December 21, 2006

• Impressive. I'm thinking ... yeah. Robot.
• Beauchard: thank you! The only opera I've ever been able to like is Mozart's, and I love that. This post made me sooo happy! I thought the boy did pretty well on the flutey parts, but it'll be a long while before he gets the emotion right. That's as it should be. Thanks again for this lovey solstice present.
• I bet this boy is thanking God that they started to let women actually sing the operas. Otherwise, his testes would have already been on the operating room floor.
• They should castrate him.
• Mr.K and Debaser626: Boy choirs are a century's old tradition. Their voices can be very true. They sing, and then they go on with life. Why is castration required? Try just listening, and if you don't like it, try to be kind. Thanks.
• The Queen of the Night arias is one of the Wonders of the musical world. Thanks for this beauchard.
• Path, I think they were talking about the old cliche' of castrating young boys to keep their voices from changing. Besides, castration is hi-fucking-larious.
• Whoa, just watched that Diana Damrau clip, she looks the part! I would like to take her trick-or-treating. (also amazing singing)
• My guess is that they don't know much about the old tradition of castrati and were just snarking. I could be wrong, and often am, however.
• Having calmed down, I see that Deabser's comment is on the money.
• **News Flash!** Leading scientists confirm Castration is hi-fucking-larious! Film at 10:00
• Monkeyfilter: I could be wrong, and often am
• I could be wrong, and often am Well I disagree completely with path's comment.
• Although having said that, I see her point.
• ... which implies that her comment was incorrect after all.
• ... thus providing supporting evidence for its veracity ...
• path: As often with e-communication, there are multiple ways to interpret info due to the lack of inflection. Without speaking for Mr. K, I was definitely not snarking. The kid's raw, but impressive. I was merely mentioning the due to his talent, he probably would've been hand picked to be next in line to have his stuff snipped . Oh... and you suck! :)
• Absolutely beautiful. For fuck's sake, get the kinds dome less ugly clothes, but the music is heavenly. As path says, his execution was better than his interpretation, but it's pretty grownup material.
• And while they're getting the kids some better clothes, maybe they could get us a preview button.
• I don't understand exactly how you took my comment, path. I can't imagine that any would find it offensive, excepting the possibility of some who have been dead hundreds of years (and even then, I don't think so). I also can't imagine what you would think the comment meant if it wasn't a reference to castrati. What the hell else could it possibly mean? I'm not not sure where you saw unkindness, but the first unkindness I see in this thread is in your remarks, first about the boy, then to Debaser and I. How about you try to be kind? Thanks.
• I took Mr. K's comment as a compliment. Sort of a "That kid has such a lovely voice, it's a shame it won't last" kind of thing.
• That's how it was meant, TUM, and I can't imagine how else it could be taken. Like "I hate that kid's voice. Let's preserve it!" doesn't make any kind of sense at all.
• "that kid has such a lovely voice, let's cut off his bawlz!" just adding to the funny. the kid is very impressive and the (probably) fleeting nature of that rare ability makes it all the more special.
• "that kid has such a lovely voice, let's cut off his bawlz!" That's what I tell the boy cats before they're snipped, but they can smell a lie a mile away.
• I haven't watched the video yet, but a few comments on the general topic and FPP: Even though "Der Holle Rache" is probably the most famous coloratura aria, it's not even The Queen of the Night's only aria in The Magic Flute! There's also a lengthy first-act aria called "O Zittre Nicht." "Der Holle Rache" is famous for the top notes in it, but to be honest, the runs on some of the repetitions of the phrase "Alle bande der natur..." are much harder (if they're in your range, top notes done staccato aren't THAT hard - you just have to be careful about the pitch). It's harder to do a bunch of very speedy runs at the top of your range and keep them on-key, even harder if they have to be sung in a soft tone. Since that aria is basically a musical tantrum and threat, nothing in it has to be sung with much subtlety or soft tones - just lyricism and fire, which makes it slightly easier than a coloratura aria for a sad and mopey character. I'd also argue that it's not the "definitive" coloratura aria - or even the most difficult of Mozart's - just the best-known, probably because of being closely featured in the film version of Amadeus and because of having that note in it. There are at least three I know of that are considered more difficult and definitive: "Glitter and Be Gay" sung by Cunegonde in Bernstein's Candide, "Martern aller Arten" sung by Konstanze in Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio (and considered Mozart's most difficult female aria, an accomplishment), and Zerbinetta's aria from Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos. Other arguably famous arias are Olympia's "Les Oiseaux dans la Charmille" from Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman and Lucia di Lammermoor's "Mad Scene" in Donizetti's opera. (But most bel canto-era operas do require significant vocal agility.) The role of Lakme in the opera of the same name has an aria called the "Indian Bell Song" that is considered difficult and definitive - though not as much as the others under discussion here, IIRC. I think it's out of fashion now - it was popularized by Lily Pons and was much more popular in the mid-20th-century than it is now. I'm a coloratura soprano. The wikipedia article is slightly wrong - voice coaches do use it as a term specifically referring to the highest soprano voice, if that soprano's range lies slightly higher than that of a good lyric soprano and if that soprano has good vocal agility - IE, you aren't born a coloratura soprano, you train up to being one if you have the right sort of voice. In my experience, the stuff discussed in the Wikipedia article is usually, nowadays, called fioritura or embellishment... again IIRC, as it's been a while since I was a voice major.
• That's pretty interesting, verbm! As someone who doesn't know much about opera, what would you all say are the arias that are the most beautiful?