Reply With QuoteA totally new opera for me but need to learn it before I see it at The Barbican - assuming I can get tickets.
Found this on YouTube, is it a good version?
"Music is enought for a whole lifetime--but a lifetime is not enough for music." --Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff
A totally new opera for me but need to learn it before I see it at The Barbican - assuming I can get tickets.
Found this on YouTube, is it a good version?
Goodall sung-in-English Rheingold
While pondering today's walk, I'm listening to this lovely recording that I haven't listened to in a couple of years:
I have that recording of Mariella Devia in I Puritani, but only have listened to it once since I keep gravitating to the Sutherland/Ghiaurov/Cappuccilli/Pavarotti set, which is spectacular. The critical thing with Puritani, for me, are the bass/baritone roles, for which I Puritani is a real showcase. The soprano role, while important, I don't think is what makes or breaks Puritani. However, maybe I'll cue up the Devia for today's walk!
Cool - King Arthur has the cold song!Originally Posted by Ann Lander (sospiro)
A totally new opera for me but need to learn it before I see it at The Barbican - assuming I can get tickets.
Found this on YouTube, is it a good version?
I don't have the Christie version but I did enjoy the Pinnock version (Gerald Finley)
Natalie
I had a delightful walk today, listening to the Mariella Devia I Puritani. Lovely singing throughout, with Devia in excellent voice, maybe even out-singing Sutherland. The low voices also are excellent - not in the same league as Ghiaurov, but expressive and thoroughly satisfying.
There's an interesting aspect of I Puritani I'm not sure I've recognized before. I was thinking about MAuer's comment that it is her favorite Bellini opera, with one great tune after another. In fact, it seems the opera is mostly great tunes and very little recitative (which might have been necessary because of its kind of lame libretto, but I digress). The opera bangs along its merry way, keeping one on edge, because you know which tune is coming up next. I especially love the duet "Suoni la tromba..", which seems to reach its natural conclusion with the gentlemen hesitating for a couple of beats - and then pick up and repeat the theme for a final go. I Puritani is one of a kind.
I've always been a bit unfair to Puritani for the enraging libretto. I don't listen to it nearly as much as I should, I guess. It did provide me with a kind of unforgettable moment: I was giving a ride to a (perfectly educated, attending a prestigious art school) friend and once I got the car running the music I was listening earlier that day resumed playing. It was Anna Moffo singing Son vergin vezzosa. My friend was shocked. Absolutely gobsmacked. She looked at me with an expression that to this day I can't tell if was of terror or bewilderment and said OMG WHAT IS THIS!!!!! And the more Anna Moffo sang, the more disturbed she seemed. That day I really learned how absolutely alien the operatic voice can be to people, and that it has absolutely nothing to to with how "cultured" one is — she looked like she was having a close encounter of the third kind.
Annie, the Christie King Arthur is fine, it's a good choice! If you get tickets please report back, especially on Reginald Mobley!
My first encounter with the Cold Song was on Ariane Mnouchkine's brilliant movie about Molière. I always wondered why an Englishman on such a French film, but the result sure is poignant. The desperation of getting the dying Molière through never-ending stairs gives me the creeps.
Last edited by Soave_Fanciulla; January 6th, 2018 at 07:03 AM.
The one that drives me crazy is La Sonnambula. I wish Amina would tell that jerk Elvino to go fly a kite (or something of that sort).
Thanks Festat. Will definitely do a review if I can get tickets. I'm away from my PC on booking day and never do very well booking tickets on my phone. Maybe it's a good thing though as the demand for JK/DD recital tickets will be immense and I bet the site crashes. By the time I get home and log on, hopefully the site will have recovered from the onslaught!
Last edited by Ann Lander (sospiro); January 19th, 2017 at 03:10 PM. Reason: typo
I've always been a bit unfair to Puritani for the enraging libretto. I don't listen to it nearly as much as I should, I guess. It did provide me with a kind of unforgettable moment: I was giving a ride to a (perfectly educated, attending a prestigious art school) friend and once I got the car running the music started I was listening earlier that day resumed playing. It was Anna Moffo singing Son vergin vezzosa. My friend was shocked. Absolutely gobsmacked. She looked at me with an expression that to this day I can't tell if was of terror or bewilderment and said OMG WHAT IS THIS!!!!! And the more Anna Moffo sang, the more disturbed she seemed. That day I really learned how absolutely alien the operatic voice can be to people, and that it has absolutely nothing to to with how "cultured" one is — she looked like she was having a close encounter of the third kind.
Yes, I know this all too well. Friends here typically are game to try opera - once. They then proceed to revel forever after about how awful and painful it all is and accuse me of enjoying opera only because it's classy and, therefore, pretentious. I kind of changed that perception some after retiring and friends saw the level of traveling I do, mostly to see opera.
I don't think one can underestimate just how foreign the operatic voice is to the average ear. It's an everlasting mystery to me that opera ever even 'clicked' with me. Back when I worked for the National Endowment for the Arts, they once did a poll that looked at the level of interest for the different art forms. Opera was at the bottom (or close to it) with 4% of the population. That was over 30 years ago, so I don't recall any of the specifics about the poll.
Renee Fleming visited our small island to promote an album made in collaboration with a popular music artist recently. I can't remember the details but seeing her on various picture box shows did make me want to listen to some of her recordings, so
Dvorak: Rusalka, Op. 114
Renée Fleming (Rusalka), Ben Heppner (Prince), Dolora Zajick (Jezibaba), Eva Urbanová (Foreign Princess), Franz Hawalta (Water Goblin)
Kühn Mixed Choir, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Mackerras
Recorded Prague 1998
Massenet: Thaïs
Renée Fleming (Thaïs), Thomas Hampson (Athanael), Giuseppe Sabbatini (Nicias), Estefano Palatchi (Palemon)
Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine, Yves Abel
Recorded Salle Franklin, Bordeaux 1997/98
^^^^
Two of her best roles IMO
Natalie
Natalie
And the Marschallin, of course!
Kind of a rainy depressing day here today, so didn't manage to get out and walk, but had a nice nap instead.
During yesterday's walk, however, I listened to this:
I had only listened to this once, right after I first bought it - and it didn't impress me very much. So, I wasn't very enthusiastic when deciding to make it my choice for the day. Imagine how surprised I was to discover a very nice opera with lots of great music and singing. There are a couple of moments that seem really derivative of Der Freischütz - but, I would say, in a good way. If you don't know this opera, it's worth a bit of your time.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks