# More Fun Fantasy



## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Well I'm making progress still on Parsifal. Finished Act I of the 1961 Knappertsbusch recording this morning and can confidently report that George London was a god. Part II of Act I may actually be as good as the second act of Norma - not in drama, but in music - but don't quote me.

So imagine for a moment that you've discovered a magic elisir that will give you an evil power over one opera singer, living or dead, and realizing as of course you do that opera transcends morality, you're perfectly happy to use that power for your idle happiness. Which opera singer would you want to sing you to sleep every night?

I'm kind of torn. Marilyn Horne had SUCH a unique voice. Kathleen Battle wasn't absolutely the best coloratura ever but she made up for it in spades with stage presence. And Ileana Cotrubas had I'm thinking the butteriest, creamiest, toffiest soprano voice ever. I might have to discover ANOTHER elisir and get all three. What about you?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

guythegreg said:


> Well I'm making progress still on Parsifal. Finished Act I of the 1961 Knappertsbusch recording this morning and can confidently report that George London was a god. Part II of Act I may actually be as good as the second act of Norma - not in drama, but in music - but don't quote me.
> 
> So imagine for a moment that you've discovered a magic elisir that will give you an evil power over one opera singer, living or dead, and realizing as of course you do that opera transcends morality, you're perfectly happy to use that power for your idle happiness. Which opera singer would you want to sing you to sleep every night?
> 
> I'm kind of torn. Marilyn Horne had SUCH a unique voice. Kathleen Battle wasn't absolutely the best coloratura ever but she made up for it in spades with stage presence. And Ileana Cotrubas had I'm thinking the butteriest, creamiest, toffiest soprano voice ever. I might have to discover ANOTHER elisir and get all three. What about you?


None of these would quite work fo rme as I prefer the male voice, but wow, we definitely share a liking for the same kinds of voice. Out of those three Marilyn Horne, I think those killer low notes would work well as long as we could persuade her to sing piano, otherwise you'd be wide awake.

As for me, I'll take your elixir 2.0 and have Ruggero Raimondi, Klaus Florian Vogt and Jonas Kaufmann.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

I want Marilyn Horne to belt 'Dove sei' to me every night. Or 'Mira, o Norma' along with Joanie:






Those parallel thirds make me melt. Every time.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Simon Keenlyside.

The trouble is once he started _Là ci darem la mano_ I wouldn't really feel like sleeping ...


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

sospiro said:


> Simon Keenlyside.
> 
> The trouble is once he started _Là ci darem la mano_ I wouldn't really feel like sleeping ...


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Gotta be Jonas Kaufmann! :kiss:

But Annie's right: don't think I'd be doing much sleeping.:devil:


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

MAuer said:


> Gotta be Jonas Kaufmann! :kiss:
> 
> But Annie's right: don't think I'd be doing much sleeping.:devil:


Can you just imagine him standing beside your bed & singing just for you ...

...........................

.............


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

i love this thread

now i can't sleep


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I'd hate to live _with_ an opera singer but I wouldn't mind living next door to one so I could hear the occasional voice warm up and his favourite 'in-the-shower' aria.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Moffo would be interesting.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> None of these would quite work fo rme as I prefer the male voice, but wow, we definitely share a liking for the same kinds of voice. Out of those three Marilyn Horne, I think those killer low notes would work well as long as we could persuade her to sing piano, otherwise you'd be wide awake.
> 
> As for me, I'll take your elixir 2.0 and have Ruggero Raimondi, Klaus Florian Vogt and Jonas Kaufmann.


Raimondi is good, not sure about Kaufmann - I've heard him in a number of things but haven't been blown away by anything yet - but I'll have to check out Vogt. What's he done good?


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Aksel said:


> I want Marilyn Horne to belt 'Dove sei' to me every night. Or 'Mira, o Norma' along with Joanie:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Exactly. EXACTLY! It's clearly not possible to sing that well. The last and final proof that God exists.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

sospiro said:


> Simon Keenlyside.
> 
> The trouble is once he started _Là ci darem la mano_ I wouldn't really feel like sleeping ...


Well, you don't HAVE to go to sleep - he just has to keep singing until you do lol! Ain't it great?


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

sospiro said:


> I'd hate to live _with_ an opera singer but I wouldn't mind living next door to one so I could hear the occasional voice warm up and his favourite 'in-the-shower' aria.


I dunno - I can't help thinking I'd LOVE to live with an opera singer. Well, I suppose it might have drawbacks, but I can't think of any offhand...


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

Itullian said:


> Moffo would be interesting.


Moffo would be GREAT.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

guythegreg said:


> I dunno - I can't help thinking *I'd LOVE to live with an opera singer*. Well, I suppose it might have drawbacks, but I can't think of any offhand...


Are you sure? :devil:


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

sospiro said:


> Are you sure? :devil:


Makes you wonder what goes on in bedroom of opera stars.....:lol:


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

jennys hot


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Itullian said:


> jennys hot


And awesome.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

sospiro said:


> Are you sure? :devil:


*L* I forgot how people talk ... see this is why I can't have a relationship! I mean I get your point, but everybody does that. No one has anything to say. I told the young lady sitting next to me at a concert recently that I am much happier when no one around me speaks English, so I don't get sucked into all their little dramas. "Oh you're here! We're here too! There's Yuki! Yuki is here! Hi Yuki! Where's Ito? Ito isn't here! Oh, there's Ito! Hi Ito!" I need a job in a foreign country that doesn't require me to know the language, like picking grapes in Japan or something.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

guythegreg said:


> ... but I'll have to check out Vogt. What's he done good?


Not everyone's cup of tea, I know, but I love him:


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> Not everyone's cup of tea, I know, but I love him:


wow - that was AMAZING! High and sweet. I'll have to look for more with him.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

no offense but...........yuk.

is this a countertenor ?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Itullian said:


> no offense but...........yuk.
> 
> is this a countertenor ?


As I said, not everyone's cup of tea. And if he were a countertenor I wouldn't mind, I LOVE countertenors. I might have to add Andreas Scholl to my list of sweet lullabiers:


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> And if he were a countertenor I wouldn't mind, I LOVE countertenors. I might have to add Andreas Scholl to my list of sweet lullabiers:


Yep, that's the one!

St Matthew Passion 2013


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

yeah, but he isnt a countertenor. hes a tweener.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Itullian said:


> yeah, but he isnt a countertenor. hes a tweener.


Well, he's a human being with a voice. Just because he doesn't fit neatly into our vocal taxonomy doesn't take away from the beauty of his voice, in my view.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

mamascarlatti said:


> Well, he's a human being with a voice. Just because he doesn't fit neatly into our vocal taxonomy doesn't take away from the beauty of his voice, in my view.


very true, but what role would you want him in? i can't think of one.
but its just taste, i guess.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Itullian said:


> very true, but what role would you want him in? i can't think of one.
> but its just taste, i guess.


I like him in Lohengrin. His voice brings out the otherworldliness of the character.

But it is a matter of taste. I like "heftier" Lohengrins too.


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## guythegreg (Jun 15, 2012)

mamascarlatti said:


> As I said, not everyone's cup of tea. And if he were a countertenor I wouldn't mind, I LOVE countertenors. I might have to add Andreas Scholl to my list of sweet lullabiers:


And if you can find Anthony Roth Costanzo he's awfully good too. He's pretty new but he was in the Met's Enchanted Island last season and he was GREAT.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

just can't like it. sounds weird. let a nice soprano sing it.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Itullian said:


> just can't like it. sounds weird. let a nice soprano sing it.


Except, you know, it's an alto aria ...


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

Aksel said:


> Except, you know, it's an alto aria ...


whatever


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

actually im not totally anti counter tenors. i collect the Suzuki Bach cantatas and he uses them. i just dont go out of my way to get them.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

mamascarlatti said:


> I like him in Lohengrin. His voice brings out the otherworldliness of the character.
> 
> But it is a matter of taste. I like "heftier" Lohengrins too.


I like Vogt's voice. Yeah, Kaufmann is my Number One, but if (perish the thought!!  ) there were no Kaufmann, Vogt would be my top choice in the "jugendlich-dramatisch" repertoire.


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