David Daniels - Ombra mai fu - Xerxes - Handel

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David Daniels, American countertenor, sings "Ombra mai fu" from Xerxes by Handel. Julius Rudel conducting. Richard Tucker Foundation Gala, Avery Fisher Hall, New York, 1997.

Channel: Music
Uploaded: June 5, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Author: nickbigd

Length: 0:03:58
Rating: 4.76
Views: 96,363

Tags: Handel Xerxes Ombra mai fu David Daniels opera aria countertenor contratenor baroque barroco Rinaldo Tancredi nickbigd

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Video Comments:
KufrAkbar (Tuesday 4th of November 2008 06:19:20 AM)
A very beautiful voice indeed. I'm glad that the opening recitative and the instrumental postlude were included in this performance and recording. Would "alto" be a legitimate description of Mr. Daniels's great voice?
dermann1 (Saturday 1st of November 2008 04:01:09 AM)
Che meraviglia!, Se il mondo ascoltasse di piu' questa musica, sarebbe un'altro mondo.
amrascarpathia (Tuesday 21st of October 2008 12:47:18 PM)
deffinately impressive. very beautiful. a question, can modern day counter-tenors be considered castrati? it's not an insult i'm just genuinely curious. an apology to anyone who might get offended by this comment.
nickbigd (Wednesday 22nd of October 2008 11:54:57 AM)
No offense taken. In my understanding (others should feel free to chime in), I think the two categories are mutually exclusive. By definition castrati are defined by castration before puberty or some other condition that prevents maturity. Counter-tenors are adult males who may sing in the same range as a castrato but that's the only similarity.
Dacookstar (Sunday 26th of October 2008 08:32:10 PM)
Yeah, the castration part creates a definite gap. Also, the castrati had a unique combination of a child's vocal chords in an adult body, and they had amazing lung capacity and power because of it. They also mainly sang in chest voice. A counter tenor uses a heady voice and adds power to it from below, or something like that. It is a bit much to explain in a Youtube comment, I suspect.
atacadas (Friday 14th of November 2008 04:24:16 AM)
It's incredible but the training of countertenors comes from the modern school of opera singing. Except from Alessandro Moreschi's recordings we do not know what a castrato should sound like. Tastes maight have been different during Farinelli's times and what they considered beautiful we think sounds creepy. I'm not really sure if I would like a castrato's voice any better than a countertenor's.
tavam55 (Friday 17th of October 2008 02:41:51 PM)
In 56 years I never heard a more beautiful voice period. I was lucky enough to see him perform live 2 days ago and he was wonderful.
tamalesytortas (Friday 24th of October 2008 07:31:36 PM)
I totally agree with you. You were so lucky to be there
urik2u (Friday 10th of October 2008 12:16:18 AM)
Such Aria,such passion, such voice....Bravo,Bravo,Bravo...
nicetasequiso (Thursday 9th of October 2008 04:16:18 PM)
I am so lucky! Bach's Sacred Areas and Cantatas is finally available in France since last Monday! I've bought several discs to make gifts to all my friends!