freshland

这里大家谈论有关爱情的话题不少，就此我整理了一部歌剧中的故事情节与大家分享：

中国元代的京城，鞑靼国的太子阿拉甫来到这里，他是来寻找被废黜的鞑靼国王，他的父亲的。被废黜的鞑靼国王带着宫里的婢女柳儿恰巧也流亡到这里。有一次在鞑靼国的王宫里王子看到柳儿并冲她微笑，从此柳儿便偷偷爱上了王子。
京城的中心广场上，正在举行死刑仪式，被处死的将是波斯王子。原来，中国皇帝的公主图兰多特出了三个非常难的谜语，并宣布谁要是能猜出全部谜语便可以娶公主为妻，否则将被处死。许多仰慕公主美貌的名流，王子都赶来试运气，但最终都成了刀下鬼。围观的人们看着英俊的波斯王子又要成为公主的刀下鬼，不禁怜悯他而乞求公主能免他一死，然而心硬如铁的公主丝毫不为所动，最终波斯王子还是被处死了。
阿拉甫一看到美丽的公主图兰多特，便永远地爱上了她。他决定，要么赢得公主的心，要么去死。任凭他的父亲及柳儿怎样苦苦相劝，乞求，都不能动摇他的决心。
朝廷的官员看到阿拉甫来猜谜语，便对他说：“你快滚吧！死的人已经够多了。公主的谜语，黑夜都比它们明朗，你是根本无法猜中的。难道你也想成为刀下鬼吗？”。然而阿拉甫决心已定，什么也不能阻止他。
三个谜语都被阿拉甫猜中了。但是，公主反悔了。她乞求父皇不要把她嫁给异乡人。看到这种情况，阿拉甫便对公主说：如果公主能在黎明前猜出他的名字，他就去死，否则，公主就要做他的妻子。
公主连忙招来宫里的大臣们，要他们在黎明前务必查出异乡人的名字，否则他们都得死。大臣们立刻行动起来，倾城搜查，想查出线索。终于，他们捉来了柳儿，并对柳儿严刑拷打。然而柳儿无论怎样也不肯说出太子的名字。公主大怒，叫来刽子手，并对柳儿说如果再不说出太子的名字就将被处死。但是柳儿誓死不从。公主非常惊诧于柳儿的顽强，便问柳儿：“是什么使你有如此的力量连死都不怕？”。“是  --- 爱情！”，柳儿一边说着，一边夺过刽子手的刀刺向自己的胸膛。。。
太阳出来了，黎明到了。图兰多特公主最终还是没有查出阿拉甫的名字。中心广场上，阿拉甫热情地向公主走去，然而公主却冷冷地将他推开。忽然，阿拉甫发现公主眼中闪烁着晶莹的泪花，他知道，公主心中已燃烧了爱情的火焰。

公主走到皇帝面前，对他说：“父亲，我终于知道异乡人的名字了，他的名字是 --- 爱情！”。

歌颂爱情，歌颂太阳的歌声响彻中心广场。。。

（每次读这故事，倾听这部歌剧，我都禁不住流泪。这就是意大利著名音乐家普契尼的著名歌剧《图兰多特》，大家不妨一试）

雪域梅花

的确是个悲惨又感人的爱情故事，我想很多人都向往这样的爱情，但不向往这样的悲剧，正好昨天和一个好朋友电话中谈论了类似的问题，真爱一个人就会愿意为她付出一切，但话又说回来，在现在的社会，在现实生活中，如果付出了很多，得到了一个满意的结果我觉得是很值得的，但是如果得到的是伤害，是一个自己并不想得到的结果，那又何苦呢？毕竟现实不想这个故事！  frown

jadis

-----在现在的社会，在现实生活中，如果付出了很多，得到了一个满意的结果我觉得是很值得的-----


所以请保留爱情的火种在心底最深处，即使在与生活和邪恶和善良的抗争和抉择种，请依然让希望和追求的火焰在你的眼中跳跃.

will*chen

我相信缘分天注定！因我的婚姻就是一例，祝福天下所有渴望爱情的人！！！

mlusa

Actually Puccini died before he could finish this opera.  So the ending was added by someone else - Would Puccini have chosen to let Liu die?  Also in that opera, Puccini used the melody from Chinese folk music.  

To Freshland - Glad to see there are some opera fans here.  Puccini is one of my favorites too.

cy65

j,真正一个坚强灵秀的女子。“保留心中的火种“，说得太好了。

freshland

mlusa,

Yes, you are partly correct. Puccini died before his last opera was finished. But the story was already there, just one other guy(forget his name) finished part of the music of the last act on the base of what Puccini had done. So Liu had no way to be survived. Puccini picked up the melody from Chinese folk song "Jasmin".

I don't know if I could be called an opera fan as my preference mainly focuses on orchestra works such as symphonies and concertos. But I do have some collections on opera. They include Beethoven's "Fidelio", several of Mozart and Weber, some of Verdi, Puccini and Mascagni, and some of Wagner and Richard Straus etc. I rarely buy any CDs in the recent years and, yes, "having no time" is the excuse. I really like to meet some true classical music fans in whatever ways. So you are very welcome to exchange any ideas in this field with me at your convenience.
I appreciate your reply and with the best wishes for your future.

无语, you are absolutely correct !
jadis, are you really a girl ?

mlusa

Freshland,

Looks like you have quite a variety of operas, so far I have only listened to Italien ones, as I don't fancy German as a lyric language, but actually Strauss' Die Fledermaus isn't that bad.  Don't know about Wagner's operas - any insight on that?

It is said that Puccini used at least eight chinese folk melodies, I could only recognize "Jasmin", - didn't know this melody has been around for so long...  I have been listening to classical music (same as you, mostly orchestral works) for a long time, and only started to listen to Opera last year, the very first one was this "Turandot".  The opera/classical music season is around the corner, if you intend to go see the performances, please let me know, It would be fun to share the experiences.  
Thanks for your wishes and best wishes to you too.

freshland

mlusa,

From your posts on other topics I learned that you are a girl, so it's no wonder that you don't like German opera(no offence to you and other females). But it is true that most of female classical music fans only like Italian opera and, regarding to pure music, they only like small piano pieces particularly written by Chopin. Don't be angry. I am not talking about your case   . But you should know that most of operas of Mozart are written in Italian, though he is Austrian.
I am so glad that you give me the info on opera/classical music festival and like to share the experiences with me. I take it as a kind of invitation to some live performances(probably I am stupid here). But to prevent from bringing any trouble to you, I'd rather give it up and just stay here to share sth with you if you don't mind, since also from your posts in other place I learned that you are going pretty well with your boyfriend   .
Do I look like an idiot ?     frown

mlusa

Freshland,

Thanks for your reply, which I found rather interesting and amusing.      First of all I didn't say that I don't like German operas - I just haven't got around to listen to them yet.  Actually I do intend to, as that would be a good pratice for my German.  Secondly be careful not to stereotype people - how many female classical music fans do you know?.  Thirdly Italien opera, to me, is more of a style, than the nationality of the composer.  I do like Mozart's operas too, you can clearly sense those are the works of a genius, but when I am looking for something passionate, I prefer to listen to Verdi and Puccini.  Not that Mozart's operas are not passionate, but just not my type of passion.

I actually didn't intend to invite you to the performances, as I already bought this season's opera tickets.  But if you also intend to go, it would be fun to chat on the performances that we see - that is what I mean by sharing the experiences.  Also if you know of some good performances that's worth attending, please let me know - another example of sharing.  And yes I have the sweetest gentlest and most exquisite boyfriend whom I love wholeheartedly.  No one compares to him.

As to your last question, the answer is I am not sure as I haven't met you.  You probably know the answer better than I do.