Thank you so much for sending us this delightful potpourri of unique and wondrous links. I’ve marked it to return to often and to rediscover the joy of the world.
Maria Callas video was indeed not too long to watch; I could have watched it forever. It brought tears to my eyes, as pure perfection often does.
Thank you again for compiling this treasure. "A wonderland of surprise and delight" indeed!
I *loved* that clip, and I've listened to it about 40 times since I posted it. IMO, that's the best Carmen Habanera ever performed live. The combination of her voice and her stage presence is just mesmerizing. If you want to watch a completely different, but also brilliant approach to the Habanera, here's Anna Caterina Antonacci: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ_HHRJf0xg. I also love Elina Garanca: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GD63RuQduc. Victoria de los Angeles is superb, too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giB0tspsZRk.
But for sheer presence, Callas is the Diva of all Divas.
Also: Do you know the story of that opera? It breaks my heart: The initial reviews were so contemptuous that Bizet died shortly afterward--at 38--of a broken heart. Critics were appalled by its vulgarity. Within ten years, it had become the sensation that it remains. Bizet never knew.
One of the first lessons composers learn should be Ignore the Critics -- though some criticism can be very entertaining: "Wagner's 'Parsifal' is the kind of opera that starts at six o'clock and, after it has been running for three hours, you check your watch and it says 6.20."
Thank you so much for sending us this delightful potpourri of unique and wondrous links. I’ve marked it to return to often and to rediscover the joy of the world.
Maria Callas video was indeed not too long to watch; I could have watched it forever. It brought tears to my eyes, as pure perfection often does.
Thank you again for compiling this treasure. "A wonderland of surprise and delight" indeed!
Great! Listened to Callas because you said it was worth the time. It was. She did this one pretty well too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsNMP6_Q0Js
I *loved* that clip, and I've listened to it about 40 times since I posted it. IMO, that's the best Carmen Habanera ever performed live. The combination of her voice and her stage presence is just mesmerizing. If you want to watch a completely different, but also brilliant approach to the Habanera, here's Anna Caterina Antonacci: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ_HHRJf0xg. I also love Elina Garanca: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GD63RuQduc. Victoria de los Angeles is superb, too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giB0tspsZRk.
But for sheer presence, Callas is the Diva of all Divas.
thank you for the links. i'll listen this morning. your response made me think of this long ago interview, when Callas was making a comeback: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&ei=UTF-8&p=mike+wallace+maria+callas&type=E210US105G0#id=3&vid=1d29cdd27cfa0a45376fdfef73494a17&action=click
Also: Do you know the story of that opera? It breaks my heart: The initial reviews were so contemptuous that Bizet died shortly afterward--at 38--of a broken heart. Critics were appalled by its vulgarity. Within ten years, it had become the sensation that it remains. Bizet never knew.
One of the first lessons composers learn should be Ignore the Critics -- though some criticism can be very entertaining: "Wagner's 'Parsifal' is the kind of opera that starts at six o'clock and, after it has been running for three hours, you check your watch and it says 6.20."