Raina Kabaivanska: Verdi - Don Carlo, 'Tu che le vanita'

Raina Kabaivanska (Bulgarian: Райна Кабаиванска) (December 15, 1934) is a Bulgarian opera singer, one of the leading lyrico-spinto sopranos of her generation, particularly associated with Verdi and Puccini, although she sang a wide range of roles. Born Raina Jakimowa in Burgas, Bulgaria, she studied in Sofia with Prokopowa and Jossifow, and made her debut at the Bulgarian National Opera in Sofia as Tatjana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin in 1957. The following year, she left for Italy for further studies with Zina Fumagalli-Riva in Milan and with Giulia Tess in Vercelli. Two years later she made a breakthrough in Fano, Italy, as Nedda in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. In 1961, she gave her first performance at La Scala in Milan, as Agnese in Bellini's Beatrice di Tenda, opposite Dame Joan Sutherland. She sang widely in Italy, Genoa, Venice, Parma and notably in Turin in 1973, as Elena in I vespri siciliani, in the only production ever directed by Maria Callas. In 1962, she made her debuts at both the Royal Opera House in London, as Desdemona in Verdi's Otello, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as Nedda. She went on performing at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Paris Opéra, the Vienna State Opera, the Budapest Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the San Francisco Opera, the Dallas Opera, the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, etc. She also appeared in a few opera films, notably Pagliacci, opposite Jon Vickers in 1968, Il trovatore, opposite Franco Bonisolli, in 1975, and Tosca, opposite Plácido Domingo, in 1976. A versatile singer with a beautiful voice and fine musicianship, she is also a singing-actress of considerable ability... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raina_Ka...


Lyrics & English Translation

You have known the vanities of this world,
and now enjoy the grave's last rest,
if there is still pity in heaven
mourn over my sorrow
and carry my tears
at the Lord's presence.
Carlos will come!
he must leave and forget...
I've sworn to Posa
to watch over him.
He must fulfil his destiny,
glory will show him the way.
As for me, my day
has already come to an end!
France, noble land,
so loved in my younger days!
Fontainebleau! All my thoughts
go to you!
There I swore eternal love
To God who heard me
and eternity
lasted only one day.
O merry gardens
of this Iberian land,
if Carlos should yet
stop here at the end of the day,
let the tufts, the brooks,
the fountains, the woods and flowers
with their melodies
sing of our love.
Farewell, farewell golden dreams,
lost hopes!
The knot was cut,
light has lost its splendour!
Farewell, farewell, my younger years!
Giving in under the cruel suffering
my heart has only one desire:
the peace of the grave!
You have known the vanities
of this world, etc.
If there is still pity in heaven, ah,
carry my sorrow at the feet of the Lord!


A link to this wonderful artists personal Website: http://www.rainakabaivanska.net/


Please Enjoy!

I send my kind and warm regards,