Opera mania!
Blogging Under the Sky again tonight... ha, you new LJ friends didn't know what you were getting yourselves into! :)
Okay, who else out there thinks that new ESO Resident Conductor Maestro Lucas Waldin should have had some more stage time? Like, a lot more stage time. I do. (Actually, I already tweeted kind of along this vein this afternoon, but I think it bears repeating.) I mean, not to slight Maestro Bernhardt in the least, but he said it himself this afternoon: he just doesn't look like Maestro Waldin does in a tux! Too bad he's already got a lady-friend... :)
But in all seriousness, people, let's talk about music! That's what I'm here to do. Though it looks like it's going to be a bunch of random thoughts...
First of all, I love the opera. I just want that to get out there. Seriously can't ever get enough opera. I love just about ALL operas that are out there - though Wagner's not really my favourite dude. I will admit that he's got some absolutely gorgeous musical moments in his works, and the Wagner piece on today's program was no exception. But back to the topic - I love opera.
I have never heard Kathleen Brett sing before. I was completely blown away by her voice. It was just so... beautiful. Let me elaborate on that a bit: "beautiful" is probably one of the most commonly used adjectives to describe somebody's singing voice, and so I kind of hesitate to use it. However, there are so many operatic sopranos whose voices are praised because they are powerful and strong, or because they are loud, or because they have the fullest high C that ever was heard, or because their voices are extremely flexible, or any number of things. And these are often the first things that I hear when I'm listening to operatic sopranos. I'm not saying Ms. Brett didn't have any of these things, but I'm just so impressed that the first thing that struck me about her voice, the first thing I heard from her, was just the absolute beauty of her vocal tones. Like... wow. Every time she sang, in the afternoon concert and the evening concert, I had tears in my eyes. Wow.
And on a completely different note: did anyone else get taught silly words to the second theme of the Toreador's March by Bizet in elementary school? My mom did, and I did, but they were both different sets. I learned ones that go like so:
This is the best deal in the grocery store
pot roast and ribs, ground beef galore
our hamburger was ground this very morn
so take the bull by the horns!
It's sure to satisfy in every way
so buy a pound today!
My mom's set starts off with "Neither a lender nor a borrower be", but she said she couldn't remember the rest of them. So, whenever I hear this tune, I start thinking about ground beef, and now I suppose I'll start thinking about money lending. Sigh. I don't know whether that's better or worse than images of a sultry cigarette maker... actually, I lied, I do know it's worse :P
Okay, still have one more concert to write about tonight... I'll be back shortly :)
Okay, who else out there thinks that new ESO Resident Conductor Maestro Lucas Waldin should have had some more stage time? Like, a lot more stage time. I do. (Actually, I already tweeted kind of along this vein this afternoon, but I think it bears repeating.) I mean, not to slight Maestro Bernhardt in the least, but he said it himself this afternoon: he just doesn't look like Maestro Waldin does in a tux! Too bad he's already got a lady-friend... :)
But in all seriousness, people, let's talk about music! That's what I'm here to do. Though it looks like it's going to be a bunch of random thoughts...
First of all, I love the opera. I just want that to get out there. Seriously can't ever get enough opera. I love just about ALL operas that are out there - though Wagner's not really my favourite dude. I will admit that he's got some absolutely gorgeous musical moments in his works, and the Wagner piece on today's program was no exception. But back to the topic - I love opera.
I have never heard Kathleen Brett sing before. I was completely blown away by her voice. It was just so... beautiful. Let me elaborate on that a bit: "beautiful" is probably one of the most commonly used adjectives to describe somebody's singing voice, and so I kind of hesitate to use it. However, there are so many operatic sopranos whose voices are praised because they are powerful and strong, or because they are loud, or because they have the fullest high C that ever was heard, or because their voices are extremely flexible, or any number of things. And these are often the first things that I hear when I'm listening to operatic sopranos. I'm not saying Ms. Brett didn't have any of these things, but I'm just so impressed that the first thing that struck me about her voice, the first thing I heard from her, was just the absolute beauty of her vocal tones. Like... wow. Every time she sang, in the afternoon concert and the evening concert, I had tears in my eyes. Wow.
And on a completely different note: did anyone else get taught silly words to the second theme of the Toreador's March by Bizet in elementary school? My mom did, and I did, but they were both different sets. I learned ones that go like so:
This is the best deal in the grocery store
pot roast and ribs, ground beef galore
our hamburger was ground this very morn
so take the bull by the horns!
It's sure to satisfy in every way
so buy a pound today!
My mom's set starts off with "Neither a lender nor a borrower be", but she said she couldn't remember the rest of them. So, whenever I hear this tune, I start thinking about ground beef, and now I suppose I'll start thinking about money lending. Sigh. I don't know whether that's better or worse than images of a sultry cigarette maker... actually, I lied, I do know it's worse :P
Okay, still have one more concert to write about tonight... I'll be back shortly :)