Indeed great. Author' operatic thinking is the best part of his approach to the poetry!
I enjoyed tremendously!
The only mention: Alboni whole being transformed in specific characteristics of her voice should be not associated with Marilyn Horne.
Probably,the closest sound had Jeanne Gerville-Reache, judging on a few of her recordings(cantabile-subito.de). It's difficult to find a modern replica of Alboni' voice, as the modern vocal production just way too far from Alboni'era.
American voice production is just too far forward;Horne'voice specifically is a soprano,but not a dramatic one,that often might be treated as a contralto,Marilyn' voice is a lyric soprano with artificially developed low extension. It does not diminish her art at all though.
Most certainly Alboni was a soprano (according to Blanche Marchesi, Alboni' pivot notes F-G suggesting it ). Incredible and interesting documentary. Forgive my English please.
As scrupulous as it is conventional, this two part study of Walt Whitman runs the risk of explaining the poet right out of existence. The saving grace is radio's ability to not just discuss the musical influences on Whitman, but to share the music itself. But there is a heck of a lot of discussion. There's no challenging the depth of research and impeccable production values, hallmarks of pieces from Radio Netherlands, but it all feels slightly academic, which seems in conflict with its subject. It is a formal piece that wants to be used formally.
Oh my gosh. I hate to say this, but this piece is just boring. Walt Whitman is a pretty hip cat for his time. He hung out with prostitutes, he was the original Down Low bro. He was as openly gay as you can…and in NYC, well just look at Chelsea!
But this documentary is old school, and we’re talking about that overly educated professorial delivery. This seems like a bunch of dull old over educated white dudes trying to take old Walt up to their level instead of getting down and dirty with poetry.
First off, this hour focuses too much on opera and other hi brow interpretations of Whitman’s work and his budding life in New York. Frankly, I thought it was an opera piece (and we all know what an audience killer opera is) not a poet profile for a while. In fact, the use of opera really kills the sense of time. Whitman is a Civil War era kind of guy, but you can never tell, if you didn’t know this to be the case, because the of the focus on the opera.
The delivery around the gay depictions of Whitman’s work is, well, quite frankly a bit nerdy titillating. I mean, the tone is kind like “ooohhhh look, we’re going to talk about the----shhhh---gay part! I kind of chuckled. After all, that’s one of the reasons he is so popular today.
It is a pretty well planned and produced story of his life. All of the facts are here and there are some insightful pieces of information and commentary. The tour of his NJ home is a nice touch. There is a lot of effort here and I am feel kind of guilty not really liking this piece more.
Comments for RN Documentary: Whitman - Songs of the Poet
This piece belongs to the series "RN Focus on Poetry"
Produced by David Swatling
Other pieces by Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Rating Summary
3 comments
sigrid onegin
Posted on September 14, 2009 at 03:22 PM | Permalink
splendid
Indeed great. Author' operatic thinking is the best part of his approach to the poetry!
I enjoyed tremendously!
The only mention: Alboni whole being transformed in specific characteristics of her voice should be not associated with Marilyn Horne.
Probably,the closest sound had Jeanne Gerville-Reache, judging on a few of her recordings(cantabile-subito.de). It's difficult to find a modern replica of Alboni' voice, as the modern vocal production just way too far from Alboni'era.
American voice production is just too far forward;Horne'voice specifically is a soprano,but not a dramatic one,that often might be treated as a contralto,Marilyn' voice is a lyric soprano with artificially developed low extension. It does not diminish her art at all though.
Most certainly Alboni was a soprano (according to Blanche Marchesi, Alboni' pivot notes F-G suggesting it ). Incredible and interesting documentary. Forgive my English please.
Joseph Dougherty
Posted on April 02, 2007 at 05:12 PM | Permalink
Review of RN Documentary: Whitman - Songs of the Poet
As scrupulous as it is conventional, this two part study of Walt Whitman runs the risk of explaining the poet right out of existence. The saving grace is radio's ability to not just discuss the musical influences on Whitman, but to share the music itself. But there is a heck of a lot of discussion. There's no challenging the depth of research and impeccable production values, hallmarks of pieces from Radio Netherlands, but it all feels slightly academic, which seems in conflict with its subject. It is a formal piece that wants to be used formally.
Steve Yasko
Posted on April 16, 2005 at 01:21 PM | Permalink
SHHHH--Did You Know He's Gay!?
But this documentary is old school, and we’re talking about that overly educated professorial delivery. This seems like a bunch of dull old over educated white dudes trying to take old Walt up to their level instead of getting down and dirty with poetry.
First off, this hour focuses too much on opera and other hi brow interpretations of Whitman’s work and his budding life in New York. Frankly, I thought it was an opera piece (and we all know what an audience killer opera is) not a poet profile for a while. In fact, the use of opera really kills the sense of time. Whitman is a Civil War era kind of guy, but you can never tell, if you didn’t know this to be the case, because the of the focus on the opera.
The delivery around the gay depictions of Whitman’s work is, well, quite frankly a bit nerdy titillating. I mean, the tone is kind like “ooohhhh look, we’re going to talk about the----shhhh---gay part! I kind of chuckled. After all, that’s one of the reasons he is so popular today.
It is a pretty well planned and produced story of his life. All of the facts are here and there are some insightful pieces of information and commentary. The tour of his NJ home is a nice touch. There is a lot of effort here and I am feel kind of guilty not really liking this piece more.