[78-L] R: Moreschi G&T [FWD]

[Michael Biel]

  On 9/1/2010 1:15 PM, Erwin Kluwer wrote:
> > From Wikipedia but a view I totally agree with:
>
>

> " many of the seemingly
> imperfect vocal attacks, for example, are in fact grace notes
> launched from as much as a tenth below the note - in Moreschi's case, this
> seems to have been a long-standing means of drawing on the particular
> acoustics of the Sistine Chapel itself. The dated aesthetic of Moreschi's
> singing, involving extreme passion and a perpetual type of sob, often sounds
> bizarre to the modern listener, and can be misinterpreted as technical
> weakness or symptomatic of an aging voice."
>
>

Some of you may know longtime ARSC member Joe Pengelly from Plymouth, 
England.  Joe was himself a high tenor and Counter-Tenor and is a noted 
expert on the high male voices.  He had a long held theory about 
Moreschi and the Sistine Chapel acoustics being necessary to understand 
and hear what Moreschi really sounded like.  About 20 years ago he was 
able to do some re-recording via loudspeaker and microphone in a huge 
cathedral and the results proved his point.  The long delay and overlap 
definitely enhanced the Moreschi recordings.  I am not sure that Joe 
would really recommend that the records be reissued with added reverb 
and echo, but that this is the location where the records would best be 
heard.  Digital devices being what they now are,perhaps he would 
recommend it.  Joe is not on line, but maybe one of our English 
listmembers who might know him might give him a ring and ask.  I had 
hoped that he had included the recording on a wonderful CD he had made 
of his performing and technical work but he didn't include it  But he 
did include a portion of Caruso's The Lost Chord which he had engineered 
a live church organ accompaniment in 1992, perhaps at the same time he 
did the Moreschi playbacks.  It is quite good.

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com




> "others feel that he was a very fine singer indeed, and that much of the
> "difficulty" in listening to Moreschi's recordings stems from changes in
> taste and singing style between his time and ours. His vocal technique can
> certainly seem to grate upon modern ears, but

> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_note>,
> Erwin
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 6:11 PM, neechevoneeznayou at gmail.com<
> neechevoneeznayou at gmail.com>  wrote:
>
>> I understand he was rather old at the time the records were made. He may
>> not have cared much, figuring that such records would never go anywhere
>> or survive for long, or he may not survive for long. Perhaps he just did
>> it for the money.
>>
>> joe salerno
>>
>>
>> Mike Harkin wrote:
>>> I can't believe he is so BAD!  And only in his middle 50's.  Eighteenth C
>>> castrati must have been 5000 times better than him to garner the raves they did.  And notice, he doesn't sing any Handel or anything actually written for castrati....
>>>
>>> Mike in Plovdiv
>>>

>>> --- On Wed, 9/1/10, Alfonsi Sergio<sergio.alfonsi at starvox.it>  wrote:
>>>
>>>> From: Alfonsi Sergio<sergio.alfonsi at starvox.it>
>>>> Looking the picture it seems a little
>>>> bit worn. Record is not shining.
>>>> I didn't pay more then 100 $.
>>>>
>>>> P.s.
>>>> It's unique record - no exist similar anywhere! ???
>>>> Ahahahah
>>>>
>>>> In the last 15 years I found it at least 10 copies..!!!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Messaggio originale-----
>>>> Da:  Thomas Stern
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> one on the auction site - relisted at 10 times the original
>>>> listing price Is this guy showing off, not actually wishing
>>>> to sell the item?  Item number: 140445488127 What would
>>>> be a fair value for this item?
>>>>
>>>> Best wishes, Thomas.