So I'm a Sucker for Baritones: Simon Keenlyside
>> Saturday, November 20, 2010
Today I've featured Keenlyside in the role of Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. Personally, if I were Susanna, I'd dump Figaro and go for the Count! Oh BABY!
Today I've featured Keenlyside in the role of Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. Personally, if I were Susanna, I'd dump Figaro and go for the Count! Oh BABY!
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6 comments:
What is maybe the perfect Italian Opera was authored by Viennese genius. Mozart just kind of waltzed on in and showed the world how it's done. And then at 35 he was gone. That's really something.
Jasper, I totally agree. Now tell that to some of my snobby colleagues who claim that Mozart was a "hack". *sigh*
{gasp!}
...Seriously, though: Do they offer an argument for aforesaid heresy, or is it a case of "De gustibus..."?
Not really. I suspect that it's based entirely on the fact that they're not huge lovers of the classical era in general and so they're not extremely well-versed in it's history nor the context. Most of them are music theorists and the classical era in general bores them. I suppose if I were a music theorist, the classical era would bore me too, for it is more about form than innovation. However, what they don't seem to realize is that it was Mozart who moved us out of the classical era into the early romantic era, and he did it through his innovations WITHIN the strict classical form. They're also not familiar with his entire body of work--namely his chamber pieces which demonstrate a tremendous amount of harmonic intricacies and innovation. So all that to say is that their opinions are really bogus because they don't know what the hell they're talking about. ;)
Interesting.
Naturally, a form must be mastered before it can be superseded by new developments. Mozart was that master, and according to what your saying his mastery heralded the new developments to come.
Thanks for sharing.
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