Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Alfred Brendel

When Christo had wrapped the Three Tenors

When Christo had wrapped the Three Tenors
on the balcony of La Scala
the civilised world fell unnaturally silent
Falsetto supplications
barely audible
through the sack-cloth
were registered
in horror and glee
by opera-lovers attending the spectacle
but where that desperate ear-splitting top-note
issued from
remained uncertain
It may however be assumed
to have come from the middle
and more voluminous
of the celebrities
whose mummified contour
began to quiver
while
at his feet
an envoy from the world’s freest country
voiced his concern about such curbing
if not gagging
of human communication
Opera-buffs will be pleased to learn
that the wrapping
in grey plastic
of Robert Wilson and Peter Sellars
halfway up Cologne Cathedral
has been confirmed
and will commence
in due course

When Christo had wrapped the Three Tenors

Als Christo die drei Tenöre verpackt hatte
senkte sich über die Kulturlandschaft ein unnatür-
liches Schweigen
Kaum hörbar durchdrangen ein paar flehende Töne
in den Höhenregionen der Kopfstimme angesiedelt
das Sackleinen
von Opernliebhabern am Fuße der Scala
halb entsetzt halb schadenfroh registriert
wobei die Herkunft eines vereinzelten
markerschütternden Spitzentons
der Umstände wegen im Dunkel blieb
Es steht jedoch zu vermuten
daß die eben erwähnte
zu Herzen gehende
hohe Gesangsnote
der mittleren und beleibteren der drei Berühmt-
heiten zu verdanken war
deren mumienartiger Umriß
vorübergehend ins Wanken geriet
während zugleich
der Abgesandte des freiesten Landes der Welt
ein Protestschreiben seiner Regierung verlesend
für die hier stattfindende Beeinträchtigung
ja Knebelung
des Mitteilungsdranges
harte Worte fand
Als nächstes Reiseziel
wäre die bevorstehende Verpackung Robert
Wilsons und Peter Sellars’
auf halber Höhe des Kölner Doms
in graues Plastik
von allen Opernfreunden
ins Auge zu fassen
Close

When Christo had wrapped the Three Tenors

When Christo had wrapped the Three Tenors
on the balcony of La Scala
the civilised world fell unnaturally silent
Falsetto supplications
barely audible
through the sack-cloth
were registered
in horror and glee
by opera-lovers attending the spectacle
but where that desperate ear-splitting top-note
issued from
remained uncertain
It may however be assumed
to have come from the middle
and more voluminous
of the celebrities
whose mummified contour
began to quiver
while
at his feet
an envoy from the world’s freest country
voiced his concern about such curbing
if not gagging
of human communication
Opera-buffs will be pleased to learn
that the wrapping
in grey plastic
of Robert Wilson and Peter Sellars
halfway up Cologne Cathedral
has been confirmed
and will commence
in due course

When Christo had wrapped the Three Tenors

When Christo had wrapped the Three Tenors
on the balcony of La Scala
the civilised world fell unnaturally silent
Falsetto supplications
barely audible
through the sack-cloth
were registered
in horror and glee
by opera-lovers attending the spectacle
but where that desperate ear-splitting top-note
issued from
remained uncertain
It may however be assumed
to have come from the middle
and more voluminous
of the celebrities
whose mummified contour
began to quiver
while
at his feet
an envoy from the world’s freest country
voiced his concern about such curbing
if not gagging
of human communication
Opera-buffs will be pleased to learn
that the wrapping
in grey plastic
of Robert Wilson and Peter Sellars
halfway up Cologne Cathedral
has been confirmed
and will commence
in due course
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