Classical Music II

[hectorberlioz]

Hmm, I still prefer Lenny's original singer. The aria, even though operatic at moments, is still Broadway in spirit. Renee is lovely, but she has a thicker diction.

[Tessar]

I think my favorite singer for it is Kristin Chenowith... however you spell her name . She's phenomenal.

I'm really excited to hear her at the Met., too! Apparently they're going to amplify her somewhat, which is fine by me. Tiny voice, but it deserves to be heard . Plus the Met. is just huuuuge, from what I've been told. In other opera houses she might not need amplification.

[Voronwen]

Originally Posted by Tessar

I think my favorite singer for it is Kristin Chenowith... however you spell her name . She's phenomenal.

Tessar, i think for perhaps the first time, we're going to disagree I don't care for Ms. Chenoweth's voice. I find it rather grating on the nerves That is of course *just* my opinion and, that said, i do appreciate that she is a great performer. I just don't enjoy the voice. In my opinion, for a coloratura voice i prefer hearing Natalie Dessay.

Here's Dessay's amazing Zerbinetta (R. Strauss, Ariadne auf Naxos)

[Tessar]

I love Dessay!

Tessar, i think for perhaps the first time, we're going to disagree

Okay, this made me think of something that happened last night . My sister was talking about something, and how it hadn't worked out, so as I walked past I arched an eyebrow and said, "See? This is what happens when you listen to the opinions of people who aren't me." We all got a good laugh out of it.


As for Cheno-what's-it, I do find her voice to be annoying if I listen for too long... but I don't mind hearing a few songs in a row . Honestly it's her belting voice that bothers me because she so obviously flips from chest to head in the middle of phrases. I love her classical voice.

[Voronwen]

Yes, it's the belt voice that is so whiney And unfortunately it bleeds over into her classical voice, which is part of the problem with "crossover". If she concentrated solely on classical technique and didn't belt at all, i'm sure that issue would be resolved.

I'm going to finish my thoughts about this over on the Singers' thread.

[hectorberlioz]

This is really great: the Happy Birthday tune, Bruckner style! The actual tune starts about halfway through, intermingled with bits of Bruckner's 8th Symphony.

http://www.abruckner.com/Data/Downlo...aybruckner.mp3

ENJOY!

[Tessar]

This is Nathan Gunn, who has an absolutely delicious, chocolaty baritone voice... I love his operatic music, but this is a clip from a 'cross-over' CD he did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXRvMUWtSmE

I think I'm going to get the CD. He's a really fantastic singer! I definitely think this is one of the most successful crossover attempts I've heard in a long time, and he hasn't sacrificed his operatic career for it. He's getting to be incredibly famous.

[Tessar]

I was also looking for my favorite version of the tenor aria from La Boheme, "Che Gelida Manina" and I found Mario Lanza singing it. He's by far one of my favorite tenors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB0jORbXkbk

[Tessar]

I'm not typically a fan of Gershwin, but I was listening to his something-or-other (Sonata? Concerto? Movement?... I forget) in g#minor and I really enjoyed it.

[hectorberlioz]

Tess-O,

Gershwin is great. Try both his Rhapsodies for piano and orchestra (yes, there is a second one).

I've been listening to a lot of Bruckner lately. He's gone from being a mere favorite to one of my Very Favorites.

[Voronwen]

This is the most beautiful rendition of this aria i have ever heard....

Bryn Terfel sings Handel's Ombra mai fu (Xerxes)

[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?)

[Voronwen]

Another Baroque gem for you...

Sandrine Piau - Qui l'augel da pianta in pianta

From Handel's Acis and Galatea.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

All this baroque love makes me feel warm and cozy inside. I'm a huge baroque fan, too. Handel and Vivaldi are great composers, and I vehemently curse the day Pergolesi died at 26. What a loss for us... His Stabat Mater is possibly my all-time favourite piece of music, and his Salve Regina is exquisite, as well.

Handel's Dixit Dominus is awesome, too. I have the version by the Scholars Baroque Ensemble, and the one by Emmanuelle Haim (a superb and sadly overlooked conductor). The Scholars are a bit bloodless, but Haim's is spectacular.

Britten can be difficult to approach, for me. My experience is that when I listen to one of his operas, it takes me a good while to start to "get" it, but once I do, its quite fun.

I just got Sandrine Piau's Handel CD; looking forward to giving it a good listen. I've heard that aria from Nathalie Stutzmann on HER Handel CD.

[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