Camille Saint Säens

DALILA Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix comme s’ouvrent les fleurs Aux baisers de l’aurore! Mais, ô mon bien-aimé, pour mieux sécher mes pleurs, Que ta voix parle encore! Dis-moi qu’à Dalila tu reviens pour jamais! Redis à ma tendresse Les serments d’autrefois, ces serments que j’aimais! Ah! réponds à ma tendresse, Verse-moi, verse-moi l’ivresse! Réponds à ma tendresse. Ah! verse-moi, verse-moi l’ivresse!   SAMSON Dalila! Dalila! je t’aime!   DALILA Ainsi qu’on voit des blés les épis onduler Sous la brise légère, Ainsi frémit mon cour, prêt à se consoler, A ta voix qui m’est chère! La flèche est moins rapide à porter le trépas Que ne l’est ton amante à voler dans tes bras! Ah! réponds à ma tendresse! Verse-moi, verse-moi l’ivresse!   SAMSON Par mes baisers je veux sécher tes larmes, Et de ton coeur éloigner les alarmes! Dalila! Dalila! je t’aime!” -Mon Coeur S’Ouvre A Ta Voix from Camille Sain Säens’ Samson et Dalila, Libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire, First performance on December 2, 1877 at the Ducal Theater, Weimar, Germany.   English Translation: “DELILAH My heart opens to your voice Like the flowers open To the kisses of the dawn! But, oh my beloved, To better dry my tears, Let your voice speak again! Tell me that you are returning To Delilah forever! Repeat to my tenderness The promises of old times, Those promises that I loved! Ah! respond to my tenderness! Fill me with ecstasy!    SAMSON Dalila! Dalila! I love you!   DELILAH Like one sees the blades Of wheat that wave In the light wind, So trembles my heart, Ready to be consoled, By your voice that is so dear to me! The arrow is less rapid In bringing death, Than your love is By flying into your arms! Ah! respond to my tenderness! Fill me with ecstasy!   SAMSON By my kisses, I want to dry your tears And your heart away alarms. Dalila! Dalila! I love you!”   This piece of Brickercup fanart is dedicated to my most beloved friend, my soul sister in shipping Brick and Buttercup as a hot, spicy, and sexy couple, and a wonderful DeviantArtist the one and only Miss Paula aka BrickercupMasterX3, who celebrated her birthday yesterday. So, Paula, I wish you a most pleasant, wonderful, exceptional, elegant, and magnificent birthday and I also wish you prosperity, love, and joy in everything you do as an artist and as a person. Comme on dit en francais, je te souhaite une anniversaire plaisante, merveilleuse, exceptionelle, elegante et magnifique et je te souhaite aussi prosperité, amour et joie dans tous tu fais comme une artiste et une personne. Moreover, I would also love to dedicate this to all of the magnificent Brickercup shippers. Prenez plaisir mes amis.   Here we have 26-year-old Brick and his 25-year-old wife Buttercup as the legendary biblical couple Samson and Delilah. I personally think they fit their roles really well, as Samson was the leader of the Nazarites famous for his prodigious strength and Delilah was a Philistine woman known for her beauty, cunning, and seductiveness. Brick indubitably is a nice fit for Samson, what with his long hair and superhuman strength, and Buttercup dons Delilah’s attitude rather well with her overall beauty though in real life she is far from being über feminine. Still, these two look exceptionally gorgeous together and I was totally and utterly inspired by the Metropolitan Opera House’s promo picture of Elina Garanca as Dalila and Roberto Alagna as Samson, as Saint Säens’ “Samson et Dalila” will be part of the Met Live in HD’s broadcast lineup this coming October 20 and I am very excited to watch it. So, here’s the picture of my inspiration to try to get this down to a T.     Dalila’s signature aria “Mon Coeur S’Ouvre a ta Voix” always had a special place in my heart, as my first exposure to this was listening to Christa Ludwig’s and James King’s voices as Dalila and Samson and I immediately fell in love with this aria. The sinuous melody along with any skilled mezzo and tenor who can pull this off certainly makes any listening experience exciting. Moreover, I watched a taped performance live from the San Francisco Opera House with my late maternal grandmother starring Placido Domingo and Shirley Verrett as Samson and Delilah. So, Paula and to all of my dear viewers, I present to you five renditions of this aria from five of my favorite Delilahs Rise Stevens, Christa Ludwig, Shirley Verrett, Olga Borodina, and Elina Garanca and five of my favorite Samsons Mario del Monaco, James King, Placido Domingo, José Cura, and Roberto Alagna. So, I hope you enjoy listening to these five selections as much as you enjoy soaking up that Brickercup goodness. I also kind of imagine Buttercup’s singing voice being that of a mezzo-soprano to Brick’s dramatic tenor so I am pretty sure you can imagine these two singing this aria.   Rise Stevens and Mario del Monaco   Christa Ludwig and James King   Shirley Verrett and Placido Domingo   Olga Borodina and José Cura   Elina Garanca and Roberto Alagna   So, Paula and my dearest friends, I hope you all enjoyed this piece of Brickercup fanart as well as the five renditions of “Mon Coeur S’Ouvre a ta Voix” from Saint Säens’ Samson et Dalila. A tout a l’heure mes amis.   Buttercup and Brick from The Powerpuff Girls belong to Craig McCracken and Cartoon Network.