Have no fear, despite it being Christmas Day, there will be a Friday Miscellanea tomorrow. And then I will start cooking because I am having guests over for a traditional Christmas dinner of turkey and trimmings.
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| Lea Desandre |
But in the meantime, here is a lovely concert with mezzo Lea Desandre. She is singing Berlioz Nuits d'Été instead of her more usual early music but does a great job. The concert also features a performance of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez with guitarist Thibaut Garcia. Blogger won't embed.
Desandre has a beautiful voice. Just yesterday I watched a short concert she did with the Ensemble Jupiter. We have really been spoilt with free online concerts this year. I enjoyed the Berlioz, though he's not my favourite composer.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago I saw Garcia perform the Aranjuez in Watford of all places (any English readers should appreciate why this was a touch peculiar). (Indeed, the one other place I heard the Aranjuez was, equally strangely, Knoxville TN). The concert was free too -- recorded for BBC radio -- such things were always free to attend Before Covid, though you had to queue for hours like cattle to get in. (Like a lot of nationalised institutions: free and much loved, but chaotically run.) His playing was very fine, and the only modern player I've seen who plays with (what looks to be) Presti's RH technique. The Aranjuez was followed by Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra, which was probably the most wild orchestral piece I've ever heard live.
Have a good Christmas Bryan!
I noticed Garcia's odd hand position, but hadn't realized it was the Presti technique. If he studied in France, that is most likely. Still many students of Alexandre Lagoya teaching that method. It seems to work pretty well for him.
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