What are you listening to now ?

Been 16 years since this new one album is coming out shortly and it is old school Kansas sounding.
 
Nice DLD. Very classy. Very nice. That's what I like about dvxuser. Such diversity here.

Another track from Kansas's new up coming album.

 
Gord.T said:
Nice DLD. Very classy. Very nice. That's what I like about dvxuser. Such diversity here...
Click to expand...

That was one from Emmerich Kalman ("Gräfin Mariza", 1924) and two from Franz Lehar ("Die lustige Witwe", 1905 and "Das Land des Lächelns", 1929). "The Merry Widow" is the most popular of these works in the US. It also happened to be Hitler's favorite musical to such an extent that Lehar was offered an Honorary Aryan status and the German Cross in Gold after Germany annexed Austria despite having a Jewish wife and Jewish co-authors. Kalman, unwilling to accept the identical proposal, chose to take his family to the US and spent about a decade in LA and New York before returning to Europe after the war. The third grand of the Viennese operetta was Paul Abraham, who was first dubbed the Crown Prince of Operetta following the aging kings Lehar and Kalman but recently has been referred to as the Tragic King, due to his personal travails. Abraham's calling card was "Victoria und ihr Husar", an operetta written first in Hungarian but then quickly translated into German by Kalman's lyricist Alfred Grünwald and Lehar's lyricist Fritz Löhner-Beda.

From "Victoria and her Hussar" --

 
Very nice DLD.

This song, Ave Maria, has been covered by very many. I was going to post my favorite singer version then stumbled across this one. Kids always amaze me. :)


 
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Speaking of classy...

This to me is arguably the most beautiful voice ever heard, singing the most beautiful song ever written. That is quite a bold declaration of opinion, I am aware. But listen and see if you do not agree:



It brings one to tears, it is that beautiful.

Note how effortless it appears for Sissel. And the relaxed look of peacefulness on her face!
 
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I would agree without hesitation there. It went right to the top of my all time favorites now. Absolutely outstanding and calming. Thanks for sharing.

JPNola said:
Speaking of classy...

This to me is arguably the most beautiful voice ever heard, singing the most beautiful song ever written. That is quite a bold declaration of opinion, I am aware. But listen and see if you do not agree:



It brings one to tears, it is that beautiful.

Note how effortless it appears for Sissel. And the relaxed look of peacefulness on her face!
Click to expand...
 
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Since we're on classical female singers ... and the second wave of the Viennese light opera.

Anna Netrebko is a Soviet born opera superstar, currently splitting her residence between Austria and NYC. Here's with Franz Lehar aria from "Guiditta" (and some Anna dancing)


Here she is with Sylva's entry aria in Kalman's "Csardasfürstin"


And with another song from "Csardasfürstin", a duet with Juan Diego Florez (and others) + dancing.

 
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The German Diana Damrau is probably the most technically talented of all current female opera singers.

Here's from Mozart's "Zauberfleute" ("Magic Flute") (music stars at about 2 minutes in)


And from George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess". (audio only)


"Vilja's song" from Lehar's "Merry Widow" has been performed by pretty much every grand star, from Elizabeth Schwarzkopf to Joan Sutherland to Maria Callas. So, here's Renee Fleming (with Christian Thieleman conducting), with the main melody starting at about 3:30.

 
Nice indeed. Since we are on good singers. Here is an oldie...Anita Darian. She was recruited to sing the operatic high part in "The Lion Sleeps tonight"
She's had quite a voice!
Anita_Darian_01.jpg
 
Nomeda Kazlaus is a Lithuanian (born in the USSR as Nomeda Kazlaukaite) opera singer of some renown, perhaps slightly underrated due to her appearance.

Here's with "Carrambolina, carramboletta" from Kalman's "Das Veilchen von Monmarte" (with Monserrat Caballe providing moral support)


And here's with the standard "La Habanera" from Bizet's "Carmen".


But don't say she isn't pretty because she certainly feels that she's pretty and witty and gay.

 
Following the end of WWII, it took several years for (West) Germany to return to anything resembling normalcy. But, around 1950 or so, the recovery was well underway and the demand for lighthearted entertainment was growing and growing. Unfortunately, many recordings made prior to the Nazi ascent to power have been destroyed or looted. Thus there was a need to re-record the popular tunes that dominated the German sales charts and the airwaves prior to 1933. Additionally, the improvements in the recording technology - namely, BASF developed reel-to-reel tape decks (Magnetophon) and the proliferation of the FM Radio meant that the new recordings would outshine the older ones on quality as well. Consequently, the West German public broadcasters undertook a series of projects - mostly in the form of radio concerts - to recreate the inventory of the available music, from classical to light opera to jazz. Arguably, the greatest singing star of that era was Franz Fehringer (1910-1988). Not tainted by association with the old regime, Fehringer didn't have the most powerful of voices but he made up for it with an exceptionally pleasant timbre and the ability to convey the emotion of the melody to the listener. He became known as a "lyrical tenor", a predecessor of sorts to singers like Andrea Bocelli. According to his German Wikipedia page, Fehringer participated in ninety seven major productions over the course of about twenty years before his retirement in 1968.

And so, without further ado, these are some of my Fehringer favorites. (all audio only)


But, of all favorites, this has to be the top.


A duet with Sari Barabas (1914-2012).


And the good bye song from the "Circus Princess"

 
More than a months without updates.

Great Soviet era tenor Sergei Lemeshev (1902-1977)

Nadir's aria from Georges Bizet's "Pearl Fishers"


Lenski's aria from Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" (main part starts about a min in)


Franz Schubert's "Serenade" (in Russian)

 
It's hard to top the above posts. I wanted to digest them and let others see/hear them for awhile as well without over powering/posting in this thread.

A random song from this band. I like their progressive nature.

 
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