| BB_Eye |
23-01-2011 01:41 AM |
Opera is my favourite genre of music and most of what I listen to is either Italian, French or German. French being my favourite and German being my least favourite (too leaden and concrete). It normally doesn't phase me as long as I have the libretto in English handy (nearly always included in the liner notes and always available if you go to see a production in an English-speaking country). Weirdly, I find English as a language is very pleasing to the ear in classical singing despite its international association with pop music and was hugely underused before the 20th century, especially when you consider how many foreign language operas are based on English literature such as Verdi's Macbeth and Othello, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor and Wagner's Tristan und Isolde.
Latin would be another language of singing I listen to a lot. I'm not a churchgoer nor am I too big a fan of organised religion, but a lot of music set to Catholic liturgical settings in Latin is some of the greatest ever created in my opinion. This would include Palestrina's Pope Marcellus Mass, Charpentier's Te Deum, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, Bach's Mass in B Minor (although Bach himself was a German protestant), Mozart's 'Great' Mass in C Minor and of course the Requiem.
|
