parterre box

107 comments

• armerjacquino says:

  The outcome is already on the board, ruxton.

  on July 30, 2008 at 6:53 PM
• ruxton says:

  So it is amerjacquino- I’m still waking up
  I’m relieved it is over – it has had me tied up in knots for days.

  on July 30, 2008 at 7:24 PM
• Thackeray Gnomey says:

  Dame Emma wouldn’t even convince me as Handel’s Delilah! Still, her piping tones would probably cause some follicular damage of their own accord.

  You’re right about Tourangeau – it was just that a couple of Graves’ chest notes had that bottled quality of hers. Let’s face it, if it hadn’t been for Joanie and Ricky, Huguette would never even have made it into a recording studio.

  on July 31, 2008 at 8:28 AM
• Tenorguy says:

  I have a question for you francophiles…. I have always wondered when listening to this aria if the French pronouncation of Samson is the same as Camille Saint-Saens’ last name? They must be very close, but I’m not sure if that is phonetically correct…. any ideas?

  on August 1, 2008 at 11:46 PM
• Thackeray Gnomey says:

  Not easy to explain all these nasal vowels without a sound file …

  The nasal ‘a’ in ‘Samson is a little like the sound of an American pronouncing the ‘o’ in ‘off’.

  The nasal ‘a’ in ‘Saint’ is more like the a in ‘hand’

  ‘…son’ is a rounded nasal ‘o’, a bit like an Englishman saying ‘honk’.

  ‘aen’ is like the ‘a’ in ‘Samson’ …

  Zut alors!

  on August 2, 2008 at 3:41 AM
• Tenorguy says:

  Thackeray – thank you so much. I see how close they are, yet distinct. I knew about the nasal a in Saint, but could not figure out the o in son or the aen …..

  Zut alors bien sur! A thousan thanks for clearing up this minor mystery.

  on August 2, 2008 at 4:09 PM
• Sanford says:

  I love singing in French (notice how I didn’t make any double entendres about French? ….. oops). With the French n sound, just send everything through your nose.

  on August 2, 2008 at 9:58 PM