What I'm surprised nobody has mentioned so far is that this is actually an aria from the Purcell opera King Arthur. From what I read, after a harsh winter where a character was thought frozen to death, he wakens to find his world has shattered. He looks around and wishes he was dead. Klaus may have been feeling this late in his life, having both AIDS and Kaposi's Sarcoma.
@quamp This is indeed not a song of Klaus Nomi but a piece by Purcell, libretto John Dryden.
Whether Purcell or John Dryden wrote the text of this aria, no idea.
Changed attribution accordingly.
@quamp This is indeed not a song of Klaus Nomi but a piece by Purcell, libretto John Dryden.
Whether Purcell or John Dryden wrote the text of this aria, no idea.
Changed attribution accordingly.
The original aria is a fascinating piece of art on itself. Poetry of which there can't be a meaning given, it is about what it says (and it's chillingly beautiful and scary as hell at the same time IMO).
The aria gets a new dimension by how Klaus Nomi sang it. He was an incredibly great countertenor and how he presented himself and this aria, will stay...
The original aria is a fascinating piece of art on itself. Poetry of which there can't be a meaning given, it is about what it says (and it's chillingly beautiful and scary as hell at the same time IMO).
The aria gets a new dimension by how Klaus Nomi sang it. He was an incredibly great countertenor and how he presented himself and this aria, will stay in our collective awareness forever. Klaus Nomi made history.
What I'm surprised nobody has mentioned so far is that this is actually an aria from the Purcell opera King Arthur. From what I read, after a harsh winter where a character was thought frozen to death, he wakens to find his world has shattered. He looks around and wishes he was dead. Klaus may have been feeling this late in his life, having both AIDS and Kaposi's Sarcoma.
@quamp This is indeed not a song of Klaus Nomi but a piece by Purcell, libretto John Dryden. Whether Purcell or John Dryden wrote the text of this aria, no idea. Changed attribution accordingly.
@quamp This is indeed not a song of Klaus Nomi but a piece by Purcell, libretto John Dryden. Whether Purcell or John Dryden wrote the text of this aria, no idea. Changed attribution accordingly.
The original aria is a fascinating piece of art on itself. Poetry of which there can't be a meaning given, it is about what it says (and it's chillingly beautiful and scary as hell at the same time IMO). The aria gets a new dimension by how Klaus Nomi sang it. He was an incredibly great countertenor and how he presented himself and this aria, will stay...
The original aria is a fascinating piece of art on itself. Poetry of which there can't be a meaning given, it is about what it says (and it's chillingly beautiful and scary as hell at the same time IMO). The aria gets a new dimension by how Klaus Nomi sang it. He was an incredibly great countertenor and how he presented himself and this aria, will stay in our collective awareness forever. Klaus Nomi made history.