I’m planning (hoping is more accurate, at this stage) to do the Trinity ATCL exam this year, so I’m currently collecting repertoire suitable for a recital. This piece of music is one I ran across a few years ago, and the title immediately piqued my interest. It isn’t often that you see the word ‘expostulation’ in a song title, after all.
Then I heard it, and fell completely in love.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eN-tvmXkNY&hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0]
I can’t decide whether this is an act of genius or a travesty, but I think you’ll agree that it definitely belongs in the Friday Fun category…
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vbJgF-F5ZA&version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0] Continue reading
Since we are now in Lent, and we’ve been operatic for a few weeks now, I thought I would share some of my favourite Lenten music. This turns out to be harder than expected, because apparently I really like obscure Lenten music.
But this anthem, by Brahms, while not much recorded in English, does seem to be quite popular in its original German.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkGeBKv32i8&version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0]
I know, I know, it’s more Purcell. Anyone would think I had no imagination at all. But the thing with Purcell is that if you are looking for gorgeous church music, there he is, writing it. If you are looking for delicate, beautiful artsong, there’s Purcell again, writing that, too. If you are looking for opera, or drunken rounds with impeccable music, he’s your man.
So it’s hardly a surprise that when you are in search of hilariously funny opera – in English, too, which does give us more scope, don’t you think? – Purcell is one of the names that comes up.
Incidentally, if you are watching this at work, you may want to switch it off as soon as the initial aria is finished. The aria itself is mildly naughty, but the naughtiness is largely from the words. What happens after the aria is probably not something you want the boss watching over your shoulder. (There’s no nudity, but it is still decidedly not safe for work)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJjvR8wMx2M&version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0] Continue reading
Something a bit different this morning, in honour of the Lunar New Year. It occurred to me yesterday, as I sat in church, listening to the sounds of the big Chinese New Year festivities going on just outside, that I actually have no idea what classical Chinese music sounds like. In fact, my husband knows more about this than I do, because he sometimes watches Chinese films. (Well, films in general, really. I start getting restless after half an hour in front of of TV or other screen, and have a tendency to start talking to all the stupid people who need to be told. This does not make me a very desirable cinema-going companion.)
Anyway, given my penchant for singing, Chinese opera seemed like the place to start. Knowing nothing about opera, but figuring that this was the Year of the Snake, I cheerfully Googled ‘Chinese Opera Snake’ to see what happened.
This turned out to be an excellent idea, except for the part where it ate about an hour out of my evening. There is, as it turns out, a Chinese Legend of the White Snake, which has been turned into operas by a variety of different composers, in both traditionally Chinese and more conventionally Western musical styles.
Here are three different interpretations for your enjoyment… Continue reading
This is a bit of a departure from my usual Friday Fun, being largely spoken word. Anna Russell, it seems, started her career as an opera singer, and then decided that while singing opera was pretty good fun, pointing up opera’s absurdities for comic effect was even more fun. And she managed to base a career on this, which makes me deeply envious, because that sounds like the best job in the world.
Here she is, back in 1953, explaining Wagner’s Ring Cycle to the unsuspecting public. The closest I’ve come to Wagner’s Ring cycle is the Cambridge Buskers playing the Ride of the Valkyries on sopranino recorder and piano accordion, and I find it hilarious. I’m told that if you actually know the operas in question, it’s absolutely hysterical.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m69aPAo1rXE&version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0] Continue reading
I’m in a bit of a Tosca mood at the moment. For reasons that aren’t clear to me, I have the Te Deum section in my head, and it won’t go away. There’s just something magnificently evil about Scarpia, and the music really works here…
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbxkeQIE7c0&hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0] Continue reading
I have to admit, this particular choice was the result of a Google search for funny opera arias. I do actually know of a fair few, but remembering them late on a Thursday night when the internet is very, very slow and a post has to be written by Friday morning is another matter.
I didn’t know this one, though, so I’m very glad I did that search, because it’s magnificently silly, and I would never have gone hunting for either Victor Herbert or Dame Kiri Te Kanawa otherwise.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mku1rrKpF5g&version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0] Continue reading