The Ironism » tosca

Opera Heroes of YouTube; del Monaco in Tosca

fungrim — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:34:53 +0000

Mario del Monaco is one of the singers I don’t really know anything about. And really haven’t listened to either. But damn, this Tosca recording is awesome. Starts of mellow and moves with the music to a truly stunning peak. Awesome, so awesome.Hat tip to Red-Eyed Jenna for the showing the stuff to me in the first place.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i2ZCa-0YEI]

Opera Heroes of YouTube; Two sides of Birgit

fungrim — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 21:30:41 +0000

Birgit Nilsson. Ok, I’ll say it one more time: Birgit Nilsson. As we move on, we’ll find it harder and harder explaining to people what a legend that woman was. I don’t know about you, but hers is one of the few graves outside my family I have ever visited to pay my respects.Side one. Gentle, Lyrical. With an excuisite piano: Tosca. Concert. 1960. Pure magic. Listen to the floating pianos at the end. This is the less known side of her vioce, the more known being, of course, the one you’l find further down.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRjBpJ0ZECo]Side two. From 3.34 and onwards… The Sound! Range. Flexibility. Emotions. Power. And… THE SOUND: Isolde.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mOA8pZ_I4M]When I heard she had passed away, I immediately went out to the local pub, bought a pint and raised my glass silently in remembrance.Birgit Nilsson.

Opera Heores of YouTube; Wixell in Tosca; 1979

fungrim — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 20:29:22 +0000

Well, well, well. I hadn’t dawned on me that YouTube was actually being used by Opera-fans as well. Thanks to the Drakmiklos for the tip. Let’s start exploring shall we?I have to start with Wixell. Those of you who now me well, will not be surprised.Tosca, ‘Te Deum‘. Hum, of course. This isn’t the best I’ve heard him sing, some of it comes out with a vibrato with slightly to high amplitute/low frequency for my ears. But that’s nitpicking. Lovely stuff. Listen to his “throw-back”, the echo of his voice in the auditorium. Wheee! If you haven’t heard him sing the part, here’s a starter.Update: The link above no longer works, but here’s the torture scene from the same recording. You get Caballe as well. A bonus![youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6U7xZ8CPyU]1979. From Tokyo? With Carreras and Caballe. Same cast as the 1976 Philips recording. Which, incidentially, is the first Opera CD I ever bought. And perhaps still the most listened to.Update: Ah damn, you’ll get a double tap with this first post in the theme. From the same performance, Carreras in ‘E lucevan le stelle‘. By hell! Surprising amount of “body” in the middle registers. Good stuff![youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMpD5AMXsb0]