Sound and Clouds and Thunder (59)

[Sandrina Piau (Asteria) and Sara Mingardo (Tamerlano) singing “Vivo in te, mio caro bene” from Handel’s “Tamerlano”. – Clip with thanks to the wonderful thebarroque]

…

We should probably start the new and next year of resistance with something upbeat and energetic and full of righteous fury, but screw that. Let’s sidestep the bigger buttons for how, we need selfcare to disable them sustainably.

So what has been running on repeat instead has been this languid example of respectful communication, in every sense of the word (and the whole album, too) – we may still be blinking with apprehension into this New Year, and I don’t know about you, but if I look at cold gray skies, what I need is some soprano/contralto dueting to remind me of what I am fighting for and what my standpoint is.

May you land gently in 2018.

(and the ad-documentary on recording the album is out there. For added sunshine or pillows or and extended breathing in of humanity)

 

35 thoughts on “Sound and Clouds and Thunder (59)”

    1. you are not gonna believe.. but i have somehow overlooked this cd… mainly because back when i was discovering SM i listened to this once and got major headache from SPiau’s voice (probably wrong day to listen to sopranos..) and have been shelving it since! (also back then i knew very little about Händel besides Ariodante & Alcina.. and had never heard of Alessandrini… now more seasoned.. )

      Listening to this duet made me so wish i’ve seen them together in an opera.. I think when SM first sang Cesare (or Rinaldo), Rousset also casted Piau as the lead soprano role and that’s how they first collaborated.

      related to this pair, i’d also highly recommend their Aci Galatea disc with E.Haïm.
      (i also read a small excerpt somewhere someone asked S.Piau what brings her to tears and she said SM’s voice..)

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        1. procrastinating while attempting to balance my (numerical) budget…
          “I immediately felt vocal and musical affinities with Sara,” says Sandrine enthusiastically. And Sara Mingardo felt she was “in harmony” with Sandrine Piau, whom she regards as “the greatest interpreter of Handel” and with whom she “can sight-read a score very fast and immediately share the same phrasings.”
          The quote came from the liner-note of the cd..

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      2. Piau said that? 🙂 SMs voice does have a very strong sort of ‘physical’ effect, must be some special audio spectrum that manages to go straight through to the deeper centres of emotion control.
        Actually a bit funny, in the Ulisse, when SM alternates with Dumaux, I very clearly feel myself switching between stomach fluttering (Mingardo) and goosebumps (Dumaux), and back.
        I don’t know the Haim Aci Galatea yet, will need to check it out.

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        1. yes, they also have a little video together for the recording :-). It was E.Haïm’s first ever cd recording with her orchestra. Prior to that i believed she met S.Mingardo when SM sang Rinaldo under Rousset and EH was the harpsichordist. It was interesting hearing both SM and S.Piau discussing what E.Haïm is as a conductor..

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          1. ah, now i remember what i wanted to say: of how much i enjoyed this cd as opposed to Riccardo Primo, which was SM’s first recording of a lead role with Rousset, simply because of the contrast you can hear in EM’s direction (e.g. the devastation of the violin lines to end the clip below) compared to Rousset’s more “safe and smooth” approach.

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            1. i was thinking about it the last 2 days… and was wondering if i should raise the point or re-watching certain things on my own.. (what i’ve been doing the last 2 days..) 🙂

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            2. It is THAT TIME OF THE YEAR again!! After we finally manage the Boni-Tito, we should set a date for that. Probably someplace private 😉

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            3. and i was just thinking how much i miss seeing her on stage this past year.. strange how we got an avalanche of it in 2016, and then poof, she’s invisible.. argh.

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            4. yes. ARTE and MP’s management should really get their act together, there are people waiting for some 18th century here!

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          4. OK, that’s it, I need to get that recording right now. The ‘Se m’ami o caro’ is blocked here, but that video… this definitely belongs into the weak knees category.

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        2. ps- i found it, though it’s a quote from someone who read an interview (and i don’t have original source..)
          Q Music that makes you cry – any genre ?
          A Largo of Shostakovich’s Concerto No 1 for Piano, Trumpet and Strings op 35; “Soave sia il vento” (trio from Mozart’s Così fan tutte); the voice of Sara Mingardo….

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            2. whenever you have a chance to read Anik, really interesting interview about Piau’s carreer.
              When I did the audition for Herreweghe my dream was to sing Bach with him. The tradition of singing Bach in France is not so strong. That’s what I wanted. But he told me, “Your voice is too romantic.” So I sang Bruckner, Reger and Mendessohn for him, as a mezzo. No Bach. Then one day he discovered that I had more high notes than any other soprano in the choir. So I switched from mezzo to soprano. I still couldn’t sing Bach with him.

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