Love Songs for Tu b' Av - III (Operatic)

If opera is about anything, it is love. What to choose for Tu B'Av? The only two tenors I would consider for this role are Franco Corelli and Luciano Pavarotti, for lovers are always tenors, and those two were peerless in the 20th century. Corelli is not well served on YouTube, but that hardly makes Pavarotti a second choice. In fact, I consider him the preeminent tenor of the 20th century. His seemingly limitless power, range, and clear, bell-ringing high notes probably make him the greatest tenor in history. He was a hard act to compete with, the Three Tenors notwithstanding.

Calaf's aria, Nessun Dorma ("None Shall Sleep") from Puccini's Turandot.

Nobody shall sleep!...
Nobody shall sleep!
Even you, o Princess,
in your cold room,
watch the stars,
that tremble with love and with hope.
But my secret is hidden within me,
my name no one shall know...
No!...No!...
On your mouth I will tell it when the light shines.
And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!...
(No one will know his name and we must, alas, die.)
Vanish, o night!
Set, stars! Set, stars!
At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!

At his valedictory performance at the opening of the Turin Olympics in 2006, dying from cancer, Pavarotti's voice still has its incredible power, but the ringing top is diminished, replaced by the most powerful emotions of a man aware of his mortality, saying good bye to his beloved art and audience.

Pavarotti's final performance of Nessun Dorma.



O Mio Babbino Caro ("O My Dear Papa") hardly seems the stuff of one of the most beautiful love arias ever written, not the least of which because it is sung by a daughter to her father. The lyrics themselves hardly seem to inspire the lovely melody, which comes straight down from heaven. The essence of the lyrics is, Oh my dear Papa, I love him so much that if you don't let me marry him, I'll throw myself from the bridge. Huh? And from this Puccini made sheer magic!

Italian	Translation in English
O mio babbino caro Mi piace, è bello, bello Vo' andare in Porta Rossa a comperar l'anello! Sì, sì, ci voglio andare! e se l'amassi indarno, andrei sul Ponte Vecchio, ma per buttarmi in Arno! Mi struggo e mi tormento! O Dio, vorrei morir! Babbo, pietà, pietà! Babbo, pietà, pietà!	Oh my dear papa I love him, he is handsome, handsome I want to go to Porta Rossa to buy the ring! Yes, yes, I want to go there! And if my love were in vain, I would go to the Ponte Vecchio and throw myself in the Arno! I am being consumed by the torment! Oh God, I'd like to die! Papa, have pity, have pity! Papa, have pity, have pity!

Here is Angela Gheorghio singing the aria from Puccini's only comedy, Gianni Schicci.




 

Love Songs for Tu b'Av - II (Longing)

It seems that we are always longing for our beloved or lamenting our beloved's loss. What, no songs about love requited? Seemingly not, such a boring subject.

Here are the Ronette's singing one of Pop's all time classic songs of yearning, Be My Baby, written by Ellie Greenwich, who passed away a little less than a year ago at the age of 68.



Here is John Lennon's completely different take on Be My Baby, complete with a driving, syncopated bass rhythm.



The young Supremes sing Baby Love. It's pretty funny to see dorky, rhythmless,  white teen-agers dance as the future super stars sing.



What every teenage girl wants to know, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? One of Pops most enduring songs of longing, made famous by the Shirelles, who here sing it live.



There have been many renderings of this classic song. Here is Slutty McSlut, Amy Winehouse, singing it more like a threat than a question.



Here Minnie Driver sings it sweetly and tenderly from her movie, Beautiful.



The number 1 Pop song, for me, of love unrequited is Unchained Melody, sung live here by the Righteous Brothers, who made it famous. The climax which begins at 2:47 makes my blood run cold every time I hear it.



A few weeks before he died Elvis did a concert tour which was recorded for TV. Here, looking bloated and ill, he gives a tour de force solo performance of Unchained Melody extemporaneously from the piano. At 1:45 he flashes one of his trademark smiles that can still light up the whole hall. One can begin to see the crushing weight of adulation that finally brought on his untimely end. (This is worth watching in full screen mode.)

Love Songs for Tu b'Av - I

There were no greater festivals for Israel than the 15th of Av and Yom Kippur. On these days the daughters of Jerusalem would go out... and dance in the vineyards. And what would they say? "Young man, raise your eyes and see which you select for yourself...." -- Talmud, Taanit 26b

What would the beautiful ones among them say? "Look for beauty, for a woman is for beauty."What would those of prestigious lineage say? "Look for family, for a woman is for children." What would the ugly ones say? "Make your acquisition for the sake of Heaven, as long as you decorate us with jewels" (Talmud, Taanit 31a).

This is the first record I remember owning and listening to over and over. It was a 45 with a paper sleeve. I don't remember what was on the "B" side. Or maybe this was the "B" side. I listened to it on a small, portable, blue and yellow record player whose lid opened to reveal a speaker, volume control, turntable, speed control (78-45-33), and a solid looking tone arm. It also had an AM radio that I listened to the Jack Benny Show and the Fibber McGee and Molly Show on. After listening to this I knew that girls were the best thing G-d ever created, a fitting crown to creation and much better than men. Many, many years later I would sing this song to little Shoshana F., and it would give her night fears for many months. Sometimes things just don't work out with women.



If Mr. Sandman can't bring your love by night, perhaps Mr. Postman can do it by day. The refrain "wait a minute, wait a minute, oh yeah" recalls the yearning for a word from one's beloved "so far away". "You've got mail" just doesn't do it.



The Fab Fours' cover of Mr. Postman, with their trademark harmonies, is one of my favorite renderings of this classic.



...and sometimes, even if Mr. Postman does bring the letter, a cruel lover can spurn its delivery. Here is Elvis' Return to Sender. An SMTP return header just doesn't compare.




Then there is the touching plea, "Love Me Tender, Love Me Sweet", sung by the incomparable, the original, The King, Elvis Presley. Was there ever such a snarling smile in all of history?



Elvis, as we now know, was halachically Jewish through matralineal descent via his great-grandmother, Martha Tacket (1852-1887). He wore a Chai necklace and a Chai medallion off and on throughout the '70s, and had a Mogen Dovid carved on his mother's tombstone, along with the much more prominent cross, because after all, they were still Christian.

Elvis Presley's family tree.

Elvis' Chai Necklace.

Star of David carved on Gladys Presley's Grave.

Much of this information was explored in depth in Elaine Dundy's excellent book about Elvis and his mother, Elvis and Gladys.

I grew up in Memphis in the '50s and '60s. Elvis' mansion, Graceland, was in Whitehaven on what was then Highway 51, way out in the sticks. It was on a large tract of land with a colonial-style home that had a colonnade front, and surrounded by a fence whose most prominent feature was the wrought iron gates with large musical notes and guitars. As a tenn ager, I used to drive by the house and run in to learn a blat Gemorah with Elvis. I usually brought a black skull cap for him to wear. I remember commenting on how well it looked on his slicked-back duck tail hairdo, which he made all the rage. But he never took to it, thinking it squished all the  air out of his hair making him look flat-headed. "Ahrah, Ah mahy be a Jew," he used to declare to me, "but I showh as heck don'wanna lukh lakh won."

After he died, we would often return to Memphis during August, the month of his Yahrzeit, to visit family. There were always hordes of Elvis fans at the airport who would come to town mid-month to commemorate his Yahrzeit, keeping vigil outside of Graceland where he is buried, holding candles throughout the night and day of his passing.

Elvis at the famous music notes gates of Graceland.

Later in life we bought a tshatshke ash tray with his photo on it at the Memphis Airport and kept it in our living room, not far from a photo of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. We would tell people we had two Kings in our living room: The King of Rock and Roll and HaMelech HaMashiach, one technically Jewish, the other who made more technical Jews really Jewish than anyone else in the world.