whipped guy

Yes it is one person's opinion... simply my opinion. Also, sorry that you are confused, but I simply was saying that if I had listened to Death in Venice as my first opera, which as I stated was not composed until much later, I don't think that I would have been inspired to investigate things much further. For better or for worse, that opera was Don Giovanni and to this day it is one of a handful of operas that I consider to be very special. Operas that I consider special not only as they relate to me personally, but also as regards their importance in the history of opera in general. Incidentally Semiramide (the topic of a concurrent thread) is one of the other operas which I consider to be of great significance due to its influence on the development of Italian opera in the Nineteemth Century. In any event, I have listened to Lulu and Parsifal enough to know that I am way to shallow to appreciate them. I do admit that Parsifal does have its moments and the leitmotif of the Dresden Amen can be quite inspiring, However, in the final analysis it is simply not (to use a shallow expression to reinfotce my shallowness) my cup of tea. To get my point across, if I wanted to introduce someone to the world of classical music I most likely would be more inclined to play On the Beautiful Blue Danube as opposed to the Mahler Ninth. Of course that brings up the question as to which of the two is the greater composition... ponder that.

Well since the Fetish Forum was referenced I feel the need to respond. I totally understand the thinking behind recommending Death in Venice as it is in English and is based on the work of Thomad Mann, but it is hardly representative of opera in general. Due to the use of the English language it i's probably a better choice for a first opera compared to Albany Berg's Lulu or Wagner's Parsifal, but not much better. Plus, with today's supertitles knowledge of the original language is really not necessary. Conversely, I always think that it's not quite a good idea to take a child to Humperdink's Hansel und Gretle for their first operatic experience as that is really atypical as well. I also don't care for the MET's abbreviated English language versions of major works. Still, I understand the reasoning behind their presentation. The first opera that I listened to on the radio all the was through was Mozart's Don Giovanni and the music captivated me instantly. I was not forced to listen. I wanted to listen. When a local opera company presented Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro I jumped at the opportunity to attend. There were opera presentations on the radio Sunday afternoons of obviously standard repertory fare and I expanded my horizons by being initially exposed to a more melodic genre than Britten or Berg and decided what I liked and didn't care for. I did not learn of the MET broadcasts until later. I guess that I was doing other things on Saturdays! Of course, Death in Venice was not composed until a bit later (I do recall listening to the MET broadcast when it was new) and the completed version of Lulu was not available either, so it was impossible for me to go that route. Like getting kicked out of "altar boy school" as a kid, that was probably a good thing as if those were my first experiences I don't think that I would have had the desire to expand my horizons.

The above was recorded as part of Sutherland's "Art of the Prima Donna" album in 1960. She was in her thirties at the time. She sings the aria in the original key of A major. Here she is 23 years later at about age 57 or so. She sings the aria in A-flat and the cabaletta in G-flat. Plus her embellishments are different and probably more in tune with Rossini's overall style. (Indeed Meade uses some of them in her rendition,) However in spite of that concession to her age, Sutherland's technique is intact, her scales totally in order, and while there is a slight beat on sustained notes there is no wobble. The voice is obviously darker in color, but sounds as if it belongs to a mature forty-something year year old singer. Interestingly Mead is about 40 years old.

I trust @TruHart1's assessment as I find that he is always quite fair in his evaluations. I normaly don't like to listen to a performance of a production that I plan to see, but like Lot's wife I did sneak a few peeks or rather a few listens. The HD is not until March 10 so there is hope that things will improve by then. Still the very astute TruHart1 hits the nail on the head. Rossini himself said that an even technique is paramount to performing his music and in that regard Semiramide is one of his most demanding roles. Plus that technique should be apparent throughout the singers entire range such that the voice should be able to smoothly negotiate all the daunting fioritura. While in the past Meade was able to control her voice she obviously does not currently have the basic technique at her disposal to regulate what has become an increasingly recalcitrant instrument. Perhaps she never had a good technique and in her younger days was able to pull things off by shear will power. I hope it is simply a bad patch that she is currently having. Time will tell.

Don't shoot the messenger. I found this on YouTube. The title is "Operatic Disasters Angela Meade Ruins More Rossini". In any event here is a montage of what I assume was the opening night performance that is reviewed above. I will leave it up to you to simply listen and decide for yourself if the title of the video is accurate. I direct those who can read music to a copy of the vocal score: http://imslp.org/wiki/Semiramide_(Rossini,_Gioacchino)

Well I do so once a week... in fact I have decided to hire him on a twice weekly basis... and let's not even discuss the form of payment.........

Boner bonus pic... https://78.media.tumblr.com/46477799b54a3ac1d29ddf9b02385fb0/tumblr_p4ch2aHQcz1sfmvu0o1_500.jpg

Flip side bonus pic... https://78.media.tumblr.com/65d94c4b21642d57a74d35dc23b360a7/tumblr_p4pp36dpIi1sworlio1_500.jpg