Rage Arias?

Started by Mozart, October 24, 2007, 05:17:26 PM

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Lilas Pastia

Well, if you listen to them in context, a hefty schedule is awaiting you :D

knight66

Here it is, the Handel rage aria that was assumed to exist. Hercules, his wife driven to distraction raves in an aria called, 'Where shall I fly?' However, to hear it in its most driven performance, you need Minkowski drawing a completely unhinged rendition from Anne Sophie von Otter. Other singers sound civilised by comparison.

Mike
DavidW: Yeah Mike doesn't get angry, he gets even.
I wasted time: and time wasted me.

AnthonyAthletic

The final act to Pagliacci

"No, Pagliaccio non son" full of rage, eh?  ;D

I particularly like the James McCracken Decca version for this finale, although not one of my favourite singers the hatred and anguish in his vocal 'acting' really hits the spot.

"Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying"      (Arthur C. Clarke)

zamyrabyrd

Quote from: E..L..I..A..S.. =) on October 24, 2007, 08:32:40 PM
Hmmphhjaaaweee, Now that we have covered Mozart, how about other composers? I know all of these Mozart arias, I listen to them just about daily. I would like to explore some arias that I can add to my list.  I like fiery arias!


It also helps to look angry (and show some cleavage, I guess)...

GLUCK: "Divinites du Styx"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwPJP0lxyRo (the orchestra, esp. the brass, sound pretty angry)

BEETHOVEN: "Ah Perfido"
(Someone posted a few tantalizing phrases of the above in a rather demeaning clip of Callas on youtube.)

ZB
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one."

― Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

knight66

Divinites du Styx.....Yes, I had forgotten that aria, but in only one performance that I know of does the rage really come across; Callas.

Mike
DavidW: Yeah Mike doesn't get angry, he gets even.
I wasted time: and time wasted me.

Larry Rinkel

Quote from: E..L..I..A..S.. =) on October 24, 2007, 06:22:31 PM
Handel can do that!!! I'm not sure just where yet but one of his 50,000 oratorios must have a rage aria :)

If not, we are counting on you Saul, Buddy :D

Handel's Saul has an aria, "With rage shall I burn." He's a little upset that David is more popular than he is.

How do you like them apples: in one example, I get in rage, Handel, and Saul.  :D

Lilas Pastia

#26
Divinités du Styx is not about rage, but about renouncement and undying love: Alceste foregoes the gods' insensitive powers ("Je n'invoquerai point votre pitié cruelle"). The aria speaks of Alceste's renunciation ("Je vous abandonne une épouse fidèle") and the sense of fortitude and elation that she feels ("Mourir pour ceux qu'on aime est un trop doux effort, une vertu si naturelle" - "Je sens une force nouvelle, je vais où mon époux m'appelle").

To hear another great dramatic soprano give this superb piece its real dimension, hear Eileeen Farrell here(a CBC broadcast, better then the official Sony disc).

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VYHbXUqaHkQ&feature=related

In this live Callas extract, the gods must have fled at once: in Alceste's invocation La Divina pulverizes any intimation of resistance to her fearsome resolve. Litterally jaw dropping, despite atrociously crumbling sound.

Avoid the droopy Baker versions (live or recorded). She has the voice, but she pleads and begs where she should demand and placate.

knight66

Yes, you are right, it is not primarily about Rage, I hesitated about writing as I did, but as soon as I saw the title mentioned, the etched-into-the-brain Callas version jumped into my mind. I agree re Baker in this case.

Mike
DavidW: Yeah Mike doesn't get angry, he gets even.
I wasted time: and time wasted me.

zamyrabyrd

Quote from: Lilas Pastia on November 14, 2007, 05:53:54 PM
Divinités du Styx is not about rage, but about renouncement and undying love: Alceste foregoes the gods' insensitive powers ("Je n'invoquerai point votre pitié cruelle"). The aria speaks of Alceste's renunciation ("Je vous abandonne une épouse fidèle") and the sense of fortitude and elation that she feels ("Mourir pour ceux qu'on aime est un trop doux effort, une vertu si naturelle" - "Je sens une force nouvelle, je vais où mon époux m'appelle").


Thanks so much for the link. It was nothing short of a revelation and overturned my rather superficial to date knowledge of the aria. It certainly pays to know the entire story of the opera. (Alceste was sacrificing herself!) Barring that, however, I was also dependent on the available singers who recorded the aria and even one whom I played for many years ago who went through it rather like a bulldozer.  In fact I didn't like the aria back then because of that. Even the orchestra is much better, not blasting the brass as in the Callas clip. Now it all makes sense. Wow, thanks again.

ZB
"Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one."

― Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

Lilas Pastia

My pleasure ;). The Callas extract I referred to is not the familiar Pretre EMI disc, but a live from 1954. I've inserted it in my previous post. If you found Callas overbearing in 1961, wait to hear her tear into Alceste's music, Medea-like  :o

Elvira_R0825

I know the thread is very old, but I don't care.
I also tend to like arias that are intence and active, so some of them fall in the "rage arias" cathegory.
I'm gonna share som of my favourite ones.
Impara, ingrata (Polifemo) from Aci, Galatea and Polifemo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2FRfk5NzX0
It's at the same time a rage and a love aria


Siroe, HWV 24, Act II: "Tu di pieta mi spogli... " from Handel's Siroe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySZZUpFOkl8
It was also used in Handel's Oreste, and there it seemed to be more in place. The king was trying to win a married woman and make her forget her husband. In Siroe it's reused in a scene when father(king) promises his impisoned son freedom, gives him permission to marry his own lover(he knows she loves his son and he believes that he loves her, too) and future crown if he names the person who's about to attempt on king's life and the son refuses. The text is changed a little, too, but it just seems veird. And in Oreste it seems exactly in place.

And "Furie terribili" from Orlando. There's no actual rage there, it's just Armida's entrance aria, but the lyrics (she enters surrounded by furias) and the mood correspond. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ca8BgcGf-g