Reply With Quotepictures! we need pictures Hoffmann...Originally Posted by Hoffmann
I haven't been walking my usual marathon walks here in Berlin, but have been managing to get out for at least a few miles every day. The Berlin/Wilmersdorf Volkspark is nearby and a beautiful spot to take a walk. This morning, I when I went out, I decided to listen to the Met recording of Fidelio and then walked a little further than previously, and found myself at the Rathaus Schöneberg.
The Rathaus Schöneberg is where President Kennedy delivered his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. As I walked up to read the bronze dedication plaque posted at the entrance, which addressed the large crowd assembled to listen to the President's speech, and that a large group gathered in the same location after the assassination, I suddenly realized that I was listening to the Prisoners' Chorus, which gave me a shiver and a lump in my throat. Just getting old and sentimental, I guess.
pictures! we need pictures Hoffmann...
Handel: Theodora, HWV 68
Sophie Daneman (Theodora), Daniel Taylor (Didymus), Richard Croft (Septimius), Nathan Berg (Valens), Juliette Galstian (Irene), Laurent Slaars (Messenger)
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie
A stunning piece of work and a fabulous production that would move me to tears if I was any less butch of a man. Something all Handel fans will want to hear.
"Music is enought for a whole lifetime--but a lifetime is not enough for music." --Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff
Henceforth, I wish to be known as Theodora
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no, better make that Didymus
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actually, scrap that. Just call me Clayton
Didymus
Didyme
Didymum
Didymi
Didymo
Didymo
Didymi
Didymi
Didymos
Didymorum
Didymis
Didymis
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still stuck here on Theodora
today while loading the car to take my stuff to my London residence (until masters hopefully!) it was :
I still love Un Ballo in Maschera. However, while it has remained in the same position in regard to my Verdi works I believe La Traviata may have fallen to my fourth place. As on and off for a while now I have been listening to
Il Trovatore ,though its music is quite formal, has some massively impressive moments and as a whole convinces (it is consistent throughout!). I love La Traviata though have never been wholly convinced by act three. As i am going on a 5 to 6 hour long car journey tomorrowmy opinion may change in its favour. However, for the moment Il Trovatore has overtaken La Traviata for third place on my Verdi hit list!
"Non sono in vena" Rodolfo summing up P.B's feelings on his dissertation.
And the results of the car journey are in! To ensure the advantages were NOT dictated by a recording being less than equal I used the following recording of La Traviata which is quite correctly recommended as the top recording in our top 100 list
As always i enjoyed La Traviata immensely for two glorious acts only to be slightly underwhelmed by act three which although not bad by any means just feel musically weaker than the two acts that precede it and the final acts of my three favourite Verdi operas. Rigoletto's final act has some of the most famous music Verdi ever composed, Un Ballo in Maschera has the ballroom scene as its finale and the whole third act is memorable while Il Trovatore has the glorious duet between Di Luna and Leonora and great final scene with the poison. La Traviata's last act is poignant but just doesn't quite reach those heights for me. La Traviata is an excellent opera but I think i can confirm Il Trovatore has now grown on me more. Verdi is really quite something.*
*I still think I might like Puccini more though
"Non sono in vena" Rodolfo summing up P.B's feelings on his dissertation.
You don't have to choose - you can like them both equally!*I still think I might like Puccini more though
"Every theatre is an insane asylum, but an opera theatre is the ward for the incurables."
FRANZ SCHALK, attributed, Losing the Plot in Opera: Myths and Secrets of the World's Great Operas
The problem about listening to Rameau when you are walking is that irresistible dance music comes on and you find yourself blithely tripping along until you realise that all the motorists are giving you funny looks.
Natalie
like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like,
The problem about listening to Rameau when you are walking is that irresistible dance music comes on and you find yourself blithely tripping along until you realise that all the motorists are giving you funny looks.
Thanks for the warning. I'll save this one until winter when it gets dark early, so no one will be threatened with driving into the Potomac while watching the mad senior with big headphones tripping along among the monuments.
It's an absolutely fabulous opera and a superb recording. It is a Clayton top 10 desert island job (though I think this list actually has 47 recordings). It has everything; poetry, music, dance...
"Music is enought for a whole lifetime--but a lifetime is not enough for music." --Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff
Lully: Psyché
Tragédie en Musique (Libretto: Thomas Corneille)
Carolyn Sampson, Karina Gauvin, Aaron Sheehan, Colin Balzer, Amanda Forsythe, Mireille Lebel, Yulia Van Doren, Olivier Laquerre, Jason McStoots, Matthew Shaw, Aaron Engebreth, Ricard Bordas, Teresa Wakim & José Lemos
Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra & Chorus, Paul O’Dette & Stephen Stubbs
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