A further youtubecentric post
So I've listed to the entirety of Carmen several times now. Its a great piece to write to, its a very expressive opera with lots of familiar little ditties. I also watch the RhineGeld part of the Ringcycle saga. I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought on the one hand, but on the other hand, it was totally awesome. Wagner's music for the giants is totally appropriate.
Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen
Tot und Verzweiflung flammet um mich her!
Fühlt nicht durch dich Sarastro Todesschmerzen
So bist du meine Tochter nimmermehr
Verstossen sei auf ewig
Verlassen sei auf ewig
Zertrümmert sei'n auf ewig
Alle Bande der Natur
Wenn nicht durch dich
Sarastro wird erblassen!
Hört, Rachegötte
Hoert der Mutter Schwur!
Hells Revenge cooks in my heart,
Death and despair flame about me!
If Sarastro does not through you feel the pain of death,
Then you will be my daughter nevermore,
Disowned may you be forever,
Abandoned may you be forever,
Destroyed be forever
All the bonds of nature,
If not through you
Sarastro becomes pale! (as death),
Hear, Gods of Revenge,
Hear a mother's oath!
So I've become obsessed with hearing different versions of Der Hölle Rache. So here goes
Dessay: Great singer - although I listen to it and think, does the vengeance of hell truly burn in your heart, or have you just spilt some milk, luv? It really doesn't feel like she is asking her innocent daughter to commit murder against a noble man. A better version can be seen here. It is a little more emotive, but it seems a little slow, and I'm sure she misses F3/6 at one point.
Miklósa - the sound quality is dodgy, but it sounds like she gave a great performance.
Julia Kogan - yech. Don't like this at all, the tempo is too fast, which is probably not her fault, but she seems to strain her voice at the high end, which is a little grating on the ears.
Luciana Serra - Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. My only complaint is this: her acting skills came from watching the actors from Blackadder the Third.
Sumi Jo - This is a nicely sung, but it suffers because it isn't a nice song. Shame really.
Edita Gruberova - maybe its just the sound quality but there is a certain lack of power to her. Nevertheless, I like it a lot.
Diana Damrau - perfect. Absolutely perfect. Everything is there, the passion of vengeance and the ethereal quality is all there. She brings a extra dimension to an otherwise two dimensional character. If anyone has played FFVIII they will see the Sorceress played perfectly here. Watch the excellent exit, totally spine tingling.
Regina McCarthy - How not to sing it. In all fairness, she's an amateur. But contrast is always good. It would be nice if her pianist didn't have seemingly fat fingers though.
Some young boy - surprisingly excellent. He hits the requisite notes well and there is a shocking amount of passion in his voice. There is little to no vibrato though and he suffers at the end, but still. Fuck.
Kumara - if you want to hear vocal nodes in the formation, listen to this (one minute in and you can hear her larynx screaming in pain). She's 15 years old and it pains me to watch someone so young sing this. Good luck to her and hopefully she'll not sing it for another 10-15 years...but if she does, I hope she nails it - she has a lot of potential (fuck it - she's a great singer now, but she has the potential to sing this aria well one day)
I dount many/anybody will bother to go through all of that (and why would anyone care what a opera n00b has to say when it comes to the most challenging Mozart aria?), but one video is worth watching: The Magic Matrix - the lobby scene with the Queen of the Night singing over the top. Its pretty well synched.
Anyway, that was a random opera cum youtube phantasmogoria. Lead on Macduff, and damned be he who first cries "Coffee!"
Oooh- good idea Macbeth, I'll go do that very thing.
Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen
Tot und Verzweiflung flammet um mich her!
Fühlt nicht durch dich Sarastro Todesschmerzen
So bist du meine Tochter nimmermehr
Verstossen sei auf ewig
Verlassen sei auf ewig
Zertrümmert sei'n auf ewig
Alle Bande der Natur
Wenn nicht durch dich
Sarastro wird erblassen!
Hört, Rachegötte
Hoert der Mutter Schwur!
Hells Revenge cooks in my heart,
Death and despair flame about me!
If Sarastro does not through you feel the pain of death,
Then you will be my daughter nevermore,
Disowned may you be forever,
Abandoned may you be forever,
Destroyed be forever
All the bonds of nature,
If not through you
Sarastro becomes pale! (as death),
Hear, Gods of Revenge,
Hear a mother's oath!
So I've become obsessed with hearing different versions of Der Hölle Rache. So here goes
Dessay: Great singer - although I listen to it and think, does the vengeance of hell truly burn in your heart, or have you just spilt some milk, luv? It really doesn't feel like she is asking her innocent daughter to commit murder against a noble man. A better version can be seen here. It is a little more emotive, but it seems a little slow, and I'm sure she misses F3/6 at one point.
Miklósa - the sound quality is dodgy, but it sounds like she gave a great performance.
Julia Kogan - yech. Don't like this at all, the tempo is too fast, which is probably not her fault, but she seems to strain her voice at the high end, which is a little grating on the ears.
Luciana Serra - Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. My only complaint is this: her acting skills came from watching the actors from Blackadder the Third.
Sumi Jo - This is a nicely sung, but it suffers because it isn't a nice song. Shame really.
Edita Gruberova - maybe its just the sound quality but there is a certain lack of power to her. Nevertheless, I like it a lot.
Diana Damrau - perfect. Absolutely perfect. Everything is there, the passion of vengeance and the ethereal quality is all there. She brings a extra dimension to an otherwise two dimensional character. If anyone has played FFVIII they will see the Sorceress played perfectly here. Watch the excellent exit, totally spine tingling.
Regina McCarthy - How not to sing it. In all fairness, she's an amateur. But contrast is always good. It would be nice if her pianist didn't have seemingly fat fingers though.
Some young boy - surprisingly excellent. He hits the requisite notes well and there is a shocking amount of passion in his voice. There is little to no vibrato though and he suffers at the end, but still. Fuck.
Kumara - if you want to hear vocal nodes in the formation, listen to this (one minute in and you can hear her larynx screaming in pain). She's 15 years old and it pains me to watch someone so young sing this. Good luck to her and hopefully she'll not sing it for another 10-15 years...but if she does, I hope she nails it - she has a lot of potential (fuck it - she's a great singer now, but she has the potential to sing this aria well one day)
I dount many/anybody will bother to go through all of that (and why would anyone care what a opera n00b has to say when it comes to the most challenging Mozart aria?), but one video is worth watching: The Magic Matrix - the lobby scene with the Queen of the Night singing over the top. Its pretty well synched.
Anyway, that was a random opera cum youtube phantasmogoria. Lead on Macduff, and damned be he who first cries "Coffee!"
Oooh- good idea Macbeth, I'll go do that very thing.