MaidenOfTheShieldarm wrote: |
I finally got around to listening to Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium (which I know I'm misspelling) last night, and it was so beautiful!
The spelling is perfect!
(Which I think can't be said for Jude's "Auferzehen, ja auferzehen"?
)
Glad you liked it - it's one of my favourites, too.
Last week at choir rehearsal, there were too few of us there to start working at something new, so we just did the choruses from the first and last cantata (we are performing those two at the Christmas concert anyway) - most people in the choir know these pretty well, so we could just sing them and postpone detailed work
- the first made us feel all Christmasy, and the last I just love because it kicks ass!
Alatar, I love opera very much, but it's definitely something you need to see live on stage, I think.
I love all kinds of vocal music, very hard to name favourite singers.
As to counter-tenors, the film "Farinelli" some years ago did for counter-tenors what "Amadeus" did for Mozart.
I've got a very interesting CD, called "Le Temps des Castrats" (EMI, and a number on it: 5 55054 2, not sure if that's something like the ISBN number) - it has recordings of 12 different counter-tenors, not all equally good, but great for getting an idea of who you like. And as a special bonus it has the only existing recording (if I understand the French index list correctly) of one of the last real castratos then living - I don't think it sounds great, but the recording dates from 1902, and the guy was old by that time, so I guess allowances need to be made.
I've got quite a few counter-tenor CDs, I can post a list if you'd like.