Art Explosion Contest Week 2 Theme: Phantoms - The Black Swan from The Medium
This is my entry for @juliakponsford's #ArtExplosion Contest this week:
PHANTOMS
The Setting.
In Gian Carlo Menotti's opera, The Medium, Madame Flora is a spiritualist who scams her customers into thinking that she can contact the dead. Her daughter and adopted son are always in the backroom making furniture move and sound effects so the clients believe she's actually doing something.
On day, however, people arrive unexpectedly and Madame agrees to speak to the spirits for them. She doesn't expect anything to happen - because the kids aren't around, she knows - when suddenly, she senses a real presence. She freaks out and dismisses the clients and calls to the children, who tell her they weren't in the back room at all.
Seeing her mother is clearly distraught by this news, Monica begins to sing her this "lullaby" in an attempt to soothe here. But it's a pretty freaky lullaby! I recommend watching this at night with the lights out :D
I have provided the text in the video itself, although it is sung in English. This isn't completely how the aria goes in the opera, I've added some sound effects - I'm sure Mr. Menotti doesn't mind!
If you enjoyed this post, please follow, upvote, and resteem. I write posts on singing, playing piano, nature, and sometimes cats.
This...is super creepy.
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I think I shall sing this lullaby to someone I dislike while they are falling asleep. Eerily melodic.
LOL! Ya, who could sleep after hearing this?
The truth is there are darker things in this world than could ever be dreamed up in even the blackest hearts of men. You can only experience those horrors never imagine or communicate them.
That is true of many things deep in people's hearts. Words or music or visual art can only allude to it.
Somebody with warped senses I think, lol.
I love good ghost stories!
I usually don't LOL, but I guess when you're telling the story it's less scary, so I'm OK with that :)
This is wonderful it gave me shivers, please keep singing forever! Thank you so much for submitting this!
Haha, then it did its job! Thanks again for giving us this opportunity to share our art. :)
So happy you did!
What a lovely post. I really like it. spooky.
Haha, thanks! Luckily, that's what I was going for ;)
this is a pretty full on experience.
I found it much more powerful with your introduction than it was seeing it cold on Julie's page. That's how I ended up here of course.
Anyway, well done
I am sure she wasn't lulled too much by that lullaby. lol
great images.
big hugs
ps, if you want some lols, check out lullaby by Tim Minchin on youtube, if you haven't seen it already.
Even if you have it'd be worth the repeat.
Thanks, ya, I think knowing the context helps too! I'll definitely check out that video.
tremendous voice you have too, I didn't mention that part. If you speed up the video to 2X (I know sacrilege, but I had already watched two times through by then.) you sound alt-pop. I loved that too
LOL, I think it would sound more like the Chipmunks! Thank you for listening and glad you enjoyed it :)
Very haunted opera sounding.
Thank you for listening!