Marian Anderson sings "Es ist vollbracht"

[FriendlyCroock]

@sillyboydeux have some respect for germans you liberal punk this is german music anyway

[piecemaker74]

Singt sie auf deutsch, oder auf englisch?

[treverholland]

@piecemaker74 Auf Englisch

[breberto]

@piecemaker74 SIE SINGT AUF ENGLISCH WIE KATHLEEN FERRIER MIT MATHAUSPASSION

[amanofhisown]

Einfach erstaunlich! Mit so viel Gefühl für die Musik...

[Jeanne745]

O wow, this is so beautyful!!

[BethDiane]

One has to give her credit for breath control. And whoever is slamming her German diction isn't listening closely; she's clearly singing in English!

Although the cello sounds nothing like a viol--and there's a reason that Bach calls for one hear.

[Composerland]

I am certain she felt this from deep inside her very being.

[bergfriedorg]

Meine Güte ist das weit weg vom Original, einfach schlecht! Viel zu gekünstelt.

[ulyssesjj]

@bergfriedorg I agree, and the cellist sounds like he is playing in the style of Schelemo...

[FriendlyCroock]

@bergfriedorg

You can say whatever you want but those were the conductors who made Bach's music famous in our time. The ones that we have today with the authentic interpretations will not make Bach's music more famous in the future. You germans might have the best composers out there but americans had the best interpreters and musicians I can start with Glen Gold. In the 50`s and 60`s New York was the city of musicians not Vienna

[musicminded64]

Now.... i really believe Marian Anderson is a Saint.

[musicminded64]

I don't know what i am hearing here, but i am stunned. And it is music of Bach, i did not know i would love, so i am stunned again. And I am completely impressed what a most Gifted Voice I am hearing here... Thank you.

[barbos111]

@musicminded64 I really like your comment! :)

[telephilia]

Amazing how Bach translates so well to modern instruments, orchestration, and interpretation as here. Compare with the more authentic (i.e. early 18th cent.) interpretations on this site. Take your pick, it seems to me.

[tranmere789]

Henry Louis Mencken once mentioned: "There are two kind of music - bad music and german music".

And then Marian Anderson - she was brilliant. No wonder why she and her voice enchanted composers like Jean Sibelius.

[sillyboydeux]

@tranmere789 To call her by a voice category is a grave insult to Mme. Anderson. Everything she touched in music has a haunting, and healing effect on me. I hear the slaves speaking through her voice, Miss Sojourner Truth, Miss Harriett Tubman, Miss Ida B. Wells. She is the triumph of her people's suffering, and I am not able to speak of her musical qualities because she became, while singing, a pure channel of Christ. It is a sort of Pietà, her voice, and embodies His Passion, and all grace.

[sillyboydeux]

@sillyboydeux So still, so exquisite, the breath of a willow shading the children, the siren of all noble art.

[FriendlyCroock]

@sillyboydeux

he didn't call her by her voice category what are you talking about? and what was the insult

[DeHeld8]

Oh noes! English!

German please!

good singing though.

[Myszkin127]

God doesn't speak english!!! God speak German!

[Myszkin127]

so does not exist your sense of humour

[Homoclassicus]

I agree, but here's not the right place to discuss religion. I think we all should be aware that, no matter if God or Allah or Ganesha exist, we can never judge the Art and the feelings inspired by those ideas of Divinity as bad or useless only because they may not exist (according to one's opinion). I guess it'd be deeply sad if an atheist refuses to see the amazing depth and beauty of an oratorio because he thinks God is a lie. However, we shouldn't discuss personal beliefs here.

[FriendlyCroock]

Was the conductor Leonard Bernstein

[Homoclassicus]

No, she sings with the RCA Victor Symphony under the conducting of Charles O'Connell. :-)

[FriendlyCroock]

Goood conductor. :-) maestro Bach was soooo ahead

it doesnt saund llike this with the period instrument orchestra

[FriendlyCroock]

-1 ??? Hey guys theres a hater here

[twiwonder]

@Homoclassicus Well said.

[sillyboydeux]

Don't make such snap judgments, because it's an old recording, and her German diction, according to the Germans, was flawless.

[lochness11]

I agree with MusicParola.

[MusicaParola]

The only other artist who comes to mind is Kathleen Ferrier, whose 1952 recording (her last)of this aria is equally glorious. Although very different singers, they shared that combination of art and spirit. Great artists both. On a side note... Thank you for the lovely picture of Anderson rehearsing with Leonard Bernstein.

[sillyboydeux]

Ferrier was becoming an opera singer by that time, and had it not been for the tragic end she met from throat cancer, she would have been as big as Callas. What a pair they would have made, Bolena, Semiramide, etc.

[sugarspots12590]

@sillyboydeux (breast cancer)