In Tears. Giuseppe Verdi beaten to death by unsubtle drummer

I just came upon a very, very funny youtube clip. Funny because it’s sad. Oh, so very sad and phoney.
One of my favourite singers, mezzo soprano Tuva Semmingsen, seems to have been in some dire economic need or possibly just out of her freakin’ mind. She actually joined the Danish version of Dancing with the [...]

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Sacrificium. New album from la Bartoli

I don’t know how this has escaped my attention but Cecilia Bartoli will be releasing a new album this coming October. And it sounds great. Only… it looks a bit strange. Cecilia…in a male body?? Weird. Ok, castratos are weird – did you have to make it even weirder? And… “Evviva il coltellino”? As in [...]

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On special request. Photos of the Week #49

I just saw a very old email sticking its head up. I have to admit I check my hotmail address very seldom and tonight I did… One very kind Justus asked if I had any pictures from the Cecilia Bartoli concert in Rome in June. He had a ticked but fell ill, so he couldn’t [...]

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Yes! Cecilia Bartoli Receives Léonie Sonning’s Music Prize

The committee of the prestigious Léonie Sonning Music Prize must be reading my mind. The past four years and this year they have chosen musicians who are all on my all time hit list:
2005 – John Eliot Gardiner
2006 – Yo-Yo Ma
2007 – Lars Ulrik Mortensen
2008 – Arvo Pärt
2009 – Daniel Barenboim
And next year who other than [...]

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Adorable! Cecilia Bartoli in Händel’s Semele

My favourite singer in one of my favourite arias: from Händel’s Semele the aria Myself I shall adore. The earthling Semele has become the lover of Jupiter and now she imagines how the crown of Juno would suit her… Juno being the wife of Jupiter aaand the lady in black in this video luring Semele [...]

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The meteor has landed. Grand opening of Denmark’s new concert hall

On Saturday night Koncerthuset, the Concert Hall of the Danish broadcasting company, Danmarks Radio, had its grand opening. At last! The concert hall has been delayed for months and months and ended up costing much more than any one had imagined (or perhaps some had, but anyways…) and in the end making it the universally [...]

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Chacun à son goût! Strauß briefly and surprisingly visiting this blog.

There are the right Strauss’es and the wrong Strauss’es. The right one is Richard who wrote marvelous operas such as Elektra, Salomé and Der Rosenkavalier. The other ones are all those Johanns with the double S – Strauß… you know New Year Concert in Vienna and all that, which is sort of ok for some brief [...]

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Friendly Fight. Photo of the Week #13

Going through my photos I happened on this one featuring me and my best friend, Francisco, fighting over a Cecilia Bartoli record after her concert in Rome this September.
 

 
Francisco thought it was his, and it looks like I’m going to lose. So much firmer hand action on his side, dammit!
 
/anna

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Going for it

What really gets to me when listening to music at home or going to a performance is when the musicians just go for it. It’s obvious that the best performers are the ones who forget everything else and give themselves 100 %. But sometimes it’s more than that – it’s a sort of letting go [...]

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Partenope – Tonight, yay!

Tonight Händel’s Partenope premieres at the Royal Danish Opera. Featuring my favourite singers: Andreas Scholl, Inger Dam-Jensen, Tuva Semmingsen and other good ones like Palle Knudsen and Christophe Dumeaux. And then of course my favourite orchestra Concerto Copenhagen. Can’t wait!

Yay, yay, and yay!
/anna

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