Let's talk music, no genre boundaries

@larsman 

I'm watching the Jazz series for the second time and getting a lot more out of it. Ken Burns also did a series on country music I thoroughly enjoyed. And then there was the baseball series that kept me mesmerized.

I can't remember who I was talking to about Sibelius, but here is a poem I wrote about him a long time ago.

Sibelius

 

 

cold northern wind

whips in

stutters choppy water  .  lean

& ache of light

on wave's underbelly

 

vast spectacle of light

refracted

across the ocean's

face scooped by swift

hands fashioned

beyond description

 

but then again—

a waltz  .  soft

cheek meets warm

        lonely cheek

gliding like smooth winds

over an icy sky

 

sad last waltz

tomorrow we die

 

 

 

@mahgister 

Here's a snippet from Kiri Te Kanawa singing Puccini's La Rondine. I love her voice in this opera. It is a pristine soprano.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8pg4rsj1_g

I listened to Liszt played by Sofronitsky today. Absolutely electrifying. I couldn't find Moravec playing Liszt, but I listened to a piece by Debussy and it was excellent.

Beautiful rendition by Te Kanawa of this beautiful Puccini aria. Thanks!

It is common for artists (not just singers) to show some degree, however small, of their ethnicity when performing, or creating.. This is akin  to a trace of accent of one’s native tongue when speaking another language. Conversely, with singers there can be a higher degree of comfort when singing in their native tongue.  There might also be certain stylistic influences that are unique to a particular culture’s music that are better expressed by a native. Either way, this doesn’t necessarily make for a better or worse performance since there are other musical factors involved, but singing in one’s native tongue the music of a composer of one’s own ethnicity can sometimes add a certain “something” to the performance. 

Not better or worse than Te Kanawa’s wonderful rendition, but to me this sounds more……well, Italian.  

 https://youtu.be/zpPPEgx9NQA?si=L4jhp8IIroLSM3eF

I am not a fan of Opera (save exception as Faust Busoni with Fisher-Dieskau or Kurt Weil or Mozart operas or Akhnaten from Glass etc ) Because it is almost impossible to speak and saying  and singing at the same times in perfect musical harmony...It takes giant singers...I prefer sacred music... But i like Puccini ...

Here Scotto succeed for me  to keep perfect balance between  pure music and poetical diction without falling into "theater" ... When i love an opera i listen to it as music not as theater, I prefer even to not read the libretto...I listen  to it many times... If we listen Scotto here we can listen her "on repeat" as music without being bothered by a " speech"  in a "play" ...I love her here ...

 

Renata Scotto : "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-t3L-ZWtKs&list=RDg-t3L-ZWtKs&start_radio=1

 

Montserrat Caballe  do as Scotto a marvellous Doretta for the same reason but in his own  way:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ5cL-sJZhw&list=RDg-t3L-ZWtKs&index=2

 

I like Mirella Freni i discovered long ago and loved  in Vivaldi and in Mozart who was my first Opera love ....

 

@frogman @mahgister 

Thank you both for your contributions to sopranos singing "Chi Il bel songo di Doretta" from Puccini's La Rondine. If anybody else wants to contribute, that's how you should look up your favorite soprano.

You're right @frogman about there being a more natural flow from a native Italian speaker. I liked Freni and Scotto's versions very much. Caballe's voice was a bit darker and deeper than I expect, probably from favoring Ta Kanawa all these years. What I love about her rendition is the lightness of her voice reminding me of Art Deco Tiffany lamps.

But here's a treat. A video of Callas singing "Chi Il bel songo di Doretta." with subtitles. You can close your eyes if you listen @mahgister, but I think in this case the lyrics are important. These are upper class people singing about the ecstasy of love and art. Probably couldn't get away with writing those lyrics today. In this video we also get to see the magical Callas:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ooJwh5Hxcwg