Dear Martyn
Yes - I agree with everything you say. I haven't listened to the whole
concert yet - I got as far as the "Foscarini" piece and gave up. Maybe I
will have time for the rest this weekend.
I am quite often sent CDs to review of this early Italian repertoire and the
unsuitabilty of the singers in general is a problem especially we are not
encouraged to say what we think!
I suppose the "tin-pan alley" approach is adopted to try and make the music
appeal to a broader audience. In the end musicians have to earn a living.
Just performing the songs with a single plucked string accompaniment, which
may have been the norm, is just not going to attract many to the cause.
Regards
Monica
----- Original Message -----
From: "Martyn Hodgson" <hodgsonmar...@yahoo.co.uk>
To: "Stuart Walsh" <s.wa...@ntlworld.com>; "Monica Hall"
<mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk>
Cc: "Vihuelalist" <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 8:06 AM
Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: Foscarini on Radio 3
Dear Monica,
I very much agree about Kozena's singing: there's a fashion for well
known sopranos to try their hand at small scale 'early music' but few
seem to be able to make the transition succesfully (somewhat like
similar rather wincing attempts at Broadway musicals).
In addition to problems evident in her rendition of 'Si dolce
tormento', what I found particularly disturbing was a frequent
inability to get the pitch quite right - whether this was because she
was trying to control her (pitch) vibrato or because she was unused to
being accompanied by a relatively small band (with relatively soft
instruments - bear in mind we're not hearing the performance but the
performance tweaked by sound engineers so don't really know what the
actual balance was). Perhaps she's happier with orchestral
accompaniment - I understand her Handel and Gluck opera roles have gone
down well in the past.
I ought to say this doesn't just apply to Kozena: I recently heard
Blow's Venus and Adonis with Venus sung by the operatic soprano
Rosemary Joshua which had similar pitching problems - not just me,
acquintances also remarked on it. Presumably producers judge that the
fame of the name will ensure recording sales.....
M
PS I also agree about the kitchen sink - but again I largely blame the
producers and sound engineers who I suspect encourage bands in this
manner of delivery, thinking it will be more 'exciting' and the novelty
will thus generate more listening/sales.
--- On Thu, 26/8/10, Monica Hall <mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk> wrote:
From: Monica Hall <mjlh...@tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: [VIHUELA] Re: Foscarini on Radio 3
To: "Stuart Walsh" <s.wa...@ntlworld.com>
Cc: "Vihuelalist" <vihuela@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Date: Thursday, 26 August, 2010, 19:42
Thank you for that! I was listening to the concert on the Radio 3
website but I couldn't recognise it at all. It sounded a bit like
Piccinini's Chiaccona Cappona alla vera Spagnola. Maybe it's just
something they have made up themselves and attributed to
Foscarini. His book does include a different Chiaccona of
Piccinini's.
I dont really like these arrangements with everything but the kitchen
sink in them. That's one of the few things I agree with Lex about.
Baroque guitar music is meant to be played on the baroque guitar. I
didn't particularly like Magdalena Kozuna's singing either - what I
heard of it. I think she completely spoiled Monteverdi's Si dolce
tormento.
Maybe I will find time to listen to the rest of the concert before they
wipe it off. Meanwhile - leave it on you website. If I listen to it
a few more times I might trace it.
Cheers
Monica
--- Original Message ----- From: "Stuart Walsh"
<[1]s.wa...@ntlworld.com>
To: "Vihuelalist" <[2]vihu...@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2010 6:41 PM
Subject: [VIHUELA] Foscarini on Radio 3
>
> The whole concert by Private Musicke (and brief description of it)
can be heard here.
>
> The songs and pieces were played uninterrupted in each half. This,
presumably, is the Foscarini:
>
> [3]http://www.pluckedturkeys.co.uk/Ff.mp3
>
>
> Stuart
>
>
>
> To get on or off this list see list information at
> [4]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
--
References
1. http://uk.mc263.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=s.wa...@ntlworld.com
2. http://uk.mc263.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=vihu...@cs.dartmouth.edu
3. http://www.pluckedturkeys.co.uk/Ff.mp3
4. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
