In all of the recording sessions of operas, etc., I've seen (on video or
film), the singers have used the music - even when singing operatic roles
that they have performed repeatedly onstage without. I believe this is
because of the nature of a recording - an alleged "reference" of the work
captured for posterity. The need for absolute scrupulous musical
correctness is not quite as important in a staged opera where so many
other factors come into play to affect the overall impact of the work -
acting, costumes, lighting, etc. One is quite willing to forgive even
Maria Callas or Jose van Dam a misremembered note or even passage (and
wonderful are the stories of singers who have made up lyrics and even
music on the spot to cover up for lapses in memory - often so skilfully
the audience has been none the wiser) given the brilliance of their
PERFORMANCES overall. But on a recording, where one gets none of the
visual or atmospheric layers that one gets in an opera house - and none of
the immediacy and sense of risk of a live performance - there is an
imperative for musical perfection, because mistakes, frankly, are much
more noticeable when listened to in the quiet of one's own home than when
experienced in the heightened excitement of the opera house.
KM
=====
My NEIL SHICOFF Website:
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/shicoff/shicoff.html
My Website:
http://www.radix.net/~dalila/index.html
-----
I sing hymns with my spirit,
but I also sing hymns with my mind.
- 1 Corinthians 14:15
|
