Contrarian that I am, I dislike tenors. The high notes always sound to me as if someone were administering the Heimlich maneuver to get their voices into that register --pinched and tight. I love Placido Domingo though --perhaps because he was originally a baritone (hey! he's going back!) and there's an effortless quality to his voice. I just discovered an album of him singing classic mariachi songs (I've always loved true folk music --not the Pete Seeger variety) that I'm in love with --the melodies!
The Anchoress reminds me of something else I admire about him: he seems truly to love music, and not just the sound of his own voice. Witness this video of him teaching a master class. PBS used to carry these master classes all the time, and usually the guests used them just to showboat. The student would perform, the star would try hard not to look bored and then "show 'em how it's done" --performing the same song himself, of course much better, to thunderous applause. Domingo's master classes were different --he took an interest in the singer and actually taught, such that the audience learned something and the student improved. I love musicians with that kind of generosity.
Subscribe to:
Comment Feed (RSS)
