White Stuff
- ibass
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» ibass - A few more flakes
With that wonderful hindsight that strikes just after one posts an article -- in my old newsletter days this would inevitably happen once the envelopes were physically mailed...some things never change! -- I realized that I left a few important scenes out of this article.Both have to do with using iciness as a vocal effect, within magical surroundings. Purcell's 1800 King Arthur contains a scene of enchantment in which a "Cold Genius" reigns over a kingdom of ice. The recording by Les Arts Florissants has a lot of fun with adding a teeth-chattering quality to his lines and those of the "Chorus of Cold People."
And then there is Meredith Monk's 1991 Atlas, in which one scene takes place in a mystically-imagined Arctic populated by high-pitched "Ice Demons." Adding to the eeriness of its recording is the fact that the several female demons are joined in song by soprano countertenor Randall Wong.
If you enjoy what I think of as "operatic onomatopoeia," these are definitely worth listening to!
-- posted by ibass
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