The post next but one below was supposed to be about a couple of CDs I found when putting away a few dozen that had been lying around. Easter Hymn and Alleluia - Sacred Music, both of which are, sadly, discontinued.
Although as CDs they date from the mid-90s, they predominantly feature recordings from the 60s and 70s - perhaps they were cheap, which was important to me in my constantly cash-strapped 20s.
The first one opens with Mascagni's Easter Hymn - Regina coeli - from Cavelleria Rusticana, a tune I fell in love with in my teens. For years it has reminded me of Verdi's Va Pensiero (chorus of Hebrew Slaves) from Nabucco, although may I venture to say that I actually prefer it. It has only just occurred to me that it must have been inspired by Va Pensiero. Cav was written in 1880; Nabucco considerably earlier; significantly it was the rallying anthem for Italian Unification, which had occurred in 1870. I decided as a teenager that if had children, my first daughter would be called Santuzza.
Joan Sutherland singing Casta Diva from Bellini's Norma is breath catchingly exquisite; and Kiri Te Kanawa sings Ave Maria from Otello gorgeously (better than I heard Renee Fleming sing live the other week? I don't know). Of course, if I had listened to this other than every other Easter, I might have realised a few years earlier how wonderful Wagner is. Especially the Pilgrims' chorus from Tannhauser. Ho hum.
On the second CD, I note that one of the singers is called Sieglinde Wagner. A bit of googling reveals that she died a couple of months ago and she was no relation to Richard Wagner. Therefore, her parents' choice of name must enter the list of names that signify utter parental cruelty - Sieglinde is one of the main characters in the valkyrie.. What would have happened if she hadn't turned out to be a singer?
One of the highlights is from Haydn's Creation. I know it as The Heavens Are Telling, but, as this is in German, it is "Die Himmel erzahlen die Ehre Gottes". When I was at school we used to have a Speech Night at the Free Trade Hall - oh the stories I could tell...! One of the highlights was the music; people used to join the choir especially as a way to survive Speech Night. The orchestra and each of Junior and Senior Choirs performed, then followed the musical high-spot of the entire school year - joint orchestra and choir. I recall this with enormous joy. It was the last time I was in the choir for the joint - every year subsequently I was orchestra. This was also the last time I sang soprano, because I was becoming a contralto. Which was unfortunate, because sopranos get the melody and contraltos have to be musically gifted and guess the harmony. I am currently baritone, heading for bass-baritone (I jest, slightly...). I don't think I know the Creation as well as I ought to. Actually, not at all...
Just listening through, I pondered on the role of compilations in a record collection. I know someone who has absolutely no compilations. I can't help thinking that his approach to collecting music is too organised and dry, whereas the plethora of compilations in my collection suggest an impulsive ill thought-out approach. I look at a lot of compilations now with a sense of depression. Not because they contain bad music, but because they all seem to comprise pretty much the same tracks. But these two CDs, containing nearly fifty pieces between them, have only about ten compilation standards.
I think the beauty of well-thought out compilations is that they introduce you to music that you wouldn't normally know; they give an opportunity to listen to the very best by third or fourth division composers who do not merit a whole CD; and they demonstrate how different can be the interpretations of the standards. The challenge is to identify the best version in your collection of a particular song. I think the Mozart Ave Verum Corpus here may be the best I own.
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