Talk:Zaide

Correct Title

Is the name Zaide or Zaїde? I thought it was the latter.81.154.242.13 (talk) 13:59, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

I suppose current usage would spell it with a trema, but none of the sources do. If it's called Zaide on every recording and on the score and libretto as cited in the article, that should be reason enough to have this article named as it is. Michael Bednarek (talk) 00:51, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

It's a German-language opera, and in German the a and i are pronounced separately - ah-ee - as in, for example, Beethoven's song "Adelaide", which occupies four syllables. There's a similar situation with the Italian opera Aida, where the Italian title doesn't require two dots over the i, either. --GuillaumeTell (talk) 01:05, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

Comment

I have a recording of a song "Zaide" by Hector Berlioz. This article should perhaps be a subset of a larger article about the character Zaide, rather than just the Mozart Opera. Ketwatters 20:37, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

Berlioz's song is not about the same character as the one in this opera. The opera takes place in Turkey, where Zaide is one of the ladies in the Sultan's harem. The song is about a girl from Granada in Spain. You could create a disambiguation page if you feel the need. --GuillaumeTell 17:59, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Sultan Soliman

Someone has linked his name to Suleiman the Magnificent. Is it true that the character was meant to represent this real historical person? -- Jack of Oz ... speak! ... 23:40, 26 February 2010 (UTC)

I doubt it. To be really sure, we need to know more about the libretto by Schachtner and about its source (Das Serail by Franz Josef Sebastiani) and its possible origin in Voltaire's Zaire, but Soliman isn't far away from Selim in Entführung - a generic Ottoman potentate. I'd revert and/or ask the contributor for their reasoning.

BTW, the article is a complete mess! The lead is about as long as the rest and is about as unstructured as you can get. Oh, and Osmin is linked to a dab page (sigh!). --GuillaumeTell 01:26, 28 February 2010 (UTC)

Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben

Translation from Leopold Hager's version of Zaide on the Orfeo label (C 055 832 1):

Ruhe sanft, mein holdes Leben, ---------- Gently rest, my dearest love,
 schlafe, bis dein Glück erwacht; -------------- sleep until your happiness awakes;
 da, mein Bild will ich dir geben, ------------ here, I will give you my portrait,
 schau, wie freundlich es dir lacht. ---------- see how kindly it smiles at you.
 
Ihr süßen Träume, wiegt ihn ein, ---------- You gentle dreams, rock him to sleep,
 und lasset sienen Wunsch am Ende ------- and may the imaginings
 die wollustreiechen Gegenstände ---------- of his dreams of love
 zu reifer Wirklichkeit gedeihn. -------------- become at last reailty. 

There's an ambiguous suggestiveness in the second stanza 
based on the manifold meaning of the word Gegenstände, 
which is completely lacking in the above *translation*.
 
You sweet dreams rock him to sleep
 And let his wishes in the end,
 The lustful things [topics, subjects, items]
 Thrive into ripe reality.

English Translation: 

Rest peacefully, sweet love of my life,
Sleep 'till you re-awake in happiness!
Here, I give you a picture of me,
See how lovingly it smiles at you;
Oh, let those sweet dreams cradle him,
And finally let
All sensual things he desires
Come to rich fruition.

-96.233.19.238 (talk) 20:55, 13 April 2013 (UTC)