My "not so secret" passion :D

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Comment by sylvie boisvert on May 29, 2013 at 5:11am

Hi all, I heard this on the radio today. It’s called “Fantasia on a theme of Thomas tallis” by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbzxhZT6akk

It’s a gorgeous dramatic piece that just speaks to me. It’s slow, but has a lot of character. It was part of the very first classical CD I bought!  Now, from the same CD, here’s a piece called “Five variants of Dives and Lazarus” and it’s just as beautiful, dramatic  and solid. It just takes you to another place...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poC8G5kv9UI

There’s one more I want to share from the album, but I’ll save it for another theme, another day. Those 2 are  over 14 minutes long anyway, so do enjoy and thank you so much for reading, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Comment by sylvie boisvert on May 27, 2013 at 11:24pm

Hey Sylvia, well thanks for taking the time to look for it at least! :D Are you kidding me? No, that’s absolutely unconceivable that you haven’t listened to Michael, I’m telling! Lol I do understand about the reading: when I read in Braille, I can’t focus and obviously, with audio books, you have to focus on what’s being said. To each his own Sylvia: personally, I couldn’t spend a day without music. In any case, whether you visit my blogs or not, I’ll keep on keeping on. :D I can also understand how it might be overwhelming for someone to check all these out, which is why I try to explain why I share each piece. So, thanks for visiting and if you change your mind, you’re welcome anytime! :D Take care Sylvia. Hugs, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Comment by sylvia doughty on May 27, 2013 at 6:16pm

Have finally found my way onto here Sylvie....I never know where to look for these blogs and stuff !!! LOL.   You have certainly been busy...wow....didn't expect pages full of links but I must be honest and say I haven't been playing a lot of music recently..not even MB....don't tell him...the most I have listened to anything has been when I have been out in car for I have been reading so much and also too this ancestry stuff I have been looking up has taken up so much time and I like silence when I do things like that ....too easily distracted by music to give full concentration to something and I don't really like using music as a background; like to listen to when playing and haven't really had any time...haven't even had my old friend "Rachy" on so sorry to say but all your links I will have to give a miss too .....hopefully and maybe one day I will pop in and listen to some but right now have to be honest and say, no, but thanks for all your work !!! :)   Hope you continue to enjoy doing this and get plenty of fun out of it !!! :)

 

Sylvia.  Your wee Scottish friend.

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Comment by sylvie boisvert on May 26, 2013 at 3:11am

Hi all, today, I want to share beautiful duets. I heard this one this afternoon, during the post opera program. Here are Joan Sutherland & Huguette Tourangeau “Belle nuit, Ô nuit d’amour », from Jacques Offenbach’s « Les contes d’Hoffman »:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJCAV_SyCp8

Here they are singing  « Sous le dome épais” from Léo Delibes “Lakmé”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xuzkPjhNAo

Now here’s the same aria sung  by Joan with Marilyn Horne:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9ZfYr6oLhA&list=PL4896820DBB31A670

I have to say I’m a little fussy on the pacing of this one and prefer the first rendition for the pacing, but when Joan and Marilyn sing in unison, I could forget my own name! Lol Well as long as I’m sharing beautiful duets, after the mezzo/soprano duets, let’s go with a 2 soprano duet of Renata Scotto & Mirella Freni "Canzonetta sull' aria" from Mozart’s “Le Nozze de Figaro”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rguiOWLm1tg

How amazing is that? 2 fantastic sopranos who have both sung with my buddy Luciano. Okay, now how about tenor/baritone duets? Here’s  the mandatory duet that I think all male opera singers have to learn, “Au fond du temple saint” from Bizet’s “Les pêcheurs de perles”, first by tenor Roberto Alagna and bass-baritone Bryn Terfel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tLrPVkfCIQ

This one’s old school by tenor Jussi Bjorling and baritone Robert Merrill:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PYt2HlBuyI

How beautiful is that one? Okay, now by the dream team of tenor Jonas Kaufmann and baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2MwnHpLV48

…but as long as I’m talking about “dream”, here’s my buddy Luciano with Nicolai Ghiaurov:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAU0Iyib2SE

Ahh, his pianissimo slays me! Okay, last duet, but both in French and Italian. This is from Verdi’s opera “Don Carlo”, in French (Don Carlos), “Dieu, tu semas dans nos âmes” by Roberto Alagna and Thomas Hampson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji4LW6sRC98

and in Italian by tenor Placido Domingo and baritone Sherrill Milnes, “Dio che nell alma enfondere”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toHDnM9EC6o

I don’t know what it is about this  duet, but it’s my absolute favorite! All right, that’s quite enough for one sitting, hope you’ve enjoyed some of these, thank you so much for reading! Sincerely, Sylvie <3

 

Comment by sylvie boisvert on May 19, 2013 at 8:53pm

Hi all, only 1 classical piece today. This is concerto no 3 by a Quebec composer named André Mathieu (1929-1968(:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UsmfoybS84

He was a child prodigee, pianist and composer, that was very much influenced by Rachmaninoff, but he seemed to be born in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thanks to pianist Alain Lefèvre, his works have been rediscovered in the past few years.  I invite you to read his very interesting Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Mathieu

I do hope you enjoy this piece. Thank you for reading, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Comment by sylvie boisvert on May 18, 2013 at 2:21am

Hi all, today, I finally found a song by my favorite soprano that I've been meaning to share, but hadn't found her version on YouTube, but now here it is:

Marie-Josée Lord “Hijo de la luna » :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LxMuG4etFg

It's off her 2nd CD called "Yo soy Maria". I first heard her sing this at a free concert last July, in a little local Italian church. It was a hot sticky night in the church without A C, but she made us forget about it easily with her gorgeous voice and bubbly personality. She told us the story of that song and  if I remember correctly, it's about a young woman without love who I think was asking the man in the moon to send her love. The man in the moon agreed, as long as they would give him their first child, kind of a distant Rumplestilskin-type. I love hearing the stories of these songs, because though you may not understand all the words, the emotions connected with the story, carried by the voice and music will make you remember it better. It's very beautiful and a little sad. I actually forgot how the story ends exactly and what happens to all parties, though she could be singing about her Corn Flakes breakfast and it would be just as gorgeous... :D Hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading, sincerely,  Sylvie <3

Comment by sylvie boisvert on May 11, 2013 at 4:08pm

Hi all, a quickie today. I heard this beautiful voice and beautiful song on TV this morning:

Jussi Bjorling “Dein ist mein ganzes herz” from Franz Lehar’s “Das land des lachelms”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKpQZJQUt4g

and here it is in Italian by my buddy Luciano:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iikzND6Hz54

My opera buddy says Jussi was the Pavarotti of her time. He was Swedish but seemed to have a sunny Italian quality and sensibility to his voice. I may elaborate at some point. Thanks for reading, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Comment by sylvie boisvert on May 10, 2013 at 5:07pm

Hi everyone, today, I’m going to take a classical journey through some of my keyboard favourites. I have to say that I’m a little selective when it comes to the keyboard. I’m more easily attracted by string pieces, especially the cello. I have wonderful memories though of when I was a child, tagging along to my friend’s piano lessons because we couldn’t afford them, but I loved listening to pieces like these that I remember vividly:

Le Moulin qui jase

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qUpIRB0Vn0

Beethoven Fur Elise

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_UOuSklNL4

Beethoven “Moonlight sonata”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQVeaIHWWck

and Chopin Nocturne :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGRO05WcNDk

They’re all beautiful, simple melodies that stay with you. It could have been my early exposure that had me stay attracted to classical music and in 1980, my love came in full bloom with this piece:

Rachmaninoff “18^th variation on a theme of Paganini”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_BArG3ollw

I first heard it in the Christopher Reeve/Jane Seymour movie “Somewhere in time”, which is possibly the most romantic movie ever... :D Anyway, Piano pieces need to tell a story for me to adopt them, sometimes, only passages do. My opera buddy introduced me to this one:

Beethoven - Piano Concerto no 5, Mov. 2 Adagio Un Poco Mosso:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esxZ9s_vND8

Adagios are always the quietest and delicate parts of orchestral works  and some parts of this one, especially in the beginning, you’re almost holding your breath, not to disturb  the  perfection of it... Speaking of delicate piano, the following are my 2 favorite quiet piano pieces. The first one is just so pretty, “Gymnopédie” by Éric Sati:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Xm7s9eGxU

The 2^nd one is “Spiegel im Spiegel” by Estonian contemporary composer Arvo Pärt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8qg_0P9L6c

This one is loved by my children and known as “track 10” on their ipods. :DIt translates to “Mirror in the mirror” and it’s, pardon the pun, a very reflective piece! Lol But seriously, radio host Eric Friesen, formerly on CBC Radio 2, described it as “repairing the damage of speed” and I think that’s very fitting.  Now, let’s switch gears and venture into  heavier keyboards. I’ve discovered the next piece in the book “Great expectations”. The main character Pip is a blacksmith, but when his fortune turns and he goes to school, his best friend dubs him “Händel”, since this composer wrote a piece called: “The Harmonious Blacksmith”:

first on piano:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7uTC5by5fw

then on the harpsichord, which I love:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gLKInWTKa0

Now let’s move on to keyboard pieces that tell a story. They actually both sound quite dramatic, but they speak to me. First, Grieg’s piano concerto in A flat, op. 16:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKfGDqXEFkE

And this one, apparently played on the largest pipe organ in the world:

Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D Minor:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zscqshch6N4

I’ve loved the sound of pipe organs since I was a child and it sounds especially good in church. Now, reading the above list, you might be thinking that Beethoven is my favorite composer but he’s not, but I guess he’s a big part of my early introduction to classical music. I even remember doing a research paper on him and was very impressed that he composed while being deaf. I only realized in the past few years that he hadn’t been deaf all his life. Anyway, my first introduction to my favorite composer came with this piece, in 1984, Mozart’s symphony no 25 in G minor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lC1lRz5Z_s

It’s the music featured in the opening credits of the movie “Amadeus” and probably my favorite piece of classical music. The funny thing is that I never "saw" this movie before January 1 2007. I had heard and seen the video done with excerpts from the movie, intercut with popular artists video clips and I’ll never forget that Tom Hulce laugh in it! Lol It played on Much Music at the time so it was a great attention grabber. That piece, when I hear the first notes, makes me sit up straight and makes me want to stand up and start conducting! Lol Sad but true… :D Anyway, I might compile a Mozart entry at some point, but that’s quite enough for today. Hope you enjoy some and thanks for reading, sincerely, Sylvie <3

Comment by sylvie boisvert on May 9, 2013 at 3:14pm

Hallo Astrid and welcome to my blog sweetie! This way we can share and I don’t have to bombard you with E-mails!lol Oh I will gleefully take the blame for you getting lost on YouTube: you can join me there! :D Oh Astrid, I’m so glad you enjoy Corneille: the best of Canadian R&B, no contest! Thank you so very much for your surprise and yes, I can make it a surprise! All I have to do is click on the link and hit the button to shut Jaws up! :D I do have another version of this song in recital. Ah, what can I say? Pavarotti is the maestro! Just the impeccable diction and that gorgeous tone: he breathes life into songs and at just the right pacing, it’s like eating your favourite dessert in slow motion... XD All right missy, I have taken your surprise and I’ll raise you this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R643Zd7-B7M

That voice is simply sunshine...  That’s all I can say... :D Well, as long as I’m bringing sunshine, here are a few more rays:

“Ah mes amis... pour mon âme », from Donizetti’s « La fille du régiment »:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aS6M8j3pvQ

It’s 7 :14 minutes, but worth every second! Brace yourself for 9 high C’s! That man’s voice is simply miraculous! :D Okay, here’s something a little quieter, from Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette », “Ah, lève-toi soleil”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-RipUoUvts

It’s not  a song that lies in his “fach”, but he sings it so brilliantly... His French diction is as crisp as the maestro’s is in Italian: you understand each and every word! All right, now, the artistry of this jewel of a voice,: “Una furtiva lagrima” from Donizetti’s “l’elizir d’amore”, Met Opera 3/31/2012:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQY19jmxCvI

I’ve sent you that one already Astrid, but I simply can not post an entry about Juan diego Florez without it! :D And as much as I’d love to do this all week, I’ll post this last one called “Me Viejo San Juan”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WQyCuimADs

...just to show that he’s not just about the stellar high notes, but a sincere sensibility. Man do I love to hear him sing in Spanish! Oh, what the heck, one last one: “El dia que me quieras”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5XNnyYi01E

He's my favorite tenor of this generation and I would gladly travel to go hear him sing live, at least once in my life… My opera buddy told me once that she went to the Met Opera to hear the maestro, listening and closing her eyes to savor the sound, but then opening them to register that she was indeed in the same room with Pavarotti, in a word: priceless! Well that’s it for now my friend. Drop in anytime and do share your own jewels! I’m very slowly working through my favorites and intend to include some jewels you’ve shared with me in the past, but the list is long! Lol Have a wonderful day Astrid, take care. Big hugs, sincerely, Sylvie <3

 

 

 

 

Comment by Astrid Kretschmann on May 8, 2013 at 10:58pm

Hi Sylvie,

thank you so much for inviting me to your blogs. Far away of having discovered 10% of these treasures, I am yet already able to blame you - once more - for me getting lost on youtube, LOL. A few, quick thoughts before I escape from the opportunity to spend the rest of my life on your blog and youtube...

I really, really liked Corneille, his " A change is gonna come" as well as the french songs I managed to listen to (oh oh, my french has become so poor, really embarrassing)...

Also, the Josh Groban and competitors opening on La voix was awesome (mostly LOL). I thought Josh Groban was very authentic in describing how he felt comfortable finding his standing, style and audience. I saw Etienne Cousineau cheering and I am convinced he feels the same for himself. But I also hope he heard Josh Groban's words about the classical training too.

I loved "Che farò..." Before I leave you for the moment, I'll add a different version. I'm curious, if you already know this one. If you'd like to be possibly surprised just to listen to the voice without knowing whom to expect, hm, I guess Jaws is reading the title to you anyway, well, let's see what happens .... LOL    

Surprise or not - that's the question LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Okcd21d5tg

Enjoy, and thank you for providing great, great music. Big hug, Astrid

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