Ewa Podles - Mussorgsky Trepak

Ewa Podles sings “Trepak“ from Mussorgsky’s “Songs and Dances of Death“ Forests aand meadows, there’s no one around. The wicked tempest howls and moans, as if in the darkness of night. it’s lamenting at someone’s funeral. Lo, so it is! There, in the darkness, Death embraces and caresses a tipsy peasent; together they frolic in a wild dance, as she sings this song in his hear: Oh, you dear fellow, you poor old man, you got drunk and decided to walk on foot, while the storm-witch rose up, and by chance drove you off from the field into the dense forest. You are burdened with sorrow, cares, and poverty: lie down and rest, fall asleep, dear one! I will cover you up with a blanket of snow, as I playfully whirl around you. fluffing your pillow with white downy flakes! Hey, strt up your song, stormy wind! Start telling a fairy tale, long enough to last all night, so that the drunkard will sleep soundly to it! Hey, you forests, skies and clouds, drakness, breezes and driving snow! Weave a blanket, snowy and billowy; with it I will cover the old man, like a baby... Sleep on, my friend, lucky fellow, summer has come and blossomed! The sun laughs over the wheat fields, reaper’s scythes whistle, songs ring out, birds take wing...