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I'll pimp my own Opera megathread here for those who want to discuss opera specifically. A non-opera vocal performance that I just love is Natalie Dessay's rendition of Kyrie from Mozart's Great Mass. Despite having a cold (she is noticeably coughing at the beginning and in other clips from this performance) her voice is transcendent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqCNny51RPs This piece never fails to astonish me. There's easily half a dozen themes that any lesser composer could have based entire songs around, Mozart just throws them all in one after another. To the OP: It doesn't get more dramatic / exciting than this. If you like Mozart's Requiem, you'll love this clip. regulargonzalez fucked around with this message at 02:25 on Dec 28, 2010 |
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Dec 28, 2010 02:18
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Bondage posted:I'm really digging Baroque. Currently my favorites are Johann S Bach, Locatelli and Corelli. Also have listened to Telemann and Purcell. Can anyone recommend some decent Baroque? I love Rameau, but he's mostly an opera composer. Still, his stuff is great. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51ymGNQNTd8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WV3RlaITKU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFeZt0iADZ8
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Mar 18, 2011 21:31
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Can anyone recommend pieces along the lines of the Andante movement of Mozart's Concerto #23? Wistful, plaintive, sad?
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Mar 23, 2011 00:55
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nakoprex posted:Ages ago, I saw an amazing 8-10min clip of animated summaries of various famous operas. The art was very Terry Gilliam-esque with cutout figures moving jerkily and the narrator was a woman who delivered these summaries of all of these tragic operas in a very deadpan voice. This one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vNReqUGtsc
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Jan 27, 2012 09:55
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JediGandalf posted:What is everyone's go to piece when they are in a downright rotten mood, like you're just pissed off at everything? All depends. If I'm bummed out and wish to stay melancholy, the Andante movement from Mozart's 23rd piano concerto. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53zwHYwr6BI In general, I'm more into opera than strictly instrumentals, so a vocal equivalent would be Ah, non Credea, either by Maria Callas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdCk03Yhw40 or Anna Moffo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuC25v_tzOA (incidentally, that last vid might be my favorite on youtube. The stylized, stagey acting, the fullbright lighting, the slightly overcranked feel, just really lends it a dreamy ambience that suits the piece (which is sung while "sleepwalking") perfectly.) If I need something to calm me and give me peace, nothing better than Offenbach's Barcarola https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQR0LQskL4E unless it's Delibes flower duet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNBKfNo9Pu0 Surely two of the most beautiful pieces ever written. if I'm pissed and want to stay pissed or want something to reflect my mood, it's an easy choice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzFi-7H9TKs&t=122s e: just noticed that all the pieces I picked are sung by women. Dunno why it worked out that way, just like the soprano voice best I guess. regulargonzalez fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Oct 24, 2012 |
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Oct 24, 2012 04:20
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trekdanne posted:I recently got through Wagner's Ring and I can really understand why people love it, but I think it takes itself a little too serious. I don't feel that playfulness and passion that I feel in Verdi's operas. I guess I am saying that I think the Ring is boring. The Ring really rewards you the more you study / understand what it's doing musically. It takes itself 'seriously' to be sure, but so does, say, War and Peace, or Moby Dick, or virtually any not-intentionally-humorous novel from before the post-modernist movement. And while (since the advent of post-modernism) sincerity seems naive, and one needs to shield oneself with armor of irony and sarcasm, I think that is kind of a cowardly way of approaching the world. It has its place but as a counterpoint, not a default view. The Ring is, imo, one of the wonders of the world, and I certainly haven't come close to plumbing all its mysteries and secrets. LordPants posted:I honestly have no idea why some people would think that the Ring takes itself too seriously, and that Wagner may have been a bit of a knob. There is no defending Wagner's personal views, certainly. But if I limited myself to enjoying the art of only people whose views and personal lives I agreed with, the list of artists, musical or otherwise, I enjoyed would be short indeed. A separation between the work and the person is necessary. I hugely admire Roman Polanski's films while despising him as a person. regulargonzalez fucked around with this message at 08:47 on Mar 11, 2013 |
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Mar 11, 2013 08:44
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leahlionheart posted:This is a wonderful resource, and full of great recommendations for beginner and 'expert' alike. I've made a couple Opera Megathreads but they died short and horrible deaths. I think opera just seems too terribly intimidating and full of misconceptions (fat viking hatted sopranos, "ugly" and artificial sounding voices, stupid arias of people just singing the word Figaro over and over again) My general recommendation for a complete opera neophyte is the Natalie Dessay version of Orphee aux Enfers (technically an operetta but as an intro to opera for the uninitiated, the difference is negligible). Full version is on youtube as well! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_efSJqyhLA Hilarious, one great tune after another (including one that everyone, no matter how unfamiliar with opera, will recognize), incredible performance -- both from a comedic acting standpoint and a singing standpoint -- by Ms. Dessay, fun dancing, nice set design especially in A4, and relatively short. Subtitles available on that youtube video in several languages by turning on annotations. One clip from this piece that I guarantee everyone, no matter how much they think they hate opera, will love https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_efSJqyhLA&t=5325s (be sure to turn on subtitles) Possibly 
regulargonzalez fucked around with this message at 09:15 on Mar 11, 2013 |
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Mar 11, 2013 08:55
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Kytrarewn posted:For my part, I've enjoyed the only opera I've seen live (Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor). I also enjoy the Ring cycle, but as a trombonist I'm sort of required to. Lucia is my most favorite opera (as opposed to what I consider the 'best' opera, which is the Ring). Made a special trip to NYC two years back to see it (with Natalie Dessay, whom I got to meet briefly afterward). The entire trip was magical. e: the mad scene from that production can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3kzqzXHp2A Unfortunately it's not the 2007 version, which featured Ms. Dessay in better voice. That version is on YT as well but not in such a combo of the complete mad scene, with decent quality audio, with subtitles. And the mad scene loses just a bit if you're not familiar enough with the opera to notice themes from earlier arias come back in a rather twisted format ... but all caveats aside, it's still astounding. e2: rewatching it, I had forgotten that they didn't have a glass harmonica for the 2011 production. Really a shame. The flute makes it more plaintive, the glass harmonica makes the scene otherworldly. For a comparison, here's the first part of the 2007 version, with a stronger-voiced Dessay and the glass harmonica (and a much stronger Enrico) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8rARmoE-po regulargonzalez fucked around with this message at 00:56 on Mar 12, 2013 |
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Mar 12, 2013 00:47
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Florida Betty posted:I don't know a whole hell of a lot about opera, and I've only seen about half a dozen or so, but I enjoy them. Last weekend I saw Puccini's Manon Lescaut and I'm going to Norma this weekend. My favorite that I've seen is Verdi's Nabucco. You don't have to know much about opera to like Verdi! Yeah there's a reason he's considered one of the 'big three', and arguably the most popular. TBQH only one or two Verdi operas would be in my top 10 -- I'm more of a bel canto and baroque fan. Sad I'm not able to make Giulio Cesare in NY this season.
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Mar 14, 2013 14:29
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Thought I'd ask here since more likely to get a reply than in the 'identify a song' thread. There's a pretty famous piece that I'm fairly sure is a Chopin etude (or maybe nocturne), main theme goes something like ba-doo, do? da-do da-do, da-do da-do. slowish tempo, somewhat playful or inquisitive tone Sorry for asinine description. Can anyone id it? regulargonzalez fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Mar 19, 2013 |
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Mar 19, 2013 02:02
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Incredulous Dylan posted:Hah, I read that and immediately thought of: I'm afraid that's not it. The main theme for the one I have in mind is almost a call-and-response phrase, and more syncopated.
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Mar 19, 2013 02:54
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Kytrarewn posted:If it really starts to drive you crazy, Chopin's all public domain, so the sheet music is all here: Thanks, but those are slower tempo than the one I'm looking for. Deep 6 posted:You can search for music by melodic contour or rhythm here: http://meertens.musipedia.org/melodic_contour.0.html Tried it, couldn't find anything. Loaded up a virtual keyboard, the "response" portion goes F - G - F - C, F - G - F - Bb (with the F being the lowest of the notes), and maybe eighth note - eighth - eighth - quarter, eighth - eighth - eighth - quarter.
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Mar 19, 2013 06:01
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Found it, finally! And looking at my description, it was just awful  Anyway, it's Chopin - Waltz no. 7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1MwTMgZ694 Thanks for the help all!
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Mar 19, 2013 21:10
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DaWolfey posted:Tonight on BBC Radio 3 is a performance of Frank Zappas The Adventures of Greggery Peccary and G-Spot Tornado for the BBC Proms. Prob my favorite Proms performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_kaOYC_Fww Fie on those who think opera can't be fun
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Jul 31, 2013 20:02
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toiletbrush posted:Can anyone recognise what peice of music is being drowned in reverb and crackle in this Caretaker track? I'd love to know what it was, although I suspect I won't like the untreated version as much... Is there reason to think it's not their music? Otherwise, I'm not sure what they did to put their name on it. e: OK, read the video description. I'm dumb. In any event, if you like that sound you'll like William Basinski's Disintegration Loops (kind of a cool story -- music he had written and had recorded on old acetate tapes and forgotten about for decades, then rediscovered while it was in the process of literally falling apart. Transferred to digital while in a bad state of decay and the result is pretty interesting) regulargonzalez fucked around with this message at 00:57 on Aug 15, 2013 |
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Aug 15, 2013 00:55
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I know there's not many opera fans even in this thread, but if you have any interest at all you should check out this Lucia mad scene that was recently uploaded. It's absolutely spectacular. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqdpk7k4xIQ
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Sep 6, 2013 08:05
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CowOnCrack posted:That WAS amazing. I'm always blown away by operatic singers - masters of so many arts besides their instrument. She must be a brilliant coloratura if she can sing notes that high (the highest note according to my sub-mediocre pitch skills sounded a lot higher than C6). Thanks for this. I am interested in exploring more opera but the obstacle for me has always been accessibility. I'm wondering what good options there are if watching it live isn't a possibility? This convinced me that YouTube is a good place to go looking, which is something I hadn't considered before. The highest note is an Eb6, at the end. Curiously, that aria (and I believe the entire mad scene) is here and almost universally performed a semitone lower than it was written, and the Eb6 in the score is actually an F5 ... so in this key the note 'technically' should be sung as an Eb5, but woe to the soprano who tries to pull that off. The audience would be appalled  (Which is one of the worst things about opera -- if you think XBone vs. PS4 flame wars are terrible, it's nothing compared to the venom you'll see on youtube comments about how singer X is infinitely inferior to singer Y).And yes, she's an amazing coloratura, arguably the best of her generation. Particularly from an interpretative and musicality standpoint, she's the best soprano since Maria Calla imo. Had the privilege of meeting her briefly in 2011. Youtube can be hit or miss -- the audio quality is often bad, which immediately undermines one of the core appeals of opera, which is of course the beauty of the fully developed human voice. And the presence of subtitles is intermittent at best. But there are an amazing number of full operas available. I got into opera 4 years ago and it really swept me away. What worked for me was a strategy of listening to famous arias, finding out they were famous for a reason, and slowly working my way up to full operas. One can also take a top-down approach by jumping into full operas; the problem is that there is such a huge range of styles that what appeals to me may not appeal to you. I could see someone immediately loving Donizetti and then growing to love other composers, but if they'd jumped into Wagner or Shostakovich, it might not click for them at all. For a full opera (technically operetta, but the difference is negligible in this instance) I can't recommend Orphee Aux Enfers highly enough. Features Natalie Dessay, the soprano we were talking about, in a fantastic production. One great tune after another. A2 can be a bit slow but picks up by the end, and A3 and A4 are incredible, and it's honestly really funny. Full production with subs available on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_efSJqyhLA e: for some individual works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmYRQWYlDbM Natalie Dessay again. The first 1:30 is an astonishing display of pure technique https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6NkMeR2Z0M Pavarotti showing why his reputation is 100% deserved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFX8pNlwtMY Anna Moffo, one of the most purely gorgeous voices of the 20th Century https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_kaOYC_Fww Anna Netrebko, the world's top soprano (in earnings and popularity). Can't help but fall a little in love with her https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ1nAAVjimA Largo Al Factotum (perhaps the prototypical opera song, everyone knows this one). Not my favorite performance but very good and it has subtitles so you can see why he's actually singing "Figaro figaro figaro" over and over regulargonzalez fucked around with this message at 23:20 on Sep 7, 2013 |
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Sep 7, 2013 22:57
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Haha, no worries. Just thought I'd throw that stuff out there. I tend to get very enthusiastic when talking about opera.
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Sep 8, 2013 19:51
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Warchicken posted:Performed Beethoven 7 last week, got another performance this week. Man this guy could write inspirational music. I've played lots of orchestra music and it happens more in Beethoven than anything else that the flutes, bassoons, clarinets and oboes move in exactly the same way, leading every note to the same place, without a word having to be said about it. Movement 2 is dark and brooding and stays in your head for days. Playing something as simple as two right notes and a quarter note on one note is somehow harder than my clarinet alone solo rep. Haha, I have to be careful listening to that movement or it will get stuck in my head for a week. It's almost too good, where film makers can use it as a cheat to make their movie seem even better. Irreversible comes to mind -- I like the movie, but I think the presence of this piece definitely boosted it in my mind. That said, the middle of the movement has always felt a bit out of place, tonality-wise, to the rest of it.
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Sep 30, 2013 17:22
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And to clarify, it's Richard Strauss. Johann Strauss is a bit different Englebert Humperdinck was a student of Wagner's and comes across as something of Wagner-lite. His opera Hansel and Gretel is excellent. Late Verdi may also work.
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Dec 2, 2013 04:48
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^^ lol. I can't imagine it sounded much like Philip Glass.monster on a stick posted:Thanks, I'm familiar with Strauss' most famous work (e.g. the piece used in 2001); never thought about Humperdinck, will have to try him. And forgot about Mahler, he's incredible. Strauss's most famous opera is probably Salome. I can strongly recommend the Teresa Stratas dvd; her voice wouldn't be sufficient in a live setting but in this film version it's perfect and the recording is really the definitive version of the opera. If you want something a bit lighter, the Voigt / Dessay Ariadne auf Naxos is spectacular (though I have a tough time buying pre-gastric band Voigt as a desirable princess. Of course that's a matter left to the individual viewer, how much the visual portion infringes on the aural part of opera). Rigoletto's a good one for sure. More of a numbers piece than Wagner's stuff but what numbers! regulargonzalez fucked around with this message at 18:17 on Dec 2, 2013 |
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Dec 2, 2013 18:15
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q!=e
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Dec 2, 2013 18:16
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