What Classical are you listening to?

[Verdinut]

Thanks! New to me, and her voice is stunning to say the very least. I have been listening to her albums on Spotify today. What a gift she had!! Seems like there is nothing that she could not do. Only problem is that many of her recordings were made in the 1930s and 1940s with infant recording technology. Sweet, sweet voice.

I'm glad it was a good discovery for you.

You like good soprano voices. I do too. But how about tenors?

Do you know Jussi Björling? He was a Swedish tenor who also sang at the Met for many seasons. He had a silvery smooth lyrico spinto voice with a perfect technique. He died in 1960 at the age of only 49. He is one of my preferred tenors and I have most of his discs.
His recordings are numerous and most of them have been well made. Here is one 2-disc set which is a must in an opera buff's discotheque:

 

[Forsooth]

I'm glad it was a good discovery for you.

You like good soprano voices. I do too. But how about tenors?

Do you know Jussi Björling? He was a Swedish tenor who also sang at the Met for many seasons. He had a silvery smooth lyrico spinto voice with a perfect technique. He died in 1960 at the age of only 49. He is one of my preferred tenors and I have most of his discs.
His recordings are numerous and most of them have been well made. Here is one 2-disc set which is a must in an opera buff's discotheque:

View attachment 25313

Well, this fellow had a beautiful voice, I must say. On Spotify, I listened to a couple of albums that were comprised of arias, and, well, usually there was the "Tony Bennet" effect where each piece was sung as though it would be the last thing he would ever sing. "Do ya have to make such a big production of everything?" But this is the way of tenor arias after Mozart (approx.),I suppose. BUT...I found this collection of bon-bons by Jussi and LOVED it!! I have listened to it twice today, and will probably do it again tomorrow.

His voice is so wonderful when he is allowed to use that beseeching, plaintive quality with its easy, pleading glissando (is that what it is called?) and he can bring the soft song without having to soar forcefully into the stratosphere. Oh, well, I'm not a full-blown grand opera fan and that is where he made his mark, but I love his personal interpretive style to simple (or maybe not so simple) songs. I cannot believe he died at 49, and I have been allowed to live well beyond that with little to show for it. Life is not dealt out fairly.

 

[Verdinut]

Well, this fellow had a beautiful voice, I must say. On Spotify, I listened to a couple of albums that were comprised of arias, and, well, usually there was the "Tony Bennet" effect where each piece was sung as though it would be the last thing he would ever sing. "Do ya have to make such a big production of everything?" But this is the way of tenor arias after Mozart (approx.),I suppose. BUT...I found this collection of bon-bons by Jussi and LOVED it!! I have listened to it twice today, and will probably do it again tomorrow.
View attachment 25337
His voice is so wonderful when he is allowed to use that beseeching, plaintive quality with its easy, pleading glissando (is that what it is called?) and he can bring the soft song without having to soar forcefully into the stratosphere. Oh, well, I'm not a full-blown grand opera fan and that is where he made his mark, but I love his personal interpretive style to simple (or maybe not so simple) songs. I cannot believe he died at 49, and I have been allowed to live well beyond that with little to show for it. Life is not dealt out fairly.

You say that you're not a full-blown opera fan yet, but you might become one with me.

Here is another of my favorite tenors, another Swedish opera singer who recently died at the age of 91. He had a great career and also sang at the Met for many seasons. He had a more powerful voice than Björling, and he knew how to use it. He spoke fluently at least 6 languages.

Here is a link to a "Bel canto" aria from Bellini's I Puritani with an outstanding "High C Sharp":

I may be mistaken, but I believe the soprano singing with him is Joan Sutherland, the famous Australian collatura soprano.

 

[flippo]

 

[flippo]

 

[eljr]

 

[flippo]

 

[Joe B]

 

[Joe B]

This morning:

 

[eljr]

Brilliant, simply brilliant. Start to finish.

Highlighting The Sad Park: It's an amazing piece. Maybe because I witnessed 911 or because a friend had to jump to his death from the tower but I am spellbound by this new release (premiered in 2010). It's uncomfortable, sad and unsettling. Truly terrorism penned to music.

 

[Joe B]

 

[Verdinut]

What a loss at a so young age! He was an amazing baritone. As a matter of fact, I saw him in Montreal about 5 years ago in a concert where he sang operatic arias with the American born Canadian soprano, the amazing Sondra Radvanovsky.
Here is another gem:

 

[Joe B]

What a loss at a so young age! He was an amazing baritone. As a matter of fact, I saw him in Montreal about 5 years ago in a concert where he sang operatic arias with the American born Canadian soprano, the amazing Sondra Radvanovsky.

He really had a great voice and an incredible presence. That concert in Montreal must have been amazing.
"Heroes and Villians" is one of my favorite of his CD's, up there with "War, Peace, Love and Sorrow" and "Russia Cast Adrift". I would love to get my hands on a Blu-ray or DVD of his concert with Jonas Kaufmann from 2009 in Russia, but I'll settle for the videos up on youtube.com. What always strikes me about Dmitri is how much fun he seemed to have when he performed, and how generous he was with those he performed with.....truly a class act.

 

[Joe B]

Starting the day with Dawn Upshaw:

 

[eljr]

 

[Joe B]

 

[eljr]

 

[Joe B]

 

[eljr]

 

[eljr]