It’s October, the presidential campaigns have been going on what seems like forever, the stock market’s still in some sort of atrial fibrillation, and the banks are possibly in worse shape than we had thought even two weeks ago.
I’ve had enough. So as a public service, I would like to nominate David Daniels for president. Okay, not for president of the UNITED STATES. But I’d certainly call him the presumptive nominee in the countertenor category of vocal excellence. I’ve been listening to his latest CD of Bach cantatas and arias, with the English Concert led by Harry Bicket, and I’m happy to say it ranks right up there with Bach recordings of the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, high praise indeed. read more
In the singing biz, they talk about money notes—the notes a singer hits that make your spine tingle, the ones that often get a singer hired in the first place. Are the first “money notes” you think of high notes? They’re pretty hard to ignore—this season at the Met, Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez have been wowing audiences with their high-note pyrotechnics. For me, the first money notes I think of are probably from “Sempre libera” (soprano high E-flat) and “Nessun dorma” (tenor high B).
But let’s talk for a moment about rich, juicy, resonant low notes—these are the money notes for basses and contraltos (and the occasional mezzo or baritone). read more
How many opera-lovers have already heard the nine high Cs Juan Diego Flórez sang recently in “Ah, mes amis (Pour mon âme)” from La Fille Du Régiment at the Metropolitan Opera? Impossible to say, other than: a lot (most of them via YouTube). And as you’ve likely also heard by now, a week ago on Monday the Met lifted the traditional house ban on encores, Flórez actually sang eighteen high Cs after the second go-round. (At La Scala, they broke the ban for Flórez in the same opera, too.)
Obviously, there’s more to singing opera than high notes. But there’s no denying the thrill of hearing them done so well: the gladiator aspect of opera. After all, here’s a guy singing with complete abandon, seemingly popping out high notes like they’re nothing. Anyone who’s been at the opera at a night with a tenor having a hideously bad night knows those high notes are not easy. read more
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