Showdown: Rachmaninoff Vocalise
>> Saturday, July 25, 2009
I've done this several times before: I present three different performances of a piece, and you choose the performance you like best. Here are three very well-known and loved artists performing the beautiful and haunting Rachmaninoff Vocalise. Choose your favorite and tell us why you prefer that particular performance.
Kiri Te Kanawa
Itzhak Perlman
Renee Fleming
3 comments:
Okay Lynette. . . I will play.
I like them in this order:
Perlman
Fleming
TeKanawa
I think both ladies need to study the Perlman example. The Vocalise is to be performed as if a violin is playing it. Seamless melody with a sigh/cry in the sound. . . . Both ladies have this. I really was prepared to like Kiri the best -- but Fleming had more soul and spirit. Of course just my opinion. You can't get any better than Perlman
My favorite version has a cello, not a violin...but wow, I tend to think that "Vocalise" is so gorgeous that it would sound wonderful if performed by a banjo-kazoo duo.
I think it is a tie between Perlman and Fleming. Technically Fleming is amazing, far more expressive and controlled than TeKanawa. Personal preference for me is the melody played on a stringed instrument. Sometimes the voice sounds like a musical saw. I feel so fortunate being exposed to this wonderful piece.
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