Friday, June 12, 2009

beauty and tosca

These two performances made my Friday evening of television memorable. Firstly, Elvis on his own.



And then, Renee Fleming singing this fabulous aria from Tosca. This is one of the very few pieces of music which has ever moved me to actual tears. (The other was a live performance of Britten's Ceremony of Carols after which I somewhat embarrassingly cried for about five minutes. Still not sure why). Anyway, you may be relieved to know ( or not) that I didn't sit home alone sobbing at this performance, but once teared up when I was accompanying a wonderful soprano from Bundaberg who is now studying at the con in Brisbane. When she becomes famous (which she will) I'll be able to say I knew her when. In the meantime, you'll have to make do with Renee.

3 comments:

Jilly said...

you actually cried. LOL. Wait till you see me at S & G concert.

matt said...

I think tearing up during music has more to do with other stuff going on at the time. Sometimes I re-listen to music that moved me at one time and it just sounds a bit melodramatic. (Some pieces of music are more consistent than others though). And Jilly it's not polite to LOL at people who have just admired your work (assuming you are not some random stranger taking the credit), you're supposed to make gushing sounds and say something self deprecating like "Who little ol' me and my well meaning yodelling?".

Wendy said...

thank you djfoobarmatt for kindly reprimanding my ungrateful younger sister "Jilly" at whose choir's performance of the ceremony of carols it was that I had a little cry. I was choosing to ignore her comment in a big-sisterly type way, but she could well take note of your suggestion. ;)

And, on a more serious note, I think you're right, all sorts of things have to be perfectly aligned for the emotional impact of music to really hit home.