Oud’s that woman?
Ever wonder why a free press is the cornerstone of any representative democracy? Wonder no more: “MUSCAT: Renée Fleming is called the People’s Diva for a reason. She doesn’t have any airs, and her engaging charm works its way into the hearts of anyone who sees her sing.” And it only gets more fulsome. [Times of Oman]
Now, of course, we will have an Enta Omri CD : Fleming interprets Kolsoum and Fayrouz.
Come to think of it, what a delightfully appropriate suggestion! With her quarter-tone cooings and meowings she will really sound at home in the microtonal rep. Talking about crossover! I can already imagine the cover, wringing hands and all.
I would think Fayrouz is a much better match for Fleming than Kulthum. Maybe Stephanie Blythe could do Umm Kulthum.
That said, this song -- for obvious reasons -- always reminds me of Renee.
Performed by the marvelous Sabite Tur Gulerman.
Lovely voice and singer.
but this singer is as well:
I’ll see your Sarah Vaughn and raise you one Fargana Qasimova:
Exquisite, Monsieur croche.
This is for you, with a heartfelt thankyou:
Thanks y’all for the beautiful songs. They brought back an anecdote I heard long ago: when Westerners were first allowed into Tibet after Mao, someone had a Tibetan monk listen to Mozart. After listening attentively, the monk said: “Beautiful, but so tense and anxious!”
And here is my present:
P.S. You can see the whole Jordi Savall concert here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edAVNmvIyt0&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLD305C038C6ECEFF1
Reconstructions of ancient music always fascinate me. So many problems to be solved, not least of all how to pronounce the language. Even here, it seems like the soloist is using one system for reconstructing ancient Greek pronunciation, with an apparent influence from modern Greek (ee-ree-nay), while the chorus is using another that betrays the influence of the German tradition of reconstruction (eye-ray-nay). I wish my Greek were good enough to tell more about the details – anybody else recognize anything?
Actually, Batty, there is a sumptuous CD out, published by AliaVox, entitled “Jerusalem, the City of Two Peaces: Celestial Peace and Terrestrial Peace”. It’s really a whole book, with texts in 8 (EIGHT!) languages, with pictures, annotations and a lot of historical commentary. You can probably find a great deal of information in it.
I urge you to listen to the whole thing, it’s beautiful and more relevant than many debates in the media, on Parterre, and just about anywhere…
You’ve given me an inspiration, oedipe – my hubby has several savall recordings and I’ll bet he’d get a charge out of this for a Xmas present!
Good idea, I bet he won’t be disappointed!
This Savall CD is also very good: “Book of the Science of Music” (music from the 17th century Ottoman Empire):
dear oedipe, thx much for these wonderful tips. one of my seminal musical experiences when I was very young was a particular acid trip in Berkeley when an acquaintance played Tallis’s Spem in Alium and then Byzantine chants and wafted me away to a paradis particulier…
Were you transported to the Topkapi, Lorenzo?
and beyond, Oedipe. Alas, les vrais paradis sont les paradis qu’on a perdus…
lorenzo – il ne faut pas oublier les paradis artificiels de Baudelaire.
Cheers, Oedipe…
It was a sad day indeed when Savall’s group could no longer be referred to as “Hesperion Dos Equis”.
Hesperion Dos-Equis-Un-Ele?
Oh! I see a new perfume that parterrians have created for Fleming. I think it is called Oil of Vitriol. Distilled and marketed only in concentrate form, as to be expected.
This is a natural.
Was Fleming as good as this? What have I been missing?
In an awful coincidence, after posting Turkish videos by Udi Hrant and Sabite Tur Gulerman on this thread, I read of the devastating 7.2 earthquake which has struck Van province in eastern Turkey.
In memory of the victims, a lullaby from the region
Sorry to digress but I visited that region in the Van area of eastern Turkey and I found the majority of the people I met to be ethnic Kurds, not Turks. But of course it doesn’t matter and I thank you croche for hijacking this thread… it needed hijacking!
Yes, I perhaps could have been more explicit on that point.
I speak neither Turkish nor Kurdish, but my best guess was that this was sung in Kurdish. Mahmut Kizil is Kurdish. So far as I have been able to determine, the incantation “Lori Lori” is used in Kurdish lullabies. The original video was put up by someone from the “Van Association” and his other videos are closely tied to that area.
But since the catastrophe happened in the Turkish state, I thought it worth mentioning.
And, though perhaps not intended as such, I actually thought CerquettiFarrell’s idea of opera-arab/turk/azeri/what-have-you crossovers a fun one to think about. I hope I was honoring the spirit of the original thread.
I am not sure exactly what ‘spirit of the original thread is’ because when I clicked on the Times of Oman link to read the article, I got SERVICE UNAVAILABLE. I didn’t know Fleming sang arabic songs (traditional or translated) to the audience? If so, then I apologize for accusing you of hijacking this thread.
– Worse yet, I don’t care for recitals of western culture opera arias in original language or translation, no matter who they are singing them; such programming sounds jarringly out of context without the rest of the opera for me. But I love complete performances of musical works that I love.
The original review mentioned that Fleming had addressed the audience, complimented them on the fine concert hall, and expressed the hope to return at some point with an opera in Arabic -- hopefully one that highlighted the ‘ud. Hijinks ensued.
I’m guessing she had something in mind like what the Lebanese Rahbani brothers did. They and Mohammed Abdel Wahab would be an excellent subject for a future parterre exploration…
You did follow the original spirit of the thread (via the conveyed intentions in Fleming’s speech). Certainly there must be musicians from that Gulf region interested in composing a new opera for such a famous singer as Fleming, but I assume they would be more likely to come up with something if they were provided with a generous sponsorship commission.
– I remember in the old days before the Iranian revolution they used to stage a lavish spectacle with music around the day of Ashura (10 Muharram) commemorating the Battle of Kerbala and the death of Husayn ibn Ali. Sometimes they even had a symphony orchestra with original music to accompany the pageant. The Shah and his court would attend the performance.
– I found a utube clip of a staged performance of the Battle of Kerbala with Malaysian music and singers, very good I think, but I have difficulty now getting utube clip references posted up on this site so I don’t bother anymore. I wish they had filmed the lavish old Persian performances from the days of the Shah.
Amazing how a thread about Fleming can turn into a discussion of Turkish and Azeri music on this site! Love it. Such a coincidence that I am reading all this while in Istanbul. Very impressed by M. Croche’s knowledge and taste in Turkish music!
Didn’t Fleming audition for Illinois Jacquet singing “Muscat Ramble”? And then “Renee from the Oud”?
Rennnay is America’s Soprano and now, a Turkish Delight. I’d go for the Turkish Delight, as her singing is as gummy as a bad turkish delight.