Hoffnung Festival
In celebration of the 239th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven (thanks, Camille!) La Cieca invites the cher public to share their favorite versions of the “Abscheulicher!” from Fidelio — or, for that matter, other personal Beethoven faves. La Cieca’s pick after the jump.
Another immensely gifted artist: Christa Ludwig, specifically from that excerpt album that included a killer Recognition Scene from Elektra.
But, really, Dame G at that point when she was in full control, and Silja. Even lip-syncing, they come to us from deep inside the song. And people wonder why there are so many cranky old opera queens.
I found her on You Tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEdHa4AemLI
Ludwig has always been my favourite, until I discovered Frida’s Hoffnung, in the last couple years. This is just absolutely wonderful and I thank you gratefully, Big Q, for posting her interpretation as I didn’t know it existed.
What you say about the marvelous Dame Gwyn and amazing Anja is truth, for me. As far as the ‘cranky old opera queens’, well, after viewing this on the rebound from last night’s Elektra, I think there is more than ample justification for being cranky, bitter, vitriolic, and just plain pissed off.
One sees there was something called bel canto at a time not so long ago, and now what we usually get is can’t belto.
for Camille -- a nice one!
Lieber Squirrel,
Vielen Dank.
You don’t know how much it means to me.
May I send you some Christmas acorns, c/o our Dear Doyenne?
Sorry it clips off at the recit, but that’s how it goes.
I am skeptical of taking acorns from people, but most anything else sent to me c/o La Cieca is of course welcome.
Well then, it’s either a pair of mittens or a bottle of Jack Daniels.
Something to keep you warm whilst on the beat this winter.
Don’t forget that snazzy fedora, either.
and, once again, thank you for being so sweet. I really humbly and gratefully appreciate it as I AM RETRO!!
OK, the Leider is pretty much ideal to my ears — very close to Flagstad. Thanks Camille for suggesting it and Squirrel for posting it.
The web team has an ongoing fantasy about learning to play this: (please note we did not imply playing it well.
Embed oops!
not bad:
Better than not bad, I’d say. Pretty damn good.
Danke, meine geliebte Leonie
Lotte Lehmann or Leider for Leonore. Patzak, Voelker or Ralf for Florestan and Schwarzkopf for Mazelline. Furtwaenglier or Walter conducting. And we cannot forget either Kipnis or Moll as Rocco.
Thanks all for some beautiful clips and here is one of my absolute favourites, the last minutes always leave me crying helplessly. It’s music by a dying soul unashamedly clinging to life.
And this is one of these introductions by Lenny that would send shivers down your spine
“One might say it goes beyond anything the human brain has ever created.”
Thank you Mmes. Cerquetti/Farrell for this great gift on this day of days.
I am so grateful as I have been playing nos. 127 and 131 all last week, first Cleveland, and now Takacs, and this is the big ne plus ultra of everything gone on this past week. Mo. Bernstein, wherever he is, must know he is remembered for this.
I have so many versions but I’ll stick with two: Busch, still the best, and Talich. Can’t figure out which piece I love best, 132 or 131!
Well a number of chamber musicians I know prefer the warmer sound of vinyl to digital. And I understand their point. I wouldn’t want it to be “either-or” but I’m still hanging on to some of my vinyl recordings for that reason.
Apparently there are vinyl fans in popular music as well. Recent newspaper articles suggest so, and I think public radio even had a feature about some group ( I don’t follow that kind of music) that is releasing new vinyl ( with a free mp3 download with the purchase)
oops, that was supposed to be a reply to Alto in thread 9. Sorry.
No doubt, the vinyl retro-lution is upon us. It’s having a huge comeback in pop music.
I buy LPs just because they are nice fetish-items, and for nostalgia, and they sound good enough. But I must admit that the oft-cited “warmer sound” is really bunk in my opinion. CDs have them completely beat in fidelity and warmth, plus the benefit of far fewer variables (quality of needle, turntable, balance of arm, etc.) that can go wrong.
My baby brother designs pro-audio equipment and assures me the “warmer sound” of LPs belongs on the list with “one size fits all” and “facial quality toilet tissue.” He also laughs at people who buy Monster Cable, and he collects 78s which, as fetishes go, trumps LPs (no disrespect intended).
I’m going to be predictable and post Jessye’s recording, which I had not heard before today. With the exceptoin of the final high B, the aria sits very well in her voice. And dramatically, she has everything the aria requires — intensity in the opening, nobility in the middle, and a heroic quality in the final section. And her tone just suits Beethoven’s music really well. Now, I’m off to listen to the Leider and Bernstein clips…