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An Evening Out
Nov. 14th, 2009 10:52 pmI heard Kiri Te Kanawa in recital this evening. There wasn't a bad song. I have decided I must own the "Songs from the Auvergne" album she recorded as they were new to me and gorgeous on the ears. She said they all seemed to have a boy wanting a girl and/or a girl wanting a boy and when they try to meet up, there's a river in the way. Sometimes it's a field, but mostly it's a river. She then wondered if any of them ever made it to each other. I'd never heard her speak before. Her German accent is so good (I first saw her live in Der Rosenkavalier about twenty two years ago), that hearing the strong New Zealand accent comes as a shock. She pronounces French very well too.
None of the songs were "fireworks" songs -- the showy pieces that young sopranos do. She may have hit a high C once or twice, but I know she didn't go above that.
Her control was marvelous, plangent and pure. She did two songs in Latin after the intermission. Both required a choir and a local children's choir joined her. First of all, what a thrill for these young people to work, however briefly, with one of the greatest singers in history. The Webber Pie Jesu had a couple of moments toward the beginning where the choir went flat. They recovered beautifully, though. The Panis Angelicus took me back to my childhood. Sister Xavier taught us the correct Latin pronunciations so we could accompany her. I must say, Dame Kiri was better.
I've come to the conclusion that I don't like Debussy. I feel like I should. There are so many other composers from around his period and of his type that I love, but nope. The one song I didn't particularly care for was by him.
Dame Kiri gave two encores that were exquisite, the second one was entirely a capella. Stunning.
It probably sounds a little strange, but part of the pleasure of the evening was feeling the silk trousers I was wearing swirl around my legs.
About a block from my house, two police officers stopped me and warned me that there's been a rash of robberies in my neighborhood, all of women walking alone. I won't be using my iPod for awhile -- not that I generally do after dark. I'm not going to stop walking, though.
( Read more... )
None of the songs were "fireworks" songs -- the showy pieces that young sopranos do. She may have hit a high C once or twice, but I know she didn't go above that.
Her control was marvelous, plangent and pure. She did two songs in Latin after the intermission. Both required a choir and a local children's choir joined her. First of all, what a thrill for these young people to work, however briefly, with one of the greatest singers in history. The Webber Pie Jesu had a couple of moments toward the beginning where the choir went flat. They recovered beautifully, though. The Panis Angelicus took me back to my childhood. Sister Xavier taught us the correct Latin pronunciations so we could accompany her. I must say, Dame Kiri was better.
I've come to the conclusion that I don't like Debussy. I feel like I should. There are so many other composers from around his period and of his type that I love, but nope. The one song I didn't particularly care for was by him.
Dame Kiri gave two encores that were exquisite, the second one was entirely a capella. Stunning.
It probably sounds a little strange, but part of the pleasure of the evening was feeling the silk trousers I was wearing swirl around my legs.
About a block from my house, two police officers stopped me and warned me that there's been a rash of robberies in my neighborhood, all of women walking alone. I won't be using my iPod for awhile -- not that I generally do after dark. I'm not going to stop walking, though.
( Read more... )
