Liederabend - First Ever German Art Song Series to be held in Malaysia

I received this in my mailbox ...... I think I should publish it.
____________________________________________

Dear Music Lovers,
Artists Platform and Goethe-Institut Malaysia present Liederabend - German Art Song Series 2007, supported by The Actors Studio and KLPAC.

The series will begin in October 2007 at The Actors Studio Greenhall Penang, followed by four different programmes in November 2007 at KLPAC, Johor Bahru and Ipoh. ( For more info, please refer to the flyers attached).

This is the first ever German Art Song Series to be held in Malaysia. Never before has our audience been exposed to this important art form from the German Romantic period. The concerts feature some of Malaysia's young talented singers accompanied at the piano by Kok-Ting Chong.

Telephone reservation is recommended as seats are limited.

For further enquiries, do drop us a line at email address artistsplatform@gmail.com.

Hope to see you at the concert.

Best Regards,
Kok-Ting Chong
Music Director ,
Artists Platform .
____________________________________________

So ladies and gentlemen, lovers of lieders and vocal art, here's your chance to savour the moment. The most interesting ones from famous composers such as Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Wagner will be sung and heard.

I do have some curiosity on the "Journey" section. I have heard "Winterreise" before from CD tracks. Time to experience it live perhaps.

I plan to try something new too. I gather that Tan Wei Han (tenor) and Chia Yee Yean (soprano) will be singing the "Letters" section on 17th November at Indicine (of KLPac).

Time to try something from Schumann, "Dichterliebe" and "Frauenliebe und Leben"

Enjoy...

[ For Enquiries, try calling 04-263 5400 (Penang), 03-4047 9000 (Kuala Lumpur), 07-221 4935 (Johor Bahru) or 05-5487814 (Ipoh) ]
____________________________________________

(To view the details, please click on the flyers to enlarge)

Silky Smooth Gem: Giulietta Simionato

This morning I discovered a "Gem" by the name of Giulietta Simionato while listening to a fairly-priced CD titled Favorite Opera Duets . Bought it for RM 21.90 from Popular Bookstore.

On Track 11, she was duetting with Franco Corelli (a dramatic tenor) in the song "Si la Stanchezza...Ai Nostri Monti" in the Opera "Il Trovatore" Act 4 written by famous composer Verdi .

Giulietta is described as the most universally recognised best mezzo-soprano in Great Singers homepage.

From the track that I have listened, her voice is beautiful. What sets her apart from the other mezzo-sopranos that I have listened to is the vibrancy of her voice.

Her chest voice is very stable. In my opinion, her voice is quite big compared to mezzos like Joan Sutherland or Marilyn Horne. You can feel the smoothness of the voice as she moves along the lines, be it high or low notes. Not an amount of friction, jitter or sudden rough sound.

While most sopranos have very sharp voices, another feature that set her apart from them is hers having a rounder and fuller feature.

For me, this is High Art. Silky, Beautiful, simply beautiful !

I did not see any of her CDs in Tower Records KLCC, probably because she is not as famous now as she used to be many decades ago. Her career actually started in the 30s and ended in 1966.

You can visit this Blog to view many of her recorded performances. Thanks to Miss Felipe Cunha from Rio de Jainero, Brazil that I am able to appreciate this Silky Smooth Gem