Friday, March 18, 2011

for those of you who still read this :)

i'm a bad blogger :) i post so rarely here... but you all saw me in Yerevan not long ago so there wasn't much to write about.

Anyway. I don't know how this came to mind but all of the sudden a song was stuck in my head and wouldn't go away. It was from "Notre Damme de Paris" musical ("hunchback of notre damme" in english i think... i don't know who translated "our lady of paris" into "hunchback of notre damme"). I started looking it all up on youtube and comparing. The French version is the best of course, then I'd say Russian, and English... I didn't like. It wasn't as much the voices though I think the hunchback was just not suitable but more of a language thing. It didn't flow as smoothly as in the other two I liked.

The translations were loose compared to French but it worked. For instance in Russian it would be "I'll sell my soul to the devil for a night with Esmeralda" and out of nowhere "the beauty turns a man into a slave". I'm not saying I didn't like it it just was different.

Today I've been watching the French musicale from beginning to an end holding back my breath. It was amazing and resonating at a deep level. I was almost considering giving Victor Hugo another shot but then again I know I can't digest his excessive descriptional style (call me a shallow person I don't care).

And then all of the sudden it dawned at me. When I was on my second year in university I actually went and saw the musicale... It was around "the small park" as I called it as a child and what is now "the park of fallen in loves". Professor George told us and we went. As far as I remember it was the original crew too.. Garou, Daniel, Patric... How I wished to understand more French back then but even though I didn't it was mesmerizing. I think my favorites were "Tu Vas Me Detruire" and "Dechire" though it's really hard to pick... Anyway here are the videos of "Belle" for you to compare on your own :)

English (fail.. they put Bell instead of Belle for title)

(if it doesn't work click here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMrI-feHTyQ

Russian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-iiPOaZRCc

French

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUXGVfmrEN4