Miscellany music post
First, some links.
Found somewhere in the blogosphere but I forget where, damn it: a guide to Medieval and Renaissance Instruments. In case you wondered what a transverse flute, a shawm, a rebec, or a crumhorn looked (and sounded) like. I’m having early-instrument envy again.
Lynn Sislo offers Vivaldi and Dvorak recommendations. [runs to library’s music recording section at top speed]
The New York Times profiles soprano Lisa Saffer, who’s currently appearing in the NY City Opera’s production of Handel’s Xerxes. Interesting commentary on the ways in which even an "authentic" production must needs be inauthentic.
(And, not so linky, but sort of related…)
Unanswered questions prompted by the "Very Best of Maria Callas" CD I’m listening to this evening: What accounts for the appeal of "Ebben, ne andrò lontana" from Catalani’s La Wally? Is it because that’s the aria that features so prominently in the movie Diva as the bootleg tape that everyone wants to get their hands on, and something about that context informs all subsequent hearings? And would it still move me if I didn’t know that "mai più" means "never again," or if I weren’t on the verge of going far away myself? When I listen to it again in (let’s hope) happier times in the future, will it hit me in the same way again? How much of one’s response to music is filtered through whatever emotions one is feeling at the time, and how much of it is in the music itself?
You know, there’s an easy way for you to get involved in early music performance. Do you play recorder? if not, it’s dead easy to learn. Just get yourself a plastic Yamaha recorder for a few bucks and the von Trapp family’s “The Enjoyment of Recorder”. And every major city, it seems, has a chapter of the American Recorder Society, who are always loving for people to join and share the love… Wish you lived close to me, I need to enthusiastic people to play in this blasted Collegium I’m trying to do.
Ooooh… how I love early brass instruments! It’s a pity they’re all so difficult to play in tune, particularly with an out-of-shape embrochure.
Ew! No! Don’t start with a plastic recorder! Especially not a soprano one. Look for a used alto or tenor instead. 🙂
Recorders are great. And they _are_ easy to learn. Two good books are _The Recorder Guide_ by Kulbach and Nikta, and.. oh, dang, I can’t remember the title. I’ll post it when I get home and can see it.
Here it is: Kenneth Wollitz, _The Recorder Book_ (which should win a prize for its long subtitle).
A good plastic recorder is not a bad thing. A wooden one, esp a used one, will have a lot of quirks that someone who is not used to wind instruments won’t know how to deal with. Like if it hasn’t been oiled properly, or with the larger ones, has quirky keys. A good plastic recorder will give a beginner an evenness of sound and will not cost nearly as much. I would definitely not start with anything lower than an alto. The amount and types of repertoire available aren’t as satisfying for the beginner.
Good points, Jeannette. I guess I was speaking mostly from the perspective of someone who _hates_ the sound of the higher pitched recorders, and the plastic sopranos seem particularly prone to setting my nerves on end. I’m also someone whose had good luck with several recorders bought for cheap at the swap meet (soprano, alto and tenor — all of which proved truer to pitch than my starter plastic soprano). I understand that’s not for everyone.
I have to say I’ve never had any trouble finding things to play on my tenor, largely because it is keyed in the same way as a soprano. I’ve had worse luck finding interesting solo stuff for the alto.
Coolness. I think I’ll take up the subject of recorders with my recorder-playing relatives (my mother and several aunts and uncles).
I wish I lived in New Orleans too! Except the humidity would probably undo me after a while. I’v never been there, but it sounds like a fascinating city.
Well, I must agree with you, Rana on preferring the sounds of the lower-pitched recorders. Played well in consort they almost sound like an organ.
I guess that would also partly explain why I gravitate to large, stringed instruments. 🙂
Well, the humidity is a doozy, but you get used to it for most of the year.