Russell Oberlin 3 of 4

A chat with Russell Oberlin: Career, musical and technical thoughts.
Cinematographer: John Romeo, Sound: John Prada, Interviewer: Roberta Prada, Producers: Roberta Prada and Francis Keeping

Category:

Music

[amatorynumber]

@Hjadlowker His opinions on vocal technique have always been fine. And there wasn't anything 'personal'

[Hjadlowker]

@amatorynumber Oops! I’m sensing something personal here… As for me, I had never heard Mr. Oberling’s “speaking voice” ever before. If he has elsewhere expressed any unconventional ideas about vocal technique (which is in itself a quite polemic topic), he does not do so here: he’s simply talking about his own career. If there are any inaccuracies, which I haven’t perceived, he’d be no more imprecise than any other opera singer reminiscing. I found the vid entertaining and insightful.

[amatorynumber]

@Hjadlowker So, finally, without being pedantic, I have more sources than the wikipedia to learn about Galician, unha lingua que falo moi ben, grazas a Deus y también sobre el castellano, del que casualmete, soy un experto. Espero no haber parecido pedante, pues ya le digo que todo es una cuestión de nombres. Lamentablemente, cuando hablamos del castellano medieval seguimos llamándolo castellano y no algo diferente, un nombre por el cual se sigue conociendo a su hermosa lengua aún hoy en día.

[amatorynumber]

@Hjadlowker but, again, it is just a matter of names. The only fact I was pointing at was that Mr Oberlin really doesn't seem to know what he is talking about when it comes to countertenors, let alone when it comes to languages. As a musicologist and linguist, I know he doesn't, believe me. He is well known for defending and undefendible posture on what a countertenor is or was or whatever. He is alone today on that matter and he has on several occasions made an ass of himself.

[amatorynumber]

@Hjadlowker Dear friend: it all comes down to a matter of semantics really. The question has been put in very cultivated linguistic circles since time immemorial. Are Spaniards or Italians still speaking Latin? Did Dante write in Italian, since he never called the language in which he was writing that, but instead 'lingua volgare'? In any case, rennaissance and medieval Spanish is still Spanish and Galician-Portuguese is still Galician or Portuguese, at list in my view, which can be discussed

[Hjadlowker]

@amatorynumber Although Spanish (or, as you might prefer, “Castilian”) is my mother tongue, I’m no more of an expert in this subject than Mr. Oberlin. So, if you happen to know about any community still cultivating that ancient language anywhere in the world, I would certainly appreciate if you illustrated me about that fact.

[Hjadlowker]

@amatorynumber As far as I know, Galician-Portuguese is indeed an extinct language as it has no longer any speakers, other than a few historians and specialized scholars. I suggest you check out the Wikipedia article on “Galician-Portuguese”.

[Hjadlowker]

@amatorynumber My Dear friend: my remarks have nothing to do with the admiration I might hold for Mr. Oberlin. I’ve listened again carefully, and I’m now reassured that he is talking about about “Galician-Portuguese”, the old language in which the Cantigas were written in the XIII century. That tongue predated the Galician you can still hear today, for example, at “crtvg dot es”. It is also far removed from the modern Portuguese as spoken in Brazil and Portugal nowadays.

[amatorynumber]

@Hjadlowker I am afraid that your information is somewhat inaccurate (not totally, mind, I am giving you some credit). To say that Galician-portuguese is not spoken today is like saying that in Spain they don't speak Castilian (Spanish) anymore because it is not quite like it was in the XV century (doh!). Galician is very much alive and no matter how much you admire this man, that was a blunder. Alfonso the X did write his lyric compositions to the Virgin in Galician, yes, thank you, I know.

[Hjadlowker]

@amatorynumber Mr. Russell is referring to Galician-Portuguese (galego-portugués), a language which was spoken in Spain during the Middle Ages and in which the Galician-Portuguese lyric compositions were written in most of the Iberic penninsula during the XIII and early XIV centuries. That language is certainly no longer in use, and is the common ancestor of modern Galician, Portuguese, Eonaviego (a dialect from Asturias) and Fala (a dialect from Extremadura, today almost extict).