Music…

I get a "this video is not available" Trihexagonal

It's giving me a "This video contains content from WMG. It is restricted from playback on certain sites or applications. Watch on YouTube", but I'm listening to it now.

I've always been a big fan of DEVO. :)
 
It is some badass bluegrass.

I've posted before about being a fan of bluegrass covers of classic rock tunes. There is a whole Pickin' On Series and bands like Hayseed Dixie and Iron Horse with bluegrass covers of Pink Floyd, AC-DC, Nirvana, Aerosmith and even Jimi Hendrix.

This is David West doing a cover of Pink Floyd's Goodbye Blue Sky:

David Lee Roth with a bluegrass cover of Jamie's Cryin':
 
(footage of Florence Foster Jenkins)
I've been a "fan" of hers for at least 25 years now; I remember buying a CD of her in the late 80s (I can date it, because it was before we moved to California). Even today, I can't hear the "Der Hoelle Rache" aria of the queen of the night without Jenkins' version going through my head.

Man, is she bad ... very amusingly bad.
 
I love Angela Gheorghiu:
Well, soprano singing isn't everyone's cup of tea. In our family, I'm the only person known to tolerate opera, and even then I'm not a real fan. Our son in particular hates vocal music (disclaimer: he is a darn good tuba player, and high screeching sounds obviously grate on him).

If you want to see a real test of sopranos: Look on youtube for Gliere's "Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra". It's brutally hard to sing, in particular the last note (many singers deliberately go an octave down instead of attempting the high F). But for those singers with the technique to do it right, it is a spectacular piece. There is also a nice transcription of the piece for trumpet or cornet.

In general, I refer to Gliere as a part of the three "russian G" composers: They never wrote truly great music, but they also never wrote bad music, and everything they wrote is pleasant to listen to. They are Glinka, Glazunov and Gliere. For fun, try Glazunov's concerto for saxophone (!) and orchestra.
 
Well, soprano singing isn't everyone's cup of tea. In our family, I'm the only person known to tolerate opera, and even then I'm not a real fan. Our son in particular hates vocal music (disclaimer: he is a darn good tuba player, and high screeching sounds obviously grate on him).

If you want to see a real test of sopranos: Look on youtube for Gliere's "Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra". It's brutally hard to sing, in particular the last note (many singers deliberately go an octave down instead of attempting the high F). But for those singers with the technique to do it right, it is a spectacular piece. There is also a nice transcription of the piece for trumpet or cornet.

In general, I refer to Gliere as a part of the three "russian G" composers: They never wrote truly great music, but they also never wrote bad music, and everything they wrote is pleasant to listen to. They are Glinka, Glazunov and Gliere. For fun, try Glazunov's concerto for saxophone (!) and orchestra.

I like all three composers but for Angela Gheorghiu I think she is the best soprano nowadays :)..but that is like in the older time: Who was better Renatta Tebaldi or Maria Callas?
 
We have several nice sopranos those days but none of than are even close of the true great sopranos from the last XIX century like Luisa Tetrazzini, Nellie Melba, Adelina Patti, or Amelia Carli-Curci, or even those great ones from the half of XX century, Joan Sutherland, Maria Callas, Editá Gruberova (before she turn herself in a zombie), Renatta Tebaldi etc.

I am not too familiar with Angela Gheorghiu because I listen more often to coloraturas than dramatics ones, but let's take Cecilia Bartoli whom is an amazing soprano of nowdays but her interpretations are a lot of more exhibition of her technique than music. Or Anna Netrebko, who is a very nice light soprano but do insist to sing operas for dramatic and colaratura ones, specially Italian operas, while she should have to be singing German and Russian ones (in general).

About the Queen of the Night aria, my preferred ones are the Edda Moser and Diana Damrau interpretations.


An actual video recording of Tetrazzini singing, the only one know, and it was taken when she already was long retired.

 
I am very much in the classic music and I am very happy that FreeBSD users are too :).
BTW: I am romantic and Puccini is my favorite one.

P.S.
We have a "music" what do you think that we start "Books"?
 
I do not have a favorite composer. I listen more to what I feel I like at each time.

These days I listening more to Donizetti, but there are times I listen almost exclusively to Baroque music.

Recently I found about this interesting group. Some of them seriously need language coaching but that is a detail.


THIS is a nice page too.
 
  • Thanks
Reactions: Oko
I like all three composers but for Angela Gheorghiu I think she is the best soprano nowadays ...
I'm not a voice expert, so I refuse to pass judgement. Plus I listen to so many old recordings that I'm not up to date on current performers. I like the sound quality of Anna Netrebko (light, without being screechy), but her politics are neanderthal. On the other hand, I love the sound of deep contra-altos (one of my favorite pieces with voice is de Falla's "Amor Brujo").

Who was better Renatta Tebaldi or Maria Callas?
Religious wars. Like Haifetz or Oistrakh, Glenn Gould or Leon Fleisher, Casals or Piatigorsky, Rubinstein or Horovitz. In reality, all of these people are ridiculously good, and it becomes a question of taste and what piece. I used to listen to a lot of Tebaldi, because she was my mother's and godmother's favorite soprano (hint: my godmother was a professional coloratura soprano, worked for the opera house), so I've gotten accustomed to her sound, in particular in Puccini.

About the Queen of the Night aria, my preferred ones are the Edda Moser and Diana Damrau interpretations.
I can simply no longer enjoy that piece. I've suffered with it since I was a teenager (and got ordered to be the piano accompanist for a high-school classmate who was singing it, rather badly), and I've heard it so many times in the last 50 years, it's definitely going out the other ear now. The funny thing is that Zauberfloete is in general a nice opera. Being an orchestral percussionist now, I regularly practice the glockenspiel solos from it.

I do not have a favorite composer. I listen more to what I feel I like at each time.
I've listened to so much music in my life, I'm an omnivore of classical music; less baroque and early classical, more late classical and in particular russian romantics. Yesterday evening I was stuck in my basement shop for many hours (doing an electronics project), and decided to listen to symphonies: Beethoven 3rd, Bruch 2nd, then Balakirev (not Borodin!) 1st. Yes, doing only B's and then in descending order is a little OCD, but they are all beautiful.
 
Religious wars. Like Haifetz or Oistrakh, Glenn Gould or Leon Fleisher, Casals or Piatigorsky, Rubinstein or Horovitz. In reality, all of these people are ridiculously good, and it becomes a question of taste and what piece.

I call those fans issues. The same with Callas fans, Gruberova fans, Sutherland fans, Sills fans and so on. Wherever they loved interprets do they say it was the best... and now we have Gruberova (in her 70's) still singing, very poorly (some times more like screaming), but their fans still make the houses full and swear she still doing very fine...

I can simply no longer enjoy that piece.

Certainly over executed piece, perks of being too popular. Interestingly, most people do not ever know there are much more in "Die Zauberflote"

ralphbsz

If you like Netrebko you certainly should like Bidu Sayão. Her "La Traviata" (Violetta) interpreation is notorious, and also "Bachianas Brasileiras", specially the nº5.

EDIT: I couldn't resist.
 

From 1983.

It's one you have to click to watch on youtube, but its awesomeness is boundless.

IMO :)
 

I have this album. And the Wall of Voodoo album with this song on it, too. :)

The video by Wall of Voodoo is funny but as far as the song goes this cover version has it IMO.
 

This was always my favorite. Robin Trower played with them when it originally came out.

I never saw Procol Harem but I saw Robin Trower doing his For Earth Below tour after he went his own way.
 
Back
Top