Any classical music/opera fans here?

[glenn1]

Oh no, there goes the neighborhood, i'm brining up a semi-cultural topic up in the Anandtech OT forums

Went to see the Andrea Bocelli performance last night in Philadelphia, and i have to say, i was not impressed.... Andrea himself seemed either uncomfortable or miserable during the majority of his performance. For the first few pieces, he was hunched over, looking (figuratively speaking, since he's blind) down at his shoes, still as a statue. Heck, the first time he even smiled all night wasn't until after the intermission! He did perk up a bit during some of the post-intermisso pieces, particularly some sacred pieces, but by the curtain call performance of 'Con te Partiro,' he was looking withdrawn again.

He just plain seemed like he was "mailing it in" for about half the performance... he wasn't feeling any joy in the music, there didn't seem to be any life in him, and absolutely NO stage presence. He just seemed like he was in a major depressive spell.

His accompanying soprano, Cecilia Gasdia (of whom i've heard fairly glowing praise among critics, etc.) was not in top form, heck, i think she had a case of the sniffles! Her voice was pretty much shot by the end of the performance, and she wasn't strong even in the beginning, esp. in the high range.

I have to admit, the accompanying orchestra, the Hartford Symphony, was quite a pleasant surprise, extremely good. I'll have to travel up to CT sometime to catch one of their performances.

Oh well, enough of my rant mode, i guess i've been waiting for him for long enough, that i might have set some unrealistic expectations for the show. Still though, for those who might be considering going to his performance (and paying the outrageous prices for show tickets!), i would say to save your money this go around. Or was someone else at his show last night, and disagree?

 

[PhaZe]

well as a player in the high school band, i kind of have to like classical music because thats what we play for competition..
last year we played something called Slavenskaia or something, it was arranged by Boris schofchekvy err..( i dunno last name :])

this year we are playing tempered steel, sounds OK...

but thats as close as I get to classical music.

 

[Dedpuhl]

I will listen to Baroque from time to time. Harpsichords are cool... Beethoven was excellent during the late Baroque...

 

[Raspewtin]

I like classical music a lot, but am not knowledgable about it all. I dislike Opera.

 

[woodie1]

I enjoy classical music, can't stand opera though.

 

[Windogg]

Sarah Brightman tomorrow night for me.

 

[LadyNiniane]

The resident musician speaking up here!

I am sorry to hear that you apparently caught him (Bocelli) on a bad night. I've heard both good and bad things about his solo tour. Glad to know that the orchestra sounded good, though; I heard them play many years ago, and was favorably impressed then. It's nice to know that they are apparently keeping up their standards.

I didn't see the performance you mentioned, but I have noted that, as often as not, solo performances by operatic singers tend to fall rather flat. I suspect that it has a lot to do with the fact that it is a solo performance (or at most a solo with accompanying parts). Much as they may not want to admit it, the divas of the operatic stage (both male and female) are not the be-all and end-all of the show.

While it is true that many lovely solo arias exist in operatic repertoire, an equally large number of ensemble numbers also exist, and are just as frequently recognized by the average audience (sometimes more so - what's the first number that comes to mind when I say "Carmen"? Unless you are majorly into opera, you will most likely think "Toreador's Song"; even "Habanera" is as much ensemble as it is solo.)

Something else that I have noted over the years is that many opera singers simply do not have the stamina to perform a full solo concert (1-1/2 hours of on-stage work, with usually only one intermission). Doing solo work is much harder, both mentally and physically, than performing as part of an ensemble.

For some reason, the same doesn't seem to hold true for Broadway-type music stars, though (such as Sarah Brightman). Perhaps it is because the available repertoire for them spans a much larger range of music types.

Lady Niniane