the silence, the pauses. those dau lang, rests. I want more distinction. i want that tension of expectation with the next note.
I know what i am saying, highest standard, because i've been in choirs. It's America and we have had >four decades and a whole vibrant community there in orange county, with lots and lots of money earned and spent.
Toward the ending, all those ascending phrases written by Pham Duy (allegedly coming out of the best of vietnamese folk -- the melody is folk influence, clearly), I want THAT CRESCENDO. DISTINCTION: Small or big, climbing, so naturally gliding, yet distinctively in nuance, please.
The last piece, Vietnam vietnam, is just part of the same train already running. Yuck. This piece alone should stand out with so much vigor to distinguish it from the virtuoso -- the rise and fall that should have been before it. One way is to speed up the tempo more hao hung for VietnamVietnam. that's the epitome, supposedly!
You the arranger and choir conductor have all those choices at your fingertips. why didn't you use them more fully and selectively?
The last phrase: give me more holding on the notes powerful powerful powerful and then gleaming down to end. tension is in the silence, and tho? pha`o for the end -- this is the beauty of choir. the collectivity of voices at their best.
I am not substituting my preference or judgement. I am asking for all this as an informed member of the audience who has been with, and listening to, the best.
You and all your voices just carry... the train. but the training running smoothly and efficiently is NOT enough. this is music at long dantoc, in the global standard of one vast America. Choirs happen everywhere at every church, at every community, university, regional theater, the best of form, the best of music. As a member of the community at large, a music lover, and an oldie classical buff (for lack of a better word), I have the right to expect more of this conductor and this choir. I want to see the Vietnamese excel and distinguish.
One question: what did Pham Duy write? It is the three-part symphony? I don't hear three parts with breaks. I could be wrong!
ON TO CON DUONG CAI QUAN:
Now I am going on to hear con duong cai quan. the next piece IN THE PLAY LIST. the solo female is weak. FAR too weak. "dong dang co pho ky lua" "nuoc non ngan dam ra di" all requires more expression. reo rat ni non. Virtuoso, virtuoso. Even when it's nhe nhu lieu nhu gio thoang nhu mua bay, it has to be full of that internal energy underneath the voice. distinguished legato please. AND, less "h," please. I have lost my voice so I am now full of "h" in my high notes. but you, soloist for this kind of choir, you have to give me resonance and a solid, steady stream in your high notes. (Toward the later part, there's one voice with a couple of lines that impresses me more.)
And then that gorgeous line coming in: toi di tu ai nam quan qua vai ngan nam le. the rhythm, the rise and fall of pitches, the appoggiaturas that is: I would even play with staccato on this phrase!
The male tenor is ALSO far TOO WEAK FOR THE VIRTUOSO LINEs, or this piece!
And when the whole choir comes in: not dramatic enough.
Oh my...I don't like what I hear for the beginning or most part of con duong cai quan. same problem: the same train going without the grabbing of your whole being: ru`ng minh, run nhu run than tu thay long nhan, nhu han mac tu noi, do moi la kinh nghiem cua choir o Tay Phuong. Get me there. the solos or the soprano group are too weak. I am using a high professional standard here.
Should be nothing less but the highest standard of America. the more i expect, the more RESPECT I AM GIVING TO YOU MY FELLOW MUSICIANS/choir vocalists AND FELLOW VIETNAMESE. You are representing us in America from our capital home-away-from-home Little Saigon, aren't you? DO BETTER FOR ME because i can't do it, but i have heard and been with the best. Do it for US. AGAINST at least THE BEST OF REGIONAL, UNIVERSITY, AND COMMUNITY CHOIRS OF THIS COUNTRY.
The richness of pitches rise-and-fall the virtuoso of lines must be the standard of delivery for this type of music, this kind of professional setting, bec it is the best of lo`ng dan toc. Make it on par with the best of the world, even if you are amateurs. You've gone this far. YOU ARE AFTER ALL, apparently A TRAINED CHOIR even if each one of you might be an amateur.
(I personally would add one full measure to each ending and make the choir hold legato for each part. give more tension to breaks. so, conductor, decide when to raise your arm/hand gestures for that beginning, recommencement or resumption of sounds.
Nhung doan chap chung: be at it! Be "chap chung." Rhythmic without a drum! don't be just...a train! you can do better!
Me, who am I to say? No career musician. don't need to be. just an audience member with high expectation for classical chorus and a lot of respect for you. enough respect to write this long commentary.
De dan chung tieu chuan rat cao cua Dai Hop Xuong, toi xin post duoi day, sau ca doan ngan khoi, mot ca doan khong may noi tieng o My, nhung ho la ca doan dung nghia, hat bai thanh ca cua Mozart. mozart misericordias domini. Chi? co 4 be`. Va tay dem piano. La version gian di, can ban nhat cua thanh ca hop xuong noi tieng nguyen chieu rong cua the gioi va nguyen chieu dai cua lich su.
If Michael Angelo's PIETA is the painting of spirituality and the holiness of a mother's love for her son, then the pix of the late opera-great Dmitrii Hvorostovsky as Don Giovanni is the capture of realism about the plight of humans: Don Juan en route to hell! Michael Angelo's talent is at its best. The stage artistry of Dmitrii to bring to life the beauty of Mozart is also at its best! In Pieta, human artistry is the PERFECT portrayal of PERFECTION, when the narrow passage has opened for humans' heavenly upward nobility, toward the light (or what a Buddhist, in a different epistemology, will name as "enlightenment" or the state of Nirvana). For, what can be more perfect than humans' ennobled yearning for an unbeatable, undying belief in goodness, and what can be more perfect than mother-child selfless love, and selfless sacrifice of the self for the good of others? On the other hand, in Dimitrii's Don Giovanni, artistry is the PERFECT portrayal of human IMPERFECTION, when the narrow passage has been closed, leaving the doomed human in the darkness called Hell...For, what can be more hellish than a man's realization that he is paying in eternity for the cost of his self-indulgence: the suffering of another human being should NEVER be the source of pleasure for another human being! Again, a Buddhist may call this common-sense principle the wheel of Karma, or the mathematics of cause-effect equalization. And, perhaps, just perhaps, the whole system of social justice in this life should then be the equalization between the two, on a well-administered scale: the suffering of one human being, on one end, weighted against, on the other end, the benefit enjoyed by another human being who has occasioned such suffering, without remorse! In a society where technology rules, the only difference between humans and animals or machinery lies in the human ability to make moral decisions and to exercise moral judgement, as Confucius, the teacher of the East, has stated in NINE WORDS: Ky so bat duc vat thi u nhan! In the portrayal of such anguished struggle lies the beauty of art. DNN C Nov 27 2017
"On the day when it will be possible for woman to love not in her weaknesses but in her strength,
not to escape herself but to find herself,
not to abase herself but to assert herself
-- on that day love will become to her, as for man, a source of life and not of mortal danger.
In the meantime, love represents in its most touching form
the curse that lies heavily upon woman confined in the feminine universe,
woman mutilated, insufficient unto herself.
The innumerable martyrs to love bear witness against the injustice of a fate
that offers a sterile hell as ultimate salvation..."
--Simone de Beauvoir--
She wrote this in mid-20th century. This quote was included in Mui Huong Que -- The Fragrance of Cinnamon -- put to publication in Vietnamese by my parents in 1999, to preface a fiction work written in the late 80s (the period of time when I tried to combine a law firm job with artistic pursuits including dance, theater, and classical singing).
Looking back at the lives of many Vietnamese women, including my loved ones, I have written, too, that the biggest prison for women is their martyrdom and bondage to the concept of love. For that reason, I quoted De Beauvoir, back then: "The innumerable martyrs to love..."
The month of November 2017 was the time for me to look back at my youth during the 1980s and 1990s, among which memory of the performance of Jean Paul Sartre's No Exit (Estelle the ingenue, the young woman who escaped herself by seeking the adoration of men as her safety net, such that even in her hellish existence, her self-denial perpetuated).
Sartre's embracing of communism was a turn-off for someone of my background, whose family had lived through what communism meant in the developing Southeast Asia. But as I delved into his written work, I had to acknowledge his literary talents.
I also found De Beauvoir's intellectual writing to be lacking raw magnet; yet, I quoted her because she had described hell in life for womanhood.
Looking back at my own ethnic culture, I also looked back at Mui Huong Que and my other works -- from stage plays that featured the quest for intellect and love, to short stories that rewrote the code of conduct for women, to quotes from de Beauvoir (and even De Sade), to the No Exit performance, and finally the symbolic theme coming out of the loss of Saigon. I personally think that none of these was meant for, or should be read by, my exile community, nor the Vietnamese back home, as many are still in the mode of surviving and recovering, and there was the gap of time, the "catch-up" interval. The seeds for understanding were not planted, hence the gap of misunderstanding too immense to become anything but farce. I found no delight or satisfaction in such gap between authorship and readership.
"Hell is Other People." Hell is here.
---
In this month of November 2017, I also accidentally re-examined the vocal art of Dmitrii Hvorstovsky, before I read anything about him. It is the first time in the history of my beloved operatic art that the man and his honest, true-to-form masculinity becomes inseparable from the nobility of his art, to such paradoxical results, all transformed into such exuberant rawness that awes and succumbs his audience into humility, adoration, and exhilaration.
Allegedly a lyric tenor, somehow Dimitrii became a baritone for various operatic roles, but many classify him as a lyric baritone, light and melodic, with dark timbre and just enough power to carry emotions, dominate the space, conquer the grand theater, rise above and across the orchestra, to electrify, and mesmerize...
I found him fascinating, yet I am also struck with awe for an entire different reason: I saw in him, the beauty of the man and his art, to encompass my notion of "straight is the gate, so strait is the gate"! What's between goodness and evil is simply linear, if we make it linear. So, the notion of a narrow passage.
Frankly, I do not think that Dmitri is classically handsome or the romantic heartthrob for women. In his beauty lies the honest, authentic rough edge that may hurt and not just heal, but it is the rough edge necessary for the best sounds to be delivered, and for the vocal art to thrill on an alluring, magnetic stage that belongs to the 21st century: His posture, concentration, and uninhibited open mouth and lips are what's needed for the best bel canto sounds to emerge. And his stage appeal -- such larger-than-life energy -- is un-apologetically authentic. That's what it takes. Such is the same type of rough edge and magnet appeal that Maria Callas had brought us, in her fleeting moments that lasted for an entire century, and beyond. The difference between them is not just the 20th century versus the 21st, but also female-suffering vulnerability versus male honest, joyous exuberance of power.
Yet in Dmitri art and life, his public has also found the ultimate sensitivity and vulnerability. If Maria was the doomed of love, then Dmitri has become our doomed of fate.
The thrilling yet perplexing nature of his stage presence and his delivery motivated me to sketch my first sci-fi fiction: I sketched the end of the world where the final battle between good and evil takes place in the form of martyrdom: the destruction of female intellect all in the name of love (that which de Beauvoir had hinted): In my sci-fi, it's her love for the irresistible voice of a man!
Then the next thing I knew was: my sci-fi is still in embryo, yet he's gone.
To discuss him and the beauty he represents -- his phenomenal fleeting sparkling streams of vocal (gleaming in darkness as well as under sunshine, in breathtaking sunrise as well as in gloomy sunset -- all in the richness of the age-old operatic art) will require at least...a thousand and one nights!
Unlike Maria Callas of the last century, who left us a rich legacy in the form of her spoken words, Dmitrii, whose voice lifts and ennobles us, leaves the English speaking word too little to give us a pedagogical understanding of his world and his art, except that when he talked to the West, he also talked of his past downfall and vulnerability, as well as his attachment to his homeland: how he treasured the tears of the Siberian audience that constituted his childhood. For sure, we know that he was the People's Artist of Russia, that he immortalized the role of Eugene Onegin and felt challenged by the role's ambivalence, that he also picked the rarely performed The Demon by Anton Rubinstein based on Lermontov's poem of the same title, and that he was cast as Don Juan in Mozart's Don Giovanni) (On the internet, one critic surmised that the charismatic Dmitrii and his director seemed to have left Don Juan's suave seduction in the...dressing room (what a criticism)! This is the only negative review of him, and it concerned his portrayal of Don Juan!).
CROSSING FROM CLASSICAL TO POP AND AN APPEAL TO DARKNESS, FOR A DIFFERENT PUBLIC:
The darker side of Dmitrii Hvorosovsky's art: sung with sensitive lightness, still the same alluring voice. The operatic voice was the result of the natural voice plus a set of skills acquired through arduous exercises, repetitions, maintenance, and perseverance. In this pop tape below, it is his natural voice away from all the rigorous bel canto training and application. The voice becomes a musical instrument housed and hosted by the body, and can be played so many ways.
The beautiful French ballad: story of a tragic heroine who accidentally killed her lover with a kiss and was condemned to hell -- analogous to the story of beautiful Orpheus from Greek mythology, who killed his mate the nymph Eurydice by simply turning to look at her, on their way from Hades back to Life. (I used the Orpheus-Eurydice tale for my own writing, and Maria Callas' J'ai perdu mon Eurydice by Gluck is among my favorites).
The visual theme of torture and dominance found in the tape -- suggestive images and emotions -- has been explored in the contemporary art of the West, time and again (I need not name, from Pauline Reage to Marquis de Sade!).
An obituary by the Sunday Times - UK -- went into what could be construed as his darker side, including his past rebellious behaviors and subsequent candidness in speaking about himself: smoking and drinking habits, plus he was once known for conflicts with directors and performance schedules, just like the late Maria Callas. The Times also prejudicially stated that his past drinking and smoking were contributing factors to the brain cancer that killed him. I found such statement to be defamatory -- there was no medical evidence whatsoever that linked these conditions. I also felt that substantial drinking and smoking did not go well with the career of an operatic singer and the voice maintenance needed for it -- he would not have been able to keep such gorgeous voice and the demand of singing.
The Times also seemed to attribute his "pop style" tapes such as "Moi et Toi" and "Deja Vu" to effective marketing.
The Times obituary was met with vehement objection from his fans and listeners around the world.
In this tape, he got the flowers on stage and distributed them to the orchestra.
After that he sang a capella.
If this Moscow concert was in October of 2015,
it was after the announcement of his illness.
One could see he had become thinner,
and there were almost imperceptible dark circles under his pensive eyes
If there was one formidable counterpart of Dmitrii on the operatic / recital stage, it had to be Elina Garanca. As a mezzo soprano, she offers the dark timbre and strength that match his. Both of them are at or above six feet in height. She has a strong, free-spirited, substantial presence, an angular face full of expression -- the best Carmen in my opinion.
As to beautiful and sexy Aida Garifullina, they both share Russia in their soul; they both have the sensuality of the large mouth and prominent, expressive lips characteristics of world-class singers. Her lyric soprano quality dances around and intermingles with his dark timbre.
As to the wondeful waltz that follows, with Sumi Jo, it was as though the Eastern side of Russia had transcended itself onto North Asia's un-inhibitive Mongolian mystique...I am not a Sumi Jo fan, especially the way she dresses. But, her nightingale voice complements his darkness, and after all, our suave DMitrii will always bring out the best of the female species...
wrath of water lilies UND C2010 digitally inverted
Dmitrii's "coup de surprise" last performance at the Met May 2017--the audience knew it was the last farewell, their loving applause choked with tears...He had aged, staggering somewhat, but as he stooped, the elegant gait and that emerging extraordinary voice remained intact, beautiful forever. It broke my heart.
To you, my hero and anti-hero of the operatic art: the kind, passionate man who played the Demon for his fellow Russians and for the world, including me, all with God-given peerless artistry! At the news of your passing, even my water lilies had to be mad, producing their wrath, the kind that could only be found on your dramatic operatic stage, because the loss of you meant God has taken away what God has given them: your voice and the beauty of your being!
wrath of water lilies
UND C 2010
enamels and inks on art paper
I am speechless. The man was built to sing. The open face and mouth of a world-class singer, and such deep, kind gaze that grabs the audience, the posture that grounds him to sing. The bel canto voice plus the aura for the operatic stage -- larger than life -- with thousands of Russian history behind him at the Kremlin, and Siberia in his soul, the way he stands and utters sounds and gives that big smile in between words and at the end of a tune, he makes Frank Sinatra and Elvis look kid-like, all the tenors of the past become...convent furniture, Richard Gere and Gregory Peck look lame and useless on their big or small screen...And then finally such perfect French, the language of romance..."Doucement doucement, c'est a dire L'amour!"
Barritone Dmitrii Hvorostovsky (Dmitrii) died at 55 on November 22, 2017
This note is not suitable for the attention span and interest level of FB readership, but I write this down so i won't forget, as I want to document some of the relevant facts about Russia and its artistic traditions as may be relevant to the career of Dmitrii Hvorostovsky.
ABOUT DMITRII:
I did not follow his career, nor the news of his brain cancer announced in 2015, due to my family tragedy which shut my life off then. So, when i received news of his death yesterday Nov. 22, originally I thought it was hoax.
Since then, upon seeing some of his performances on youtube, I saw clearly kindness in his eyes. In one of his recitals, perhaps the one below with co-singer Elina Garanca (mezzo soprano), he received flowers and passed them on to members of the orchestra behind him. Upon his death, notes from admirers, colleagues, and coworkers showed a man of dignity, generosity, positive attitude, courage, honesty, and kindness. Commentators described him in the following terms: "peerless artistry" "Herculean physique" "virility" "commanding stage presence" "devilish eyes" "Siberian express," etc. (I did not see these myriads of phraseology until after his death, so my impression about the singer formed long before his death was not influenced by these 'on-line" phrases.)
His bio showed a young rebellious man who had fought street gangs in early life, a passionate artist who conquered alcoholism to reach the height of his art, who decided to raise a family after his first failed marriage to a ballerina, who then had to conquer his fatal illness to make some of his last memorable performances and recordings (invoking tears from the audience), and who in his short life declared his love for, and attachment to, his country and its cultural heritage.
His voice showed both lyric tenor quality and the unique dark timbre of a barritone, both powerful and delicate. It is velvety smooth bel canto of Italy at its best, no doubt, in a vessel of physique that, to me, encompasses the paradoxical beauty of the Russian culture and its complex history. (I had direct contact with the people of Russia in my personal academic experience and artistic pursuit. I talked to them, socialized with them, attended their recitals, listened to their accounts of history, hopes and dreams, and participated in their daily lives. The people of Russia suffered and went through heart-wrenching transformation and transitions just like the people of Vietnam, with the same sense of fierce patriotism.)
Initially, one look at Dmitrii, and I felt this was the man who could play humanity in God-image, as well as the highly seductive anti-God. So I concluded that in him, the artist, i also saw the "strait gate" -- that narrow passage which separates good from evil, leading us to choices that become our moral fabric.
The precision yet ambivalence of music represents such gate.
I believe that our beloved "beau laid" Dmitri has passed such gait and is now with the beauty of God.
I did not know the following facts, which, as I looked into them following his death, confirmed my instinctive reaction to his strong presence, larger-than-life voice, and masculinity:
You see, God gives humankind the gift of art or beauty to remind us of our need to reach out to beauty as goodness. Yet, Beauty is also used by the anti-God to seduce. Is it possible therefore that beauty can become an independent entity which houses both the gift of God and the seductive tool of the Anti-God? Goodness and evil, God and the anti-God, co-exist in humans, so beauty is ugliness itself. The most beautiful is therefore the "beau laid" or "belle laide" that chooses to be true and good. Hence, in the image of beauty is always the strait gate that represents our choice.
ABOUT DMITRII'S ROLES IN 'THE DEMON" AND AS EUGENE ONEGIN:
In Russia, Dmitri's most notable performances were the title roles in the following two highly acclaimed yet controversial operas, not popular in the West:
1) HIS TITLE ROLE IN "The Demon," an opera by Anton Rubinstein based on a famous and controversial poem by Mikhail Lermontov, which was banned as sacrilegious in its time and beyond. Lermontov was a writer, poet, and painter, recognized as the founder of the Russian psychological novel. Influenced by Pushkin, Lermontov suffered a nervous breakdown after Pushkin's death, which was the victimization of the writer by Russia's high society.
In the poem, the Demon decided to destroy God's creation of goodness. He fell in love with a mortal woman and hoped that with love, he could strike a deal with "goodness" and redeem himself. To win her, he seduced her with promises of everlasting life and power, and her fiance the Prince was killed before the wedding. The Prince left words to have his body delivered to the woman he loved. In grief, the woman was seduced by the Demon, but at the last moment, the angel came and with him was the ghost of her fiance. The woman came to her sense, rejecting the Demon, and hence died. The Demon failed in his quest for love, and was then cast back to where he... permanently resided!
2) HIS TITLE ROLE IN "Eugene Onegin," an opera by Pyotr Tchaikovsky based on Pushkin's novel about a doomed man who rejected the love of a poor young girl, and who got involved in a senseless duel with his best friend.
Alexander Pushkin's Eugene Onegin was a novel in verse set to opera by Tchaikovsky, whose libretto followed passages from the novel, and whose melodic motif allegedly was inspired by Lermontov's poem The Demon.
Pushkin was a poet, writer, playwright, founder of modern Russian literature, social activist, and a FreeMason. He died from a bullet in a duel against a Frenchman who pursued his wife in public.
NOTE FOR VIET READERS: The whole chronology of Vietnamese ancient narrative literature consisted of novels in verse, starting with the anonymous Ban Nu Than (lament of a poor woman), and peaking with Truyen Kieu. by Nguyen Du. So novels in verse such as Pushkin's Eugene Onegin and operas with libretto as poetry should be a familiar concept to learned Vietnamese! (Of course, the Vietnamese "novels in verse" in ancient days were not developed in style or structure as in the West's or Russian novelistic or dramatic art.)
A few weeks ago, I sang for old folks. I also stopped by Lang Tre, the Vietnamese senior citizen community in SW Houston to visit some of my parents' friends. There, I sang the following song, a capella, music and lyrics by Thuc Vu. Is Thuc Vu the same as the late Chu Vũ Duc Nghiem?
The song was never sung in public, except once by Doan Chinh (listed on the net). This is the voice of a political prisoner after 1975. I first heard it around 2005 after seeing an interview of a political prisoner tu cai tao in Vietnam, conducted by an American journalist -- the very first time the government of VNCHXHCN opened one of its "reducation camps" to the West (I assumed that was prior to, or concurrent with, the implementation of President Reagan's "HO" program).
I was deeply moved by the interview, and promised myself that i would one day sing this song.
I have made changes to the original lyrics printed on the internet in hopes of eliminating cliche usage and providing more meaning to the theme. As of this time, I have received the original poem by the author, which was used as substance for the lyrics I found on the internet (and made improvements thereto). The original poem by Author Thuc Vu far exceeded the printed lyrics in its literary value and power. I was also informed that Author Thuc Vu was retaliated against for composing the song, and he died in the camp.
I am asking if any FBker who may know the author's estate or descendants, and inform them of what i have done. I never sing this for money, but if and when i sing it, I would like to sing the revised lyrics, the version with my changes, as I believe that my changes add poetic value and depth to the theme. I hope that listeners who read my version below and the author's estate will agree. I follow the melody line; however, for purposes of expression as a singer, I also slightly modify the melody to fit my voice and emotions. Under "fair use," there is no copyright violation, as such.
Anh o day, ban be anh cung o day Ao rach xac xo vai gay Cung chung so kiep luu day Anh o day, ngay ngay com chua du no Chieu chieu trong theo dan o’ Kiem moi thap thoang bay xa
Toa lien toa, tau di trong anh hoang hon Tiep noi nhung du am buon Thanh tho ray rut tam hon Trang ngam suong, mit mo khong soi neo toi Duong dai sao roi lac loi Cho long giang mac khon nguoi
Chieu Suoi Mau xot xa buon nho con Tinh cho em van dong day khoe mat Chieu Long Giao tren doi may tim ngat Nho xua doi minh hen ho cung trang thanh
Anh o day, ban be anh cung o day Van gieng nuoc sau ben cau Tim trang, trang vuong day gau Anh o day, ngay ngay ben trong rao sat Ngam ngui chua cay chong chat Giua long nui cu song xua
Anh day xe, ban be anh cung day xe Duoi nang gat gay trua he Cong tay nhuc nhoi e che Mua chieu dong nhat nhoa cam cam lanh gia Ngam ngui dam dam soi da Chan buon keo buoc le the
khong ngay mai, vi dau tram dang nghin cay Khuc san bat ngo voi day Sau nuoi than xac hao gay Bao ngay qua doi cho tin ai mon moi Han thu tren than com coi Dem ve mo canh chim bay
Nguoi te xuong phat tang mien nui xa Chieu Son La mua nhat nhoa nuoc mat Nguoi buong tay trong niem dau chat ngat Loi di khong con, mit mo mu tuong lai
Le ban chan, guc dau khi nang chieu phai Gio ret xot xa than gay Chieu nao guc nga tren doi Chim ru nhau ve rung khi anh nam xuong Hinh hai tan theo man suong Thoi danh kiet suc ben song
Anh con khong! Anh con khong! Sao van con o day?
original lyrics by Thuc Vu modification for van, dieu, rhymes and tones, images and flow, by DNN, 2017
Among my expertise in the law is international law and i came to Denver with the hope of combining law teaching with international relations via the Graduate School of Internationonal Studies (GSIS). My one-woman project on anti-human trafficking was first occasioned via my cooperation with GSIS.
Many international activists may opine that the U.N. is a network of paternalism. Here is Actress Angelina Jolie at the U.N. -- an example of the interplay between fashion and dignity.
Thời trang và Đệ Nhất Phu Nhân la mot phan cua Hình Ảnh Nguyen Thu Quốc Gia.
Hy vọng tôi sẽ phổ biến mot bai về thời trang và các đệ nhất phu nhân.trên Vietvoicefromhouston khi tôi có nhiều thời gian hơn. Nếu đuoc nhu vay, thì Ấn bản tháng 12 ở VVFH chủ dề sẽ là dề tài này, được giới thiệu với hình ảnh.
Hien gio, toi tam thoi đăng trên day hình ảnh của ba Eleanor Roosevelt, de nhat phu nhan nuoc My va la người giám sát bản tháo tuyen ngon quoc te nhan quyen cua liên Hiệp Quốc.....Bà được coi là khuon mẫu cho các vị dệ nhất phu nhân của nước Mỹ và hơn thế nữa , tôi có thể nói ba la khuon mau cho dàn bà Mỹ. Thời đại của bà những năm 1884 đến1962.
Toi khong noi den chính trị, chi nhan manh rang bà Roosevelt, theo toi, rất quyến rũ va thanh nhạ~ trong bộ đầm tuyệt vời. Chiếc áo này, thời trang trong thời đại của bà, vượt thời gian và da^`y phụ nữ tính.. Chiếc áo không anh huong den dieu chúng ta nghĩ ve Bà: Ba là ai và làm gì.
Sụ thật, trong suốt "nhiệm kỳ" cua ba Roosevelt, tôi nghĩ bà có thể mặc bất cứ ao gì bà muốn, vì bà đa thuc hien đầy đủ vai trò của bà , xứng đáng cương vị truoc quan chung, phục vụ cho đất nước, và biểu hiện đầu óc của bà. Niềm tự tin của bà, cống hiến cua ba cho việc cong, và hoàn thành nhieu vai trò khác nhau lam ba trở nên quyến rũ. Rõ ràng đối với tôi, bà tự tin với chính mình.. Đó chinh là vẻ đẹp thể chất của bà.
O day, toi thật sự nói về thời trang của bà, su quyến rũ của thể chất trong buc hinh ke tren, chu không noi về chính trị hay ngoại giao, vì theo toi, nội tâm và thể chất cua phu nu bao gio cung di chung. Chính con nguoi cu?a bà là vẻ đẹp của bà. Ngừoi phu nu không thể tách rời ra làm hai: nội tâm roi khoi thể chất.
Toi neu dieu nay va truong hop cua ba Roosevelt vi tôi thật sự quan tâm đến thời đại chúng ta: đã bị phân hoá về hinh anh các đệ nhất phu nhân, coi họ nhu là người mẫu thời trang hay di dự thi hoa hậu Họ có thể da tu`ng như vậy, nhưng điều đó không còn là vai trò của họ nữa khi nhũng ông chồng đã tuyên thệ la`m tong thong. Xu hướng “thoi trang hoa cac ba tong thong” da xay ra trước ca thoi diem vai trò dê nhất phu nhân của ba Melania Trump. Xa hoi đã bo? quá nhiều thì giờ thảo luận về đệ nhất phu nhân mặc gì... nhãn hiệu, giá tiền, và duo`ng may net cắt như the^? những điều phu phiem này tạo ra người đàn bà. Gio’I truyen thong trên mang luoi đã đẩy quá mạnh về xu hướng nầy. Tôi quan tâm rang dieu nay se anh huong the nao den tam tu những cô gái nhỏ chua trưởng thành. ... mơ lam đệ nhất phu nhân de có thể mặc Chanel, Givenchy hay Dolce Cabana và nghĩ rẳng họ sẽ trở nên xinh đẹp vi nhu~ng nha~n hieu nay?
Sự thật, tôi sẽ quỳ xuống nếu có một đệ nhất phu nhân trông rất cao quý, tuyệt vời trong một bộ đầm với giá $50 do chính ba ta thiết kê’…loai áo đầm được làm bằng vải " giặt và mặc (kho^ng can u?i)," va` như vậy bà tong thong do~ ton tien mua áo đầm hieu… Chanel, va so tien tiet kiem do’ ba co the gui đến cho hôi Hồng Thập Tu. Thoi gian ma ba phu nhan tong thong tiet kiem duoc vi mac loai vai “khong can ui” co the dung de ba` qua?ng ba’ ban Tuyen Ngon Quoc Te Nhan Quyen den tat ca hang cu`ng ngo~ he?m, tat ca nhung goc pho con duong xa xoi nhat cua qua dia cau nay. Nhu the, chiếc áo thời trang $50 của bà trở nên tuyệt vời neu no dich thuc la tinh than cua ba, chu khong phai là dụng cụ tuyên truyền chính trị, va ba phu nhan tong thong ay qua that xứng dáng với sự phân tích và ngưỡng mộ của chúng ta,
Các bạn có đồng ý với tôi rẳng đệ nhất phu nhân na`o dam mac chiec ao khiem nhuong chi co $50 dong ma ba tu may lay, ba mac vao lai rat dep va ba tu tin, thanh that, tu nhien den noi ai cung tuong ba sang trong nhu …1 triệu dollar, do la` de nhat phu nhan sẽ rat xung dang làm guong mau cho phu nu, phai the khong? Bà ta phải that xinh đẹp, hấp dẫn và la` một ngừoi tài năng vuot buc, voi dau oc va tu cach hon nguoi, thi moi co the thoát ra khỏi phù phiếm xa hoa gia tao ben ngoai ma van dep lộng lẫy. Nguoi phu nu do se la bảo vật trân quý cho chồng và cho quốc gia.
Neu cai nhin cua toi khong co ly, thi chac rang bao lau nay toi da mo mo^.ng, xét đoán sai lam ve giac mong Hoa Ky (The American Dream). Nước Mỹ co bao gio yêu cầu hoac bac buoc phu nu phai mac Chanel. Gucci, Givenchy, or Dolce Cabana moi tro nen xinh đẹp hay khong? Toi nghi rang khong. Da so phu nu My hay phu nu tren the gioi khong co xa xi pham nhu vay.
Tro lai mot so de nhat phu nhan co kha nang chung dien tren the gioi:
1. Jacqueline Kennedy dam nhiem vai trò cho nước My trong thòi kỳ cua JFK "biên giới mới" và ba` Kennedy da phai giup chong trong vai trò moi cua nuoc My truoc cong dong Au Chau va o các nước đang phát triển. Hon the nua, ba Kennedy lam rat nhieu viec khac để chiếm duoc trái tim của dân MỸ chu khong phai chi? khoác ao Givenchy để được chiêm ngưỡng.
2. Ba Eva Peron cua A Can Dinh cung phai du`ng tai nang cua minh la mot kich si truyen thanh de vận động việc trả tự do cho chồng, mot cong viec kho khan va nguy hiem. Va ba cung da co^ng khai mo? Nga^n quy~ quoc gia de phat cha^?n cho nguoi ngheo, vi the dan A Can Dinh ca tung ba nhu mot nu thanh. Day la mot hành động khiêu khích the gioi quyen luc san co cua A Can Dinh, nha`m san ba`ng su phan chia giai cap, chu khong phai ba chi mac ao choa`ng lo^ng thu’ di dao choi lam nguoi mau.
Do la ly do toi dua hinh ba Eleanor Rốosevelt, tren day, trong chiec ao dam rat lich la~m thoi trang cua ba. Cư chỉ và cung cách của bà, tôi thấy co cai duye^n da’ng quyến rũ cua rieng ba, và Ba` ro rang là một phu nu thòi trang trong hi`nh nay, khong phai mot phu nu que mua khong co cai nhin tham my, du nhieu nguoi che ba khong dep. Mai toc ba bo^’i len rat gon ghe va co duyen.Troi oi, o thoi diem do, ma ba phu nhan tong thong qua’ ta`i nang na`y da da’m de^? tra^`n doi canh tay nu~a. Quy vi co thay khong?
