Seneca takes a Bath

The dramatic point of Seneca is his contrast as a serious person with the hedonistic Emperor Nero. Seneca was a major author, a stoic philosopher and had been Nero's tutor and thus in effect the ruler of the Roman empire.

Scholars tell us that much of Christianity is based on the stoicism of Seneca.

Nero required his former tutor to commit suicide. Romans did that in a bath tub.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• L'Incoronazione
• di
• Poppea
• Monteverdi
• Nicolai
• Ghiaurov
• Seneca

[SilverPinions]

The title sounds like the grimmest children's book ever written.

[Agorante]

@SilverPinions At this point in Roman history they were a bit like the Tokugawa Shogunate. There were no executions or duels or imprisonment. Laws were enforced by mandated suicide. Only a century before under the Republic such orders would have been unthinkable. A century or so later and the emperors themselves were rountinely assassinated. Seneca was about in the middle, halfway between strict civil rights and total chaos.

[Agorante]

Yes, yes he sings an E natural and the score indicates a D. But... The modern score is not from the original performances. And who knows what the concert pitch was. Certainly not A=440hz. It may have been anywhere from 380 to 480.

[Riparotondo]

The tonality is transposed. Ghiaurov sings a marvellous low D instead of a low C (Salminen sings low C)

[Agorante]

I bought an electronic pitch pipe because I was criticized for being off on my low notes. But the D it produces is two octaves above low D. My pitch discrimination isn't good enough to be accurate. Someone else had written that it was an E. I accepted that judgement.

I went to the piano in the living room again. It sounds like an E to me not a D. But my ear isn't very good and it's a long way to hold a pitch in my head.

I'm sure someone with absolute pitch will comment.

[MarioLubenov]

Yes, Paris 1978. I was at this performance. One of my most great remembrances of Ghiaurov. He surpassed everybody, even Vickers, making a Seneca full of grandeur like I have never heard before, after, and probably will never hear again. I was 22. Ghiaurov was a unique phenomenon, a real artist, a real singer. Now it's different. I'm not judging anyone, I simply try to compare, but he was a true genius at stage. Today we have only second hand talents.

[TraVoiBelle]

TREMENDOUS!

The stupendous Ghiaurov!

The greatest!

[abracadabranque]

@ranigema Toujours avec les personnes de coeur et d'esprit!

Ciao!

[ranigema]

@abracadabranque sei molto carino!

ciao!

[abracadabranque]

@ranigema Quelle chance as-tu de ne pas connaître cette voix lourde et inconsistante à la fois!Tu ne perds rien;épargne tes oreilles,elles seront mieux employées ailleurs!

Amitiés.

Mitia.

[ranigema]

@abracadabranque tu ridi caro e hai ragione di ridere...il mondo della lirica ha cambiato molto negli ultimi anni.

ma davvero chi é questo Salminen?!?

come si può parlare di Ghiaurov e di Salminen?!?!?

la stessa cosa se parliamo di De Angelis e Ruggero Raimondi...

che mondo ignorante! 

[abracadabranque]

@bodiloto Encore sur le pont?

[abracadabranque]

@bodiloto Je t'embrasse aussi,et je préfère le salami!