#Operatic

[postcard-from-the-past]

Italian operatic dramatic soprano Lina Cavalieri on a vintage postcard

[bitter69uk]

“The one thing I don't think I could live without would be the soundtracks to horror films,'' she said. ''I love to play them in my car as I drive down the freeway.'' Miss Galas sees no contradiction in that she is as fond of grade-B horror movies and of the heavy-metal rock of AC/DC as she is of Verdi and her vocal idol, Maria Callas.”

/ From a 1985 New York Times profile of Diamanda Galas /

Don’t let the resemblance to Morticia Addams fool you - Diamanda Galas has SOUL! The fierce Greek American avant-garde diva, pianist, performance artist and AIDS activist (who was born on 29 August 1955, turning 69 today) convincingly styles herself as an Angel of Death. Once memorably described by The New Yorker as “lounge singer in a world on fire”, she wields her remarkable bird-of-prey voice like a weapon and possesses the same kind of wraith-cheekboned, raven-haired beauty Walt Disney endowed his animated evil queen stepmothers with. Galas got her first break singing in front of insane asylum inmates, has paid tribute to Aileen Wuornos and in performance is apt to take the stage stripped to the waist and smeared in blood. Appropriately, director Francis Ford Coppola enlisted her to provide eerie shrieks and gasps for the sound effects in his 1992 version of Dracula. I haven’t seen Galas perform in years, but I vividly remember the last time: she was reinterpreting jazz standards like “All of Me” and “You Don’t Know What Love Is” in her own inimitable (blood-curdling) way, which lulled the uninitiated into a false sense of security. People were filing out in dismay all night! Keep doing what you’re doing, lady! (If you’ve never dipped a toe into Galas’ oeuvre, start with her spine-tingling interpretations of “I Put a Spell on You”, The Supremes' “My World is Empty Without You” or Johnny Cash’s “25 Minutes to Go").

[mahgnib]

Josef Hoffman, “Gotterdammerung, Act II : Outside the Hall of the Gibichungs”, 1876

[justgottafinishthischapter]

MUSIC SIDE OF TUMBLR

I'm working on a WIP writing piece and I had the idea to have a group of characters whose names were derived either from musical terminology, operatic terminology or roles, theatrical terminology or roles, or archetypal performance roles (think The Harlequin). I primarily need three names: Firstly is the young Ingénue, the passionate starlet who sings beautifully and seeks her fortune in life. Something which speaks to passion, beauty, but perhaps a lack of wisdom or structure. Perhaps too eager and fast tempo, charging ahead without forethought. Obviously a name like Aria comes to mind as it's a beautiful solo melody performed by a leading lady, but I fear that's too obvious. It is a pretty name, though. Then there's her father. A character who tries to hold her back and keep her from exploring this lifestyle, to keep her safe from the world. He would rather keep her at home and tries to discourage her dreams. I want to express in musical terms something that holds the melody back, or suppresses its ability to change. Or perhaps a performance role whose job it is to interfere in the heroine's journey in some way or keep her somewhere she doesn't want to be, much like the Lotus Eaters try to entrap the sailors in the Odyssey. Finally, I need a female sounding name for the woman who offers the Ingénue a way forward into the life she's always dreamt of. A musical term for drastic, sudden change, or allowing for passionate freedom of exploration, especially if it can cause the music to become overwhelming or disorienting. She can have a slightly more dangerous or mysterious tint to her, as she opens the door to the sleazy underbelly the father wanted to shield his daughter from. Not quite a hero, not quite a villain. Just an enabler that opened the door and allowed the Ingénue to explore a new life she's never experienced before.

The three names being thematically linked would be preferred. A German word, a French word, and an Italian word are unlikely to feel organic as a set of names. If you've got more than 3 names, I'd love to hear them. I just don't want to be greedy.

[operatic-music]

Thoughts from Schubert himself 🎶💫

Franz Schubert (1797-1828) was an Austrian composer who is widely regarded as one of the most significant figures of the Romantic era in music. He was born in Vienna and showed prodigious musical talent from a young age.

Although he only lived to the age of 31, Schubert's symphonic compositions, including his "Unfinished Symphony" and "Great Symphony" (Symphony No. 9), left a significant mark on the development of symphonic music in the 19th century

What's your favorite piece of his?

[mediamuse]

Tumblr rated 8.671/10.

[musicwebsiteblog]

Swordes - Gasoline (demo) released June 7, 2023 via Music Website (@musicwebsiteblog).

"This song is about lust and sin and specifically the machiavellian ways people will fuel their hunger for it, without regard for others. I wanted the video to reflect violence and really just “feminine rage” or whatever and it ended up being super cathartic to embody this insane coquette character and run around half naked, covered in fake blood, swinging a crow bar around." -Swordes

Stream it: https://ffm.to/swordes-gasoline.PNJ

[sofartobservation]

(Eamon)

[packupthecats]

If you're also into Operatic, know that i love u

[postcard-from-the-past]

Italian operatic dramatic soprano and actress Natalina "Lina" Cavalieri on a vintage Reutlinger postcard

[bitter69uk]

Born 102 years ago today: wondrous operatic Peruvian High Empress of Exotica Yma Sumac (née Zoila Emperatriz Chavarri Castillo, 13 September 1922 - 1 November 2008). All these decades later, Sumac’s divine superhuman voice still inspires awe! I revere all of Sumac’s recordings, but Legend of the Sun Virgin (1952) is a particular favourite. Pictured: portrait of gorgeous young Yma Sumac by Peter Stackpole for LIFE magazine (1950).

[thewaymouth]

Lana Del Rey

Born to Die - The Paradise Edition (The Remixes)

#1. National Anthem (Tensnake Remix)

#2. Body Electric (Kristijan Majic Remix)

#3. Without You (Kill Paris Remix)

[falloutbradreviews]

Spencer Sutherland - The Drama

There’s been a lot of studies done on how once people reach a certain age, they stop listening to new music, mostly because they just get comfortable in what they like, and they don’t have any storage in their brains for anything new. I can understand that, because as much as it pains me to say, I’m getting that way. Now to be fair, I listen to a lot of new music still, and I enjoy quite a bit of it, but I only listen to a few genres these days. I know what genres I mainly like, but some genres I used to like I don’t really listen to anymore, whether it’s because I don’t like a lot of the new stuff I’ve heard, or because I’ve become pickier. I think it’s the latter, but pop music just doesn’t hit the same as it used to. I still try to listen to it, like how I listened to the new Lady Gaga album a couple of weeks ago, but it didn’t quite connect with me as much as I wanted to.

Just a couple of weeks later, the sophomore album from Spencer Sutherland came out, entitled The Drama, and I was looking forward to this for a couple of reasons — I really enjoyed his debut album from last year, and he doubled down on a sound from that album I really liked. That sound would be a 1970s glam-rock sound, akin to David Bowie and Elton John, and he spent the last few months teasing the record, along with dropping a few songs from it and they were relatively interesting. I haven’t listened to a lot of pop music this year, but this was something on my radar, so how is this album? I’ve spent the last five days with it, and this album is okay, honestly.

Remember what I said about Rain City Drive’s new album and how their vocalist carries that album but in a good way? This is more in line with how Mitchell Tenpenny carried his new album, but this isn’t a bad, boring, or forgettable album. It’s just kind of okay, but the one real good thing is Sutherland’s vocals. He’s got a killer voice and he uses it here, so it doesn’t go unwasted, but the songs themselves are fine yet bland at the same time. They all sound the same, too, like they’ve got the same kind of over the top and melodramatic glam-rock/pop sound, so the hooks don’t resonate. I’ve listened to this five times, and each time I expect the hooks to sink in, but they don’t at all.

The good thing is that this album is only 35 minutes, but at the same time, there are 14 songs here, and hardly any song (if any at all) reach 3 minutes. Most of these songs feel halfbaked, so they don’t get a chance to let their hooks sink in. If the album itself doesn’t care about its hooks, why should I? I’m not saying I don’t care, but still, the album doesn’t feel like it’s done in that respect. The songs are so short, that they come and go without warning, and just when they get started, they end. The lyrics also leave a lot to be desired, too, because they amount to nothing, and that’s such a bummer to say, but it happens.

If you want a good pop album, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, but if you want something great or amazing, you’ll be disappointed, I think. It’s got some great vocal performances, but that’s all it has. I just don’t remember anything about it, unfortunately, and it just hasn’t stuck, which I guess is a bummer to me, because I liked his last album a lot. I don’t know, folks, I don’t listen to a lot of pop music anymore, so I wasn’t expecting anything truly great here, although I still wanted to be surprised. Truthfully, this isn’t half bad at all, but it’s not an album that I’m going back to whatsoever. It’s not one of the worst of the year, or anything, but it’s far from the best, unfortunately.