Classical Corner Classical Music Corner (thread #55)

I loved your Schubert suggestions! Wil check them all. Barbara Streisand is, however, for me, uh,...a real culture shock. My next of kin is still busy in accepting all the classical music they hear in the last weeks from this guy, once being raised with punk rock. Playing Streisand at home they definitely will believe I'm busy with a late coming out... (I will check that Streisand album, I know what you meant with that - but secretly)

 

Your comment on finding classical singing "unnatural" seems to be quite common among younger people that I have talked with although it extends even to better sounding pop vocals as well. They prefer what I would call an average voice singing or half singing as one might do at a party or around the campfire. I come at it from the other side since I have trouble with a lot of recent pop music because of the vocals, which I hear as out of tune and poorly nuanced. The older pop music vocals styles of the Beatles, Byrds, Crosby Stills Nash etc seem also out of favor, let alone trained classical singers.

 

John,

You can find the librettos for Jenufa and Katya Kabanova at the following link:

http://www.operacat.com/Operapedia.html#j

 

Thanks - I also found a "Vixen" libretto through Google.

 

Yesterday I was really enjoying this:



$55 is very tempting ...

I don't think you need a man-card to enjoy Streisand.

 

On the other hand, If you like Lisa Gerrard, you probably like classical singing and don't know it. There's work by her that remind me of Handel.

 

Oh, it's not that extreme. There are more fine female singers coming from the punk scene, but with very classical music-like voices. What do you think of Nina Hagen (at a young age even considered an opera prodigy) or Lene Lovich?

I consider Nina Hagen as wellknown by the most here, for the people who are not familiair with the remarkable voice of Lene Lovich, here the example of her 'Bird Song' (listen especially the end!)

 

Nina Hagen blows my mind, a Wagnerian soprano on the Rock and Roll scene. I recall working at Tower Records, Berkeley, at the register and playing a track off of "Fearless". Daniell Revenaugh, pianist, conductor and regular customer, come in while it's playing and asks who is this? she sounds fantastic. Then again, as Nina Hagen has also recorded and performed Brecht/Weill it's safe to say that she has made some 'Classical" recordings [of a sort] as well.

Have and really like Lene Lovich's debut LP.

 

you will love the Roge/Poulenc.......there are 3 Roge/Poulenc discs altogether I think. I have two of them. They are wonderful.
Kind of hard to get these days

 

This is a box set with 5 discs. Two are chamber music. Cost is less than $25 (plus shipping).

http://www.mdt.co.uk/poulenc-solo-piano-and-chamber-works-pascal-roge-decca-5cds.html

 

Thanks Zod. That deal seemed to be to good to pass on!!!

 

Now listening to "On Yoolis Night - Medieval Carols & Motets" performed by Anonymous 4 on Harmonia Mundi. So peaceful and relaxing.

 

Continuing with my current harp diversion, I've switched from Dussek to the blind Welsh harper John Parry (1710?-1782). One of my few "audiophile" pressings: Sioned Williams's solo debut album, issued as a 12" 45 RPM record by Meridian in 1981. Lovely, lovely stuff; besides four sonatas, it includes a number of variation sets on various Welsh (and other) tunes. Evidently Parry was quite a "superstar" celebrity in his day, taken into noble service and supposedly admired by no less than Handel. Again, the music is well worth hearing if you're susceptible to the charms of the classical harp.

According to the notes, by the by, Williams plays a harp from Maximilian Horngacher of Stamberg, near Munich, at the time the sole remaining builder to make harps entirely by hand. The instruments incorporated in excess of 24,000 parts each. I can agree with the notes' assertion that the result of this care in production, at least as evidenced by the Meridian record, is an instrument of luscious tone, both warm and incisive as the music requires. By comparison, Susanne McDonald's instrument can sometimes sound just a bit harsh, although that could be the result of more mundane recording and pressing. I did a quick Google search, and the company is still around and still building harps by hand. Not much about pricing, but one demonstrator harp was on offer for 40,000 euros plus German VAT.

 

I have a few harp albums by Marisa Robles and Catherine Michel. Robles put out some audiophile recordings divided by nationality on Argo in the 60s. I generally dislike 19th century harp music and prefer it in the 20th century or the Classical era.

 

Even the haunting harp threads of Smetana's Vyšehrad? I certainly wouldn't want to be without that one. Can't say that I'm the world's most avid scholar of 20th c. harp works, on the other hand, but I do have and enjoy a number by Hovhaness. I really should revisit those--thanks for reminding me!

[Edit: I should add that I break with the public at large: Vyšehrad is my favorite component of the cycle.]

 

I was including harp music across forms, from solo to concerto to orchestral usage. The Romantic era upward glissando is "eye roll" with me. Salzedo made some interesting additions to harp technique and sounds in the early 20th century. Of course we must not forget Harpo either.

 

I have always felt that in popular music, including folk & blues, that having a "good voice" was pretty far down the list. I have really enjoyed singers that some might think poor. Now I often think when hearing currently popular singers "Can't they do any better than THAT?" It seems they either over-sing in would-be-diva fashion or sound annoying childish or nerdish.

 

I recently got a CD of popular piano pieces that Revenaugh made for Capitol for 10 cents at a sale.

 

I like this recording made for Philips in Nov. 1955. Jean Martinon conducts the Orchestre des Concerts Lamoureux. Eduardo Del Pueyo is the piano soloist and Corinne Vozza the contralto. My copy, which I got for a dime, sounds quite good.

 

Oh I agree that having a fine singing voice was never a requirement. I merely meant that fine singing voices were never viewed as a disqualification in pop music in the past. The difference today is that young people seem to actively dislike such voices (as Echo suggested also) in their pop music unless they sing in a wildly (almost parodistically) theatrical way as with Nina Hagen or Lene Lovitz.

 

Ordered that earlier this week.

 

I listen a lot to transcriptions. Last fall (I think) I mentioned some Scarlatti and Bach transcription discs by Victoria Drake Susan Miron.

For audiophile, there is Lavinia Meijer on Channel Classics. Her Philip Glass disc is interesting (if you like Philip Glass).

 

Lavina Meijer is really busy in her country (Holland) supporting her beloved harp as instrument not only for same, same classical pieces, but also for other use like avant-garde and in popmusic.In one the YouTube clips you can find her p.e. playing live in Paradiso, the rock temple of Amsterdam. She's also often at Dutch tv shows playing surprising songs with it.

Here is Lavina telling (and playing) about her mission to free the harp from its sugar sweet 'hoity-toity' image' (don't be afraid, its subtitled in English!)

 

I have been fortunate in having recorded harpist Cheryl Ann Fulton so many times with the Medieval group, Ensemble Alcatraz:

 

It got a Seraphim CD reissue, there's lots of copies floating around.