Sunday
Feb242013
OperaNow! #179.2: The Hymens!
Sunday, February 24, 2013 at 3:49PM 
The first (annual?) Opera Awards are announced...Bryn Terfel's (ex)wife seen with local self-styled footballer...James Conlon to stay at LA Opera for the near future...Another donkey gets his big break in Ipswich.
This week Oliver's Corner shows some love for the Barihunks in their hundreds.
Reader Comments (5)
Jenny colors her hair?! WTF?! Is this part of that trend to make opera singers more physically presentable?
Since y'all asked: I did enjoy the Oliver's Corner on "A Shropshire Lad." I'm not ordinarily a fan of these types of songs (art songs, lieder) - I much prefer opera for vocal music - but I know that much of my resistance stems from ignorance: it's hard for me to enjoy this genre when I know so little about what to listen for, how to appreciate them. The same thing happened with me and baroque music, German opera, jazz, opera in general. So please keep the branching out the Corner. I'm enjoying the exposure to new areas. (I've given up on Massenet, though. Sorry.)
You'll not hear any complaints from me about straying into the area of lieder/song etc. Shropshire Lad is one of my all time favourite vocal works, and you can never go wrong with a gaggle of baritones. I've sung this cycle myself and agree with Oliver that one of the biggest challenges is the "chattiness" of a couple of the songs - how to get the words across and still keep singing legato...
Here's my guess at the singers:
1. Keenlyside
2. Allen
3. Terfel (me finger hurts...)
4. Luxon (AKA Grizzly Adams)
5. John Cameron (only got this last one because of the copious clues, and a little googling)
All great interpretations, but agreed that Thomas Allen is supreme in this (and all rep he touches!). What amazes me most about his singing of this cylcle is the way things sound almost "unsung", like speech, and yet he's definitely singing, not speak singing! It's supreme art.
Well done Gianmarco. You win the water-stained Oliver headshot.
Wonderful - as long as it's just water ;)