This is my entry for @juliakponsford's #ArtExplosion Contest this week:
PHANTOMS
The Setting.
In Gian Carlo Menotti's opera, The Medium, Madame Flora is a spiritualist who scams her customers into thinking that she can contact the dead. Her daughter and adopted son are always in the backroom making furniture move and sound effects so the clients believe she's actually doing something.
On day, however, people arrive unexpectedly and Madame agrees to speak to the spirits for them. She doesn't expect anything to happen - because the kids aren't around, she knows - when suddenly, she senses a real presence. She freaks out and dismisses the clients and calls to the children, who tell her they weren't in the back room at all.
Seeing her mother is clearly distraught by this news, Monica begins to sing her this "lullaby" in an attempt to soothe here. But it's a pretty freaky lullaby! I recommend watching this at night with the lights out :D
I have provided the text in the video itself, although it is sung in English. This isn't completely how the aria goes in the opera, I've added some sound effects - I'm sure Mr. Menotti doesn't mind!
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