sublime singing, superb acting, enthralling and rivoting. goose bump producing as ALL opera should be performed. thank you. may lorraines memory be for a blessing. bashert.
This is just perfect! Those two voices blending so well convey a moment of indefinite peace and emotion. Hunt Lieberson's timbre must be one of the most heavenly and beautiful ever heard, and her phrasing and legato is faultless. I don't like modern productions a lot, but with such good actresses the movements became quite credible and, yes, interesting.
not even over-creative staging can ruin this sublime musical moment, especially when such tender singing is involved. lovely. thank you for loading this.
Absolutely amazing! I find myself listening to it time and again, often repeating it several times before I am satisfied with my latest infusion of Lorraine! For those unacquainted with her, it's difficult to believe that he is a she! It's almost hypnotic . . .
I attended Emmanuel Church in Boston just to hear the weekly Bach cantatas and special concerts - in fact, Peter Sellars and I were at the same concert performance of Theodora, when Westbrook-Geha sand Irene and LHL sang Theodora. And I'm sure Maddelena (he's the third in this duet- was in it, and Frank Kelly, both of whom were in Sellars' Figaro and Cosi. I'm telling you, that church was an amazing music place.
What I would say to the detractors on here about this up-dated production is that I believe this staging may have been the product of much studio rehearsal that was improvised: Sellars put an idea into his performers' heads and watched it metamorphose into something that was much more than the sum of its parts. I forget when this production had its premiere but I don't think it was long after the crisis in the late 70s/early 80s with hostages in the Middle East. In this scenario the quasi balletic movements between the grieving mother and son belied an outlet for their emotions as captives: notice how in the recapitulation section even Achilla (the chief guard/captor) gets drawn into the narrative as a kind of reverse version of Stockholm Syndrome. For my part, I generally prefer traditional productions that 'tell the story' but this was incredibly moving, not just because of Miss Westbrook-Geha and Miss Hunt, but also because of the silent involvement of the third character and the onlooker guards.
I want to strengthen my middle voice so that I can do this role! I am a soprano with a good middle voice and I'd love to do this role.. Such depth and warmth and the voices together are exquisite. I love this opera.
Good gravy, this is amazing. I find myself watching it over and over and over and over again. This clip is just so saturated with emotion that it's almost unbearable (in the most perfect way, of course). One of the few "modern" productions I've seen that really affects me on a deeper level. Sensational.
Son nata/o a lagrimar/sospirar, e il dolce mio conforto, ah, sempre piangerò. Se il fato ci tradì, sereno e lieto dì mai più sperar potrò. there is a link to the libretto in the english wiki article about the opera :)
Hi Jon! Probably a Peter Sellars production? The staging / blocking is indeed odd, although for a performer I imagine the abstract formalism would have its advantages as a form of indirect "emoting". The French baroque was supposed to have its peculiarities, and I recently saw an amazing version of Rameau's Les Indes Galantes with hip-hop, krump, and vogueing ...
I am a counter tenor and I sing at OCHSA. Im doing this scene but I dont know what these people are choreographing. Is this like a traditional way of movements in this Opera?... Im glad I dont really need to think about mixed voice for this song bc the range is high :)
The artificial choreographed movements actually distract from what should be direct human connection between the characters of one of the most sublime duets in the repertoire. It breaks this connection and loses its impact. Some things are so perfect musically that they call for two singers simply to stand, connect and sing the music beautifully--the 'less is more' rule. This is by no means a criticism of the stunning LHL or the beautiful singing,, but rather of the distracting and misguided staging.
