The Opera

MARYA D.
Hold up your dresses and jump out quickly

SERVANT
Ladies

SONYA
Bare arms and shoulders
Brilliant uniforms
Pearls and silk
Glittering before our eyes
Feminine envy
A whole crowd of memories
Desires and emotions
Natasha, smooth your gown

Natasha, smooth your gown

NATASHA
I see I am pretty
Not a girl anymore
I've never felt like this before

Hundreds of eyes
Looking at my bare arms
My bare arms and neck
My bare arms and shoulders

Had not been seen in Moscow in many years
Everybody knew vaguely of Natasha's engagement

SONYA

MARYA D.
He has changed
Dear me, Michael Kirilovich has grown still stouter!

There's Boris and Julie, engaged
And Anna Mikhaylovna, what a headdress she has on!

HELENE
And is that Natasha

And is that Natasha
And is that Natasha

NATASHA
They are looking at me
They are talking about me!
They all like me so much

SERVANT
Announcing Fedya Dolokhov
He dominates Moscow's most brilliant young men
He stands in full view
Well aware he's attracting attention
Yet as much as ease as though he were in his own room

MARYA D.

SERVANT
Announcing Countess Helene Bezukhova
Beautiful, barely clothed
Plump bare shoulders, and much exposed neck
Round which she wears a double string of pearls

Helene and Dolokhov, arm in arm

PIERRE
No, I am enjoying myself at home this evening

NATASHA
Oh, that neck
Oh, those pearls

HELENE
So beautiful
What a charming young girl
So enchanting

NATASHA
I blush scarlet

MARYA D.
Countess Bezukhova, Pierre's wife
Have you been here long?
And where is dear Pierre?
He never used to forget us

NATASHA
Yes Pierre, that good man
A little sad, a little stout
He must come visit us

HELENE
I will implore

MARYA D.
There's a woman one should stay far away from

Now Natasha

NATASHA
With gems on their bare flesh
Turned their whole attention

(Two singers perform a scene from an avant-garde opera.
It is grotesque and amazing.)

NATASHA
Grotesque and amazing
I see painted cardboard
Queerly dressed actors
So false and unnatural
I'm ashamed and amused
And everyone else seems oblivious
Yes everyone feigns delight

SONYA
Natasha little by little
Began to pass into a state of intoxication

NATASHA
Oh I'd tickle you all if I could
Oh I'd tickle you all if I could

SONYA
And then
A rush of cold air

NATASHA & SONYA
An exceptionally handsome man walked in
With a confident yet courteous air

HELENE
This was Helene's brother
Anatole Kuragin
He moved with a swagger
Which would have been ridiculous
Had he not been so good-looking
His sword and spurs jangling
His handsome perfumed head held high
And he looked right at Natasha

ANATOLE
Mais Charmante

HELENE

NATASHA
How handsome he is
How intoxicating

SONYA
Horns and contrabass
Black cloaks and daggers in their hands

NATASHA
I turn around again and our eyes meet
He gazes straight into my eyes
He is talking about me

SONYA
Candles burning
A crimson throne
They all wave their arms
And everybody cheers
"Bravo, bravo!"

NATASHA
Everytime I look at him
He's looking at me
Everytime I look at him
He's looking at me
Everytime I look at him

SONYA
A storm of chromatic scales and diminished sevenths
With rapturous faces everyone was shouting
Screaming and shouting, "Bravo!"

Bravo, bravo
Bravo, bravo
Bravo, bravo

SONYA
And then
A rush of cole air



Credits
Writer(s): Dave Malloy
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com

Link