Karol Beffa - Fragments of China: Pour Voix et Piano - Meili Li, Lémuel Grave

Fragments of China: Pour Voix et Piano
Music by Karol Beffa ( 1973 - )
Poems by Li Qingzhao 李清照 (1084 - 1155 )
Translated by Jiaosheng Wang
I. Longing in the Boudoir
II. On the Trail of Sweet Incense
III. A Reminiscence
IV. Despair
Dedicated to Meili Li
Commissioned by Ninon Colneric
Countertenor: Meili Li
Piano: Lémuel Grave
Friedrich - Ebert - Halle Hamburg, Germany, December 2020
Sound and video by Cinematograve
I. Longing in the Boudoir
A smile of happy recollection lights up her face
As she gently draws aside the curtain
Embroidered with blooming lotus,
And leans against the jewelled duck censer,
Her perfumed cheek on her hand, musing.
If she but rolls her eyes
She will immediately give herself away.
That first sweet meeting full of tenderest love!
She might as well send half a page
With endearing reproaches unburdening a pensive heart,
And have him come again
When the moon is moving the flower shadows.
浣溪沙·闺情
绣面芙蓉一笑开，斜飞宝鸭衬香腮。眼波才动被人猜。
一面风情深有韵，半笺娇恨寄幽怀。月移花影约重来。
II. On the Trail of Sweet Incense
Golden chrysanthemums just in bloom
Tell of the approach of the Double Ninth Festival.
A bounteous gift from Heaven these autumnal tints,
Which however bring sadness in their train
As circumstances change.
I try on my thin dress, taste new-brewed wine,
Aware that I am in for
A spell of wind,
A spell of rain,
A spell of cold.
Yellowing twilight fills my rooms
With gloom and anxiety.
Memories of heart-rending sorrow
Overwhelm me as I sober up from wine.
An unending night,
A full moon flooding an empty bed.
In my ears the dull thud
Of mallets on the washing-blocks,
The feeble chirp of crickets,
The monotonous dripping of the clepsydra.
行香子
天与秋光，转转情伤。探金英、知近重阳。薄衣初试，绿蚁初尝。渐一番风、一番雨、一番凉。
黄昏院落，恓恓惶惶。酒醒时、往事愁肠。那堪永夜，明月空床。闻砧声捣、蛩声细、漏声长。
III. A Reminiscence
It was a day at Brookside Pavilion
That I often fondly remember,
When, flushed with wine,
We could hardly tear ourselves away
From the beautiful view at sunset.
Returning late by boat
When we’d enjoyed our fill,
We got lost and strayed
To where the clustered lotuses
Were at their thickest.
Pushing and thrashing,
Pushing and thrashing as best we could,
We scared into flight
A shoreful of dozing egrets, of dozing gulls.
如梦令
常记溪亭日暮，沉醉不知归路。兴尽晚回舟，误入藕花深处。争渡，争渡，惊起一滩鸥鹭。
IV. Despair
Searching, seeking.
Seeking, searching:
What comes of it but
Coldness and desolation,
A world of dreariness and misery
And stabbing pain!
As soon as one feels a bit of warmth
A sense of chill returns:
A time so hard to have a quiet rest.
What avail two or three cups of tasteless wine
Against a violent evening wind?
Wild geese wing past at this of all hours,
And it suddenly dawns on me
That I’ve met them before.
Golden chrysanthemums in drifts -
How I’d have loved to pick them,
But now, for whom? On the ground they lie strewn,
Faded, neglected.
There’s nothing for it but to stay at the window,
Motionless, alone.
How the day drags before dusk descends!
Fine rain falling on the leaves of parasol-trees -
Drip, drip, drop, drop, in the deepening twilight.
To convey all the melancholy feelings
Born of these scenes
Can the one word “sorrow” suffice?
声声慢
寻寻觅觅，冷冷清清，凄凄惨惨戚戚。
乍暖还寒时候，最难将息。
三杯两盏淡酒，怎敌他、晚来风急？
雁过也，正伤心，却是旧时相识。
满地黄花堆积。憔悴损，如今有谁堪摘？
守著窗儿，独自怎生得黑？
梧桐更兼细雨，到黄昏、点点滴滴。
这次第，怎一个愁字了得！
The translations first appeared in Sino-Platonic Papers, 13 (October, 1989).

[@laeimusic]

This is such very interesting music absolutely masterfully rendered. Such passion and contrasts renew the interest at every turn. A delight to listen to!

[@benlou6204]

Beautiful!