Leontyne Price and Marilyn Horne singing a duet from Rinaldo. I'm stunned at the beauty of Price's high notes. They both are about the same height, which means not very tall. Which makes the volume Price can produce even more impressive. Although there have been quite a few "short" blasters.
This is one of those beautiful Händel duets which overlaps so cleverly.
I sang "The Lord is My Strength and my Song" from Israel in Egypt. A great one for 2 sopranos and a little less tricky. Here I found a pretty version:
It works very well in a faster tempo and becomes thrilling.
Her career spans over 40 years. Her close friends and family call her Jackie
because she made an appearance on The Odd Couple as a character named "Jackie".
I had the great pleasure of meeting this remarkable woman this October. When I sang for her, she was incredibly insightful, helpful in her comments and advice, and supportive and generous with her encouragement.
She wasn't sweet or motherly, but she said things exactly as they were, which is always greatly appreciated. I was surprised when she wanted to learn about my life, saying that it would help her understand me better.
She suggested specific roles and said that in order to sing them well I needed to work on my lower register. She said that I reminded her of the old gals she listened to, like Flagstad and Traubel. I couldn't have asked for a nicer compliment. Funny, I've never felt like a modern woman :)
We talked about fear and nerves, about having to put yourself first. The latter is more difficult than anyone imagines, if you are the sort that wants to make everyone happy. She said that nothing should bring you off track, that things like excercise, eating well, and practice should be my priorities. Yes, whew, it's true.
Since meeting Marilyn Horne I have been inspired to go out and seek what I need to get where I want to get.
I have a lovely picture of the both of us but promised not to put it on the internet. So sad, but I'll keep my promise Ms. Horne! Thank you so much!
Oh yeah, right. They are composing for film. Wouldn't you? Instead of scratching your cello not 'col legno' but 'sul legno' or incorporating happy birthday into ping-pong balls bouncing inside a piano. Anyway.
Clint Mansell
Hans Zimmer
Michael Nyman
Thomas Newman
Ann Dudley
who else...there are so many. Why bother with the scratching of the wood?
Yes, I really like this movie (Tristan and Isolde). How couldn't I? And no, I don't care how sappy it is.
Sure! He's not my favorite, because I think the early Romantic period is not my favorite. It's stuck between da capo and more free forms, the harmonies are boring, even though the stories want to say more. The text is also very repetetive in the virtuoso part of the arias, which reminds me a lot of Rossini. Especially the male parts suffer from this syndrome.
BUT, I've worked on 2 roles: Agathe from Der Freischütz and Rezia from Oberon and they are wonderful. The female leads get the better music. All the talking in the middle gets in the way (as always) and must be extremely difficult for a non-native, but "Ozean, Du Ungeheuer" (Oberon) is a masterfully composed aria, easy to sing with the right weight in the voice, and impressive as hell (if you have the extension and if people want to listen to an 8-minute piece during audition). It shows a lot of emotions, which are easier to understand than the worries evoked by bad omens that your hunter-fiancé might lose the shooting match and therefore lose you. Unfortunately Oberon is rarely performed.
I always thought that Agathe's two arias from "Der Freischütz" didn't belong to the same Fach. "Wie nahte mir der Schlummer...Leise, leise" is for a jugendlichdramatische soprano and "Und ob die Wolke" is for a lyric soprano or even high mezzo. And in fact on youtube you can find one or the other, but so far I've found no one singing both. Anyway. I have to listen to the whole opera (which I've seen several times live) to get the right idea again while studying. I must say I am not very excited about learning this, since I would prefer to start with Fidelio. But one has to follow the rule of things.
Hear dear Birgit Nilsson in "Ozean, Du Ungeheuer". She is so sweet in this, her expressions before she starts singing. There is also a great version of Callas singing this in English "Ocean, Thou Mighty Monster", since the original opera of Oberon is in English.
From the recordings I've listened to (and those are many) no one respects the 32nd notes written.
Maybe there's another version, and granted, they are hard to sing, but still...
Notice how her color changes singing in English.
(apparently she sang this as a 14 yr. old for her Athens Conservatory audition)
Here is Luisa Castellani doing the Sequenza III by L. Berio.
I actually own the score...sigh.
She showed us how she learned it. She cut up the whole sequenza in little intervals of a couple of seconds and actually learned them individually. Quite extraordinary. She's a great performer. Too bad her repertoire usually makes your stomach churn. I started with her and had a hard time getting into Caldara and Scarlatti thereafter. Heck, Berg was quite tonal in comparison.
Although I don't know why she reminds me of Bridget Jones' mother here, I still find her fantastic. Good to see this gifted singer in wonderful shape, looking "sparkly and twinkly" in Verbier. Always thought this song was freaky, from the time I heard my first teacher (Luisa Castellani) perform it.
Yep, she knows what she's talking about. When the hooded old man appeared, gleering at me with one eye from the shadow of a drooping hat (or hood, how it is often portrayed) I knew it had something to do with me too.
I really look forward to seeing her and J. Kaufmann in Die Walküre at the MET. I discovered Eva-Maria Westbroek learning "Der Männer Sippe". Her voice is big & beautiful, although she shows the beauty more in the Italian than in the German repertoire. Also sounds more like a soprano in the former.
Her energy however is what Wagner likes. And what she says about "O hehrstes Wunder" is exactly how I feel. I'm sure Jessye Norman feels the same way :) below in this memorable performance where she seems to blast away poor Brünnhilde (Hildegard Behrens).
Here's an article and interview with Eva-Maria Westbroek. When she talkes about the bowling buddies I wonder if she's referring to this one scene in The Big Lebowski. Interview with EMW
at least for me...
She was my first love. My sister introduced her to me in 1993. Then a good friend gave me her first two CDs, the only copies he had, at his birthday party (one of the most mysterious I've been to). I think this changed my life forever. Even with opera singer parents it was Tori that passed me the drug, which started the habit I would never kick. Fascinating this perfomer. I've seen her twice in concert. Once in Zürich in 1996 and then in Naples in 2005. She supplies instant tears and hours of goosebumps. Tori forever!
"Neil makes me sleep" Neil Gaiman and his Tori doppelgänger character Delirium from "The Sandman".
I love the part where she refers to personal problems and people who talk about them. "That just sounds like whining to me." People sure do whine a lot.
She is amazing and her love for her own voice is inspiring. So few people admit that they are in need of their own voice, to hear it. That's the way it should be. How should one expect anyone else wanting to hear it if we don't. I guess listening to only your old recordings could get a bit lonely. Isn't that what Callas did?
I imagine she would need the time now to process this incredible life and listening helps her do it, or not?
She is from the era of the diva and it's so great to watch. Also one of the few singers who truly loved Herbert von Karajan. This video is a treasure because she is so sincere and gives great advice. Don't you just want that mirror!
I love how someone can just walk in, stand there, and already be funny. This woman! We've seen her before. It's so great and so true! She packs it all in humor, but the basis is true. Even the part about knowing cases where people paid to sing in opera. My friend Akiko told me that it's pretty common in Japan.
"A glorious voice, period." That says it all. And even though media has lent us other options, let's face it, that's what we want. My first real voice teacher said that people should be at the edge of their seats out of excitement and not in order to hear you better. Another mentor of mine said that if you have the ability to seduce with your voice, the audience shouldn't have to seduce your voice out of you. Just a thought.
I guess it makes me feel quite ordinaire that I also have visions of me hojotoho-ing in the winged helmet and brass bra :) When it comes to Wagner I prefer Bayreuth to the MET though...
