Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Lucia Sextet Party!

(Sorry for the delay. I've been in denial since I left "Barber" last Saturday. I can't stop listening to "Cessa di piu resistere", other Juan Diego Florez works, and various selections from "Barber". It's ridiculous! =) in a good way. However, "A te, o cara", Don Giovanni, and, today's selection, the Lucia di Lammermoor sextet, snapped me back into my old self. And I'm back! *coughs* Lucky you...)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=k5D4jRM1RPc
With two greats, Pav and Cappuccilli. However this clip is entitled "June Anderson in sextet LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR" so I will mention that, yes, she does sing in this clip. =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2rpwS07yKY
With the wonderfully wonderful Dame Joan in her (from the looks of it) younger years. Diction better than what it would become. I love Dame Joan though, her Lucia is just beyond what Donizetti could have ever imagined it to be! (At least I think so...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdXP8wvDFc0
Now, I didn't promise they would all be good. Roberto Alagna in this glorious sextet. It took me a minute to figure out whether he had terrible diction, or if it was in French. Turns out it's in French. It looks like the guy singing with Alagna at first is not having a fun time, looks kinda bored. The Lucia looks half mad already. No offense to the clip, it's very well sung.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTuEBwX8dQk
I love this clip. Maybe it's the stellar line up (Jose Carreras, Katia Ricciarelli, John Paul Bogart, and Leo Nucci) or maybe the visuals. Maybe not Ricciarelli at her absolute best, but still pretty awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHoXW_FYmNc
This clip is awesome. Carlo Bergonzi, Renata Scotto, with that set and all the men drawing their swords at the same time! It's glorious! Carlo Bergonzi shows why he's the best tenor around. Viva Bergonzi! Some of Scotto's high notes are a little "eh", but still, she's Scotto! What can you do!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8T-o0-Bo0U
This was my first Lucia sextet and what a whirl! That pushed me over the edge for Donizetti. It was love at first Lucia!!


Thank you to YouTube for allowing people to put these kinds of things on the Internet! Thank you to the people who put them up! Thank you for (hopefully) not getting mad at me for giving the links to your videos, it's only because I love them! =)


Sorry. I'll try to do something "interesting" next time. lol I'm going to do something on "The Turandot Project." It's the movie that changed my life forever, so I'm going to need a lot of time to think, write, rent the DVD and re watch it all, so maybe this weekend? Thanks, y'all.

1 comment:

Natus said...

What a great blog entry! But how has this most famous of ensembles become so stuffy? If I was new to opera, I might like the music, but I'd want my imagination to do the rest. I really have the feeling that most of these singers aren't exactly sure of their text, what with all the macho almost out of scabbards sword-pulling.

I'm reduced to saying that the younger Dame Joan sounds the best out of all of these. I just prefer Bergonzi to the gum-chewing Pav, but I'm a Bergonzi fan. And how on earth did June Anderson ever attain the heights she did when nobody can stand to listen to her? Although I must say I locked eyes with her as she was passing Virgin Records in NYC and she is pretty magnetic.