I tripped pretty intensely about 2 days ago. A breakthrough, I guess. Now I am in love with Opera music. More specifically, Marriage of Figaro by Mozart. Anyone else have similar post-trip change of taste in music ?
:nopity:I like so much the overtura of "Marriage of Figaro",I've played many times with the orchestra.
I just love the ENO (English National Opera) translation of this at around 2.00 It's nice to have a wife in the house, as long as she's not your own.
Off the opera stage this time, my favourite aria from Die fledermaus. You have to select, Watch on Youtube.
Is this opera @wilsjane? Or just grand? "O Fortuna" is a medieval Latin Goliardic poem which is part of the collection known as the Carmina Burana, written in the early 13th century. It is a complaint about Fortuna, the inexorable fate that rules both gods and mortals in Roman and Greek mythology. In 1935–36, "O Fortuna" was set to music by German composer Carl Orff as a part of "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi", the opening and closing movement of his cantata Carmina Burana. It was first staged by the Frankfurt Opera on 8 June 1937. It opens at a slow pace with thumping drums and choir that drops quickly into a whisper, building slowly in a steady crescendo of drums and short string and horn notes peaking on one last long powerful note and ending abruptly. The tone is modal, until the last nine bars. A performance takes a little over two and a half minutes. Orff's setting of the poem has influenced and been used in many other works and has been performed by numerous classical music ensembles and popular artists. It can be heard in numerous films and television commercials, and has become a staple in western popular culture, setting the mood for dramatic or cataclysmic situations. "O Fortuna" topped The People's Classical Chart in 2009 as the most-played classical music of the previous 75 years in the United Kingdom.[1]
Even if playing it as a kid it was on LSD that I first started to truly like classical music, specially big orchestral symphonic works. The "clarity" of LSD visuals and complex harmonies created the best visuals I ever had.
I have a 16rpm record called "Modern opera in the 20th century" and its pretty good really...... Sounds quite good for 16rpm!
I have not seen a 16 rpm disk in perhaps 50 years! I do have a few 78s my grandfather left. But nothing to play them on...
Some years ago, a £125.000 question on who wants to be a millionaire was, The main action of Puccini's opera Turandot was set in which city. The options were Paris, Rome, New York, or Peking. The contestant eliminated the last two, but was stuck between Paris and Rome. He suddenly remembered Butterfly, so he passed and took the money. Without knowing that Turandot was based on a Chinese love poem, few people would have selected the correct answer. Turandot is not among my favorites, but this aria from butterfly certainly is. So full of hope, but ultimately so sad. This is one of my favorite version. It is almost as if it was written for Ying Huang.
The entire work runs for about 4 hours. While the chanting contains harmony and rhythm there is little melody, so in the strict sense it is not music. While over the years it has been presented at a few opera houses, with no action for the stage, it is not listed as an opera, the choirs normally occupy the stage. On a major performance, these can number more than 400. With such expense on the singers and an orchestra (to play for a few minutes) in theatres it can not be made cost effective. Hee in the UK, with around 8,000 seats for the audience, earlier this year it was performed at the Royal Albert Hall. Other works were added, including Glinka Ruslan and Lyudmila Overture, Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 'Organ' and needless to say, Orff Carmina Burana suite. The whole performance, including intervals ran for about 6 hours. More than 60,000 tickets were sold. It is scheduled for a 2025 season, so if you are interested, you can have a 4 seat box for a mere £1,200. Dinner and drinks come free, along with a few nibbles during the intervals. https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2025/carmina-burana/
Just imagine how this sounds at the Albert hall. If only they could find a way of getting the pesky mushrooms out of the way and letting the dome do it's job as the reverb chamber, as intended. I heard it at Westminster Roman Catholic Cathedral and it blew my mind. The balance between stone and wood, gave the perfect balance between reverb and reflection. I was 16 at the time,
That symphony recorded at Albert's hall. Imagine having a wife who builds you a hall for your birthday. Jumping into bed with the chef because she likes his currey may be a downer, but perhaps not so bad if it is after you have popped your clogs.
