Lloyd Hanson wrote:
>I listened to the download of Barber's version of Summertime.
>Creative, inventive and very much in the pops ideal that the singer
>and instrumentalist complete the work done by Gershwin. I enjoyed it.
Actually I would classify it not as pop (no "s") but as jazz. The
ideal that the singer and instrumentalist complete the work done by
the composer applies in either genre.
I'm not sure what you mean by "pops". The only other context in which
I have seen that term is when a symphony orchestra plays
non-symphonic music, as in the Boston Pops. Patricia Barber's
Summertime certainly is not part of that.
>But, and I know this will cause an argument, it is not the Summertime
>Gershwin wrote.
If Gershwin actually wrote it in B minor with a lowest note of F#
above middle C, then you will get no argument from me, but I'm sure
that Gershwin's estate didn't waive the mechanical licensing fee.
> Unlike many composers of American Standards,
>Gershwin wrote this for his opera, Porgy and Bess. When it is alterd
>as much as Barber does, and her altering is very little compared to
>some versions,
That's true, at least with regard to the section where she sings the
melody. As for as the long improvised intro, I think that is as
altered as it gets. Hearing the intro I don't think anybody could
ever guess that she was about to sing Summertime.
> it is no longer the Summertime that Gershwin wrote.
>
> As a completed stage work Gershwin wrote for a medium that normally
>does not re-do or re-write the score. In other words there are
>limits to the freedoms allowed.
>
>Still I like what she did. It is just not better than the many
>recordings done from the score by opera trained singers.
That, of course, is a matter of personal taste. Would you suggest a
few by opera singers that you consider the best, preferably with a
link to online recordings?
John Link
http://www.cdBaby.com/JohnLink
Check out my CDs:
http://www.cdBaby.com/JohnLink2 (John Link Sextet)
http://www.cdBaby.com/JohnLink (John Link Vocal Quintet)
|
|  |
