Tuesday, March 28, 2006

SoulmatePod!

I broke in the new iPod on the commute home from work today. He loves me! Here's what he played for me. (The duration is how long it takes door-to-door from office to home.)

  1. "Relaxin' at Camarillo," by Charlie Parker

  2. "La luce langue," Macbeth by Giuseppe Verdi, Leonie Rysanek, soprano

  3. "I Will Survive," by Gloria Gaynor

  4. "Son vergin vezzosa" (I'm a charming virgin), I Puritani by Vincenzo Bellini, Beverly Sills, soprano

  5. "Frozen," by Madonna

  6. "D'amor sull'ali rosee," Il Trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi, Kiri Te Kanawa, soprano

  7. Thunder & Lightning Polka, by Johann Strauss, Andre Previn, conductor

  8. "Wohin?" Die Schöne Müllerin by Franz Schubert, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone

  9. "O solitude," by Henry Purcell

  10. Sonata in C K.309 by Domenico Scarlatti, David Russell, guitar

  11. "Se a caso madama," Le nozze di Figaro by W.A. Mozart, Bryn Terfel, bass-baritone & Alison Hagley, soprano

  12. "L'altra notte," Mefistofele by Arrigo Boito, Renata Tebaldi, soprano

  13. "Amanti, io vi so dire," by Benedetto Ferrari, Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano

  14. "Prendi per me," L'Elisir d'Amore by Gaetano Donizetti, Mirella Freni, soprano

Word of the day "SoulmatePod" courtesy of Biscuit.

11 comments:

Anthony said...

You had me very worried there - I misread your first line as "I broke the new iPod" ...

tully said...

I'm worried about your brain!

Three I-Pod related posts! You're alienated your non-IPod owning readers (or is it "reader", I might be the only one)

I don't need I-Pods personally as all I need to listen to is Talk Radio and Country Music, both of which come in on a pocket radio, which conveniently fits in my cowboy hat.

Andy said...

You keep a radio IN your cowboy hat, and you're worried about MY brain?

Andy said...

Aw, thanks, mom. For the record, if I may be allowed a moment to brag, this was the song I sang for Elisabeth Schwarzkopf when she told me I had a beautiful voice and a "flawless" technique. Of course, she's crazy and she also told a young Renee Fleming that she was a disaster. (And I think my timbre is closer to Andreas Schmidt's...)

Anthony said...

Would you believe it, Little Cicero, we've something in common! (I'm not talking about the cowboy hat, Andy.)

Having spent four years working in CD retail, with music playing everywhere at work, I found I preferred to have silence around me when on the move (an extended cut of Cage's 4'33", if you will). I still don't see myself owning an iPod.

SailRacer said...

You're killing me Andy. I lost my 20gb last week.

Jade said...

Anthony - I know exactly how you feel. When I worked at a portrait studio the last thing I wanted to do at home was pick up a camera. Sometimes when you are surrounded by something all day long you need the exact opposite at the end of the day.

I have always listened to music pretty much any time I could. For the last couple of years my listening opportunities have shortened due to having an opinionated toddler running around (one who I didn't want to start picking up Ani DiFranco lyrics) so the iPod is like having a little white piece of sanity in my pocket.

Andy - are there any recordings of you out there available? I've been meaning to ask you that.

Matthew said...

Both "Frozen" and "The Marriage of Figaro?"

Nice.

I knew you were a man of taste, Andy.

Although... "I Will Survive" is a bit cliched, innit?

Anonymous said...

I'll be in Eugene for four days in July - accompanying my 90 year old Dad as he visits his 85 year old sister. Why don't you fly out and give a recital for your mother and me? We could all share the cost.

I heard Ms. Schwartzkopf in a recital at Lincoln Center in 1967 or 68. We were all screaming at the end. Quite a diva moment.

Love your iPod selections. You've got some of the oldies but goodies (singers, that is). Of course Terfel belongs in that group. Do you get your selections from CD's or from downloads? I'm going to break down soon and buy an iPod. I need to find some good download sites.

Keep on writing. In spite of Little Cicero's intrusions, you're my favorite blogger. And, as an early retiree, I have the time to peruse far too many blogs. So, I know whereof I speak.

Aethlos said...

i can't even pronounce half your songs... or are those "songs"? they sound elegant, so i think they're "pieces" not songs... i recognize macbeth.... but i thought that was a play... and a very unsettling polanski film... it must be a song too.... or a whole opera... or maybe a group. i have tears for fears in my mp3 player (notice i didn't say ipod, as it's a ghetto little "muvo" player by creativ)... you fancy new york gals. :)

Andy said...

I heard Ms. Schwartzkopf in a recital at Lincoln Center in 1967 or 68. We were all screaming at the end.

Including Madame Schwarzkopf? I wouldn't be surprised...

Thank you for the wonderful compliment, David! : )

Spencer: Macbeth is a wonderful -- if uneven -- opera from the beginning of Verdi's "transitional period," where he began to move away from bel canto conventions toward a more symphonic, through-composed dramatic approach to composition. (See, I told you I could speak extemporaneously on this subject.) You'd love it.

Since you asked, "La luce langue," "Son vergin vezzosa," "D'amor sull'ali rosee," "L'altra notte" and "Prendi" would all be called arias; "Wohin," "O Solitude" and "Amanti" are songs. (Because they are not from operas.) The Figaro piece is a duet, for hopefully self-explanatory reasons. The Scarlatti would be a "sonata" or just a "piece" (sonata basically means "piece," anyway...literally it's "a played thing"). The polka's a polka. I guess Charlie Parker is just "a piece," too, but he probably wouldn't have objected to "song" even though there are no words. "I Will Survive" has properly been identified as a "cliche." But a fabulous one.