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Foreign language songs/music

Recently I have been listening to a bunch of CDs of Chinese genre which a friend has bought for me from Shanghai, China. They are of audiophile quality and their recording is exceptional using tube gear mostly in their process. I do not understand most of what has been sung as they are in mostly in Mandarin but the arrangement, casting of the singers and songs chosen is truly world class. My question is then is it "normal" to enjoy these type of music & songs without understanding what has been sung? IMO it's akin to me listening to an Italian Opera which I do not understand what has been sung as well. In another way, I treat the singer’s voice as another musical instrument. Does anyone have an opinion or experiences?
ipy

Showing 1 response by pabelson

pabelson
344 posts
 
I just picked up "Ute Lemper Sings Kurt Weill," most of which is in German, natch. The only German song that struck my fancy was, "Mack the Knife." Her interpretation only meant something to me because I knew what she was singing about. (I also enjoyed "Alabama Song" and a couple of cuts from "One Touch of Venus," but they were in English.) I haven't tried listening to it while following the English translations in the booklet yet, which may help. Similarly, with opera, even if you don't know the language you generally do know what's going on, and just why Violetta's got such a bee in her bonnet.

If you don't know what the words mean, it's just scat. Now, scat can be good, but remember that this wasn't intended to be scat.
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