Classical Music II

[Tessar]

Oh, I love Terfel. I have several of his CDs... one is an aria compilation, another is a wonderful duet CD he did with Cecilia Bartoli, and one is Baroque arias such as Ombra Mai Fu and also a number of Messiah arias.

I would say he and Nathan Gunn are by far my favorite baritones.

[Voronwen]

Originally Posted by Tessar

... and one is Baroque arias such as Ombra Mai Fu and also a number of Messiah arias.

Ohh! I'll have to find that!

[Voronwen]

On another thread, we were talking about coloratura singing...

Here's an amazing example!

Sumi Jo - Mozart concert aria, "No, che non sei capace" (K. 419)

[Voronwen]

I love these concert arias...

Here's another:

Cyndia Sieden - "Popoli di Tessaglia ... Io non chiedo, eterni Dei!" (K. 316)

This one goes all the way up to the G6. Ms. Sieden sings it at "baroque pitch" here, which makes it ever so slightly lower than today's G6, but still a bit higher than our F#.

Mozart wrote these arias for his sister-in-law, Aloysia Weber Lange, who originated the roles of Madame Herz (Der Schauspieldirektor) and Queen of the Night (Magic Flute). The woman obviously had a formidable range!

[Voronwen]

Absolute Baroque sublimity...

Duet - Il bel pianto dell'Aurora

From the oratorio, Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno by G.F. Handel.

(I love the painting they used for the background, too! Does anyone know what it is?)

[Tessar]

I'm not a huge Britten fan... don't care much for his music. I have a book of folk music he arranged, and I might try some of it when I have an accompanist next semester but from what I can tell by playing it myself... I'm not fond of the way he wrote the accompaniments. Everything is super dissonant to the point of annoyance. Maybe it's different when you have a real pianist doing it, with proper peddling/to tempo/etc. but... we'll see.

I am also a huge fan of the Emmanuelle Haim Dixit Dominus. I love Natalie Dessay and Philippe Jarussky, so that recording really couldn't go wrong for me .

[Gwaimir Windgem]

I've heard the Sanctus and Agnus Dei from Britten's Missa Brevis, and that's lovely. Some of the best 20th century church music I've heard.

I actually didn't care for Jaroussky too much there. He's one of my favourite singers, but he came off as unremarkable in that recording. I think the music might have been too low for him to truly shine; perhaps Haim should have cast him as soprano II, instead of as alto.

But I absolutely love the exuberant vivacity that one finds in the new generation of baroque musicians. It really makes the blood flow through the old veins.

The best version of the first movement of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater I've heard. The dissonance and tension in this music just shatters me.

Rinaldo Alessandrini

[Voronwen]

Originally Posted by Gwaimir Windgem

But I absolutely love the exuberant vivacity that one finds in the new generation of baroque musicians. It really makes the blood flow through the old veins.

I cannot agree more!!!

[hectorberlioz]

I've been listening to a little of everything, recently. Actually, most of the composers names start with B, so that's a connector between them. Bruckner, Bach, Berlioz...

[Gwaimir Windgem]

And a little Bozart every now and then, eh?

[hectorberlioz]

Bozart is for mozos, so I don't touch it

Actually, his piano concertos and symphonies are divine.

[Voronwen]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

Bozart is for mozos

O RLY?

I don't care what you think. Mozart is my favorite composer of all time.

That said, i generally don't touch big, brassy, bombastic 19th-century music, myself.

To each his/her own!

[hectorberlioz]

Voronwen, it was only for the sake of the joke that I said that. Mozart is one of my favorites also . The Requiem, the Mass in C minor, the late symphonies, Piano Concerto No.20...I could go further.

(and Le Nozze di Figaro! And Die Zauberflot...and...)

[Voronwen]

Originally Posted by hectorberlioz

The Requiem, the Mass in C minor, the late symphonies, Piano Concerto No.20...I could go further.

(and Le Nozze di Figaro! And Die Zauberflot...and...)

* *


I know, there is no chosing just one favorite among his works!

[Voronwen]

More Baroque love...

This aria is from Handel's opera Orlando. The character of Angelica is saying farewell to the green and lovely places where she and her true love spent their time.

Verdi piante, erbette liete

I love this aria and want to learn it! I've never heard one that's ever come this close to being something that could have been written for me - range, temperament, style, everything. I've gone looking for the score, though, and it seems to be quite rare as i was not able to find it.

Does anyone here know of a good supplier for rare baroque opera scores? Tessar? (Maybe this should have been a Singers' Thread post.. )

[hectorberlioz]

I'm listening to "La Damnation de Faust" by Berlioz.

[Voronwen]

I'm listening to lots of Mozart today. I have an hours-long playlist of his concerti and divertimenti with some symphonic pieces thrown in that i've had playing all afternoon. It's going perfectly with my mood and with the slightly fallish weather we're now having here after some storms have passed.

[Tessar]

Here you go: http://imslp.org/wiki/Orlando,_HWV_3...eorge_Frideric)

It's in the public domain.

Unfortunately I doubt you'll be able to find a piano reduction, but it shouldn't be impossible to make a basic one of your own out of the orchestral score. Probably time consuming if you're not used to doing that, but I know it can be done.

[hectorberlioz]

Voronwen,

I listened to the first disc of my set of 'Die Zauberflote.' I think it gets better with time, though I've always liked it. But I really really enjoyed it this time.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

I'm absolutely love the Mad Scene from Orlando; I think it's some of the best music Handel wrote. I liked it when I first heard it, but it grows on me more and more with each hearing.