So, back in the fall of 2004 I missed this because I heard about it too late. I remember I'd had a pretty dreary night and I deeply regretted the chance to see Renee on late-night TV.
That was life pre-YouTube. Well, it's taken a while, but someone has finally uploaded the performance...and what an interesting performance it is! Lots of ornaments in there...it's fun. William Christie told Renee to sing Handel as jazz...she sure listens to him. :)
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6 comments:
I saw this when it aired and loved it. I'm so glad that somebody finally shared it on youtube. Dave was beside himself for the entire show before she finally came out. He kept going on about her beauty and also that she was going to sue him because during her previous appearance on the show the power went out or they lost the satellite feed or something like that - the broadcast stopped right in the middle of her aria!
I remember hearing about how funny he was - and also the other guests were interesting, Nigella Lawson and someone else. I was pretty irritated I missed it.
Her first appearance was cool - and the blackout was pretty memorable!
They should have her back to sing "Sempre libera" to promote the DVD!
Hey there!
I'm not so enthusiastic about this performance. First of all the whole repetition of the first line of poetry is missing (probably it would have been too long to fit the TV program). Secondl, the ornaments clearly don't fit the aria: way too virtuosic for this type of music. And finally her top notes always have this Eddie-Van-Halen-like bending quality ;-) It's funny but not fun ;-)
Sorry to be such a .... musicologists? ..
Looking forward to getting together soon and listening to opera in our fair city!
Cheers,
Matthias
Thanks so much for your comment, Matthias! Yes, I noticed the cuts too (definitely because this was for TV). I hear what you're saying about the ornaments and the top notes, and though this might be considered a "bizarre" performance, I still really like it!
Looking forward to seeing you!
Somtimes I think: after all it really doesn't matter how the performance is (technically and even musically), because all that matters is what the music does to the listener. But this is sometimes hard to accept for professional musicians or musicologists...
talk to you soon!
Matthias
Matthias, good point - but musicians / musicologists differ tremendously in their approaches. There's the issue of authenticity (which is a funny thing...), and there's also the matter of taste.
For example, Renee works with Phil Gossett on all of her bel canto repertoire, and he's a big fan. But lots of people dislike her bel canto singing.
I think it's about taste, and what we've grown accustomed to from recordings. Yet another reason I'm not a big fan of recordings - they become the music for a lot of people.
See you soon!!!
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