I'd like to start a sporadically ongoing series of MP3 posts wherein two recordings of the same aria are available for download.

Lately I've been interested in sorting through all the comments on various opera blog posts and YouTube videos, trying to find all references to a "Golden Age" or to anyone saying Singer X stays true to the composer's intentions or to historicity of the music. What does this even mean? I think that a great many opera fanatics have a contorted idea of how operatic music was sung or presented. It is fashionable now for singers and conductors to exaggerate the emotive qualities of opera, evidenced by the severe overuse of and misinterpretation of rubato, the inexactness of rhythm and articulation, and the protraction of tempi.

Of course, this is just another view—mine. But I wish to investigate alternate interpretations (sometimes by barely-known or unknown singers) of works that are not particularly familiar, and if they are, they generally belong quite firmly in a certain singer's recorded legacy.

In this case, I'd like you to have a listen to these two versions of "Deh! torna mio bene," also known as the Proch Variations. One is what is probably the most rendition—Callas's 1951 RAI broadcast. The recording is in poor sound, but it's worth listening to for the sheer athleticism of Callas's performance. I find it a tad muscular for the music, but this perhaps a greater case for her abilities—that the voice was still in prime condition at this point in her career; she pulls the whole thing off despite her timbral and functional choices. Listen for those trills turned out so perfectly that I every time I hear them I get the faintest impression of perfume in the air, and goddamn, that penultimate high E-flat. It's incredibly dangerous, as she takes a lot of weight up to it, rather than leaping into a easier flute tone. It was decisions like this that wore her voice ragged and hollow but also that made her voice thrilling and interesting.

The second recording is from the stunning and all-but-ignored coloratura soprano Beverly Hoch. The interpretation and voice are wholly different; Hoch's tone is more compact, more essentially clair in quality, and this is largely because Hoch merely allows the voice to function without any overt dramatic or timbral overlay. While it may be more "boring" to some listeners, to me it belies a courageous placidity and an ease of character. The tempi are noticeably faster, and consequently so are Hoch's articulations of the rapid passages. But the most outstanding feature of her voice and this recording is the interpolation of a penultimate A-flat above high C. Normally, this is the domain of singers like Mado Robin and Mariah Carey, but while their voices use the whistle tones like a freakish tack on a fairly unraveled spool of modal and head voice, Hoch's whistle note is integrated, strong, and even, and it falls off easily to tonic high D-flat.

So, seriously—who does it better? Let me know in the comments.

In case you missed it, someone from Türkiye has posted the videos from the bonus DVD from Fabio Biondi's 2006 EMI Classics recording of Vivaldi's opera Bazajet. They feature performances of several of the virtuosic arias filmed during the recording session itself.

Vivica Genaux's buccal articulations? Ildebrando d'Arcangelo's secure and easy top notes? Patrizia Ciofi's slutty gesticulating and blow job faces? There is so much going on here. I know I am always talking about Genaux and this damn aria, but I really believe it is one of the most difficult pieces ever written for a singer. If your heart isn't beating out of your chest by the end of her performance, you need Jesus (and methamphetamines… and a male prostitute, you old, dead queen).

Here's the whole heap:

Um, 'Dita?

Phew! I made it out! Sorry for the administrative glitchy poo. I am really happy with my new host, Dreamhost. If anyone is considering a new webhost, I'd go there before anywhere else. 200 GB storage, 2 TB (terabytes) bandwidth!, unlimited domain hosting, free domain registration, and lots of goodies.

The new job is going well, and in addition to being a web developer for The Stranger, I have also been asked to be the new opera critic for the same. And I've already been to and reviewed Seattle Opera's L'Italiana in Algeri. Next up is Don Giovanni. For Cesare, I really want to sit down and shoot the shit with Podleś while we drink tea and watch opera video clips on YouTube.

Speaking of interviews, here's a great one with Vivica Genaux by Atlanta-based writer Daniel Vasquez during Viv's recent debut of the role of Neocle in Rossini's L'assedio di Corinto.