Wednesday, 12 April 2006
Review of Solomon
My review of Handels' Solomon at the Barbican with Rene Jacobs conducting the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is here on Music and Vision.
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I was interested to read your review of Solomon. How many times do I come across reviewers such as yourself doing write-ups of a countertenor's performance and using the age-old, worn-out and frankly tedious and unfair comparison with either Scholl or Daniels. I don;t even think I have heard of Daniels singing the role of Solomon in BRitain or certainly on record!? Scholl's rendition IS mostly heard on record for that matter. You simply can't be this narrow minded! If these two respectable artists had their say I'm sure they would comment that one should NOT compare, but be a bit more creative in describing a young singer's voice; by comparing people to recordings is to do a huge injustice to a) live performance and b) to be completely fooled by the studio microphone. Believe it or not there are a whole host of countertenors of ALL ages not just "up and coming" as is so often read that don't regard Scholl and Daniels as some sort of vocal nirvana duo. Yes, they have made a significant impact on the listening and buying public, but in the end music and live performace especially are creative arenas not environs for mimicry. (If David Hansen did exactly what Scholl does on his record, would you be happy?) And furthermore, why don't you write out a list of your favourite (or famous) sopranos and do the same unbalanced comparisons with the Queen and Queen of Sheba? You should review the performance in question not judge the singer against somebody who didn't even show or had hours of retakes in the studio - or else why go to the performance in the first place, the CD always sounds as perfect as the first time?
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