5 more reason why opera is great - Dessay, Nucci, Raimondi, Marton, Studer and more

To me it is absolutely baffeling how anyone can survive without loving opera. I was thinking long and hard and then I had an epiphany: The reason why opera is not at least as popular as Taylor Swift or Beyonce is, that you haven’t realized yet that opera provides you with the right music for each and every emotion you could ever have in your daily life. Your career is a dead-end? Don't despair - opera is here for you! You think religion is overrated? Well, opera has the right aria for you to enjoy your atheism even more! You are a failure as a parent? You can fire your therapist and instead watch to this video. Enjoy!
Original videos:
Eva Marton, Cheryl Studer • strauss: elektra ;abba...
Leo Nucci • Verdi OTELLO ST ENG
• Humperdinck- Hänsel un...
Daniela Sindram, Anne-Catherine Gillet, Irmgard Vilsmaier • Humperdinck- Hänsel un...
Ruggero Raimondi • Ruggero Raimondi - La ...
Natalie Dessay, Alessandro Corbelli • Natalie Dessay & Aless...

[@Dan474834]

The evening prayer in Hansel and Gretel is so beautiful, never fails to make me cry

[@peterpawlik2495]

Yes, the whole night-scene is wonderful: the Sandmännchen song, the evening prayer, the orchestra music while they are sleeping, the song of the Taumännchen when they wake up...😊

[@romalisan1]

Great singers! I do love opera! However, I never iron clothes, and I never will, and for that reason I walk around with wrinkled clothes, since I have no one to iron them for me. Wonderful choices, thanks.

[@peterpawlik2495]

Ironing is overrated although Natalie Dessay is a great advocate for it, isn't she? 🙂

[@romalisan1]

@@peterpawlik2495 Natalie Dessay is always fantastic, even ironing. She is a good example for everybody.

[@operaFan-tn8ng]

Everyday life? If I came across such characters and situations as those in everyday life I'd book myself in with the nearest shrink! Lol Thank you once again for a fun video.

[@yelowgizmo]

you really pick my curiosity. about those operas

[@peterpawlik2495]

That makes me happy to hear - thank you for your nice comment!

[@williamnethercott4364]

I remember seeing that performance of La Fille du Regiment and Dessay's performance is what stands out in my memory. That is really high drama in Elektra. Raimondi's performance made me wonder about why it is that I dislike Il Barbiere di Siviglia; is it because of the opera or just the version of it that I saw (I think it's a bit of both but I am now more willing to concede that it has its merits). Good selection!

[@user-su5wh5oe2c]

Hello! Great video as usual. Answering the question about Chrysothemis and Elektra's attitude and which one we would prefer to be, for me the answer is none of them but if I had to choose it would be Chrysothemis, to run away as quickly as possible from that house of bloodthirsty lunatics. Clytemnestra and Aegist have murdered Agamemnon, it is true, but we must remember that he did not hesitate to sacrifice Iphigenia, his other daughter, something that Clytemnestra will not have liked very much, although because of the way she treats Elektra it is true that she is not going to win the mother of the year award, nor will Hänsel und Grettel's mother. Natalie Dessay is simply amazing. As you point out, it is impressive, almost inexplicable how she is able to maintain her voice while moving her arms so quickly, plus she is a great actress. As for Iago, in my opinion he is the most complex character in Otello and the Credo is a masterpiece. Thank you very much for your videos.

[@peterpawlik2495]

I share your position that you'd rather not sacrifice your children in order to get as a reward wind for your ships so you can attack a foreign city. Although - a few years ago I was on a family trip when the gas in the car almost ran out. I was considering to sacrifice my daughter but luckily a few minutes later there was a petrol station - close call...

[@Bardonia]

You are a great storyteller but the ending was the best truly brilliant, both the voice and the acting.🙏

[@peterpawlik2495]

Thank you for your kind words 😊🙏

[@edgarfranceschi8338]

Nataly Dessay is sensational in the ironing scene.

[@peterpawlik2495]

110%!!!!

[@mariocampos9996]

Love Natalie, and love ironing, btw!

[@peterpawlik2495]

Good for you 😄👍

[@Mestrcs]

Excellent video as always! I think you are successfully proving that Opera is a mirror of life. I see myself in the way Nathalie Dessay irons, I do it like this when I have to, but my singing is far less attractive.

[@peterpawlik2495]

😄

[@mimikrya8794]

Regarding your comment about children, I read somewhere that when children begin to understand the violence in children's stories and begin to feel sorry for Tom in the Tom & Jerry cartoon, it marks their coming of age. I used to watch operas as a child......until now 😂.

[@peterpawlik2495]

I love how effortlessly you bring together opera, fairy tales and Tom&Jerry - well done 👏🙂

[@operaFan-tn8ng]

My philosophy is that if it needs ironing it doesn't get worn! 😂 Natalie Dessay is very welcome to come roundcand practce if she likes but I've given up ironing- it's against my religion! Cheerfully singing while she works charging around like that puts me in mind of a Disney Princess. Any minute now she'll have bluebirds joining in. 😂

[@peterpawlik2495]

A lovely but slightly maniac Disney Princess...I love how unpretentious she portrays this role. And the singing? OMG...

[@michaelsmith4854]

Wash everything on 30 degrees and you will never need to iron again 😂 But I could watch Natalie Dessay iron all day long💗

[@peterpawlik2495]

😄👍

[@operaFan-tn8ng]

Now I like a bit of Richard Strauss, I like his lieder and loved that bit of the Rosen Cavalier you featured in part 1, but Elektra? Ruddy hell what a din!!!!! I don't think I could sit through the whole of this without having a couple of stiff drinks beforehand. As for the characters of Elektra and her sister I have no idea who I'd rather be. I think they're both nuts! The sister is hearing voices and Elektra is obsessed with revenge and ends up dead. What a morbid night at the opera this would be for me!

[@peterpawlik2495]

Elektra is a tough one, not easy to get into it...I would recommend to find a score or better a piano reduction online (with English translation) and read along while listening. It takes time and a bit effort but it's definitely worth it in my opinion. The equally rich and harsh music in combination with the Siegmund-Freud-inspired libretto of Hofmannsthal makes this a very rewarding experience. But for sure you have to be in the mood for it. It's not easy listening... 😄 About "Elektra or Chrysothemis": the question was not which one we would rather be but if we would behave more like Elektra or like Chrysothemis if we were living in a dictatorial society: would we be resisting or rather give up and follow the path of the least resistance ...? Probably because of my English I haven't made that clear enough 😔

[@operaFan-tn8ng]

@@peterpawlik2495 That’s such a hard question. I'd hate to think that I could be a coward. I'm usually not afraid to speak out - as you've probably gathered. However, how I'd behave in a dictatorial society is untested. I can't stand unfairness and bullying though so I think I'd probably land myself in hot water by resisting oppression.

[@peterpawlik2495]

@@operaFan-tn8ng For me as a German that's a question which followed me my whole life: how would I have behaved if I would have lived then. And I can only hope that I would not have been a Hitler fan then...😬

[@n.n.5293]

Little correction: Agamemnon was King of Mykene/Mycene not Mykonos. I am still struggling with Elektra and a bit sick so took me a while this time to get around to watch the whole video. Sorry about that. P. S. So you mean you‘d prefer someone to do the ironing for you? Perhaps some sort of Iron Man? I‘ll see myself out now.

[@peterpawlik2495]

I think it's a genius idea to hire Iron Man to take on some of my household chores 😄 Thank you for your correction regarding Mykonos/Mykene - of course you are right - I should have paid better attention in my Ancient Greek classes 🙄 Hope you are back to being 100% healthy and fit? All my best 🙏

[@n.n.5293]

@@peterpawlik2495 getting better by the day. Thank you. It means a lot. And to be fair, I just had to translate the story of Agamemnons murder three weeks ago. ;)

[@operaFan-tn8ng]

I am utterly confused as to what number 4 is. Did you say it was King Phillipe in Don Carlos? I really don't remember that in the Verdi opera I've got. I'm probably being really stupid (again.) Yes the baritone has got a wonderful voice.

[@peterpawlik2495]

It's Basilio's aria in "Barber of Seville". Funny, that Mozart made him in his opera a tenor with a very boring aria ( so boring that it is cut in most performances), taking away his grandezza and showing him as the little weasel he truly is (not that tenors per se are weasels 😬😄)

[@operaFan-tn8ng]

@@peterpawlik2495 Oh God! Now I'm completely confused. Is the clip from Rossini? I expect it is because it's a baritone singing it. But you said that Mozart had scored it for a Tenor. What Mozart opera are we talking about? It's obviously one that I do not know. I should explain that I've got Parkinsons and for some reason I am in a complete brain fug at the moment. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

[@peterpawlik2495]

@@operaFan-tn8ng Sorry for the confusion I have caused!!! You are right: the video example is Basilio's aria from Barber of Seville (i.e. the first part of Beaumarchais' Figaro trilogy), sung by a bass baritone. What I was talking about in my reply to your comment was Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro (the second part of the trilogy). In The Marriage of Figaro we have the same characters as in Barber of Seville, just a few years later. So we have here again Basilio but this time, in The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart wrote this character for a tenor... 🙂

[@operaFan-tn8ng]

@@peterpawlik2495 Oh yes! I remember now. Didn't he turn out to be Figaro's father?

[@peterpawlik2495]

@@operaFan-tn8ng That was Bartolo 😄

[@FCOLAXCDG]

❤️🇱🇨!!!

[@peterpawlik2495]

🙏

[@doGreatartistsgrowontrees]

Are these videos AI-generated? There is a disembodied quality to the speech and style and sound that makes one suspect.

[@peterpawlik2495]

Hi 🙂 I am not sure about which part of the video you are talking about? You mean the parts like the intro? When I talk about the upcoming video examples? Is it the language? Or the way it is filmed? Well, I can assure you that they are recorded the old fashioned way: me sitting at my living room table and an iPhone at the other end. I find this really interesting. And a bit disturbing that I come across like an AI character... "a disembodied quality"? 😩😄

[@doGreatartistsgrowontrees]

@@peterpawlik2495 Good to hear that ChatGPT or any other AI engine has nothing to do with these videos. On the other hand, AI is capable of also generating your human-like response. So one never knows anymore. Such are the times we live in.

[@peterpawlik2495]

@@doGreatartistsgrowontrees I get it. And the prospect of being confronted with a media world where we no longer can distinguish between real and fake is frightening. My experience with Chat GPT so far is that it makes a lot of stupid mistakes. Once or twice I asked Chat GPT for some suggestions like "name 10 operas in which bad parents play a major part" - and it came back with answers like Carmen or Lucia di Lammermoor. If there were better AI tools available, like Sora (in the future), to produce better B-roll I probably would use it though because there are so many B-roll examples of business meetings or happy families available but almost none in a theater or opera context. But for now all you see on my channel is good old fashioned real world content 😄

[@operaFan-tn8ng]

Is this a programme which is going to be concentrating on nut jobs? That Iago. I mean he's completely potty isn't he? I bet he's fun at parties. (Actually he probably is as he adopts a Mr Nice Guy persona when necessary.) Do you reckon he's a satanist? He certainly sounds like one and, again, is obsessed with getting revenge on Otello for being Captain (or something like that.) The performance was wonderful. I agree that it was not overdone.

[@peterpawlik2495]

I guess for Jago to be a satanist he first would have to acknowledge that there is a god?

[@operaFan-tn8ng]

@@peterpawlik2495 Yes, a God of the underworld!