donaldrose's channel

Cuba was a fertile breeding ground for wonderful music. This was cut off and many of us wonder why. Perhaps they made the tragic error of not rolling over and letting the US defeat them.

Just how much music the world has missed we will never know but these ageing gentlemen are showing us a glim...

I took a while to warm to Jose's voice because of the break when he moves through the passagio. But his warmth, musicianship and other qualities won me over. Now I listen to him more than perhaps any other tenor and I am a Bjoerling lover so that is saying something. Probably better sound with...

Wow! Artistry, a lovely voice and great technique! Please, please I pray don't force this great talent into the sprinto and dramitco range too early. Let's keep this thrilling freshness for as long as possible.

firstly, for some reason I only got the right channel. However I believe this singer is in pitch but does sing some 'creative' notes not necessarily written by Schubert. Also she has a very light voice for a mezzo and that makes her sound slightly sharp.

I sing with the Sydney Male Choir and we have both Renae and her new husband Gavin Lockley who wrote this wonderful music appearing at our Fathers Day Concert at the Sydney Town Hall this September (2011).

Hearing this world-class voice here has me eager to hear her and Gavin live. And I 've go...

Wow! He handles the difficult tessitura of this aria with great skill and aplomb. One of the great tenors of all time.

Listening to how effortless Domingo makes this sound, one would never know just how hideously difficult this aria can be. From "O dolce bacio..." the tessitura is a killer.

The guy is a master of technique. He must be, look at how well he is singing in his late 60's.

It is important to realise that in a proper choral recording session the sound technician takes a great deal of care with the positioning of many microphones and then carefully blending the input at a mixing desk for optimal balance.

This appears to have been done with nothing more than a hand he...

I sang in an arena concert and there was an Irish dancing troupe appearing. The music was great, the dancing was great and the whole thing was spoiled by the really hideous and phoney curley red wigs the lovely young lasses were wearing.

Why????

Quite simply one of the world's most beautiful women. And she can sing too!!

Well I listen to music and couldn't care less abour sex, religion or skin colour. This is a beautiful rendition.

However knowing how many superb female violinists in orchestras and as soloists, I suspect that the loss was mainly to the Vienese audiences when women were not allowed.

Fascinating to hear and see the change in technique between this video done pre Carreras's illness and how he sang afterwards. His voice is more effortlessly pure here and has a stronger baritone ring. From the late 1980's he dropped his lower jaw in an exaggerted manner with singing A-flat and...

Tauber set out to be a conductor but could only find regular work as a singer. A bit like Jose Cura. Domingo originally studied piano but switched to studying voice. Domingo can do anything because his parents owned a Zarzuelo troupe where he would fill in roles, conduct, play rehearsal piano,...

@Medusa49 After the medley he sings Vechernye Zvon which became a signature song for him. Later in his life his technique improved tremendously and this allowed him to move more seamlessly from chest tone to his falsetto for the high notes.

It is quite common for well-trained singers to have a ...

standing alone on stage you do not get a proper impression of how tiny this wonderful artist was. She was about 4' 9" but from injuries she had a hunched posture later in her life which would have made her even smaller.

She was beyond doubt a unique interpreter of songs with a style which will n...

Erk! The basses ARE flat. Also the attack on the entry is sloppy. The basses stayed flat as the tenors entered and the whole thing was giving me bad shivers.

Sorry but this choir should do better.

I too like this tempo. I find that the more competent the conductor the more likely the tempi are quicker. Then there are the masters who have the immense skill to wring every last bit of emotion, interpretation and feeling from slower tempi but these are rare.

Kudos to the conductor, lovely in...

The back story to this song which many do not know is as follows.

Cavaradossi goes onto the roof of the castle and notes that although the sun had breached the horizon enough to cause the sky to turn blue, the stars were still visible and "shining brightly".

How could an artist not break into so...

The issue with this aria is not the high notes which are A-natural. The problem it causes is because of the high tessitura of the whole piece. There are repeated G's and all of it sung stringento and with passion. Very tough.

I heard a tenor sing it transopsed down a half tone when a week earl...

It ain't what Puccini wrote but still its a nice stylizaton of the piece.

Puccini wrote all the stylising needed into the music and I prefer a reading much closer to what Puccini wrote.

A few years ago I was driving and this voice came on to the radio. I was stunned and had to pull over to hear him properly.

Excellent voice and technique. He has already had a fine career but his technique will ensure that it will last for many decades to come.

Aubin Metha

Carreras had a limpid, gentle quality to his voice. Domingo is a lyrico-dramatic tenor, Pavarotti was a lyrico-sprinto tenor for much of his career although started as a pure lyric tenor. Carreras is a marvellous example of a true lyric tenor who can still keep a manly tone as required.

Some liberties were taken but when the voice and musicianship is of this amazing standard, it is allowed. The man died at the hands of the NAZIs over 65 years ago yet he made such an impact that he is still being heard, studied, and loved in the new milenniium.

a) I am not, nor do I wish to ever be American.

b) I regard your use of what should be musical comment space for a great American, to voice remarks not appropriate to the space.

c) I am embarrassed that I got sucked into your malignant and polemic string.

d) I apologise to all for getting invol...

I agree with all the comments on the excellence of the Tenor section. The tone is almost uniquely well produced.

At the beginning there is a B1 or B2 scooping up into the correct pitch on a few entries. Other than that very tiny niggle this is well done.

It is interesting how this more mature choir differs from the other younger Glee club choirs. Neither is superior, just different.

I want to comment on some comments.

The final N in Amen was fine. Also the alternative suggested could be fine, just different.

Their Latin pronunciation was fine albeit with a sllight American lilt.

I loved the sound that these young voices make. It is vastly different to that made by male choi...

Who are the guys in civvies during rehearsals and in formal wear but not uniform on Stage Left (ouor right) Is this a supplemental civilian choir?

There is no "operatic sound". Good vocal coaches strip away faults which may harm the voice and which may prevent it from achieving its power and tonal range.

When a singer has to sing to the back rows in an opera house it ends up with a particular sound. Terfal can also croon gently and it doe...

Continued from below.

In any concert where the voice is not amplified, the hall and the voice or instrument combine as a musical instrument. To fight the venue's natural resonance is insane. Instead you have to use it with intelligence with adjustments in vibrato.

Three years ago I sang in a ti...