Seguidille (Carmen by Georges Bizet) Ninon Vallin (1928)

Ninon Vallin sings "Près des remparts de Séville" from Georges Bizet's "Carmen". Recording with a few pictures

Ninon Vallin's simple, direct and enchanting Carmen, with emphasis on the text in a way only a native French song specialist can do.

recorded in Paris 1928, EMI Pathe X 7147 (matrix number 201285)

go here to see video clip of Ninon Vallin singing Faure's Les Berceaux in Cinephoni:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-K5nozJ34k

Ninon Vallin fut une reine du répertoire francais de sensibilité. La simplicité poignante de sa Mignon, la simplicité fatale de sa Carmen sont des modèles de lecture: le texte, la musique, une probité d'artiste qui se traduit directement dans la loyauté d'une voix restée très tard un instrument d'une beauté, d'une souplesse sans rides.




Carmen

Près des remparts de Séville
chez mon ami Lillas Pastia,
j'irai danser la seguedille
et boire du Manzanilla,
j'irai chez mon ami Lillas Pastia.
Oui, mais toute seule on s'ennuie,
et les vrais plaisirs sont à deux;
donc pour me tenir compagnie,
j'ammènerai mon amoureux!
Mon amoureux!.. il est au diable!
Je l'ai mis à la porte hier!
Mon pauvre coeur, très consolable,
mon coeur est libre comme l'air!
J'ai des galants à la douzaine;
mais ils ne sont pas à mon gré.
Voici la fin de la semaine:
qui veut m'aimer? je l'aimerai!
Qui veut mon âme? Elle est à prendre!
Vous arrivez au bon moment!
Je n'ai guère le temps d'attendre,
car avec mon nouvel amant
près des remparts de Séville,
chez mon ami Lillas Pastia,
j'irai danser la seguedille
et boire du Manzanilla,
dimanche, j'irai chez mon ami Pastia!


Carmen

Right by the walls of Sevilla,
At my old friend Lillas Pastia's,
I'll go to dance the seguidilla
And drink some manzanilla,
I'll go to my old friend Lillas Pastia's.
But all alone it's not much fun,
True pleasure is when you're a pair;
So, to make sure I've got someone,
I'll bring my lover with me there!
My lover man! To hell with him now!
I broke up with him yesterday!
And my poor heart's ripe for a whim now,
My heart is free, it's free to play!
I am pursued by scores of gallants;
But none that I like through and through.
Now here's the weekend - what's the balance?
Who will love me? I'll love him too!
Who wants my soul? It's ripe for mating!
You have arrived right with the tide!
I have no time to waste by waiting,
For with my new man by my side,
Right by the walls of Sevilla,
At my old friend Lillas Pastia's,
I'll go to dance the seguidilla
And drink some manzanilla,
This Sunday I'll go to my old friend Pastia's!



Translation by Jacob Lubliner

Libretto : Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Bizet
• Seguidille
• Carmen
• Ninon-Vallin
• French
• Romantic
• Opera
• soprano
• classical

[MuscleMikal]

Very good performance!!! Not a "slutty" Carmen at all...Carmen was not a slut. She was a flirt who knew the power of her feminine charm. Her interpretation is similar to that of Bruna Castagna, though Castagna was a contralto. Both are very playful in their interpretation and to me, it's more effective than the sultry interpretation one usually hears.

[perualberto]

oh wow!!!! never heard anyone sing like this before, no affense

[MrGer2295]

MOLTO BELLO!!! Thank you for sharing this Wonderful performance of Great French soprano NINO VALLIN (September 8, 1886 – November 22, 1961).

[lucasvallinn]

lucas-vallin@hotmail.com



[lucasvallinn]

Cara meu nome e lucas Vallin sera q ela e minha parent

[P1B1U1H1]

@MuscleMikal Except on Gilligan's Island, when she was, if memory serves, Mary Anne.

[MuscleMikal]

@P1B1U1H1 Okay...she was a charming slut...lol.

[P1B1U1H1]

@MuscleMikal Ahem, she was a slut.

[JohnVerinder]

Mademoiselle Vallin has never been equaled. Pure, perfect, exact. The greatest "merveille" ever. She is Carmen!

[sillyboydeux]

She has an exquisite, timeless musicality and perfect sense of rhythm. She is always exciting to listen to, and the voice is never forced. She doesn't drag the chest voice up to the street from the sewer, as Jennifer Larmore and others have. This is as musically gifted as Callas' version and much more beautifully sung. Brava Ninon!

[sillyboydeux]

@MuscleMikal Her true nature? Well, she wasn't hiding very much virtue from the public in the opening if she got into a fight, so I wasn't expecting Suor Angelica to come out with her hands folded in prayer. It is obvious that José is the umpteenth John for her: "J'ai des galants à la douzaine, mais ils ne sont pas à mon grès . . ." She had what we now call "borderline personality disorder", and these sorts of people don't wind up with Ronald Colman at the fountain in "Shangri-la, alas.