MovieChat Forums > The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall (2011) Discussion > Anybody know the words to 'Prima Donna' ...

Anybody know the words to 'Prima Donna' really well?

posted 12 years ago by trina_disneyfanatic
11 replies | jump to latest

I have been attempting to compile all the lyrics from all the songs from POTO, and "Prima Donna" is proving to be more complicated than I had expected. So I decided to come here and ask for help. Right now it's just two parts, but I expect I will be coming back and editing this post, having found more parts I need help with. But for now...

1) When Carlotta sings her line, "Prima donna, your song shall never die," I can see that Meg also has a line there that she sings under Carlotta. However, I can't make out what her line is right here. I have looked up the lyrics for this song online, but I still can't figure out her line. If anyone knows it and can help me out, I'd appreciate that.
2) When Carlotta is changing into the "Il Muto" costume, she sings something in Italian, but the lines listed in the lyrics I found online don't match up with what Carlotta actually sings. Again, if anyone can help me, I'd appreciate it.
3) Right before Raoul sings the line "And in Box Five a new game will begin," he sings something else, something that's like 3 or 4 syllables, but it doesn't seem to match up with the lyrics I found online. So, I am hoping that someone may be able to help me out again.

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[–] Mentrilo 12 years ago

Not sure this is much help, but it seems like Meg's line starts something like "who is this ghost..." there is more to the line, but if that one shows up on the lyrics.

Looking at: http://loinhac.com/loinhac.php?id=587247f3a55

It appears to be
"Is this ghost
an angel or a madman . . .? "

The link also has meg's other lines.

It says Carlotta's other lines are:
"O, fortunata!
Non ancor
abbandonata!"

I don't know if this matches what she sings, but her singing style is a little deceptive and I'm sure if I didn't know she was singing in another song "time to get a better better half" I would think she was singing something about gigging hearts, so the line might be right and her delivery misleading.

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[–] trina_disneyfanatic 12 years ago

I got Meg's "ghost or madman" line, but there's another one a little bit later that I can't figure out. You're right about Carlotta's lines being written as "O fortunata" etc. but I don't think that's what she actually sings in this performance. I've been able to match up the other lines when she sings in Italian, but this one does not seem to match up. Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

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[–] trina_disneyfanatic 12 years ago

Mentrilo, I checked out your lyrics source, and like mine, it excludes Carlotta's line "Prima donna, your song shall never die," jumping straight to her next lines, "You'll sing again, and to unending ovation." I also do not see anything written for Meg at this part either, so I'm still hoping for Meg's line, although I think I figured out Carlotta's later Italian lines. I think she sings, "O fortunata! / Non ancor, / Non ancor abbandonata!" I think I was confused because all the lyrics sources do not repeat the words "non ancor."

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[–] LittleChou 12 years ago

According to the Libretto in the back of "The Complete Phantom of the Opera" Meg sings "Voice of hell, or of heaven...?" at or around the point you're talking about--it comes after her "Is this ghost an angel or a madman...? lyric. I've listened to both the original recording and the Albert Hall performance--and it's completely incomprehensible to me.

Meg also has many other lines listed which I never actually heard--she just gets drowned out.

I get the same thing you guys have for Carlotta's changing lines--however, if you watch the video, her lips are not really in sync, maybe that is what is creating the confusion? I'm fairly certain they pre-recorded certain parts and maybe that's the case here. There are other parts of the show where it looks like they are lip syncing, and I think it's to be expected that for a 25th Anniversary performance being recorded for DVD release they would do this for the extremely challenging and/or pivotal parts as well as the parts where the mechanics of the actors moving about (or their costume--think the Phantom's completely covered face in Point of No Return or in Masquerade) make it necessary--I'm 99% sure they do that for the live show as well, as required.

Rewatching it, I think that's the case. There's a point where it almost sounds like you can hear her mic cut back in right before the climax. If that's the case, I would guess it's because 1. it's hard to sing when you're having your clothes taken off and put back on and 2. the audience doesn't want to hear all the sounds of her changing (buttons, snaps, etc.)

[–] trina_disneyfanatic 12 years ago

Thanks. I'll go with the "Voice of hell..." line unless someone else tells me something different that seems to fit better. I think mentirlo mentioned something about Carlotta's lips not being in sync with the sound. It's hard for me to see for certain as I have only videos downloaded from YouTube, and sometimes it does look like it gets a little off, but then it seems to recover and so I just ignore it. Thanks again for your help.

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[–] alwagner06 12 years ago

Meg's lines during "Your song shall never die..."are
"Is this ghost an angel or madman? Voice of hell or of heaven? Bliss or damnation which has claimed her? Surely he'll strike back...if his threats and demands are rejected!"

[–] trina_disneyfanatic 12 years ago

Thanks for the input, alwagner. I'll try those lines.

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[–] trina_disneyfanatic 11 years ago

I've found another line I'm having trouble with:

Several people sing a line about the Phantom's demands being rejected (It's slightly different with different people.) Piangi is included here, and at first I was thinking his line was the same as Meg's: "Think, before these demands are rejected!" But then I started thinking that Piangi would actually want the others to reject the Phantom's demands, as he would be in favor of Carlotta singing instead of Christine. I finally concluded that if no one can find out any differently, I'll change the word "rejected" to "accepted."

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[–] mcadams88 11 years ago

http://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/phantomoftheoperascript/thephantomoftheoperascript.htm

I found the above script to be very useful when trying to decipher lines in the numbers is which multiple people are singing over each other.

[–] trina_disneyfanatic 11 years ago

I will keep that link in mind as I continue to compile lyrics. However, there was nothing listed for Piangi at that particular moment.

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[–] trina_disneyfanatic 10 years ago

I am wondering what Raoul says in the second "All I Ask of You" reprise (the one that comes after "The Point of No Return"). The Phantom drags Christine with him offstage, and Raoul says, "No! Don't shoot!" Then there are several more lines that he has during this part that I can't make out. It sounds like he says "monsieur" a few times, but other than that I don't know what he is saying until he says, "Madame Giry, come. Monsieur Firmin, come." Then he says something else before Mme. Giry says, "Monsieur le Vicomte! Come with me. I know where they are." After this I can understand the rest of the lines just fine.

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