Deh, prendi un dolce amplesso

It seems that this is 1 of 1 mezzo-mezzo duets. And it's ABOUT 30 seconds long. This makes me disproportionately sad, as there is no better voice in the world than that of a mezzo! Seriously, being a mezzo is the ONLY way to maintain a bit of dignity - they're not screaming around desperately trying to hit the pitch that only dogs can hear, nor are they dying of inexplicable ailments, they're often the third 'most important' performer...basically - they're subtly awesome and therefore a bit more modest - so we can let them go a bit crazy if they ever stumble across Carmen or Amneris .

I like Mozart though...not just for his general genius, but for this snippet of rare amazingness...

Effort = 5 gold stars (only a few for the boy Mozart, he probably knocked this out in the time it takes to sing it)

Harmony = 4,394,032 gold stars. Wolfgang, you absolute beast. This is gorgeous - the lower line caressing the upper one and mirroring it to ACTUAL perfection. Simple, yet supremely effective.

Duration = -12 gold stars. This may just be a passing declaration of loyalty, but NOTHING in opera is duration realistic, we all know how long it can take those sopranos to finally pop their clogs.

So overall that's 4,394,025. Not half bad, WE JUST WANT MORE OF IT PLEASE MR. M!

Also a note to the set designer - office blocks + harpsichord aren't a great anachronism...but overall bravo! for a seriously ace production.

Blogging Renaissance

This is the video that's getting me through Easter break. LOOK AT HER FACE! It's a) one of the best faces ever and more importantly b) look at the joy she gets from singing that lovely Mozart...and she makes it look so ridiculously easy.

The legend that is Frederica von Stade came to me in a dream whilst I was camping on an interesting incline in deepest darkest Wales, squished against the side of a damp tent freezing my little fingers off. Not the first place you'd expect to find Flicka. But there she was in all her glory...on the same programme as me...her name was just above mine on the recital list...'In my dreams' quite literally. She gave me a brilliant and motivational speech, which though I was very impressed with whilst sleeping, couldn't for the life of me remember now. And then she sang to me like an angel. Oh and I wept in her presence...wept like a baby. Which was odd, as up until about a week ago, I'd only heard of her, never actually listened. Needless to say, it was possibly the best dream ever - if there had been any form of cake or baked goods it would have definitely been stuck at number one for the rest of eternity.

I was slowly woken from this lovely alternative reality by a really worrying sensation due lack of circulation to my freezing extremities, and the wafting of men's deodorant from the tent next door indicated that it was time to get up for another day of ceaseless walking and generalised pain. It even got to the point where we'd step on sharp stones in an attempt to centralise the pain in one area, the masochists we are. Were it not for reminiscing over my dream (and of course the promise of a variety of sweets at regular intervals) I'm pretty sure I would have just sat myself down and refused to move.

So now I'm officially von Stade obsessed, so you can imagine my slight over excitement when Gramophone sneaked us all a peak at their 'new look' May issue. Not only is there a feature on von Stade's retirement (why did I not find out about her sooner!?) but the cover feature is of her successor, the incomparable Joyce DiDonato?! I nearly died. Then, when I had regained the use of my limbs, got in my car and drove to the nearest Gramophone stockist...which when you live in a ridiculously tiny town is no small feat. BUT I HAVE IT. And my life for the moment is complete...until of course I've finished reading.