About a week ago the Earworm hosted a brief discussion about the dangers of listening to classical music while driving. I now have practical living proof that it is at least inconvenient, if not downright dangerous. So, I was listening to this track while driving to the airport to pick up my Dad. Tenor Martin Mitterutzner is a new name and voice to me, and I listened thoughtfully as he sang.Nice bright, light tone. Nice line and shading. I wonder what else he sings? His bio mentioned lieder. Route 7? No, that’s not my exit. Does everyone breathe there, but just less noticeably?* Brigitte Fassbaender thinks he's really good. EazyPass!?! I don’t need to be on a toll road for…oh damn!**
I think this is a beautiful rendition, and I will listen to it many times. But I have banned it from the car. This performance with the Cleveland Orchestra was broadcast recently on BBC 3 and is still available for a few more days on their iPlayer.
Rossini: Stabat Mater: II. Aria (Tenor)
Cuius animam gementem
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Through her weeping soul,
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contristatam et dolentem
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compassionate and grieving,
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Per transivit gladius.
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a sword passed.
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O quam tristis et afflicta
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O how sad and afflicted
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fuit illa benedicta
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was that blessed
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Mater Unigeniti!
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Mother of the Only-begotten!
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Quae maerebat et dolebat
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Who mourned and grieved,
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Et tremebat, dum videbat
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and trembled, as she witnessed
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nati poenas incliti!
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the torment of her glorious Son.
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*Based on random spot-checks, yes.
**I still got to the airport on time.
Here is another nice MM clip:
I can attest to the fact that listening to Semele on I-90 in Boston will get you straight to Logan Airport when it really wasn't in your plans to go there.
ReplyDeleteEZ-Pass should really underwrite classical music radio, it probably makes them a bucketload.
What is that EZ-Pass thingy?
DeleteIt's a little white box on the windshield that enables you to pass through toll plazas without stopping, as long as you've given them your credit card number and first born.
DeletePretty much all the toll roads around here don't even take cash anymore. What started as a convenience is now a requirement. This means I must avoid all toll roads.
DeleteReally? In the NE (so far) they still give you the option. But the tolls around NYC are now so high and so many that anybody who doesn't have EZ-Pass I figure must be dealing, bc those are the only people who would have that much cash on hand.
DeleteWhere I live now, there are no toll booths; if you don't have the little electronic thingie, they just take a snap of your license plate and send you a bill for 49 cents.
Delete