No offense, but your sound absolutely stops in your throat at the cords. From personal experience I have found this to be an impossible way to try to sing. Again, no offense, but you sound like you are in pain here. Who cares if you can sing notes, high and low. I also read where you slammed Alredo Kraus for leading singers astray for singing in the mask. Please, you could use some anchoring in the mask yourself. This display is horrendous.
@rovingdesertfox No offense taken. This aria was suggested to me by young bass in Italy. It has a lot of range and as I practiced it my low notes got better but the sweetness and smothness faded. This is my profondo technique. I sang this way when I did Monteverdi but I sang much differently for for the big high buffo roles like Geronimo or Bartolo. It ain't supposed to be pretty just impressive. BTW I'm very loud when needed. It's the soft high notes that I can't do.
@rovingdesertfox Your criticism of my voice couldn't be motivated by revenge for criticizing Kraus could it? Whenever I criticized Pavarotti I'd get death threats. I always loved Simoneau and wasn't happy when EMI replaced him for Mozart with Kraus. But I heard Kraus many times in most of his best roles. He was a much better Nemorino for example than Pavarotti - except for the aria, Pavarotti's voice was just better. But Big P was lost on stage and didn't know the music.
@Agorante I am also a bass and struggled when not anchoring my head voice support into the area just below my nose and above my top row of teeth. I am coming from experience. I have sung in front of audiences and died a thousand deaths because, although the support was strong from below, singing becomes a mighty effort that cannot be sustained. I reacted harshly and for that I am sorry. I hear wonderful qualities in your voice; I just didn't want you to suffer the way I did.
@Agorante I used to sing in the mask. My first real teacher used that method. The result was that I always had intonation problems. Kraus has a much better voice than me of course but I think he would have been better if he had sung more conventionally with a rounder tone. He couln't sing roles like Cavaradossi because his voice tired. He seemed to think that not sealing the velum gave him a better top. I don't think so.
This is an impossible aria as written but I may have found a way to do it. I've been practicing it a half step down. That takes the bottom down to a C and a lot of sustained low Ds. But the first high G then is only an F#. I may be able to manage the high A Flat transposed down to a G. I think this may have been how it was done originally.
hmmmm. D'Arcangelo's version sounds a bit smoother, however it lacks the interest yours has... I fail to see [hear] how this piece could project any particular emotion with such godawful intervals. And the range! Manna must have been as freakishly endowed as Rubini....
Well, this is a pretty heavy version of it, especially compared to the other ones on youtube... But I believe you are right about the interpretation. I don´t even know, why is the piece even WRITTEN so sweetly. When cyclops singing, I would put there some fortissimo brass instruments, minor seconds... OK, I know they had very strict composition rules in baroque, but still, this music is not enough illustrative of the story it should describe.
This is the version written for Manna. The version Handel wrote for the much more famous bass Boschi is much easier. No high notes and no low notes. Except for the range this is an easy piece. No coloratura and no soft high notes. I sing it as if it were the Grand Inquisitor from Don Carlo. I'm sure to be scolded for that artistic choice by the Baroque experts. So be it.
I recorded this in one take. My biggest problem is getting tired. Low notes take a lot of air.
I woke up this morning and recorded this before I had my first cup of coffee. I should continue to work on it. But I probably won't. It's not as if I'm likely to ever sing this on stage (but I'd like too). In this take I sing several wrong words. My apologies to the Italians.
I also skip a couple high notes. Normally I do the High G but never the High A Flat or A Natural. This morning I also skipped the G.
No offense, but your sound absolutely stops in your throat at the cords. From personal experience I have found this to be an impossible way to try to sing. Again, no offense, but you sound like you are in pain here. Who cares if you can sing notes, high and low. I also read where you slammed Alredo Kraus for leading singers astray for singing in the mask. Please, you could use some anchoring in the mask yourself. This display is horrendous.
rovingdesertfox 3 weeks ago
@rovingdesertfox No offense taken. This aria was suggested to me by young bass in Italy. It has a lot of range and as I practiced it my low notes got better but the sweetness and smothness faded. This is my profondo technique. I sang this way when I did Monteverdi but I sang much differently for for the big high buffo roles like Geronimo or Bartolo. It ain't supposed to be pretty just impressive. BTW I'm very loud when needed. It's the soft high notes that I can't do.
Agorante 3 weeks ago
@rovingdesertfox Your criticism of my voice couldn't be motivated by revenge for criticizing Kraus could it? Whenever I criticized Pavarotti I'd get death threats. I always loved Simoneau and wasn't happy when EMI replaced him for Mozart with Kraus. But I heard Kraus many times in most of his best roles. He was a much better Nemorino for example than Pavarotti - except for the aria, Pavarotti's voice was just better. But Big P was lost on stage and didn't know the music.
Agorante 3 weeks ago
@Agorante I am also a bass and struggled when not anchoring my head voice support into the area just below my nose and above my top row of teeth. I am coming from experience. I have sung in front of audiences and died a thousand deaths because, although the support was strong from below, singing becomes a mighty effort that cannot be sustained. I reacted harshly and for that I am sorry. I hear wonderful qualities in your voice; I just didn't want you to suffer the way I did.
rovingdesertfox 3 weeks ago
@Agorante I used to sing in the mask. My first real teacher used that method. The result was that I always had intonation problems. Kraus has a much better voice than me of course but I think he would have been better if he had sung more conventionally with a rounder tone. He couln't sing roles like Cavaradossi because his voice tired. He seemed to think that not sealing the velum gave him a better top. I don't think so.
Agorante 3 weeks ago
This is an impossible aria as written but I may have found a way to do it. I've been practicing it a half step down. That takes the bottom down to a C and a lot of sustained low Ds. But the first high G then is only an F#. I may be able to manage the high A Flat transposed down to a G. I think this may have been how it was done originally.
Agorante 1 month ago in playlist Uploaded videos
hmmmm. D'Arcangelo's version sounds a bit smoother, however it lacks the interest yours has... I fail to see [hear] how this piece could project any particular emotion with such godawful intervals. And the range! Manna must have been as freakishly endowed as Rubini....
Randidan 2 months ago
@Randidan I'm flattered to be mentioned in the same sentence with D'Arcangelo.
Agorante 1 month ago
@Agorante I can't help thinking that I would rate you in even better terms in your hayday!
Randidan 1 month ago
Well, this is a pretty heavy version of it, especially compared to the other ones on youtube... But I believe you are right about the interpretation. I don´t even know, why is the piece even WRITTEN so sweetly. When cyclops singing, I would put there some fortissimo brass instruments, minor seconds... OK, I know they had very strict composition rules in baroque, but still, this music is not enough illustrative of the story it should describe.
hugodraslik 2 months ago
Finally a true Polyphemus!! You can skip all the notes you like: everyone does with this aria.
BassoCantante19 2 months ago
Hello Agorante
I agree, this piece is not evident to sing, anyway, you make a beautiful demonstration of a very nice dramatic voice with a big vocal range ...
Cheers!!!
Pierre
opera1232010 2 months ago
This is the version written for Manna. The version Handel wrote for the much more famous bass Boschi is much easier. No high notes and no low notes. Except for the range this is an easy piece. No coloratura and no soft high notes. I sing it as if it were the Grand Inquisitor from Don Carlo. I'm sure to be scolded for that artistic choice by the Baroque experts. So be it.
I recorded this in one take. My biggest problem is getting tired. Low notes take a lot of air.
Agorante 2 months ago
I deleted the snippet I had posted before.
I woke up this morning and recorded this before I had my first cup of coffee. I should continue to work on it. But I probably won't. It's not as if I'm likely to ever sing this on stage (but I'd like too). In this take I sing several wrong words. My apologies to the Italians.
I also skip a couple high notes. Normally I do the High G but never the High A Flat or A Natural. This morning I also skipped the G.
Agorante 2 months ago