thadieu's opera rambling outlet

music for the weekend

another set of music to “start” an ambitious weekend at work wrestling with “imaginary” signals 🙂

I must thank Smorgie and S. from munich for providing the absolutely fantastic material. I have had it for a long time and most of it was posted on YT.. until last week when *the* one and only fantastic Smorgie channel with 70% or so of VK clips was wiped out by yt.. which gave a chance to address this the dvd again. Please feel free to translate in the 2nd part where she discusses things in between singing :-).

1. händel alcina: mi lusinga il dolce affetto
2. händel solomon, overture
3. händel alcina: sta nell’ircana
4. mozart la clemenza di dito, parto parto, ma tu ben mio
5. rossini tancredi, o patria.. di tanti palpiti
6. gluck ophée et euridyce, amour, viens rendre a mon âme
7. händel ariodante, scherza infida
8. mozart la clemenza di tito, deh per questo instanto solo
9. händel alcina, verdi prati
10.rossini tancredi, Perchè turbar la calma

Some running commentary:
– her voice was realllly in top form during this period!
– i *love* the “B” section in Sta nel’ircana, just *love* it.
– would have muuuch preferred a proper baroque orchestra with a conductor who can really bring out the vivid characters in the music. This one is moving like a mass…
– this is still by far my favorite “scherza infida”… just absolutely heartbreaking..
– i looove her hair 😀 (note resistance on discussion about *the* suit ;-))
– WAAAOO, that “deh per questo..” is great, forgot for a moment i was watching! spent all time thinking of the pooor Sesto… these lingering soft notes she carries… waaaaooo

————
Some technical details: you might hear *several* (probably 4-6) split-second interuptions.. this is due to what am given, most importantly the fact that it is in dvd format: this format chops up sections according to 1GB cut-off without any regard for what it cuts (middle of aria..) . That and the combination of original video which somehow was rendered differently in dvd-1 vs dvd-2… just took forever to put together hence I’ve been sitting on for a long time.. ANYHOW, IF you hear the interuption and can put down the exact time, i can attempt to fix (cut off 1/10sec perhaps) at a later time and repost…

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Posted by:

thả diều

writing-challenged opera-addict

84 responses to “music for the weekend”

  1. yvette pertuis Avatar
    yvette pertuis

    Hello An! This is a fantastic upload and right, the best from her baroque singing. I spent part of this morning listening with pleasure because she was singing with no ‘bad habits’ she developped later on. When I saw her in Paris in Alcina she had her funny attitudes and vocal tricks in her low range; Here she is stupendous and so musical . Well S from Munich is to be thanked a lot and so are you.BestY

    Reply
    1. thả diều Avatar
      thả diều

      good evening Yvette!! and i was also over at your place reading up on the mountain side and looking at your photos.. quite sad indeed!
      yes, i don’t know what it is she might be doing with the transition (passagio?) but am curious if Dehggial heard it at her last recital? Dehggial? could you also comment?

      Reply
      1. dehggial Avatar
        dehggial

        I really am not bothered about her passaggio, scout’s honour, in fact it took me ages to get what the hell people were moaning about. She sounded like in the Alcina DVD if that helps. Beyond that I can’t give you any details because I didn’t focus on it. What did she sound like when you last saw her?

        Reply
        1. thả diều Avatar
          thả diều

          me, when i last saw her in damnation de faust, i lost some of the notes (which i mentioned on my blog…) . when i heard her in handel back in july it was just fine. i think she has no problem at all with handel but more with these BIG DRAMATIC arias at the high notes (to get there, once there it’s ok, but there’s like a delay of getting…
          if anything, i think it takes a LONG time to get used to the way she sings baroque. when first experienced in Wien i was quite taken aback. Same with ariodante i was VERY much taken aback when first listened.. but now i have to say i really like her ariodante, particularly in ability to express the various emotions and mood of arias. The thing i noticed in her voice that is different than this 2005 video is the much less ease (now) of doing what she did in “B” in sta nel’ircana , or how she played with perche turba la calma jsut before the end. But am told it really varies from day to day, as S. and Cat have seen her on consecutive days…
          In a way, i wonder if she discovered now that her voice is not really heading into these BIG HEAVY dramatic range but is still much more flexible with rossini/handel/mozart.. which explains the higher density of these recitals (yay!) Am also curious as she’s now exploring Mahler, would really like to hear her in that as well..

          Reply
          1. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            (she should forget about the dramatic crap, not for her). I don’t think I’ve ever seen Perche turbar la calma from this show, can’t watch just now as I’m at work. I suppose flexibility can be gained back? Maybe not.

          2. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            WAAAOO, that “deh per questo..” is great, forgot for a moment i was watching! spent all time thinking of the pooor Sesto… these lingering soft notes she carries… waaaaooo

            and everytime “verdi prati” comes back i still questioning :D, can we say this Ruggiero is self-confused and not sure who (s)he’s missing? you know this story of the fox and (green) grapes? the ones he couldn’t reach?

            i really like the 2nd part of this recital! can’t recall i’ve seen deh per questo before either…

          3. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            Yea, I don’t think I’ve seen Deh, per questo. Another aria she owns. You’re tempting me. I’m waiting for my co-workers to get away so I can watch 😉 Well, if Ruggiero wants to be missing Bradamante in Verdi prati I’m not actually that bothered 😉 messing with the original story is ok by me.

          4. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            no, i’m saying ruggiero is missing alcina, and the phrase of “your beauty will turn to dirt” is like the fox saying: nah, grapes are too green… 🙂

          5. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            oh, I see. I think that’s exactly it 😉

  2. dehggial Avatar
    dehggial

    Cheers for posting it in one chunk 🙂 why was Smorg’s channel taken down?

    Reply
    1. thả diều Avatar
      thả diều

      some (c) materials i think, you know how some opera haus or record companies can file w/ yt and after 3 strike the whole channel is off.. so i think the idea now is to load a WHOLE thing so if it’s flagged it’s only 1 file rather than 10 clips 😀 .
      (the merging of this was hillarious (and laboring) coz the 1st dvd video was in near-square pix! and 2nd dvd the lovely size we see now… so i learned a lot how to bring size back… but sound interuption still there grrr)

      Reply
      1. dehggial Avatar
        dehggial

        I was thinking it was odd it got taken down now since that stuff must’ve been there for ages. But good idea on just one large clip, it’s more fun that way anyway 😀 I actually didn’t get to watch the part 2 of that Scherza, infida for ages because yt didn’t give a direct link. The way these dvd programs works is weird.

        Reply
        1. thả diều Avatar
          thả diều

          it’s not really yt, it’s the companies, i guess they suddenly get around now to see their videos which were posted a long time ago and decided to file complaint? fingers crossed mine is not getting there…, these tv shows can be tricky…

          Reply
          1. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            but it’s stupid because it was ages ago. It’s not like people aren’t going to watch the damn show because it’s on yt…

          2. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            i can only say it was Smorgie’s channel that introduced me to VK (along w/ the niiice translation of some of arias while we listen…) . it’s ashamed… some videos are being re-uploaded on a different account.. and i’m taking on some of them but in my style (large chunk, i loooove large uninterupted chunks 🙂 ) . am debating also the *entire* dresden live radio capuleti, *the* capuleti for me 🙂

          3. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            don’t debate anymore! there’s no decent capuletion yt at this point 😀

          4. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            it’s brewing, fixing minor hic-ups everywhere… i need an assistant 😀 (Eyes once volunteered a looong time ago during blogo-infancy)

          5. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            You’re doing the boring part of the job = you’re approaching saint status 😉

          6. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            wow, super nice sound now 😉 (well, as far as quality am given, there’s 1 major hic-up i can’t fix..)
            now to “image”, it’s very easy to just slap on 1 image, but i thought i’d be boring to listen for 2 hrs w/ just one (would it?), but slapping on anything more than 1 is a bit more guessing work (all this while debugging fortran code mind you) , but think i might have it sorted out, stay tune 😉

          7. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            I was thinking, how come these live recordings are always more engaging than the studio ones?

          8. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            i really like how spontaneous it is, no re-take, everything fits together (if it works), which is why i hook on much more than smooth studio…
            i do love spontaneous eruption of applause :-), that audience was really in for a great nite in dresden judging by screaming
            what i love about this one: all singers were in top form, orchestra support SUPERB, great details in orchestra, great tempo, chorus superb… well you get the idea, i was listening non-stop to it for almost 4 yrs, everyone around was once forced-fed, blasting everywhere :D.
            (and lucky for us it was captured with good sound)

          9. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            so clearly that’s the answer: record all in house performances and pick the best one instead of spending a lot of £££ getting a bunch of singers, orchestra, conductor, techs in the studio for a “polite” recording.

          10. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            i also love the stage noise, gives you a lot to play with in the mind. and there’s something about re-listening and knowing on that certain day for 3+hr this was happening :D… (esp. if you were part of it…)
            but there’s a whole camp of people who live and die by their clean recordings.. and also the (sensitive) business of certain singers sounding particular better in studio than live… For example sometimes i thought “wow s/he sounds great!” and yet you don’t hear audience response at all, which has a lot to do with how well s/he’s heard at the microphones up front vs in haus.

          11. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            Yes, I love stage noise for the same reason. You wonder what this or that noise was all about 😉 the whole thing is just more lively and real this way. The only thing I like less about live recordings is when singers move away from the mikes and you don’t hear them as clearly but these days it’s got better (better spaced mikes I reckon).

            It’s good to know which singers sound better in the studio so we don’t bother seeing them live 😉

          12. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            🙂
            well, i’m fully aware that s.mingardo’s voice is great in recording setting, simply because of the fact that her voice is very warm and dark and solid.. but particularly for hers and deep/dark mezzos, it’s very difficult to hear them in large settings because naturally their tones are exactly in the middle of orchestra and any modern violins/woodwinds (never mind brass) would bury them. in fact if it’s baroque instruments you should hear them much clearer. so this whole idea of “modern” is really to fill big halls.. and thus since human would be the only “organic” part left, we would need to build “modern robot” to match modern instruments 🙂
            Incidentally, i’ve always thought VK’s voice during the 1990’s and 2000’s has this very special “brightness” to it that allows her to pierce through orchestra + chorus + whoever-else, thus making her very unique and powerful in expressing soft/loud as needed to balance whichever orchestra. What I “hear” now is that she somewhat loses this “brightness” (think metal rod (then,modern) vs wooden rod (now, baroque)), hence she can get buried w/in loud orchestra (as i felt during capuleti in munich).

          13. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            yea, good points. I feel a bit unfair when I criticise mezzos/contraltos for not projecting enough for that reason – it’s normal these modern instruments and sopranos to zing over them. But I want to hear them not the damn brass 😀

            With VK I think her voice is naturally a bit brighter than she fashioned it herself. Because she’s been consciously darkening it for years she ended up losing some of the original shine. Or something.

            we have modern robot! vocoder or whatever they use in pop songs nowadays. But I agree with you about big halls, modern instruments, the modern pitch – at least it makes sense from what I read. I really, really want opera houses to ditch the big halls for most music (perhaps not for Wagner, Strauss and stuff like that made for big halls).

            speaking of, I was listening to the Forza from Munich with Harteros and JK and I feel like I don’t really like JK (I did like her a lot though) and I especially don’t like all this shouting that works in big halls. I guess I’m a lyric voice lover through and through…

          14. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            oh, welcome to the indiscreet club 😉 , i’ve been having headaches listening to him, particularly in trovatore+carlos, and having to ff his parts… but he was superb and fresh in “la damnation de faust” (with s.graham).. but now in verdi shouting at volume 11 (scale 0-10 😀 ) was too much for them ears..
            .and. more importantly you already listen this opera! i still need to read up the story, then finally listening at some point… … …
            ps- oh man, i must go search this vocoder thing.. pop you said? speaking of pop, here’s an interesting article, poor cats and heavy metals :-).

          15. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            I saw that article too. One of my cats sometimes joins in (very well, I must say) to the Handel but they did have to listen to a lot of metal in the past 😀 must be why they shredded the curtains!

            I am a bit worried about JK now, I hope he won’t give me a headache.

          16. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            oh, i wouldn’t worry too much about jk and headaches in haus, i more concerned about heads and that we can’t see harteros 😀

          17. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            we should borrow a thick book from your friend so you can stand on it 😉 also, watch the video, it’s the same production we’ll be seeing. You can gauge what will be hard to see from our spot.

          18. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            ja, i’ve been plotting “books”, i think he has entire volume of lords of the rings 😀
            we’ll be on left (i sent u a chart i think)

          19. stray Avatar
            stray

            Works for dogs, too. Back in my vet days the other dog slingers would play top 40 and the whole back kennel would be nuts. I’d turn on WQXR and they would mellow out in minutes. Only you can’t play opera when there are huskies around. Or rather you can, but they will sing along.

            Most cats I’ve known prefer middle period Verdi (Don Carlo is big). Not Handel so much. I wonder if a result like that during a hysto is an effect of the anaesthesia.

          20. stray Avatar
            stray

            Re live vs studio, I agree, live is mostly better. Part of that for me is the energy of live performance (audience reaction, stage noise, things singers do that are spur of the moment, plus a sense of space you often don’t get in a studio recording), and part of that is that I can hear splices and it’s really distracting, especially when it’s the middle of an aria and you can tell they recorded the a section on one day and the b section on another.

          21. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            oh you can even hear that, variations due to different day of recording? i always thought they smooth and normalize so much in the end it’s like coming out of a machine 🙂 . are you taking about a while opera? or recital cd?

          22. stray Avatar
            stray

            Generally whole operas. I know what you mean by the machine, but it’s hard to process out entirely because singers’ voices change day to day.

  3. dehggial Avatar
    dehggial

    I noticed two clicks: one at the very beginning of Deh per questo and one at the beginning of Perche turbar la calma. I don’t think they are bothersome. So the show was in two parts and on two different channels? I agree it’s ace, pretty much a VK greatest hits, probably the best introduction to her. I thought I’d watch a couple of arias but then sat through it all 😉

    Reply
    1. thả diều Avatar
      thả diều

      back from attempting to throw balls in swimming pool, arms + legs wanting to fall off 😀
      i was puzzled about the dvd as well, why the first part was very business-like, then poof all sorts of interview transitioning into singing. I looove the 2nd half format though, something about that transition between scherza infida and deh per questo, so natural. might have been 1 full concert but they split into 2 nights of broadcast? (it was given to me this way, i just patch up chopped bits into 1 chunk in order of appearance)
      yes, this + Dresden capuleti will constitute VK’s greatest hits 🙂

      Reply
      1. dehggial Avatar
        dehggial

        It seems like one concert, the venue, the orchestra + conductor, her clothes etc. (but the interview was taken somewhere else? I like that jacket a lot, btw). It must’ve been split over two episodes, because why else are there credits after Amour viens rendre? From the advert it looks like they had other things on the programme. But it’s funny how the channel logo looks different from part I to part II and then you said the DVD format was also different. Could be how it was recorded by whoever taped it off the TV. Also I don’t think she started with Mi lusinga (should I say mmmmmm-i lusinga ;-)) and then they played one instrumental only (I’m wondering if there were more and got cut), it’s just not how these recitals are done. Looks like there was some editing being done in the studio (not very well, mind, you’re right they should’ve spaced the interviews better – unless they did the interviews after they already aired the first part). Also whoever wrote the aria credits misspelled Parto ma tu ben mio (not bene mio 😉 ). It’s Analytical Monday chez dehggi 😉

        Are you throwing balls in the pool for work? 😀

        Reply
        1. thả diều Avatar
          thả diều

          oh wow that’s some detailed watching reading the credits 😉 . yep, i was also wondering it’s strange she started w/ mi lusinga and then that “dead-weight” overture (<– i really have trouble w/ conductor's take here..) . an accompanied radio broadcast would solve all puzzles 😀
          ha, the polo thing is for "fun", just wanted to figure out how to "swim" and thought if there's a ball to chase and lift i'd figure out how to "float" and "swim" from point A to B 😀

          Reply
          1. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            whoa, you can’t swim and you go on boats? so was it easier with the balls?

            (did I never tell you I used to do video editing for a living?)

            I skipped the overture, it was time for bed 😉 but essentially I didn’t have problems with his conducting; I see what you’re saying about a proper Baroque orch, but seeing as how not everything is Baroque it’s not bad how they cope; and I was thinking they should’ve snuck in something from Capuleti ;-).

          2. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            even with my complaint i was quite happy w/ orchestra during tancredi + mozart + scherza infida.. so i see what you mean, there’s a balance somewhere.

            NO, you didn’t mention video editing!!!! we can discuss for HOURS and convert LOTS then! i do everything using command line of ffmpeg (with lots of guessing + googling). took me a long time to get from 1 to 2 while not destroying the video quality. Once i figured out how to keep quality at 2, there’s an option to increase video to resolution to its original image (i think) 3: 1024×576 or even interp to larger 4: 1366×768 (b/c original has very high quality–bitrate).. but i decided to keep size at final product (3).

            (ps- realizing not able to swim is bad on boats, hence am rectifying situation 😉 i took some advices today from people who know how to play polo, primarily how to keep 1 arm up and not sink :D, and how to “shoot” without sinking, very interesting.

          3. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            We could talk, though conversion isn’t the kind of thing I was doing so you know more than I do there.

          4. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            Spamming own comment box to put video editing commands, in case i need for ref in future…

            STEP 0. probing original video test.VOB to obtain information:

            >> ffmpeg -i test.VOB
            Input #0, mpeg, from ‘test.VOB’:
            Duration: 00:05:00.08, start: 1.000000, bitrate: 9573 kb/s
            Stream #0:0[0x1e0]: Video: mpeg2video (Main), yuv420p, 720×576
            [SAR 16:15 DAR 4:3], 9200 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 90k tbn, 50 tbc
            Stream #0:1[0x80]: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 256 kb/s

            >> mplayer test.VOB
            Movie-Aspect is 1.33:1 – prescaling to correct movie aspect.
            VO: [corevideo] 720×576 => 768×576 Packed YUY2

            STEP 1. So, test.VOB has original size 768×576 but is shoved into
            a display size 720×576. But a view of this video
            (video768x576.png) shows that this is not the original
            size, hence 2 black bars are put at top and bottom. To
            crop to size 768×432 (display 720×432), (video768x432.png)
            the command is:
            >> ffmpeg -i test.VOB -acodec copy -vf crop=720:432:0:64 -q:v 0 test1.VOB
            >> ffmpeg -i test1.VOB
            Input #0, mpeg, from ‘test1.VOB’:
            Duration: 00:05:00.08, start: 1.000000, bitrate: 7800 kb/s
            Stream #0:0[0x1e0]: Video: mpeg2video (Main), yuv420p, 720×432
            [SAR 16:15 DAR 16:9], 104857 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 90k tbn, 50 tbc
            Stream #0:1[0x80]: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 256 kb/s

            STEP 2A. Now scale up to original size 1024×576 (display size 720:576):
            (video1024x576.png)

            >> ffmpeg -i test1.VOB -acodec copy -vf scale=720:576 -q:v 0 test3.VOB
            >> ffmpeg -i test3.VOB
            Input #0, mpeg, from ‘test3.VOB’:
            Duration: 00:05:00.08, start: 1.000000, bitrate: 9191 kb/s
            Stream #0:0[0x1e0]: Video: mpeg2video (Main), yuv420p, 720×576
            [SAR 64:45 DAR 16:9], 104857 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 90k tbn, 50 tbc
            Stream #0:1[0x80]: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 256 kb/s
            >> mplayer test2.VOB
            VO: [corevideo] 720×576 => 1024×576 Packed YUY2

            STEP 2B. OR scale up even higher because video quality “allows”:
            (video1366x768.png); allow = w/o looking pixelated.
            >> ffmpeg -i test1.VOB -acodec copy -vf scale=1024:768 -q:v 0 test2.VOB
            >> mplayer test2.VOB
            VO: [corevideo] 1024×768 => 1366×768 Packed YUY2

            STEP 3. now compress video using most efficient codec libx264 to reduce size:
            >> ffmpeg -i test3.VOB -acodec copy -vcodec libx264 test3.mkv
            >> ffmpeg -i test3.mkv
            Duration: 00:05:00.12, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1791 kb/s
            Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 720×576
            [SAR 64:45 DAR 16:9], 25 fps, 25 tbr, 1k tbn, 50 tbc (default)
            Stream #0:1: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, stereo, s16, 256 kb/s (default)
            >> mplayer test3.mkv
            VO: [corevideo] 720×576 => 1024×576 Packed YUY2

        2. thả diều Avatar
          thả diều

          ps- oh yea, there was a discussion on that jacket, along with the belt(!!), must have been over at Eyes’ place, a post on belt if i recall correctly 😉

          Reply
          1. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            I think I read it. The one where she researched each item? Lots of time in her hands, eh 😉

  4. dehggial Avatar
    dehggial

    More sleuth-y stuff that occurred to me regarding this concert: the way this is edited the arias are randomly spread but I think she sang the Alcina stuff together, the Tito together and the Tancredi together with Scherza, infida and Amour viens rendre as encores.

    Reply
    1. thả diều Avatar
      thả diều

      and the overture to send everyone home to sleep 😉
      i was looking for a program from that show but couldn’t find. probably perche turba la calma the last one? judging by audience standing up clapping + leaving?
      the weekend music got spilled over once i hit alcina_in_wien radio again… and still going strong 😀

      Reply
      1. dehggial Avatar
        dehggial

        you’re too harsh on the overture, it’s not bad. But yea, let’s have a random overture, though 4 or the 5 operas she’s singing stuff from have really cool ones 😉 I see you’ve moved on but I’m still stuck on this concert. Yesterday I had Perche tubar la calma stuck in my head all day, I was actually humming it aloud 😀

        Reply
        1. thả diều Avatar
          thả diều

          moved on? no way! i still listen, just didn’t discuss more and appear obsessive 😉 . although every time hear her singing an aria, i feel the urge to then listen to the entire opera… so have been sitting through a few rounds of alcina in wien (radio) and ariodante from barcelona..
          Did you catch the little ornament she put on in perche la turba.. right before the end? i quite love those “hanging” (is that the right word? it’s not quite hanging, sort of suspending in mid-air..) notes.. though always at the end i CRAVE for the chorus and ended up listening to salzburg tancredi to catch it 😀

          Reply
          1. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            You mean the trill that starts here? Floated pianissimo at the tail end. Badass.

            I also noticed how oveeeeee son io?! was much more controlled this many years later than the one in 1992 😉 although – since we’ve established this is an obsession free zone… – her continuous switch between Tancredi’s heartbreak and her own enjoyment of the tune is quite bonkers to watch 😀

          2. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            damn!! what fine fine fine timing!
            wow.

          3. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            wooo, wow, ok.. i recovered.. man, that’s some fine fine soft singing… thanks to sharp timing i also spotted *several* more scattered notes + 1 elongation i’ve missed.. the “little” ornament i mentioned starts at 1.19.12 but clearly there’s so much more..
            you know she scattered these soft soft trill + elongation + notes all over the place in capuleti in munich, totally put me under spell
            the ability to go from the gear just before to this, then back to super-charged gear to finish…
            obsession-freely zone you said?

          4. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            hehe, obsession freely indeed 😀 that’s a good opera blog title.

            I am a big fan of elongation (rubato), that’s how I’d sing Deh, se piacer mi vuoi if I had the chops 😉 and, of course, all Rossini and Bellini and Handel sometimes.

          5. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            ah ok, i know there’re proper words for all these things, rubato.. not to be confused with rhubarb, a word i learned at DTO’s place back in 2011..
            damn, i still under spell, now you got me curious, i did once posted this exact timing on my blog i believe, for the salzburg… let me go listen…
            not sure what it is, these hanging notes of hers got me every time.. and she has her very particular way of doing it

          6. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            A very particular way of doing it = a sexy way of doing it 😉 hells yea, there’s plenty of that on the Salzburg DVD, that’s why some old schoolers think she and Harnoncourt are doing it all wrong and constantly send them back to learn how to do Mozart 😀

          7. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            i have _the_ precise clip in head (though not mozart..), we’ll pick up on this subject later 😉

          8. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            btw, you forgot to tell me you put up the Dresden Capuleti :-p (cheers!)

          9. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            oh, i thought you knew already when you were asking about live performances. enjoy! my fav 🙂

          10. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            here goes, she had me.

          11. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            ehehe! maybe she needs to do more comedy.

          12. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            but this is serious! 😉
            that glance she gave at the end while dropping the rope..
            actually if you notice, there’s a *very* dark note (from percussion?) just at the end of the very last phrase “mais si je *t*’aime”, turning point, doom ahead, no return.
            she’s singing comedy soon, la belle helene, in hamburg! it’s a whole run i believe, june. sadly i can’t go, was already thinking about it since last year!

          13. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            yes, it’s usually played straight but she’s doing it very playfully. It’s more like “hey, nerd-boy, think you can handle me?” than “I’m dangerous and I know it.”

          14. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            ha! here, precise timing indeed :-), and as you say, the llater version is packed

          15. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            What a nice bit to wake up to. I’ll go replay it 500 times now!

          16. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            oh man, should i…. i did manage to unplug it after some 20 rounds… 😀
            oh ja, then ended up watching that whole schwetzingen concert again… and then the sesto bit sent me back to salzburg Parto.. then that Alcina from moscow lurking but only managed overture then had to run home.. then MORE tancredi.. finally at 3.30am i somehow “accidentally” clicked on a new “vivaldi” clip by s.mingardo, which spiraled into 3 rounds of brahms alto rhapsody, then entire wigmore hall playlist.. and now you’re tempting me before bedtime 😉

          17. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            You could put something on to fall asleep to…

          18. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            too late, i clicked on it… chorus is going strong

          19. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            as one can say, CHAAAAARRRGE to bed 😉 have a great day! (i very much like tankova as amenaïde in the dvd version w/ barcellona, particularly in her aria–excerpt11–merging in w/ chorus, was flipping between hers and VK’s all nite)

          20. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            I like Tankova too 🙂 good “night”.

          21. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            ps- 5 hours later.. and the tune is now stuck in my head…

          22. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            As it should! I had it for two days and am not complaining 😉

  5. dehggial Avatar
    dehggial

    I gave this a listen after a few weeks off and now I hear something I hadn’t before (yes, I discovered a couple more clicks but that’s not it 😉 ). The “soft” singing is more delicate than I remembered it.

    Reply
    1. thả diều Avatar
      thả diều

      i know you’re listening via that (warm) pair of speakers but one does lose quite a bit of subtlety in dynamics 🙂 , esp. in the soft department + lingering notes

      Reply
      1. dehggial Avatar
        dehggial

        I don’t know why or how all of a sudden, maybe my my ears are more focused on that kind of thing and not on the heroic stuff.

        Reply
        1. thả diều Avatar
          thả diều

          i think so. which is why i was waiting since that post you put a long while ago regarding ariodante’s dopo notte being your fav for that opera, and yet for me “scherza infida..” (as performed by vk..) was the thing that drives the entire opera.. (and not just the aria, but how it was led it, how it exits, what follows..) . Actually the first entrance of Ariodante i also really love, quite melancholy

          Reply
          1. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            Scherza infida from this show has grown on me considerably. I could cope with that better than usual 😉 but really it’s not very dark, almost chipper.

          2. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            i think the tempo is quite important in setting the mood, as well as connection between voice + orchestra.. for example in the puppet show i thought it was dragging. i like the self-convo aspect of it (at least the impression i get hearing VK sings, introvert ariodante. even the B section can be interpret that way, as opposed to trying to scare off polinesso)

          3. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            yea, I think Ariodante is the kind of chap who would be talking to himself rather than scaring anyone 😉 I need to sit down at some point with the puppet Ariodante but things keep being relentless here.

          4. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            i’ve seen your schedule , don’t trip over de Niese 😉

          5. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            ehehehe… there might be some tripping that day…

            anyway, how’s your AC at work? Still broken?

          6. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            man, i celebrated a bit too soon, ac back (which i was conflicted about coz w/o it our entire computing network was down.. ), but more importantly our outdoor temp now dropped to 15°C, back to ruuny nose + wool hat, wth

          7. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            😦 sorry to hear that. Hope you have comfy music to get you through.

          8. thả diều Avatar
            thả diều

            oh, i’ll live , fun to whine a bit :p , but the wool hat solved 100% the problem for outdoor (when there’s no pollen). btw, did u use/manage ok the airb thing for june?

          9. dehggial Avatar
            dehggial

            I did use airbnb for Wiesbaden. I decided to spend the entire weekend there and do some sightseeing in Mainz as well. Hope I get good weather 🙂

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scientist by day, opera fan by nights and weekends.

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