Questo e un nondo avviluppato

Genius. My von Stade obsession continues - and who says obsessions are bad?! It's led me to possibly THE greatest recording of this truly awesome sextet...

If there was anything to make me feel insufficient in the r-rolling department, it is most certainly this. I've just NEVER been able to do it...so judging from this video, that pretty much rules out me ever singing Cenerentola. Because, I mean, of course I could handle the ridiculous coloratura...it's just the r-rolling getting in my way.... :/ But my blatant singing impairment aside, I love the fact that they've taken this r-rolling business to the absolute extreme; something really to focus on. And boy have they got it perfect. Staccato + Rolled R's = My idea of Aural heaven.

I'm officially in love with von Stade's voice. She swaps between registers like she hasn't even heard of, let alone has, passagio...and it seems to come so easily that it seems like she's just speaking...just very relaxed and natural...I can't even really describe it all that well. I just know I love it. Lots.

From all of the other recordings I've seen/heard, I gather that for a director, this is quite a difficult piece to place. I mean, it's hardly reality. This is by far the best version I've found, and the silhouette idea was a pure revelation - perfectly simple and un-showy, leaving us to appreciate the music. If only all directors had had this idea! A lot of the versions were more than acceptable (the most recent Garanca version and a Bartoli production from the 90's) though we'll glaze over a certain production where the director thought adding nursery rhyme-like hand gestures would add a certain je ne sais quoi...

So it's a toss up now between buying the Met's new production with Garanca, or this film version from the 80's...my empty pockets are saying I have to choose...but I suppose there's no harm in having two Cenerentolas on the shelf right?!

"In questi estremi istanti"

The Rossini from the previous post, perhaps unsurprisingly, led to some more Rossini; in the form of a beautiful trio from Maometto Secondo...

Elina Garanca's 'Bel Canto' was probably the CD that completed my transformation from 'average teenager' to 'obsessed nerd'. So much of my musical taste has stemmed from this single CD; obviously starting with Bel Canto music, and then basically moving through Garanca's repertoire to the more Romantic roles of Charlotte and Carmen.

I specifically remember stumbling across recording of her singing the famous 'Flower Duet' from Lakmé with Anna Netrebko. Instead of focusing all my attention on the soprano (a crime I'm often guilty of...though I'm getting much better!), I was totally captivated by the mezzo and her intelligent, modest performance. Needless to say, I didn't learn the soprano line I was meant to...

Anyway! Maometto...not a very well known opera really, in anyone's books; but as is so often the case, there are some really great pieces of music in it, that deserve to be heard. The stunningly simplistic trio 'In questi estremi istanti' is certainly one of them.

Cut down to the bare essentials, the haunting melody is established by the mezzo, then repeated by soprano and tenor, whilst the others harmonise. Sounds pretty basic on paper, but the simple ideas are always the best! The clever thing about this trio, it seems, is how all of the parts perfectly blend together, and that the momentum builds as each layer is added. Parts are passed down like a production line as more parts enter, and the harmonic effect is truly beautiful. My personal highlight is at the beginning of the second 'verse', for want of a better term, when the soprano starts to harmonise the mezzo line. In my mind's eye, I can see a bow shape being created as the vocal lines progress; the mezzo coming down, the soprano going up - creating a seamless overlap that gets me every time.

I also love this because a trio isn't something you get very often. We love our duets - or in Rossini our quintets and octets! And you can forget about 'The Three Tenors'...what about 'The Mezzo, Soprano, and Tenor'...hmm...not quite as catchy though.

Only a relatively short post for tonight I think...I fancy going to bed and watching Rosenkavalier...and we know that can't be done in a hurry.

"Fra il padre"

So, I decided against my first choice - the extract of 'Quant'e grato all'alma mia' - on this recording purely for the fact that I realised I'd heard it all before...kind of. The aria, composed before Barbiere or Cenerentola, contains extracts of (in)famous arias from both operas; 'Una voce poco fa' and 'Non piu mesta' respectively. Both of them I've tried...but I did the musical equivalent of 'dipping my toe in' and then quickly ran back to my Handel. In true opera composer style, Rossini robbed brilliant ideas from an opera that didn't do fantastically, and created two absolute monsters of the operatic repertoire. Legend.

Anyway, enough of that; on to "Fra il padre", which I've been obsessively, incessantly humming for about 3 days. I apologise profusely to anyone who I've been around, as it can't be all that fun to have my constant trilling worming into your poor little ears...

The repeating woodwind theme, that first makes an appearance at the very beginning of this piece, is the cheeky little melody thats been on 'replay' in my mind. I must have listened to this 20 second section more times than Rossini himself, purely to hear the octave piccolo (I think/hope) which makes me want to nod my head in time. Much of Rossini's composition is so fiercely rhythmic, and, for me at least, this piece is just such a wonderful example of that signature style; no one else could have composed it. Perhaps if I listen to this in the car, and people see me nodding, they'll think I'm listening to hiphop, and my social status will take a sudden climb...maybe something to try!

I'm slightly suspicious of Rossini and his apparent use of the 19th Century equivalent of 'cut and paste' on the massive virtuosic vocal passages that are apparent in so many of his real 'finale' type arias. However, credit where credit's due - the guy's pretty talented at conveying emotion. In the slightly less crazy quasi-arioso, 'Tanti affetti', directly before 'Fra il padre', Elena, the titular Lady of the Lake, is singing about the multitude of emotions that are 'crowding [her] heart' and the 'immensity of [her] hapiness' that she 'cannot express'; well, I'd beg to differ. The coloratura in the aria itself seem to me the perfect representation and expression of a racing heart, overflowing with feelings that literally run away with her, vocally and emotionally. The finale of the piece, where the orchestra comes in with a bang, and the vocal rhythm suddenly pulls out and stretches just like elastic is truly majestic- with Joyce DiDonato's voice soaring high above the rest.

As for Ms. DiDonato...I have no words! Well maybe a few - That voice is out of this world. That's all bases covered I'd say? 'They' say that Isabella Colbran, Rossini's muse, must have possessed an unbelievable voice, or at the very least, been a truly convincing actress, to sing all of the parts that Rossini wrote for her. Joyce would have kicked her butt any day. The CD is a triumph, and by far the best christmas present I got this year, from one of my precious few friends who can truly sympathise with my inner geek.

Dear Lord, I pray that one day I'll be able to sing Rossini. I pray that I don't continue to sound like a varying range of strangled animals when attempting the 16th notes. I pray that I'll be able to find somewhere to breath in between said 16th notes. I pray that somehow, somewhere, I'll be able to sing his music at faster than half speed. Amen.