If you are a follower of my blog, I am most certain you find most of my postings movie, fashion, music or gossip related. There is however a side of me, the real me to be exact who is very much in love with classical music. My roots are classical, opera and jazz as a matter of fact. My respect for these forms of music has never and will never change and I dare say that there is no way that I as a person of principle will ever compromise my faith in music's true form and nature... That any art expression in order for it to gain credibility, must always have a strong foundation which is learning the rudiments of music and understand classical music. Whether you be a pop, hip-hop or rock music lover, one can only call oneself an expert, if you have the basic knowledge of where everything began.
And so, here's to the beginning of my "rewind" to classical music and sharing my best discoveries where I hope that at some point, will influence people to pick up a classical or jazz record and educate oneself with the true forms of music.
So, to start of, I've chosen to share my most favorite tenor, Peter Seiffert and his album "Singt Opernarien".
Peter Seiffert has behind him a career of more than 25 years by now and during the last decade he has been increasingly associated with Wagner roles. He started as a lyrical tenor and in 1993 when this recital was recorded, he still refused to be pigeonholed as a Mozart tenor or a Wagner tenor. He wanted to sing both and anything in between. He sang Lohengrin, Ottavio and Tamino “in rapid succession” at the Munich Opera Festival and his Wagner profited from the lyrical qualities of his Mozart. He has been singing operetta too and here we have him in a baker’s dozen of Italian arias, spanning from the light lyrical, almost tenorino role of Ernesto in Don Pasquale to spinto roles like Manrico, Andrea Chenier, Radames and Calaf.
Born in January 5, 1954, Peter began his music studies at the Musikhochschule in Düsseldorf and made his debut in 1978 at the Deutschen Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf/Duisburg. In 1986, he married the soprano Lucia Popp, 15 years his senior; later, he married another soprano, Petra-Maria Schnitzer.
He established his career at the Bayreuth Festival, regularly appearing in the title role of Lohengrin, which he last performed in 2005 with his wife Schnitzer in the role of Elsa. In 2003 he was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording, for his performance of Tannhäuser, under Daniel Barenboim. Today, he is a sought-after Heldentenor, singing many of the title roles of Wagner's best-known operas.
In the album "Singt Opernarien", Peter picks a varied repertoire that showcases his melting tone and outstanding control. Not only does he posses one of the worlds most beautiful tones, it is a crystal clear sound whose placement is most secure and transitions are not felt. Skill and technique that makes moving from note to note, crossing the passagio with so much ease one wonders where he breathes in these phrases.
The album opens with one Tamino's opening aria from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte "Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön". An aria that poses such challenge with its leaps and melody it puts intonation to the test. And Mozart as playful as it may sound demands the most difficult technique which is to sing something so difficult and make it seem easy. Peter duplicates the same skill in "Un' aura amorosa" you almost wish you could be Fiordiligi to his Ferrando.
Moving on to the French selections, I have to say that I've always been a huge fan Richard Leech's "Faust" where his version of "Salut! Demeure chaste et pure" offers a melting tone and ring that makes your head turn. Seiffert on the other hand offers that same but with more masculinity. Crowning the aria with a solid high note in the outburst "Où se devine la présence" giving it just enough pathos one can feel Faust's flawed self esteem as a character in itself. In "La fleur que tu m'avias jetée", Seiffert as well gives just the right amount of desperation in his proclamations. Declaring love and desperation it is wrapped in vulnerability.
I have to admit my favorite numbers in this album are the Wagner numbers. But those are already his signature. I may yet to hear a good version of "Winterstürme" for to this day, Seiffert is still the only version I always listen to. How I wish he recorded this with Lucia Popp, I can almost imagine her in "Du bist der lenz" and how beautifully their voices blend together.
The Puccini numbers are also gems in this album. "E lucevan le stelle" is delivered flawlessly and "Addio, fiorito asil" sang impeccably. Although with Puccini, it really is such an effort to listen to just arias alone for his operas are created like fabric. Each piece woven together and a number cannot exist without the other. The preparation each number and continuing scenes are missed and Puccini can truly be appreciated when heard as a whole.
Peter Seiffert is one of the greatest tenors in the whole world. He may not have been a household name like Pavarotti, but his voice is one of the most majestic voices I have ever heard, whose technique is simply "impeccable."
That's it for now. I shall be back with another classical CD "rewind" soon. Hope you liked my views and if you have any comments or request, don't hesitate to write!
Toink! :o)
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