Sunday, March 16, 2008

Troyanos

As is his wont, Maury responds to our idle questions like "What Troyanos do you like" with something as simple and surpassingly splendid as this YouTube clip of "O Don Fatale" from 1980 that we cannot stop watching for the life of us. Perhaps this is well-known to many of you, but if not please stop what you're doing for a moment and partake. Breathtaking.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

She is one of my all-time favorites! I was in the chorus at Dallas Opera when she did Eboli. She was astounding. She left us too soon.

Maury D'annato said...

I've watched it a hundred times and it still makes me feel faint with excitement. I think this performance demonstrates exactly what I look for in opera performance: look how involved her body is in what she's doing, and I mean below the level of dramatic gesture. When she throws the letter down, that's just something a director could tell you. When she's on her knees and her head tilts a little here, a little there at various moments as if driven backward by the sound she's making, that's what you can't fake and what 99% of singers don't have. Ugh it just kills me. I have to lie under my desk for a while :)

winpal said...

Maury is so right. Just watch her in this other YouTube clip. No sets, costumes, orchestra, or staging. Yet within the constraints of the recital setting, it is supremely dramatic and moving. The sound of her voice and the look on her face when she gets to "Musik ist eine heilige kunst" slays me every time. A treasurable artist.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hvfHgGaODeo

Anonymous said...

I miss you guys. And Sieglinde too. I am in withdrawal.

Anonymous said...

Not even a farewell post? I miss the IMs!

Anonymous said...

A: Yo
J: What up
A: Busy at school, I guess
J: True dat.
A: Any good cat pics?
J: I'm trying to stage an all-feline Rodelinda. They all sound like Renee
A: How about an all-reptile Tortoise und Iguana? Of course Levine conducts with the tortoise pace.
J: Iguana changes colors when they drink the potion
A: HepB looks like a tortoise
J: Shouldn't we post a real entry instead of having our audience do the work for us?
A: For reals

Anonymous said...

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