Theres no such thing as a "good choice". Getting into classical music is just as easy as any other genre. What I did was listen to all of the most popular stuff first, such as Mozarts 21st piano concerto, beethovens 5/9th symphonies, Vivaldis four seasons, Bach's toccata/ fugue & passacaglia/fugue etc. etc. The more you listen, the more you'll be able to discover your own tastes, therefore, making it easier to find more of the music you like. Edit: I just went on your channel and you're already on the right tracks
@@SR009s I think they meant getting into learning a classical instrument, not into listening to them. Through the channel I think they kind of got an idea into the instrument which interests them the most.
I think the Queen of the Night Aria is not only hard to get right because the singer has to hit all the high notes. She has to have a certain volume to her voice since she is supposedly a queen and mother. Singing all the correct notes while sounding like a little girl just won't fit the role. Also she has to get the pronunciation just right. Slurring your words in this song makes you sound indecisive and soft (also a little bit drunk in my opinion). It is an angry aria. Most native speakers don't slur when they hold an angry speech - they tend to overpronounce things.
What makes it also difficult is that the opera is in German, and it is very hard to sing in that language because of the explosive consonants that can make inexperienced opera singers choke on the passages if they are not careful.
I love the particular Diana Damrau recording they used. There have been others in different outfits, but not as good in my opinion. Ms. Damrau herself is my favourite Queen of the Night just because she's the only one I've seen where I can understand her German clearly throughout the song. Yes, I know the words, but everyone else usually focuses on the notes and they throw in a hint of consonants. Ms. Damrau is musically on point and linguistically intelligible at the same time.
My favorite comment about The Magic Flute that someone else wrote: Mozart, finishing The Magic Flute: Welp, someone will sing it, 'cause I'm not gonna...
Mozart wrote some of the greatest Italian operas ever, too. And Donizetti's popular "La fille du régiment" is in French. And perhaps the most popular opera of all time is a story set in Spanish but sung in French.
The situation that she talked about, where the soprano didn't come for her entrance in Tosca, was with Kaufmann and Angela Gheirghiu in Vienna staatsoper! He sang the aria twice and then when she didn't come in, the whole auditorium laughed and Kaufmann sang "Non abbiamo il soprano" (we don't have a soprano 😂) and the orchestra had to begin to play the scene again 😂 I was lucky enough to watch live in Vienna, it was so funny.. People who worked at the opera that night said she did it on purpose, cause she wanted to have a grand entrance, since he took all the attention with singinf the aria twice. Lol
@@athomenotavailable I think a countertenor is the closest we can get these days but I imagine the voice of a boy with the power and breath of a grown man. Totaly dispise what they did back then and I don't think the sound would be appealing to me, so a countertenor it is.
like basicallyall of classical music, disliking opera often comes down to just not being that familiar with it. I don't think people are born with a gene that makes them dislike opera, but the singing style takes some getting used to. I grew up listening to opera so the style of singing (and also the Drama of the storylines) never felt weird to me, but if you didn't grow up with it, you'll probably need to listen to a few operas before you fully get into it. If you want to get into it, I recommend going to see it live over just listening to recordings, the live experience is pretty fantastic. Bizet's Carmen is a great beginner opera, so is a lot of Mozart (especially The Magic Flute, Marriage of Figaro, or Don Giovanni), Rossini and Donizetti operas are usually quite accessible musically (all of their operas work really imo but if you wanted specific recommendations, I'd suggest The Barber of Seville or William Tell by Rossini, and L'Elisir d'Amore or Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti), Puccini's Madama Butterfly will probably keep you interested via the story even if you dislike the singing, and if you like Richard Strauss' symphonic repertoire, give Salome or Der Rosenkavalier a chance. If you want an easier, often rather rom-com style entrance to the style of singing, maybe give operettas a go. Some of the (rightfully) most famous ones are Johann Strauß II's "Die Fledermaus", Kálmán's "Gräfin Mariza", Bernstein's "Candide" (my three favourite operettas in no particular order), Lehár's "The Merry Widow", Offenbach's "Orpheus in the Underworld", and Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance".
I hesitate to say this, as an opera fan myself, but I have experience with friends who were new to the genre. They had a hard time getting over some very hammy acting, 'mature' singers who are meant to be the youthful love interest, and the often ridiculous plots. The only hit so far has been the opera Peter Grimes, which is so dark but very 'real'. And Carmen, because they already knew the tunes...
Rahul Suresh I already was watching her face (😅), but I know what you mean. She had the look of an artist who deeply admires the work of other artists. She’s clearly still inspired.
I gotta say, one of my favorite things about TwoSet is how *good* they are at their instrument and just musically in general, and yet they never miss an opportunity to make themselves look like the dumbest donkeys when it comes to other instruments. I deeply respect that and I wanna be dumb in just the same way.
It's a lot more impressive when you are... well, impressive in a given field, yet can act like someone who knows nothing. It's less impressive if, like me, you're a total blighted idiot-as it won't be acting so much as _being_
As a trained vocalist, I love the performances and singers she picked here. I think it would be really cool however to have a part 2 with more variety in singers. They're are plenty of Mezzo, Bass, and even Countertenor voices that should be highlighted as well.
“Good singing is easy.” I hear this sentiment a lot from voice instructors, especially European ones. It’s a misleading sentiment. What they ACTUALLY mean to say is that the techniques involved in good singing are all about relaxing and minimizing vocal strain, as most people have a subconscious tendency to tense or seize up when going through “difficult” passages or singing in untrained registers. Obviously the journey to achieving “effortless” singing is FAR from easy, but the goal is to make it LOOK and SOUND easy, and to not feel “difficult” when you’re actually doing it, as the “difficulty” of singing is comorbid with strain and tension. We are always fighting against our reflexes which tell our muscles that they need to “protect” the voice when we’re doing something “unnatural”. Once you learn how to reach the extremes of your voice freely and without strain, it does become somewhat “effortless”, but we are ALWAYS exercising this skill. This is why vocalists refer to themselves as “athletes”. Also, this isn’t even touching on the (actually far more important) element of breathing, which is by far the hardest to train and the most volatile building block of singing.
Yeah! Like, listen to Piero Cappuccilli. The man makes legato look effortless, but he had rock solid technique. He could go on and on with one breath for seemingly impossible lengths.
Yes yes this!!! And from experience, when you've put that work in, it is easy and becomes the most natural thing in the world---because you know it in your heart after having practiced it tens and hundreds of times
Yes, one of the most common mistakes for begginers is to tense up and make to much effort to reach high notes. If you just relax is much easier, healthier and it sounds better
He's actually right! It's typical (if not always the case) for very high sopranos to be petite, so their larynges (larynxes?) are small and vibrate really fast for those very high notes.
@@inesdeerausquin5658 I think that's either an old, or an incorrect, sterotype. I am about 5 foot 8 and I can sing quite high easily. Admittedly my family are musical and I started singing when I was five but I don't think that height comes into singing. Two years ago, I was singing with a lady who had been opera trained and height didn't make a difference about hitting the high notes. She was shorter than me.
Can you blame them, though? Liebestod is possibly the greatest piece of music ever written for an opera, I get distracted, too. And I am a massive opera fan who tends to concentrate on singers over the orchestra.
With good reason. In order to fully appreciate Nilsson's power you must understand that she's piercing through a huge orchestra playing at max capacity. I'm really glad they included her in their list.
@@annacai8070 True, I am 5'3 and was assigned soprano back in HS. If i think about it most short woman i know tend to have a higher pitch voice as well.
I had never thought about it, but there is an interesting thought. I am 5'5 tall and a soprano, but one my friends is shorter than me, and she is a mezzo-soprano. She used to sing soprano parts while in school, but around the age of 14 she was told she is a mezzo-soprano.
Maybe evolution gave them higher pitch because it's easier to make a loud sound with a small body when the pitch is high, as opposed to a huge dog that can bark loudly. (If that makes any sense) The same thing passed on to humans.
Tosca is about a woman having to decide to either sleep with a corrupt politician or have her boyfriend executed by him. In that second clip she is wondering what she ever did to deserve that. And they say opera is fancy and hard to relate to.
People assume that if something is old then it’s boring and hard to relate, as if people in the past centuries would live in another world and have different emotions. They don’t know how much literature and music they’re missing.
@@daemondif7051 try reading Russian classical literature as part of school program. Especially if you are interested in equality in every form. Women are abused, the only worthy woman in the whole War and Peace has an incredibly unfulfilling life. The only books from the classical period that were interesting for me were Chekhov's stories, Crime and Punishment and Bulgakov's works. The rest... Boring to say the least. But I'm a fan of fantasy, and there isn't much of that. Ah, yes, also Gogol's plays and novels were interesting. However, I'm a firm believer that bad endings have no place in literature or cinematography. The only art that can make the bad endings bearable for someone who's highly emotional is music, and therefore I only like sad music. But I firmly dislike sad endings in films or books. Ok, sorry for the looooooong answer, but I just wanted to say that everyone has different reasons to dislike a certain kind of art.
I assume it's about the language barrier. Supposed you're watching it in a opera house or the like (sorry I don't know the term), opera might be quite hard to understand by the words they speak cs it's mostly in France or Italian I guess...? but, yeah we could still relate to the feeling the singer trying to convey trough their performance.
@@atriyakoller136 seriously, you dont like any bad endings? What about in Infinity war where thanos actually wins? Me personally, I love ending where the bad guy/s win, simply due to the fact that they're so rare. Have you never thought, whilst seeing a bad guy in action, "I hope he completes his mission, instead of getting defeated at the very last minute"?
I mean, to the untrained ear, hearing the first clip is really amazing. But for people knowing the technicalities behind the voice, the first recording has a lot of faults, especially on her breathing technique. But I do like to set aside my preconceptions and just appreciate art and the artistry of the singer itself.
For a moment, let's appreciate all opera singers. . . . . . *and also for the subtitles. I mean, geez, the effort to put the actual lyrics and then translating it to English.* **clap** **clap**
I love the way Damrau performs this song. Her staccati are like poisoned darts. So many singers sing it “pretty” but she really is playing the meaning of this peace-this is a mother who is literally coercing her daughter to commit murder.
@Corey H Cristina D had a lovely voice, and I’m fascinated by the way she handled those triplets. But as a performance overall, I’m not a fan. These are pretty subjective things, though-you’re certainly entitled to your opinion.
Exactly. Notice the first time she does her staccatos. Right before, she’s actually facing away from her daughter. She turns around sharply right before she sings then, as if to be able to sing that fury - those knives or darts - at her daughter. She both loves and hates her, and wants to use her to commit her own (mother’s) violent crimes. And at the very beginning , even before that, forcing her daughter to grab the knife first with one hand, then another. Her performance is full of sound and fury. One of the former hosts of our classical music station always said, “Now, THAT’s what a really, really angry soprano sounds like!” Cheers.
@Corey H It's really hard to compare these ladies. The way Cristina delivers this aria is cold and icy, with daggerlike precision, whereas Diana's performance is so fiery that I'd be afraid to catch fire if she looked at me. As for their singing: my personal preference goes out to Diana Damrau, because I love how she uses her whole body to sing and bring this song to life. Whereas Cristina was too statuesque for my taste. Both approaches make sense, both approaches are good. At this point it comes down to personal taste :)
@LING LING GRANGER I think she meant some Finnish names can be hard to pronounce for foreign people. So it can be a bit annoying to spell it every time. In Finnish we rarely spell out our names cause 99% of the time they are pronounced the same as they are written.
The way Maria Callas makes you feel when she sings is pure magic. Very little opera singers close to none have the ability to make you feel that way. Just look at Sanna's face when she starts singing. They didn't call her "La Divina" for no reason.
I remember reading somewhere that Maria Callas being a brilliant opera singer is arguable. Some critics said her voice lacks power and is quite thin but I don’t know.
Sorry to ruin the party, but I think everyone can contribute to add the subtitles, even their fans, like us. It doesn't have to be editor-san. Besides, editor-san has so much work already.
That is real expression of passion on Sanna's face. She must have listened to those recordings many many many times before and yet to see her physically moved by them even now woahhh! It shows that outsiders misses stuff that insiders knows enjoys and appreciate. TwosetViolin, please keep up with these educational videos.
I found myself looking at Sanna the way she looks at the opera singers, and I've realized that my dog is sitting in the corner of the room looking at me the same way. I wonder if there are opera singers who look passionately at my dog. Things would come full circle in a satisfying way.
*_"You need a microphone? I got my own right here, it's called a vocal chord"_* Can we please get some merchandise with this phrase? Please! ❤️🙏🏻 One for the singers!
I believe it was intended as a joke, but when singing anything, especially opera, you're supposed to use your diaphragm. If you try to sing loudly using just your vocal chords, it will ruin your voice.
I've watched Diana Damrau's QotN aria so many times. The acting and opera singing are both 👌👌👌 She just looks so vicious. As expected when you're telling your daughter to kill a man or you'll disown her lmfao
A friend of mine was lucky enough to perform at an open-air concert Pavarotti was also appearing in, and saw him rehearse. He said there wasn’t a single microphone near him and yet over an orchestra and forty feet from the stage his voice was still deafening - this guy is a percussionist too, says it was the highlight of his career if ever a time to go deaf
@@sushih3302 when he was 20 he tried to justify only delivering 2 of the 6 concertos for flute. He wrote this letter to his father complaining about the flute and about how much he hated it, but in fact he seems to like it... in all of the piano concertos flute has wonderful solos... the magic flute.... ye, he was a kid in his 20s making excuses to his father for missing a paycheck. Ome things never change and it's super funny
Well, it's not like she has to. It's part of the charm of being original, you understand how others are, but you don't change yourself to appease them, nor expect them to appease you. The video came out wonderful! ^^
Wdym? That's normal. Eddy was just being Eddy. Remember the video when he admitted that he had forgotten his violin 3 times? And in that video, he also forgot about the detailed story when he forgot his violin :v
I think I can relate to Eddy's problem. Sometimes there's just a lot of things happening in your mind to the point where you stop being aware and can't even remember even the simplest thing :v
I'm an organist at my church, and during the sermon, I often wait backstage. I've had several close calls where I almost didn't make it back for the closing hymn and postlude. Usually because someone was talking to me, or I was dozing.
I love watching Sanna's expressions while they're watching the videos. She's 100% engaged in the performance and you can tell that sometimes she's even singing along in her head.
I've recently started singing opera and honestly you would not believe the amount of muscle work it needs! Queen of the night makes you contact muscles in your body that you didn't even know existed. Opera singers have my admiration for being able to sing again and again during a play while making it looks effortlessly beautiful.
@Alex Korova It's mostly core work! diaphragm especially. Most of our warmups involve breathing exercises that REALLY work the core. If you're not used to doing them, it gets very tiring and sore very quickly, but over time you develop tough muscles in your abdomen allowing you to control your breath with minute detail.
Pavarotti's voice gets to your soul, I remember listening to his perfomance of Nessun Dorma for the first time and it literally made me cry. He can make you feel emotions so easily. RIP to the king
Pavarotti is great, by far one of my favorites, but look for Franco Corelli. I think there is no better Calaf ( the character who sings that aria) than him.
Altos are freaking cool. I personally like their voices more than sopranos'. I think they deserve more important roles as well, too bad they are usually made for sopranos.
And not just that, I mean I can hit an F6 but I sound like a squeaky mouse. The dynamic range in that piece, and being able to project the more quiet notes as well as the stronger ones... 30 years of training wouldn't get me there.
Correction: The Callas recording was in front of a live audience. The venue was at the Royal opera House in London and audience in that house used to be extremely well behaved and would only applause at the end of the opera. Also, there is a chance they were instructed not to applaud because there were cameras and it was transmitted live, so there is the possibility of the audience being told there would be no time for applause because of broadcast time constraints.
That recording of Callas' last live opera is just legendary. How I wished there was a video recording of Callas' first Medea at Florence or her glorious Aida at Mexico that threw the audience in hysterical applause.
And just imagine...this recording was done when she was on the downside of her vocal prime. At her best, she was unmatchable in expression as well as accuracy.
@@blixten2928 Actually, at this point she was used to it. When she debuted at ROH as Norma, there was no clap after the Casta Diva and she was having a panic attack thinking they didn't like it. She had not been told in advance that at the time ROH audiences did not clap until the end of the act.
Thanks to the guys and thanks to Sanna for helping us to understand more about the beauty of opera. A wonderful sharing of positive energy with your millions of subscribers.
You're right. A good opera singing is more than anything a natural and effortless singing. For example, take vibrato in classical singing: someone may think it's a technique you practice a lot to get it right. This couldn't be farther from truth. I study classical singing for more than a year, and I never - even once - practiced the vibrato itself, because a good vibrato in opera is just a consequence of a free and good sounding technique. And, when you sing it well and with the proper resonance, the vibrato comes naturally. Sounds crazy, I know, but ask a professional singer if you have the chance.
I agree but not completely. Vibrato appears in a free and healthy voice with a good technique, yes, but you can definitely practice the vibrato, because you can train and CONTROL the muscles that produces it. I'm just a student in singing and that's my opinion based on research on other singers about vibrato.
@@definitelynosebreather same! I just started like September of 2019 but from the first weeks my vocal teacher always told me to open your mouth and never pressure the voice and that the vibrato will come naturally once you find the right position :)
@Kristine Kuchiki If they are good they don't seem like that. But unfortunately many pop singers aren't. You don't have to have a classical timbre to achieve that level of control and to achieve this "it looks so easy" effect. There is literally always a way to achieve the sound you want in a healthy way and if you are able to do that it still is exhausting for the body and learning how to do is means years of hard training but you will have control without having to force anything and that is what makes it look easy. There are multiple voice techniques. But at the end of the day all voice techniques were created on the basis of classical singing. That's why singers who have a really good and healthy technique usually have studied at least the basics of classical in some way at some points in their life (sometimes even without knowing, because again, the basics from every technique (support ect.) come from the classical singing technique).
I started from classical singing and moved to pop singing, and the teacher told us to look more intense (or in pain, you can say haha) than we actually are, as it helps to make the audience 'feel' the performance easier. I am not sure, but my theory is that perhaps pop rose during the age of technology, so there are more close-ups of the singer's facial expressions and so more 'acting'. Aside from that, regardless of genre, proper singing technique is almost always relaxed unless the pop singer intentionally uses bad technique at a certain part to create an interesting sound. A sign of a good pop singer is when they are able to return back to proper technique each time they do that~!
"Great players make it sounds light and resonant, whereas people that are struggling - it's the same notes, but it sounds heavy and tense and it drags on. When it sounds difficult, you make it difficult." True that.
Confirmed. I am in no way a great musician, but every single stupid time I solo on an instrument (I am a multi-instrumentalist), my wrists tense up, and it all goes to heck. Vocally, it's quite different for me, provided I can sing loud! Like the mechanical "power vs. speed" argument, I am NOT known for my speed, but if you need me to move an entire house vocally, that's me. (I can outsing our entire church choir!)
10:00 This performance absolutely blew me away. She sounds like a bird!! The runs are clean, and the high notes are so clear!! I have to keep replaying this bit because it's just so incredible
I'm working on this aria right now and just finished learning section A. I really had to slow the melismatic passages before putting them back to tempo. Gorgeous piece, also it's actually a happy piece compared to V'adoro pupille which is seductive in the beginning of the aria (both from Giulio Cesare sung by Cleopatra) :).
Sanna not only chose some really great clips but I love how even though she has probably seen them a million times, she's still genuinely into each one and really admires those performers
I’m 5 ft 5(ish) and I’m a soprano. I am not thin! I’m Greek Cypriot and classically trained and yes those high F’s are hard to hit and not sound like your screaming! I’ve performed Phantom as well as Christine and that’s a blooming physical workout! Opera can be so joyful but physically and emotionally exhausting to perform! I have cried so much after performances! Then the next day I’m utterly useless! I just want to cry and sleep! Maria Callas is an icon!
We had violin performances, we've had cello performances, we've had piano performances, we've had opera performances. Next week we'll have viola performances 😂
Yes please. I'd love some recommendations of actually good violists. Make it happen Twoset. You have to after that viola beat you. Or was it the alto clef?
Just like anyone who loves opera I love Pavarotti, especially in the early days of his career when his voice was at its best. I haven't heard the opera that this aria comes from. I haven't heard the aria either which is surprising as surely it should be one of the regulars on compilations of favourite arias etc. Never mind, I've heard it now & the wait was.absolutely worth it. I don't think I've ever heard such tenderness from Pavarotti. He embodies it, his eyes are so expressive...it brought tears to my eyes. I think the love so delicately.expressed here is right up there with Mahler's Adagietto from his 5th symphony. While the Adagietto swoons with love & seems to declare Mahler's love for his wife-to-be to the world, the Donizetti aria is quieter & more subtle. Both pieces work. It's just that the Mahler shouts about love while the Donizetti is far more tender & personal. I love both of them 🙂 I adore the Liebestod 💗 ! always enjoyed Jessye Norman's rendition, she has that strength in her voice too, like Birgit Nilsson. I haven't heard Birgit much since my childhood when mom kept playing her favourite operas by Wagner. She always raved about this singer & another great talent, Kirsten Flagstad. Having listened to this aria 5 times in a row, I think I prefer Birgit to Jessye. Her voice has so much power!
I’m surprised twoset doesn’t watch opera. Would expect classical musicians to have watched at least one. I think it might be a fun live stream to have a watch-along of an opera.
Especially since both of them have played opera. :D Obviously not very enthusiastically... Edit: Or maybe they just played dumb here once again for the general audience's sake. To get Sanna to give answers to the more general questions.
Not to mention , some musicians aren't that much into vocal pieces and focus on orchestral- opera is musically refined but still rather difficult to watch fully 😂 ( or at least thats my experience. Ive seen one opera but im more into musicals! )
