Pavarotti/Domingo
Recent email from my daughter in reply to my comments on ‘E lucevan le stelle’ (Puccini) by Pavarotti:
"I won't be around this evening but I can lend you my opinion. Listen to the aria "En ferment les yeux" from Manon by Massenet. Amazing piece. That's just an aside. My feeling about Pavarotti is that although without a doubt the most amazing voice of our time, he is dead behind the eyes. His face, the muscles, have expression but his eyes are dead. Domingo, although not as smooth and seamless a sound, is by far the superior actor. But, as you know, Opera has, until very recently been solely about the voice and its abilities. That is why a 300 pound, unattractive man can play the romantic lead and we accept it. NOW, it is becoming more of an all-around art form. Appearance and acting is starting to weigh in more heavily. I prefer to see the heart with less talent, then a superficial, sterile performance." -just me
Your thoughts?
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Originally posted by Grampy Bobbypavarotti lost it years ago. Listening to him now is like listening to an old dusty record from the 70's.
[b]Pavarotti/Domingo
Recent email from my daughter in reply to my comments on ‘E lucevan le stelle’ (Puccini) by Pavarotti:
"I won't be around this evening but I can lend you my opinion. Listen to the aria "En ferment les yeux" from Manon by Massenet. Amazing piece. That's just an aside. My feeling about Pavarotti is that although without a ...[text shortened]... -just me
Your thoughts?
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If your daughter actually thinks opera used to only be about the voice, then alas, she is terribly mistaken. A 300 pound fat man in 1752 still had to bring heart and passion to the stage. Mon Dieux
I don't care an iota what the singer looks like. I want to hear the music and if music is anything at all, it is surely emotion. I care about tone, intonation, rhythm, diction, expression, etc. as well as acoustics. To me, looks mean absolutely nothing and that applies not just to opera, but any other kind of music on any instrument. I don't care about dancing or choreography or costumes or set designs or anything else excerpt the music. Of course, a lot of those things, if done badly, can interfere with the music, but to my mind the focus must be on the music. I don't like electronic amplification or anything electronic for that matter, because I feel that interferes with the music. (There's something about electronic instruments that lack a human soul.) Don't put anything between my ears and the artist, including microphones and speakers. I want to hear it live, not recorded. That's why acoustics are important.