@audio-b-dog - That Ken Burns Jazz series is great, yeah? I don't even like jazz and I thoroughly enjoyed that...
Let's talk music, no genre boundaries
This is an offshoot of the jazz thread. I and others found that we could not talk about jazz without discussing other musical genres, as well as the philosophy of music. So, this is a thread in which people can suggest good music of all genres, and spout off your feelings about music itself.
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- 660 posts total
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
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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. |
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... 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 : 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 ....
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But i like Puccini ...- 660 posts total