Anna Stephany - Dopo notte - Handel - Ariodante

Mezzo Soprano Anna Stephany sings the aria Dopo notte atra e funesta from Handel's opera Ariodante. http://www.annastephany.com Accompanied by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Directed by Lawrence Foster.

Recorded in June 2009 at St. David's Hall, Cardiff for BBC Cardiff Singer of the World.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Anna
• Stephany
• Handel
• Ariodante
• Dopo
• Notte
• Mezzo
• Mezzosoprano
• Baroque
• Haendel
• Atra
• Funestra
• George Frideric Handel
• Opera
• Music

[flaze3]

This soprano sings this aria beautifully and she gets youtube criticism shat all over her. Just goes to show how people get obsessed with trivialities and forget that classical music should quintessentially be a thing of beauty and elegance--exactly what this performance delivered.

[TheSueprano]

really terrific classy effortless singing from a consummate artist!

[TheseusTex]

@BaroqueJazzPlays And who do you like better singing this? Who does a better job of conveying the "meaning of the aria?" (You might have some good answers, actually). And what does the Beggars Opera have to do with it? Ballad operas were not even composed, they were musical plays assembled from various folk songs. Of course H would not participate in that. And if Lady Gaga could make that coloratura come out of here throat, I would have to give her kudos!

[TheseusTex]

@BaroqueJazzPlays Come on. He changed keys and instrumentation constantly depending on who was available to play. No cellos? Ok, we'll use bassoons. No harpsichord? "Fine. I'll lead from a portitive organ." Choir under-rehearsed? Fine. Have the organ double the choir parts. No castrato for that role? No problem, I'll just write a new version of the aria for soprano. He was very flexible and practical.

[BaroqueJazzPlays]

@TheseusTex 'He was practical and open to all kinds of things.'

not as open as you may think - his Italian opera company failed because he refused to change his style of work for the fashionable 'beggar’s opera'. Besides, by your understanding of interpretation, Lady Gaga or Barbara Streisand can perform the piece and be very much expectable. I don’t agree – change aspects of an opera but not the music – that would lose the meaning of the opera/arias.

[TheseusTex]

@BaroqueJazzPlays furthermore: I would guess that Handel would LOVE it. Just because it isn't straight tone, or because it's more full voiced, or because her ornaments are more creative and expressive than they were in the 70's doesn't disqualify this as "not the way Handel intended..." Besides Handel was always changing his music depending on the situation. He never had ONE way he intended it to be done. He was practical and open to all kinds of things.

[TheseusTex]

@BaroqueJazzPlays You're right. Not popular with me--this comment. What is the purpose of technique? To allow one to sing the music. When she sings we hear all the notes very clearly. We hear musical shape and phrasing. It is a beautiful timbre, in that it is not shrill or overly bright. We can understand the text. I love it.

[ballbasher100]

these competitions in my opinion are a vehicle for mediocrity. 

[ballbasher100]

ooh, early music forum, hit a nerve.

[ballbasher100]

I am sorry, but to say that she is singing Handle with the wrong technique is rubbish. There is only one way to sing opera and that is with true appoggio. She has none. There is no chest connection which is why we have a passionless performance with vocal gymnastics meaning nothing. Handle seems to have been completely hijacked by the english school. Namely the Cambridge Mafia resulting in these meaningless contrived performances. Sad

[ballbasher100]

hhhh

[BaroqueJazzPlays]

@dimrous1960 Well, no doubt some will see it as a “couch-potato music critic” writing negative things, but it’s what I hear and feel… I have a clip of Plácido Domingo singing ‘Ciel e terra armi di sdegno’ and the same applies to him… using the wrong techniques for a baroque opera performance…