"As he promised to our forefathers"

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Laura

Laura

Puritan Board Junior
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc19f19MGDE&feature=related]YouTube - Bach - Magnificat - 11 - Sicut locutus est[/ame]

Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros, Abraham et semini eius in saecula.

The mezzo-soprano's voice gives me chills (it's Argentinian-Slovakian Bernarda Fink, whom I had never heard of before), and the tenor (Ian Bostridge) is simply the best in the world in my uninformed opinion. Enjoy.
 
Also, you have to wait until the end to see the look on the conductor's face. It's wonderful.
 
It is* too short. That's probably why I have to listen to it twice in a row any time I listen to it once. :p

I just realized that this movement's being a capella is probably what draws me most to it. Instruments (especially strings) have their place and I enjoy them immensely, but they're just not comparable to a handful of solid voices like these.

-----Added 3/3/2009 at 05:21:27 EST-----

Okay, have to post my second favorite part of the Magnificat.

[video=youtube;5QK0k-QkpGI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QK0k-QkpGI&feature=PlayList&p=44F91A24086208DF&index=1[/video]
 
My 3-year-old (one of his middle names is Bach!) just sat here enthralled through both pieces. I have this on CD somewhere, but it has not been one of my commonly played ones and I have no idea why --- it is lovely!
 
That is lovely.

Your implied challenge sent me off to search YouTube. I submit the following as a quibble on Bostridge as the world's best. First you have to distinguish, and rule out of court tenors whose repertoire consists of Rossini, Verdi, and Puccini. There Vargas is supreme and Florez is close behind. This video labors under the disadvantage of being Handel, rather than Bach, but I think it shows Paul Agnew's voice pretty well. Obviously the visual element is very static, but it does have the advantage of being very intriguing.

[video=youtube;ROV7NrRmGLo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROV7NrRmGLo[/video]

Of course, if you post Bostridge singing Schubert you may just crush me.

Do you know who the soprano is?
 
jwithnell said:
My 3-year-old (one of his middle names is Bach!) just sat here enthralled through both pieces. I have this on CD somewhere, but it has not been one of my commonly played ones and I have no idea why --- it is lovely!
Click to expand...

Haha, cool! I have a CD recording of the Magnificat that is very much inferior to this one, so I don't play it much either. Actually I prefer Susan Gritton (who's on that CD) to Christine Schaefer (the soprano featured here), but the alto/mezzo on my CD is just atrocious. She also ruins my favorite Handel work, Israel in Egypt. I still haven't figured out what her name is and how I can avoid run-ins with her in the future.

-----Added 3/3/2009 at 08:25:17 EST-----

py3ak said:
That is lovely.

Your implied challenge sent me off to search YouTube. I submit the following as a quibble on Bostridge as the world's best. First you have to distinguish, and rule out of court tenors whose repertoire consists of Rossini, Verdi, and Puccini. There Vargas is supreme and Florez is close behind. This video labors under the disadvantage of being Handel, rather than Bach, but I think it shows Paul Agnew's voice pretty well. Obviously the visual element is very static, but it does have the advantage of being very intriguing.

YouTube - Händel: Sacred raptures (SOLOMON)
Click to expand...

Wow. I have enjoyed him in the Irish and Scottish Songs, but yes, hearing him sing Handel is a whole 'nother story. As of now I'll call a tie. :)

Of course, if you post Bostridge singing Schubert you may just crush me.
Click to expand...

Well, of course I'll have to do that. :)

Do you know who the soprano is?
Click to expand...
A German, Christine Schaefer. Also sings a lot of Schubert.
 
Laura said:
Actually I prefer Susan Gritton...

Wow. I have enjoyed him in the Irish and Scottish Songs, but yes, hearing him sing Handel is a whole 'nother story. As of now I'll call a tie. :)
Click to expand...

There speaks the voice of reason. Susan Gritton is always to be preferred. And a tie is an acceptable compromise.

Is this the one?

Amazon.com: Handel - Israel in Egypt / Bostridge, Chance, Gritton, Varcoe, King's College Choir, The Brandenburg Consort, Cleobury: Henry Herford, Stephen Varcoe, Angela East, George Frederick Handel, Stephen Cleobury, Brandenburg Consort, James Vivi

I see that the Aradia Ensemble has made a recording as well: while they don't often have top-flight voices, they do strong ensemble work.
 
py3ak said:
Is this the one?

Amazon.com: Handel - Israel in Egypt / Bostridge, Chance, Gritton, Varcoe, King's College Choir, The Brandenburg Consort, Cleobury: Henry Herford, Stephen Varcoe, Angela East, George Frederick Handel, Stephen Cleobury, Brandenburg Consort, James Vivi

I see that the Aradia Ensemble has made a recording as well: while they don't often have top-flight voices, they do strong ensemble work.
Click to expand...

Yep, that's it. Maybe the "woman" whose voice I so hate is one of those men listed, a countertenor?
 
If a libretto is included you should be able to tell from there. Andreas Scholl is the counter-tenor of choice. You can hear him in Solomon, with Susan Gritton.
 
py3ak said:
If a libretto is included you should be able to tell from there. Andreas Scholl is the counter-tenor of choice. You can hear him in Solomon, with Susan Gritton.
Click to expand...

Aha. It is a countertenor, but one by the name of Michael Chance. Andreas Scholl is okay.
 
*Heidi holds her breath in anticipation of the bitter controversy that will ensue over whether Andreas Scholl is 'choice' or merely 'okay'*
 
Laura said:
py3ak said:
If a libretto is included you should be able to tell from there. Andreas Scholl is the counter-tenor of choice. You can hear him in Solomon, with Susan Gritton.
Click to expand...

Aha. It is a countertenor, but one by the name of Michael Chance. Andreas Scholl is okay.
Click to expand...

Well, unless you're going to cast your vote for Robin Blaze, Andreas Scholl is the best extant, barring Hilary Summers who is actually female but sounds like she is a countertenor.
 
py3ak said:
Laura said:
py3ak said:
If a libretto is included you should be able to tell from there. Andreas Scholl is the counter-tenor of choice. You can hear him in Solomon, with Susan Gritton.
Click to expand...

Aha. It is a countertenor, but one by the name of Michael Chance. Andreas Scholl is okay.
Click to expand...

Well, unless you're going to cast your vote for Robin Blaze, Andreas Scholl is the best extant, barring Hilary Summers who is actually female but sounds like she is a countertenor.
Click to expand...

Heh, well, I should clarify that I just don't go for the countertenor thing. Andreas Scholl sounds way better to me than this bellower on the Handel recording. But those two are the only countertenors I know of/have heard, and neither leaves me thirsting for more. :worms: seems an appropriate icon to follow that. . . :D
 
Well, unless you want to return to a somewhat more savage past, countertenors are your only option for hearing how much of Baroque music was meant to sound. However I think a countertenor is generally always going to sound a little pale by a more natural voice. I can't listen to even Scholl sing Ombra Mai Fu, because it's positively anemic compared to Bryn Terfel's rendition.

However, this is the recording to begin with.

Amazon.com: Andreas Scholl - Kantate: Heinrich Schutz, Dietrich Buxtehude, Johann Christoph Bach, Franz Tunder, Giovanni Legrenzi, Giovanni Rovetta, Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, Ignazio Albertini, Andreas Scholl, Brian Franklin, Friederike Heumann, Mar

And this is the one to move on to.

Amazon.com: Georg Friedrich Händel: Great Oratorio Duets [Hybrid SACD]: George Frederick Handel, Robin Blaze, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Carolyn Sampson: Music
 
py3ak said:
Well, unless you want to return to a somewhat more savage past, countertenors are your only option for hearing how much of Baroque music was meant to sound.
Click to expand...

That is true. I think the addition of women like Bernarda Fink to the Baroque music "scene" was a Good Thing for it. But I will remember your recommendation for Scholl.
 
No argument that we are fortunate to have fine women singing. But I must confess the rise of the counter-tenor does alleviate some of the unfortunate discomforts of "trousers roles" for mezzo-sopranos and contraltos when it comes to the operatic scene.
 
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