"Ah! Je veux vivre" | Roméo et Juliette | Madeline Best

The SummerSong Showcase held at the Vieve Gore Concert Hall at Westminster University on Friday, June 21, 2024. I felt incredibly grateful for the opportunity to attend SummerSong again this year on a scholarship. SummerSong is a week-long, residential music camp for high school students at the lovely Westminster University campus. Again, it was a fun and educational experience. This aria was my piece for Battle of the Solos -- the Vocal Ensemble annual tour fundraiser, Region/State Solo & Ensemble competitions, and Sterling Scholar Vocal Performance interviews. I've had the aria for about a year now, and though I know it'll be much better when my voice is developed, I was grateful to start building the skills necessary to sing difficult coloratura repertoire such as this. It's the most impactful piece I've ever sung -- I connect with the message of the song deeply, and hope to sing the role of Juliette one day.
Aria: "Ah! Je veux vivre" (Juliette's waltz)
Character: Juliette
Opera: Roméo et Juliette
Composer: Charles Gounod
Performed by Madeline Best, with live accompaniment by Julie Page.
Listen to and download this among other songs from the concert! You can find the link below. I also appear in the following musical theatre workshop pieces accompanied by Emily Williams ("Requiem" from Dear Evan Hansen as Cynthia and "One Day More" from Les Miserables as a soprano). Enjoy!
Link: westminstercol...
French Text: (original)
Ah! Je veux vivre dans le rêve
qui m’enivre
ce jour encore! (alternate)
longtemps encore.
Douce flamme je te garde
dans mon âme comme un trésor!
Cette ivresse de jeunesse ne
dure, hélas! qu’un jour!
Puis vient l’heure où l’on
pleure, le cœur cède à l’amour,
et le bonheur fuit
sans retour!
Loin de l’hiver morose
laisse moi sommeiller
et respirer la rose,
avant de l’effeuiller.
Ah! Douce flamme,
reste dans mon âme
comme un doux trésor,
ah, longtemps encore! Ah!
English Translation:
Ah! I want to-live in the dream
which me-intoxicates
this day again! (alternate)
for-a-long-time yet.
Sweet flame I you keep
in my soul like a treasure!
This intoxication of youth
not endures, alas, but-a day!
Then comes the-hour when one weeps,
the heart yields to love,
and the happiness flees
without returning!
Far from the-winter bleak
let me slumber
and breathe-in the rose,
before (it) is-plucked.
Ah! Sweet flame,
stay in my soul
like a sweet treasure,
ah, for-a-long-time yet! Ah!
Operatic Context: Juliette’s family, the Capulets, are holding a masked ball at their
castle. Roméo and Mercutio have snuck into the ball at this point, but the two have
not met yet. Juliette’s nurse Gertrude urges her to talk to Count Paris, whom she’s
been promised to. Instead of obliging, Juliette stands up to her nurse, a prominent
mother figure in her life, and expresses her desire to be young and live for herself
rather than to please others. Juliette experiences joy, anticipation, doubt, and fear
as she sings this aria of self-discovery.

[@plumaplumarch]

Talented af

[@raea119]

Girlll I was gonna skip the video but omg!!! This is fire! Keep going~