Since I discovered Dido's lament I have been all over youtube looking for the best-sung version, and here it is.
Almost every other version is sung far too powerfully / stridently with masses of quaver / vibrato. (eg, Jess Norman). This beautifully pure, simple version sounds closest to my idea of what the baroque original should have been like. Only one minor complaint - the volume of the recording seems well below youtube average, I have to turn it up a lot to hear it.
Wow! The first good version since Blanche Marchesi's 78rpm disc made privately in her old age, which, while vocally perfect, has the drawback of a clunky piano accompaniment and less-than-hifi recording. Kermes proves that there's no need for hysteric over-emphasis and wobbly tremolo a la Callas or Netrebko. PLEASE Simone, now give us good recordings of Verdi, Wagner, Strauss and Puccini in this same, pure and utterly beautiful style, maybe for the first time in a hundred years!!
Her vibrato is virtually nonexistent, and she uses some techniques characteristic of popular music on her voice sometimes. But she has a good voice, and this is one of the most beautiful arias ever...
It is Ophelia by Millais. Just before she drowns, weighted down by her clothes and surrounded by the flowers she has been picking. Hamlet spurns her and her father dies, she goes mad and drowns herself.
@hrryzdlr : Jessye norman has a beautiful voice, but what she does with this opera has very little to do with baroque. This version is much closer to the way opera's were performed in the 17th and 18th century. So you shouldn't call this "the variations"
@hrryzdlr Though I am a big fan of Kermes, this aria calls for a much darker tone. Not being a native english speaker her diction is at times very poor. Norman's voice is a great one but much too powerful for this part. The most perfect version of this work without doubt is sung by Dame Janet Baker. It's just a shame that is was recorded in the days before the Baroque revival and used modern instruments as opposed to authentic. Guaranteed to bring tears to the eyes!
Sí, Kozena como Cleopatra está en un papel que le va como anillo al dedo. Tiene una voz carnosa, cálida y suficientemente potente (sin excesos).
No sabría decir si Invernizzi es la mejor soprano barroca de nuestros días (es persona, me cuesta dar esos títulos), pero en verdad es maravillosa. Si no ha escuchado ese disco de Cantatas Italianas para el Marchese Ruspoli, no tarde en hacerse con él. Y sus compañeros (ya han salido otros tres) tampoco tienen desperdicio.
Pero cómo puede decirse que carece de emoción, si precisamente es lo que destila a raudales. Kermes está aquí sencillamente impresionante, mejorando incluso a la que hasta ahora era mi Dido favorita: Lynne Dawson
Bueno, a mi gusto sin embargo me parece que si le falta una pizca de emoción, pero tambien considero al igual que usted que Kermes es muy buena en esta aria (en otro caso no la hubiese colgado xD).
Mis Didos favoritas son las mezzos, ademas por alli esta colgado en Youtube un video de Romina Basso cantando este lamento y es sencillamente hermoso.
El barroco está evolucionando de modo impresionante hacia mejor, no sólo por la adopción de criterios historicistas (instrumentos, etc.), sino también en el ámbito vocal: el barroco no necesita grandes exhibiciones sino refinamiento interpretativo. Por eso, verbigracia, las cantatas italianas de Handel suenan tan bien en la voz de Roberta Invernizzi y tan mal en la de Magdalena Kozena.
(Cont.) Escuché este Purcell hace semanas para hacer una reseña, y me causó una gratísima sorpresa. Kermes, que tiene modos que a veces no me gustan, está espléndida. Lo mismo York. La dirección es impecable y la orquesta es brillante, matizada, atenta a las inflexiones de la partitura y a la vez plenamente dramática. Tengo varios Dido y Eneas, y este se me antoja al nivel de los de Christie y Jacobs, sin duda los mejores.
Estoy de acuerdo con Usted, esta grabacion es hermosa, ademas tambien concuerdo con lo de Invernizzi, ella es para mi, la mejor soprano barroca de nuestros dias!, un total apego al estilo de la epoca, ademas de ser una voz bella, agil y bastante solvente en sus presentaciones en vivo.
En cuanto a Kozena, reconozco que el cd de Cantatas Italianas no fue el mejor que ella ha realizado, sin embargo para mi ella es la mejor Cleopatra en el Giulio Cesare de Handel.
This is beautiful, but it lacks emotion, to me. I prefer my dear Lynne Dawson in this. :) Also, I think it's better to have "Thy hand, Belinda" + "When I am laid in earth" + "With drooping wings". They form a whole.
I agree, however this was the only aria that send me from this new recording of Dido and Aeneas =), I've never heard Dawson singing this aria, but must be great...;).
Her emotion should come through her voice. It's an audio recording. If her emotion is not audible, it will be totally absent, because there's no image.
I have heard other tracks from this album: I find it flat and very cold. Beautiful sound, but it doesn't talk to me at all.
Oh yes! I agree, no matter how much I love my dear Simone Kermes, this repertoire was not made for her, she's more kind of a virtuosistic soprano, than a dramatic one, this work needs one soprano (or mezzo who take the challenge) that can express the feeling of forsake that this aria needs.
Since I discovered Dido's lament I have been all over youtube looking for the best-sung version, and here it is.
Almost every other version is sung far too powerfully / stridently with masses of quaver / vibrato. (eg, Jess Norman). This beautifully pure, simple version sounds closest to my idea of what the baroque original should have been like. Only one minor complaint - the volume of the recording seems well below youtube average, I have to turn it up a lot to hear it.
SiriusHardware 3 days ago
RIP Magdika!
calaf0911 5 months ago
The model for millais is Elizabeth Siddal
jlcdemoura 10 months ago
Wow! The first good version since Blanche Marchesi's 78rpm disc made privately in her old age, which, while vocally perfect, has the drawback of a clunky piano accompaniment and less-than-hifi recording. Kermes proves that there's no need for hysteric over-emphasis and wobbly tremolo a la Callas or Netrebko. PLEASE Simone, now give us good recordings of Verdi, Wagner, Strauss and Puccini in this same, pure and utterly beautiful style, maybe for the first time in a hundred years!!
chrisz78 10 months ago
by far my favorite... BRAVO Kermes!!!!
nabdel07 1 year ago 2
wunderbar. Das stille und feine kann Simone also auch...
hansfaun2007 1 year ago
Her vibrato is virtually nonexistent, and she uses some techniques characteristic of popular music on her voice sometimes. But she has a good voice, and this is one of the most beautiful arias ever...
giligara30492 1 year ago
GREAT.
JensSchommerBerlin 1 year ago
very beautifull
xx
vikisisa 2 years ago
Simone Kermes sings Purcell perfectly! All the slides and variations in the melody are 100% Baroque and beautiful!
requiemaeturnum 2 years ago 6
i think i prefer the sheer dramatic power of jessye norman
but i love hearing the variations
is this a portrait of dido?
it looks more like the lady of shalott
hrryzdlr 2 years ago
It's a portrait of Ophelia
thebarroque 2 years ago 3
It is Ophelia by Millais. Just before she drowns, weighted down by her clothes and surrounded by the flowers she has been picking. Hamlet spurns her and her father dies, she goes mad and drowns herself.
judithjonesband 2 years ago
@hrryzdlr : Jessye norman has a beautiful voice, but what she does with this opera has very little to do with baroque. This version is much closer to the way opera's were performed in the 17th and 18th century. So you shouldn't call this "the variations"
TLebacq 1 year ago
@hrryzdlr Though I am a big fan of Kermes, this aria calls for a much darker tone. Not being a native english speaker her diction is at times very poor. Norman's voice is a great one but much too powerful for this part. The most perfect version of this work without doubt is sung by Dame Janet Baker. It's just a shame that is was recorded in the days before the Baroque revival and used modern instruments as opposed to authentic. Guaranteed to bring tears to the eyes!
geoffashden 10 months ago
@geoffashden My favorite is Véronique Gens also a not native english speaker but with a very touching voice
thebarroque 10 months ago
The best one, she is...
olenyushka 2 years ago
I think she sounds beautiful...she portrays her Dido in her own way..its not in your face but very quiet...
jonhi1 2 years ago
Wunderbar! Weiß jemand welche Aufnahme das ist? Gesamt-Aufnahme oder auf welcher CD ich diese Aufnahme hier finde?
hansfaun2007 2 years ago
Simone Kermes, in my opinion litterarly has an angelic voice!
lacrima18 3 years ago 3
Sí, Kozena como Cleopatra está en un papel que le va como anillo al dedo. Tiene una voz carnosa, cálida y suficientemente potente (sin excesos).
No sabría decir si Invernizzi es la mejor soprano barroca de nuestros días (es persona, me cuesta dar esos títulos), pero en verdad es maravillosa. Si no ha escuchado ese disco de Cantatas Italianas para el Marchese Ruspoli, no tarde en hacerse con él. Y sus compañeros (ya han salido otros tres) tampoco tienen desperdicio.
Saludos cordiales.
anadelarobla 3 years ago
Pero cómo puede decirse que carece de emoción, si precisamente es lo que destila a raudales. Kermes está aquí sencillamente impresionante, mejorando incluso a la que hasta ahora era mi Dido favorita: Lynne Dawson
anadelarobla 3 years ago
Bueno, a mi gusto sin embargo me parece que si le falta una pizca de emoción, pero tambien considero al igual que usted que Kermes es muy buena en esta aria (en otro caso no la hubiese colgado xD).
Mis Didos favoritas son las mezzos, ademas por alli esta colgado en Youtube un video de Romina Basso cantando este lamento y es sencillamente hermoso.
Gracias por tu comentario xD
thebarroque 3 years ago
El barroco está evolucionando de modo impresionante hacia mejor, no sólo por la adopción de criterios historicistas (instrumentos, etc.), sino también en el ámbito vocal: el barroco no necesita grandes exhibiciones sino refinamiento interpretativo. Por eso, verbigracia, las cantatas italianas de Handel suenan tan bien en la voz de Roberta Invernizzi y tan mal en la de Magdalena Kozena.
anadelarobla 3 years ago
(Cont.) Escuché este Purcell hace semanas para hacer una reseña, y me causó una gratísima sorpresa. Kermes, que tiene modos que a veces no me gustan, está espléndida. Lo mismo York. La dirección es impecable y la orquesta es brillante, matizada, atenta a las inflexiones de la partitura y a la vez plenamente dramática. Tengo varios Dido y Eneas, y este se me antoja al nivel de los de Christie y Jacobs, sin duda los mejores.
Gracias por ese bellísimo lienzo de Millais.
anadelarobla 3 years ago
Estoy de acuerdo con Usted, esta grabacion es hermosa, ademas tambien concuerdo con lo de Invernizzi, ella es para mi, la mejor soprano barroca de nuestros dias!, un total apego al estilo de la epoca, ademas de ser una voz bella, agil y bastante solvente en sus presentaciones en vivo.
En cuanto a Kozena, reconozco que el cd de Cantatas Italianas no fue el mejor que ella ha realizado, sin embargo para mi ella es la mejor Cleopatra en el Giulio Cesare de Handel.
Saludos.
thebarroque 3 years ago
This is beautiful, but it lacks emotion, to me. I prefer my dear Lynne Dawson in this. :) Also, I think it's better to have "Thy hand, Belinda" + "When I am laid in earth" + "With drooping wings". They form a whole.
MehdiCaps 3 years ago 2
I agree, however this was the only aria that send me from this new recording of Dido and Aeneas =), I've never heard Dawson singing this aria, but must be great...;).
thebarroque 3 years ago
Among my many video projects, there's the entire "Dido and Aeneas" with a manuscript score and the Jacobs recording with Dawson. One day, maybe. ;)
MehdiCaps 3 years ago
You can't see the singers facial expression therefore you cannot tell if she is expressing her emotions reflecting from this piece she is singing.
Montyleeny14 3 years ago
Her emotion should come through her voice. It's an audio recording. If her emotion is not audible, it will be totally absent, because there's no image.
I have heard other tracks from this album: I find it flat and very cold. Beautiful sound, but it doesn't talk to me at all.
MehdiCaps 3 years ago 2
Oh yes! I agree, no matter how much I love my dear Simone Kermes, this repertoire was not made for her, she's more kind of a virtuosistic soprano, than a dramatic one, this work needs one soprano (or mezzo who take the challenge) that can express the feeling of forsake that this aria needs.
thebarroque 3 years ago