More on the Human Voice
Our ears are like so much of the rest of us, formed by nurture but also preprogrammed in some way by nature. So while my tastes may be very different from yours it is possible that something of what I experience and enjoy in music is shared. In that vein, I thought I would spill some ink on the voices that I enjoy the most, hoping that you may also find them enjoyable.
As I have said elsewhere, in the world of jazz, there has been no greater voice than that of Ella Fitzgerald. Her voice is creamy and warm. The way she joins notes and slides between them is remarkable. That's a dangerous thing to do. It is so easy to simply sound off key.
In the development of jazz the music transitioned from its marginal roots into something more commercial and palatable for a "white" audience in a still largely segregated United States. Sometimes the songs Ella recorded are a little too milquetoast, but that's what the record company execs wanted and the public certainly bought. On the other hand, her talent overcame the limitations of the material she was sometimes asked to sing.
As an aside, this same pattern of moving from marginal to mainstream has been characteristic of most forms of popular music in the last sixty years. I don't think these transitions have been uniformly successful.
Another voice I really enjoy is Isabel Bayrakdarian. Her "popular" credit is that she sang on the soundtrack to "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." Her voice is one of those pure soprano voices with a lovely dash of colour but without much in the way of vibrato. In an earlier generation, Kathleen Battle would have represented such a voice, delicate and comfortable in the higher parts of the soprano register.
Ms. Bayrakdarian sings regularly with the Canadian Opera Company. I think she is going to appear in a couple of different operas next season. Her recordings, however, span a variety of music especially from her familial homeland of Armenia. Christianity is in the heart and soul of that country. The vast majority of Armenians are Orthodox Christians like Ms. Bayrakdarian herself. There are also Armenian Catholics whose rites are virtually the same as their Orthodox cousins.
One of her albums is called "Joyous Light". She sings liturgical music of the Armenian Church. Beautiful, haunting, evocative, spine-tingling are just some of the descriptors I could provide. In a more recent album she sings the songs of a legendary Armenian folk musician, Gomidas. I've found all her albums to be very enjoyable and they've made me want to play them again and again.
Another singer I really enjoy is Cecilia Bartoli. She is what is termed a mezzo-soprano, that is, her range is slightly lower than that of a true soprano. She is not short on colour or vibrato! She is a pre-eminent "colouratura" singer. This generally puts her in the realm of some specific opera repertoire, particularly earlier operas by composers like Handel and Mozart although I have a very nice DVD of her singing in Rossini's, "Cenerentola", or "Cinderella". She sings with conviction and she acts with aplomb, something that does not always happen in opera. Sometimes you get the musical performer without credible acting.
Like Isabel Bayrakdarian she has also shown an interest in recording more obscure music. She has resurrected a great deal of material by the "red priest", Antonio Vivaldi. In the recent past she came out with a disc of music sung by the 19th century sensation Maria Malibran. For ordinary mortals the only way we can imagine the musical past is through efforts like these that show us both the beauty of the past and the transient nature of the present.
Cecilia Bartoli is one of those people who is a force of nature. Aside from interest in the music she sings so well, her personality, love and passion will shine right through -- and just maybe you will be hooked.
As I have said elsewhere, in the world of jazz, there has been no greater voice than that of Ella Fitzgerald. Her voice is creamy and warm. The way she joins notes and slides between them is remarkable. That's a dangerous thing to do. It is so easy to simply sound off key.
In the development of jazz the music transitioned from its marginal roots into something more commercial and palatable for a "white" audience in a still largely segregated United States. Sometimes the songs Ella recorded are a little too milquetoast, but that's what the record company execs wanted and the public certainly bought. On the other hand, her talent overcame the limitations of the material she was sometimes asked to sing.
As an aside, this same pattern of moving from marginal to mainstream has been characteristic of most forms of popular music in the last sixty years. I don't think these transitions have been uniformly successful.
Another voice I really enjoy is Isabel Bayrakdarian. Her "popular" credit is that she sang on the soundtrack to "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." Her voice is one of those pure soprano voices with a lovely dash of colour but without much in the way of vibrato. In an earlier generation, Kathleen Battle would have represented such a voice, delicate and comfortable in the higher parts of the soprano register.
Ms. Bayrakdarian sings regularly with the Canadian Opera Company. I think she is going to appear in a couple of different operas next season. Her recordings, however, span a variety of music especially from her familial homeland of Armenia. Christianity is in the heart and soul of that country. The vast majority of Armenians are Orthodox Christians like Ms. Bayrakdarian herself. There are also Armenian Catholics whose rites are virtually the same as their Orthodox cousins.
One of her albums is called "Joyous Light". She sings liturgical music of the Armenian Church. Beautiful, haunting, evocative, spine-tingling are just some of the descriptors I could provide. In a more recent album she sings the songs of a legendary Armenian folk musician, Gomidas. I've found all her albums to be very enjoyable and they've made me want to play them again and again.
Another singer I really enjoy is Cecilia Bartoli. She is what is termed a mezzo-soprano, that is, her range is slightly lower than that of a true soprano. She is not short on colour or vibrato! She is a pre-eminent "colouratura" singer. This generally puts her in the realm of some specific opera repertoire, particularly earlier operas by composers like Handel and Mozart although I have a very nice DVD of her singing in Rossini's, "Cenerentola", or "Cinderella". She sings with conviction and she acts with aplomb, something that does not always happen in opera. Sometimes you get the musical performer without credible acting.
Like Isabel Bayrakdarian she has also shown an interest in recording more obscure music. She has resurrected a great deal of material by the "red priest", Antonio Vivaldi. In the recent past she came out with a disc of music sung by the 19th century sensation Maria Malibran. For ordinary mortals the only way we can imagine the musical past is through efforts like these that show us both the beauty of the past and the transient nature of the present.
Cecilia Bartoli is one of those people who is a force of nature. Aside from interest in the music she sings so well, her personality, love and passion will shine right through -- and just maybe you will be hooked.