@mouthmouse@mouthmouse Sorry to have offended you. I've learned a lot from posting on YouTube. I learned that I need to take more care and be more accurate. I put a mic on my desk so I can record anything at anytime. I can sing an aria and have it available to the world in twenty minutes. Consequently I have posted some pretty sloppy stuff on occassion. This video was meant to be musicological rather than musical. It was meant as an academic illustration but gets judged as a performance.
Concert pitches historically have gone up and down. In general in the seventeenth century they were higher and in the early eighteenth lower. So Bach and Handel should probably be taken down while Monteverdi should be taken up. The part of Seneca should probably be transposed up a semi tone, maybe a whole tone. The challenging low D then becomes an easier E or E Flat. Today almost all basses can manage a low E but you generally need specialists for Ds.
Dear Agorante. You have 3 times my age. I'm 21. My brother is older: He is 34. He made part of a University Choir and, as its soloist, he sang a brazilian folk song named "Uirapuru" in wich he achieved a low C. He is a statistician and does not want to sing at stage. Although is velvety voice is most appropriated for singing romantic songs, he loves to sing (in private) small opera passages where there are very low notes like in Seneca's Role. So, thank you again for Seneca's Death part.
Dear Agorante. Do not feel crushed. Your low D of "The Abduction from the Seraglio" is good. Many great basses, like Martti Talvela, failed to sustain the low D is this aria. Just try again the low D of "L'Incoronazione di Poppea".
@isabelzuza Thank you for your concern. You needn't worry. My voice is getting higher as is normal for someone my age. I'm 68.
I posted a low D in the "Le Cor" excerpt but I'm ahppier with an E Flat. I performed Osmin many years ago when my voice was a little lower. I was never however a true profondo. Profondos are usually chorus singers not soloists. If your brother wants to sing on stage alone he should try to work his way above the profondo range.
Sorry, but your low D of "L'Incoronazione di Poppea" is not perfect. The low D of "The Abduction from the Seraglio" is better. Thank you, anyway, for showing the notes and the lyrics of Seneca's Death. I copied them to give to my big brother, who is a Basso Profondo (amateur). Sorry for my english. I am a Brazilian girl.
I just made another very short low note demo. This is the final phrase of Le Cor - a French song made popular by Pinza. It ends on a sustained low D. I attached it to the original low note posting.
I have been playing around with the famous bass popular song of a century ago - 'Asleep in the Deep'. The sheet music was in G, meaning it ended on a low G - not quite low enough. I transposed it down to F, E Flat, and C and recorded it. I think I sound best in E Flat. My low C is a little weak.
Unfortunately, many notes are still quite wrong, especially in the Osmin excerpt. The Bb on 1:50 was really dreadful. I think you could be more particular about this corrige...
Picky, picky! This is an example of "artistic flattening". There is a similar place in the second half of the Catalog Aria where many singers emphasize that the melody doesn't resolve just yet. Maybe that's no longer good Mozart style today. I haven't sung Osmin on stage in a long time.
You seem to forget that this isn't a performance. It's just an illustration. I didn't even intend to include the Osmin excerpt but I realized that I still had time after recording the Seneca piece, so I threw it in too. No rehearsal, no second takes, no post production processing. I just sang it impromptu.
OK, I know it is only an illustration and I understand your arguments, but still I just don´t believe that an opera singer (althought retired) is not able to sing all the fourteen (!) notes in tune, when:
1) it is aria, which he has certainly heard approximately three hundred times
2) he has an accompaniment
By the way, your posts are nice and I like to listen to them, but I think if someone makes an correction, he should make it really well.
@hugodraslik OK,OK. I'll do it again and take more time and care.
I still do sing a bit. I auditioned for Zuniga Sunday. I got it but turned it down because the part was so small and the commute so long.
I'm working on my Don Giovanni project. I've rendered the full score in MIDI and will publish it as a study aid for small opera companies and colleges. I think I'll do Carmen next or maybe Boheme or Barber.
it's wrong!!!!! 1:46 horrible!
mouthmouse 4 months ago
@mouthmouse @mouthmouse Sorry to have offended you. I've learned a lot from posting on YouTube. I learned that I need to take more care and be more accurate. I put a mic on my desk so I can record anything at anytime. I can sing an aria and have it available to the world in twenty minutes. Consequently I have posted some pretty sloppy stuff on occassion. This video was meant to be musicological rather than musical. It was meant as an academic illustration but gets judged as a performance.
Agorante 4 months ago
Concert pitches historically have gone up and down. In general in the seventeenth century they were higher and in the early eighteenth lower. So Bach and Handel should probably be taken down while Monteverdi should be taken up. The part of Seneca should probably be transposed up a semi tone, maybe a whole tone. The challenging low D then becomes an easier E or E Flat. Today almost all basses can manage a low E but you generally need specialists for Ds.
Agorante 6 months ago
Dear Agorante. You have 3 times my age. I'm 21. My brother is older: He is 34. He made part of a University Choir and, as its soloist, he sang a brazilian folk song named "Uirapuru" in wich he achieved a low C. He is a statistician and does not want to sing at stage. Although is velvety voice is most appropriated for singing romantic songs, he loves to sing (in private) small opera passages where there are very low notes like in Seneca's Role. So, thank you again for Seneca's Death part.
isabelzuza 7 months ago
Dear Agorante. Do not feel crushed. Your low D of "The Abduction from the Seraglio" is good. Many great basses, like Martti Talvela, failed to sustain the low D is this aria. Just try again the low D of "L'Incoronazione di Poppea".
isabelzuza 7 months ago
@isabelzuza Thank you for your concern. You needn't worry. My voice is getting higher as is normal for someone my age. I'm 68.
I posted a low D in the "Le Cor" excerpt but I'm ahppier with an E Flat. I performed Osmin many years ago when my voice was a little lower. I was never however a true profondo. Profondos are usually chorus singers not soloists. If your brother wants to sing on stage alone he should try to work his way above the profondo range.
Agorante 7 months ago
Sorry, but your low D of "L'Incoronazione di Poppea" is not perfect. The low D of "The Abduction from the Seraglio" is better. Thank you, anyway, for showing the notes and the lyrics of Seneca's Death. I copied them to give to my big brother, who is a Basso Profondo (amateur). Sorry for my english. I am a Brazilian girl.
isabelzuza 7 months ago
@isabelzuza Not perfect! I'm crushed.
Agorante 7 months ago
I just made another very short low note demo. This is the final phrase of Le Cor - a French song made popular by Pinza. It ends on a sustained low D. I attached it to the original low note posting.
I have been playing around with the famous bass popular song of a century ago - 'Asleep in the Deep'. The sheet music was in G, meaning it ended on a low G - not quite low enough. I transposed it down to F, E Flat, and C and recorded it. I think I sound best in E Flat. My low C is a little weak.
Agorante 8 months ago
Is it a photo of you? You've got a great look! But wouldn't it be even greater if you let yourself grow a beard like Mihaly Szekely? :-)
Gandalf930 8 months ago
@Gandalf930 Yes that was my picture in the program when I sang the Commendatore in Giovanni. Last winter I did in fact grow a beard.
Agorante 8 months ago
Unfortunately, many notes are still quite wrong, especially in the Osmin excerpt. The Bb on 1:50 was really dreadful. I think you could be more particular about this corrige...
hugodraslik 1 year ago
@hugodraslik @hugodraslik
Picky, picky! This is an example of "artistic flattening". There is a similar place in the second half of the Catalog Aria where many singers emphasize that the melody doesn't resolve just yet. Maybe that's no longer good Mozart style today. I haven't sung Osmin on stage in a long time.
Agorante 1 year ago
@hugodraslik
You seem to forget that this isn't a performance. It's just an illustration. I didn't even intend to include the Osmin excerpt but I realized that I still had time after recording the Seneca piece, so I threw it in too. No rehearsal, no second takes, no post production processing. I just sang it impromptu.
Agorante 1 year ago
@Agorante
OK, I know it is only an illustration and I understand your arguments, but still I just don´t believe that an opera singer (althought retired) is not able to sing all the fourteen (!) notes in tune, when:
1) it is aria, which he has certainly heard approximately three hundred times
2) he has an accompaniment
By the way, your posts are nice and I like to listen to them, but I think if someone makes an correction, he should make it really well.
hugodraslik 1 year ago
@hugodraslik OK,OK. I'll do it again and take more time and care.
I still do sing a bit. I auditioned for Zuniga Sunday. I got it but turned it down because the part was so small and the commute so long.
I'm working on my Don Giovanni project. I've rendered the full score in MIDI and will publish it as a study aid for small opera companies and colleges. I think I'll do Carmen next or maybe Boheme or Barber.
Agorante 1 year ago
I noticed a few notes were slightly off, BUT this video is much better than your old one. Good job!
Jpmadore1 1 year ago