It's my pleasure Virginia, thank you for listening, I'm glad that you like this one. It never ceases to amaze me that, even at my age, I still keep finding new singers and music that I've never heard before. It's one of the great enjoyments of music.
Thank you Michael for uploading a recording by this amazing Russian singer. I believe he was one of the greatest singers ever recorded. It's strange how the Italians produce the greatest tenors (mostly) and the East Europeans the greatest bassoists and baritones? This particular version of this aria has long been a favorite of mine. Thank you again for for uploading it.
It's my pleasure Owen, thank you for listening, I'm glad that you like this one. It's a wonderful song and I thought that, as well as showing off the voice of Chaliapin it's a good demonstration of the vast improvement in audio quality made by the introduction of electrical recording in 1925. It is strange how different regions of the world seem to have more of particular ranges of voice. I want to upload more of Chaliapin but I may have picked the wrong time to upload Russian singers as I have lost some subscribers even though Putin's invasion of Ukraine obviously has nothing to do with the great singers of the past.
Отмеченная вами тенденция справедливо. Действительно, итальянцы (я бы добавил сюда ещё испанцев) знамениты прежде всего тенорами, тогда как на Востоке их ощутимо меньше, чем на Аппенинском и Пиренейском полуостровах. Я предположил бы две причины этого явления. Первая - более суровый климат, который неблагоприятно сказывается, как известно, на высоких, более уязвимых и хрупких голосах. (Гастроли в России, к примеру, стоили Бозио жизни). Вторая причина: пение в высокой тесситуре предъявляет особенно высокие требования к технике пения: недостаточно умелый тенор пропоёт особенно недолго по сравнению со своими не слишком умелыми коллегами с более низкими голосами. Вокальная же педагогика родом оттуда же, откуда и сама опера. А вот изобилие первоклассных басов во Франции начала ХХ аека меня действительно сильно удивляет.
@@michaelmcgrailengland Дорогой Майкл, я бы отметил не только улучшение качества записи, но и убедительный рост мастерства и выразительности Шаляпина, не перестававшего совершенствоваться. Записи второй половины 1920-х годов - вершина в его фонографическом наследии. Достаточно сравнить две записи арии Лепорелло: 1923, если не ошибаюсь, и 1928 годов. Вторая запись по сравнению с первой - просто Везувий выразительных нюансов и разнообразнейших оттенков.
1921!! A jewel. Unforgettable interpreter. Love it. Congratulations!! A treasure. Didactic and educative information. Beautiful art-work. Thank you for sharing this adorable performance.
Chaliapin - one of the greatest singer-actors of his time... or maybe of all time...? ✨✨✨ Some say he was more of an actor than a singer, because, when getting carried away, he cared more about the drama than the music. It must have been so exciting to see him on stage in a live performance!!! Now all we can do is listen to his still breathtaking recordings - and watch the wonderful photos you‘ve selected, Michael... Thank you for another magnificent video! 🙏🍀 (Btw, how was your holiday? No frost-bite after the first few cloudy and chilly days, I suppose...)
Hello Harriet, thanks for listening/watching I'm glad that you enjoyed the video. I can well imagine that he placed acting at least equal to singing on the stage as that seems to show in the dramatic quality of his recordings. I only have one CD of his recordings that I hadn't listened to for years but did so when i was looking for something different to upload. The CD has Le veau d'or on it and after I uploaded that I found this one in TH-cam recommendations and it was a wonderful song that I had never heard before. It was on a channel that you'll be familiar with, Edmund St Austell ( who is actually a friend of Shicoff 2) I was particularly fascinated by it because Edmund had listed his video as the 1921 acoustic recording when, actually, it's the 1927 electrical recording. As far as the holiday goes, it was not good weather wise, it was cold and windy until the last day, but it didn't rain much so we managed to do a few nice walks. Now we have exactly the opposite, as no doubt you do, with no wind and very high temperatures. It's 96F today and tomorrow we're told it will be the highest ever UK temperature of 103F here and even higher further south. Best regards and keep cool.
@@michaelmcgrailengland Aren‘t we lucky that there is no climate change...? At least that‘s what many people still think... Please take care as long as the temperature is that high, no marathons - can you promise me that? Sorry to hear that your holiday wasn‘t as pleasant as you hoped. I know that feeling! „Le veau d‘or“ is one of my favourite arias for bass... and there aren‘t that many (you know I‘m a tenor girl) - another one being „Ella giammai m‘amò“... Everything Chaliapin laid his vocal chords on probably led to exiting results; I really wish I had had the chance to be in the audience when he performed on stage. It‘s a good thing we have several great channels on our hands - yours being one of them!!! - channels we can turn to when we long for the extraordinary voices of the past! I‘ll be gone for the rest of the week, but after my return I want to browse your channel for treasures that have been posted before I joined the TH-cam community... That‘s something I really look forward to! As always, best regards!!! 🍀 ☘️ 🍀
"... he was more an actor than a singer" в отношении Шаляпина - мнение совершенно несостоятельное. Некоторые основания для подобных суждений дает то обстоятельство, что его голос, действительно, не был рекордным ни в отношении диапазона, ни в отношении силы звука. Однако самые ранние рецензии отмечают красоту тембра этого голоса. Обилие тембровых красок, наполненность вокальным "мясом" замечательны у Шаляпина, и солистом Мариинского театра он стал в 22 года именно благодаря своим вокальным способностям. Все свои "вокальные дуэли", кто бы ни становился его соперником - Чирино, Дидур, Де Анджелис - Шаляпин неизменно выигрывал. Путь же его к вершинам актерского мастерства был отнюдь не скорым. Ранние рецензии единогласно отмечают его скованность на сцене. Вскоре столь же часто газеты начинают писать, что Шаляпин "кривляется" - упрёк, довольно долго сопровождавший выступления певца. И лишь постепенно, неустанно развиваясь и совершенствуясь, Шаляпин пришёл к тем вершинам оперного исполнительства, которые потрясали его современников, не переставая всё это время быть великолепным вокалистом. В смысле гармонического сочетания вокального и артистического совершенств достойны стоять рядом только Шаляпин и Каллас..
I'm glad that you commented Chang, it reminded me that I had forgotten to send you a message about your last video. It was very good, of course, and I enjoyed the music.Seen from up in the mountains, it's hard to imagine that Busan is a noisy bustling city, it looks so peaceful, but it seems to be bigger on each video. The world is one. It's one of the things I like most about TH-cam and music. You do get arguments but, generally it seems to bring people of different nationalities together. I wonder what nationality the unfaithful woman was who so angered the poet in this song. We are set to have temperatures over 100F on Tuesday for the first time ever so I shall be staying in doors with cool drinks on that day.
@@michaelmcgrailengland Over 100F in England? You must stay in home. The mountain in my last video was closed for 70 years because of military facilities. It opened its doors in June this year. Michael! Thank you for your wonderful comments as always.
@@MountainwalkwithMusic That's good news about the mountain Chang but listen, I've had an idea about the hot weather and I thought that I would see what you think before I try it. The air is very hot at the moment and I wondered if I stopped breathing it in until the heatwave has finished, if it would have the effect of cooling my body down and helping me get to sleep.What do you think? My wife says that she thinks it is a very good idea!!! Enjoy the rest of the day.
@@michaelmcgrailengland Oh! superhuman Michael!! It's a very great idea. However, you may not be able to see beautiful Korean mountains anymore because there is not enough oxygen until the end of the heatwave, so I think you need a better idea. I recommend you put ice under your nose and keep breathing. I want to listen to more songs by Caruso and Bjorling. Keeping is better than Stopping.
@@MountainwalkwithMusic OK, I'll take your advice Chang but my wife has had a very good idea that I'm going to follow when the weather cools down. She says that instead of getting exercise by walking in the country, I should take up tightrope walking. She says it's very good exercise and could even give me a permanent cure for my vertigo.
Thanks a lot, Michael. Before I met this video, I had only heard a recording from 1927. It was all the more interesting to get acquainted with the earlier acoustic version.
It's my pleasure Alexandr, I'm glad that you enjoyed the video. I hope to include more of Chaliapin's recordings in the future. The only other that I have done to date is at th-cam.com/video/7yygeCMlNkk/w-d-xo.html
@@michaelmcgrailengland Thanks for the link, Michael. I have just listened to the verses of Mephistopheles. Frankly, they sound better on vinyl. However, you should continue to acquaint the multi-million TH-cam audience with the work of the brilliant singer: for the overwhelming number of YT's visitors, Chaliapin is at best just a name, unfortunately.
@@purisermonisamator Thanks for listening Alexandr. In my opinion, and I have had many comments from listeners agreeing with me, my restorations, when listened to through headphones or another medium with good bass output, give a far more realistic true-to-life sound than that of any vinyl or CD. However I respect your opinion, of course. Most of the recordings that I upload are already on TH-cam but my videos have better audio with a slightly more up-to-date sound and I hope that this will attract new, possibly even younger listeners, to the great singers of the past, like Chaliapin, and thus help to preserve them as recordings to be listened to and enjoyed rather than to be just museum exhibits in a glass case. As you feel that my restorations are inferior to the originals I don't expect that you will visit my channel again but if you do, I wonder if you will be kind enough, if you respond to comments made by other listeners, to do so in a manner that will encourage them to continue listening and investigating the world of classical music and opera, rather than in a manner that may discourage them as that doesn't help me in what I am trying to do. Thanks again for listening, all the best from Yorkshire, England.
@@michaelmcgrailengland Dear Michael, I am very sorry if my review has upset you. Believe me, that was not my intention. I was even less willing to compromise your recovery work. In order for you to understand me better, I have to tell you a little about myself, even if I abuse your attention a little. I began to get interested in opera not only in the pre-computer era, but simply in the pre-digital one. It is not surprising that analog sound with its juiciness and bodily density has become a benchmark for me in a certain sense. With the advent of the CD era, I lost my feet in search of equipment capable of providing sound approaching the analog standard. I went through several dozen companies, and still did not quite succeed.I would compare digital sound to an X-ray photograph: in a certain sense, it shows even more than an ordinary one, but you are unlikely to give your X-ray photo to your friend.Just as it is possible to talk about different degrees of phonogenicity of different voices, there is also a different degree of their "digitality": singers filter through a digital sieve with losses of different scales.According to my observations, the "digit" is the most ruthless to the high female voices, but everything is individual here as well: Patti and Sembrich suffer minimally, Galvani and Galli-Curci suffer very much, etc. It would be possible to consider my commitment to vinyl as my individual feature, but the growing interest in vinyl today prevents me from doing this: the advantages of analog sound are heard not by me alone.On the other hand, I understand perfectly. that you, with all your enthusiasm, will not be able to supply vinyl records to all lovers of opera singing, even if we are talking only about music lovers of Yorkshire.If the appearance of the Cds has greatly expanded the possibilities of music lovers, then TH-cam has made these possibilities almost limitless.Therefore, I can only welcome in every possible way both your efforts and the efforts of your colleagues, which do not become less valuable from some inevitable losses that may happen on the way to a wide range of listeners. Your fears that my "analog skepticism" may alienate someone from your channel or from TH-cam in general, firstly, attribute to me intentions that I do not have, and secondly, clearly exaggerates the importance of my private opinion; that is somewhat flattering to me, but does not correspond to reality. I admire your work, Michael, thank you for it and intend, with your permission, to follow its results with interest, hiding my impressions from everyone, if you like, or sharing them exclusively with you via email, if you so wish. Best regards Alexandr
@@purisermonisamator Hello Alexandr, thanks for your message and you will be pleased to hear that you have not offended me. I was disappointed that you were not impressed favourably but the example that I sent was very poor, I had problems improving it but it was the only other of Chaliapin that I had uploaded.' I agree with much of what you say about the quality of vinyl and CD recordings but the main problem is that the CD companies think that they have restored a recording by simply reducing high and low frequency noise. The noise and the music are all mixed together like the flour, yeast and water in a loaf of bread and so in reducing the noise they also degrade and narrow the sound of the music. I do the opposite by expanding the music and I only reduce noise if it overshadows the music.I shall not bore you with anything further about this except just to say that I think that I produce an improved, more true-to-life and therefore more enjoyable sound. In relation to one of my videos of Gigli, one listener, who has the sad misfortune of being without sight but, as a result, has excellent hearing said "I am hearing some space in this recording is that the room he recorded in or did you add some affect if it was it is done very well!!!!! Love hearing the orchestra how can you get the instruments so well balanced thank you very much love these restored recordings we can really hear what they sounded like!!!! Thank you very much " Another in relation to Caruso's recording of Feneste che lucive said "Usually I am extremely critical of cleaned up and modernised 78 recording BUT by all means this recording is a credit to your talent . You have captured his soul !!!" So I'll rest my case at that and, if you are kind enough to continue listening to my channel, hope that you will also find some that you like. The only thing that worried me slightly and perhaps it was just your way of being light hearted and not meant to be offensive was your message to Virginia. She only became interested in classical singing a couple of years ago when, just by chance she came across and listened to the video I had uploaded of Jussi Bjorling's O Helga Natt (the one you yourself listened to a few days ago) and I wouldn't want people like Virginia to be afraid to listen or make a comment for fear of being criticized. So please continue listening and feel free to make whatever comments about my videos, good or bad, that wish. You obviously have a deep knowledge of music and I know that your comments will always be based on experience and fair (unless, of course somebody criticizes Chaliapin, (in which case they had better watch out!!!) Harriet (HR Books and Music) is also very knowlegable (much more so than myself) and I know that she will have enjoyed her conversation with you. For myself, I just love music as a whole, it's always been one of the most important parts of my life and I know a small amount about most of it and if it pleases my ear I like it, whatever the genre.
I hope it didn't spoil your breakfast Sheila, it's a bit sombre for early morning. It was a poem (presumably the poet had a very unhappy marriage) and somebody issued a challenge to composers to set it to music. Beethoven was one of sixty-three to take up the challenge and apparently his is the only memorable version.
I'm not a great fan of the bass voice except for Paul Robeson but Chaliapins 1927 Recording of The Blind Ploughman is one of my favourites, by the way, have you heard the tenor on the Soviet Army Ensemble LP? Possibly not the best LP to be mentioning at the moment but there is a tenor on it, E. Belayev with a beautiful voice, his solo on Kalinka is really worth listening to!
Thanks for listening Helena, and I agree with what you say about bass voices generally and my exception is also the great Paul Robeson with his uniquely beautiful voice. I'm sure that he also recorded The Blind Ploughman as did John McCormack. I haven't heard the LP that you mention but there's a great video on TH-cam of the Red Army Choir performing Kalinka in 1965 and, although his name is spelt slightly differently, it must be the same tenor. If you haven't already seen it the link to the video is th-cam.com/video/_XxK2JJisEc/w-d-xo.html I uploaded a compilation video of Nessun Dorma and included an extract, at the end of a performance by the Red Army Choir in 2016. It lost me some subscribers at the time because Putin had just invaded Ukraine but I had just read the story of how the whole choir were killed in a plane crash a few months after the video was filmed. If you haven't already seen that video and wanted to watch it the link is th-cam.com/video/Zagwm5-AmUo/w-d-xo.html
0:06 1921 recording
3:22 1927 recording
Oh I had never heard of Feodor Chaliapin, either...beautiful...what a delight, thank you Michael.
It's my pleasure Virginia, thank you for listening, I'm glad that you like this one. It never ceases to amaze me that, even at my age, I still keep finding new singers and music that I've never heard before. It's one of the great enjoyments of music.
Dear Virginia, how dare you not know this brilliant singer? Frankly, this is inexcusable, and only your admiration excuses you to some extent.
Thank you Michael for uploading a recording by this amazing Russian singer. I believe he was one of the greatest singers ever recorded. It's strange how the Italians produce the greatest tenors (mostly) and the East Europeans the greatest bassoists and baritones?
This particular version of this aria has long been a favorite of mine.
Thank you again for for uploading it.
It's my pleasure Owen, thank you for listening, I'm glad that you like this one. It's a wonderful song and I thought that, as well as showing off the voice of Chaliapin it's a good demonstration of the vast improvement in audio quality made by the introduction of electrical recording in 1925. It is strange how different regions of the world seem to have more of particular ranges of voice.
I want to upload more of Chaliapin but I may have picked the wrong time to upload Russian singers as I have lost some subscribers even though Putin's invasion of Ukraine obviously has nothing to do with the great singers of the past.
Отмеченная вами тенденция справедливо. Действительно, итальянцы (я бы добавил сюда ещё испанцев) знамениты прежде всего тенорами, тогда как на Востоке их ощутимо меньше, чем на Аппенинском и Пиренейском полуостровах. Я предположил бы две причины этого явления. Первая - более суровый климат, который неблагоприятно сказывается, как известно, на высоких, более уязвимых и хрупких голосах. (Гастроли в России, к примеру, стоили Бозио жизни).
Вторая причина: пение в высокой тесситуре предъявляет особенно высокие требования к технике пения: недостаточно умелый тенор пропоёт особенно недолго по сравнению со своими не слишком умелыми коллегами с более низкими голосами. Вокальная же педагогика родом оттуда же, откуда и сама опера.
А вот изобилие первоклассных басов во Франции начала ХХ аека меня действительно сильно удивляет.
@@michaelmcgrailengland Дорогой Майкл, я бы отметил не только улучшение качества записи, но и убедительный рост мастерства и выразительности Шаляпина, не перестававшего совершенствоваться. Записи второй половины 1920-х годов - вершина в его фонографическом наследии. Достаточно сравнить две записи арии Лепорелло: 1923, если не ошибаюсь, и 1928 годов. Вторая запись по сравнению с первой - просто Везувий выразительных нюансов и разнообразнейших оттенков.
@@purisermonisamator Yes, you are right, of course, Alexandr. I'll have a listen later today to the two recordings of the aria that you mention.
Гениальный Шаляпин,его голос затрагивает душу, художественный шок!Браво,Федор Иванович!
Thanks for listening and for your comment Natalya
1921!! A jewel. Unforgettable interpreter. Love it.
Congratulations!! A treasure. Didactic and educative information.
Beautiful art-work. Thank you for sharing this adorable performance.
It's my pleasure Rosa Angela, thank you for listening and for your kind words.
One of the greatest voices in opera history the quality the sound gifted singer and the composer enough said Unbelievable
Thanks for listening Vincent, I'm glad that you enjoyed the video.
Chaliapin - one of the greatest singer-actors of his time... or maybe of all time...? ✨✨✨ Some say he was more of an actor than a singer, because, when getting carried away, he cared more about the drama than the music. It must have been so exciting to see him on stage in a live performance!!! Now all we can do is listen to his still breathtaking recordings - and watch the wonderful photos you‘ve selected, Michael...
Thank you for another magnificent video! 🙏🍀
(Btw, how was your holiday? No frost-bite after the first few cloudy and chilly days, I suppose...)
Hello Harriet, thanks for listening/watching I'm glad that you enjoyed the video. I can well imagine that he placed acting at least equal to singing on the stage as that seems to show in the dramatic quality of his recordings. I only have one CD of his recordings that I hadn't listened to for years but did so when i was looking for something different to upload. The CD has Le veau d'or on it and after I uploaded that I found this one in TH-cam recommendations and it was a wonderful song that I had never heard before. It was on a channel that you'll be familiar with, Edmund St Austell ( who is actually a friend of Shicoff 2) I was particularly fascinated by it because Edmund had listed his video as the 1921 acoustic recording when, actually, it's the 1927 electrical recording.
As far as the holiday goes, it was not good weather wise, it was cold and windy until the last day, but it didn't rain much so we managed to do a few nice walks. Now we have exactly the opposite, as no doubt you do, with no wind and very high temperatures. It's 96F today and tomorrow we're told it will be the highest ever UK temperature of 103F here and even higher further south.
Best regards and keep cool.
@@michaelmcgrailengland
Aren‘t we lucky that there is no climate change...? At least that‘s what many people still think... Please take care as long as the temperature is that high, no marathons - can you promise me that?
Sorry to hear that your holiday wasn‘t as pleasant as you hoped. I know that feeling!
„Le veau d‘or“ is one of my favourite arias for bass... and there aren‘t that many (you know I‘m a tenor girl) - another one being „Ella giammai m‘amò“... Everything Chaliapin laid his vocal chords on probably led to exiting results; I really wish I had had the chance to be in the audience when he performed on stage. It‘s a good thing we have several great channels on our hands - yours being one of them!!! - channels we can turn to when we long for the extraordinary voices of the past!
I‘ll be gone for the rest of the week, but after my return I want to browse your channel for treasures that have been posted before I joined the TH-cam community... That‘s something I really look forward to!
As always, best regards!!! 🍀 ☘️ 🍀
@@hrbooksmusic7878 Enjoy your break and we'll chat again when you return.
@@michaelmcgrailengland
Just leaving... and looking forward to pick up our little chat! 🍀☘️🍀
"... he was more an actor than a singer" в отношении Шаляпина - мнение совершенно несостоятельное. Некоторые основания для подобных суждений дает то обстоятельство, что его голос, действительно, не был рекордным ни в отношении диапазона, ни в отношении силы звука. Однако самые ранние рецензии отмечают красоту тембра этого голоса. Обилие тембровых красок, наполненность вокальным "мясом" замечательны у Шаляпина, и солистом Мариинского театра он стал в 22 года именно благодаря своим вокальным способностям. Все свои "вокальные дуэли", кто бы ни становился его соперником - Чирино, Дидур, Де Анджелис - Шаляпин неизменно выигрывал.
Путь же его к вершинам актерского мастерства был отнюдь не скорым. Ранние рецензии единогласно отмечают его скованность на сцене. Вскоре столь же часто газеты начинают писать, что Шаляпин "кривляется" - упрёк, довольно долго сопровождавший выступления певца. И лишь постепенно, неустанно развиваясь и совершенствуясь, Шаляпин пришёл к тем вершинам оперного исполнительства, которые потрясали его современников, не переставая всё это время быть великолепным вокалистом. В смысле гармонического сочетания вокального и артистического совершенств достойны стоять рядом только Шаляпин и Каллас..
What a lovely sound for such a hot afternoon. TY
Thanks for listening Marian, I'm glad that you like it.
Yes, it's so hot here I got out of breath just uploading it!!
a German composer an Italian poet a Russian singer a British production a Korean viewer
The world is one.
I'm glad that you commented Chang, it reminded me that I had forgotten to send you a message about your last video.
It was very good, of course, and I enjoyed the music.Seen from up in the mountains, it's hard to imagine that Busan is a noisy bustling city, it looks so peaceful, but it seems to be bigger on each video.
The world is one. It's one of the things I like most about TH-cam and music. You do get arguments but, generally it seems to bring people of different nationalities together.
I wonder what nationality the unfaithful woman was who so angered the poet in this song.
We are set to have temperatures over 100F on Tuesday for the first time ever so I shall be staying in doors with cool drinks on that day.
@@michaelmcgrailengland Over 100F in England? You must stay in home.
The mountain in my last video was closed for 70 years because of military facilities. It opened its doors in June this year.
Michael! Thank you for your wonderful comments as always.
@@MountainwalkwithMusic That's good news about the mountain Chang but listen, I've had an idea about the hot weather and I thought that I would see what you think before I try it.
The air is very hot at the moment and I wondered if I stopped breathing it in until the heatwave has finished, if it would have the effect of cooling my body down and helping me get to sleep.What do you think? My wife says that she thinks it is a very good idea!!!
Enjoy the rest of the day.
@@michaelmcgrailengland Oh! superhuman Michael!!
It's a very great idea. However, you may not be able to see beautiful Korean mountains anymore because there is not enough oxygen until the end of the heatwave, so I think you need a better idea.
I recommend you put ice under your nose and keep breathing. I want to listen to more songs by Caruso and Bjorling.
Keeping is better than Stopping.
@@MountainwalkwithMusic OK, I'll take your advice Chang but my wife has had a very good idea that I'm going to follow when the weather cools down. She says that instead of getting exercise by walking in the country, I should take up tightrope walking. She says it's very good exercise and could even give me a permanent cure for my vertigo.
Thanks a lot, Michael. Before I met this video, I had only heard a recording from 1927. It was all the more interesting to get acquainted with the earlier acoustic version.
It's my pleasure Alexandr, I'm glad that you enjoyed the video. I hope to include more of Chaliapin's recordings in the future. The only other that I have done to date is at
th-cam.com/video/7yygeCMlNkk/w-d-xo.html
@@michaelmcgrailengland Thanks for the link, Michael. I have just listened to the verses of Mephistopheles. Frankly, they sound better on vinyl. However, you should continue to acquaint the multi-million TH-cam audience with the work of the brilliant singer: for the overwhelming number of YT's visitors, Chaliapin is at best just a name, unfortunately.
@@purisermonisamator Thanks for listening Alexandr. In my opinion, and I have had many comments from listeners agreeing with me, my restorations, when listened to through headphones or another medium with good bass output, give a far more realistic true-to-life sound than that of any vinyl or CD. However I respect your opinion, of course. Most of the recordings that I upload are already on TH-cam but my videos have better audio with a slightly more up-to-date sound and I hope that this will attract new, possibly even younger listeners, to the great singers of the past, like Chaliapin, and thus help to preserve them as recordings to be listened to and enjoyed rather than to be just museum exhibits in a glass case.
As you feel that my restorations are inferior to the originals I don't expect that you will visit my channel again but if you do, I wonder if you will be kind enough, if you respond to comments made by other listeners, to do so in a manner that will encourage them to continue listening and investigating the world of classical music and opera, rather than in a manner that may discourage them as that doesn't help me in what I am trying to do.
Thanks again for listening, all the best from Yorkshire, England.
@@michaelmcgrailengland Dear Michael, I am very sorry if my review has upset you. Believe me, that was not my intention. I was even less willing to compromise your recovery work. In order for you to understand me better, I have to tell you a little about myself, even if I abuse your attention a little.
I began to get interested in opera not only in the pre-computer era, but simply in the pre-digital one. It is not surprising that analog sound with its juiciness and bodily density has become a benchmark for me in a certain sense.
With the advent of the CD era, I lost my feet in search of equipment capable of providing sound approaching the analog standard. I went through several dozen companies, and still did not quite succeed.I would compare digital sound to an X-ray photograph: in a certain sense, it shows even more than an ordinary one, but you are unlikely to give your X-ray photo to your friend.Just as it is possible to talk about different degrees of phonogenicity of different voices, there is also a different degree of their "digitality": singers filter through a digital sieve with losses of different scales.According to my observations, the "digit" is the most ruthless to the high female voices, but everything is individual here as well: Patti and Sembrich suffer minimally, Galvani and Galli-Curci suffer very much, etc.
It would be possible to consider my commitment to vinyl as my individual feature, but the growing interest in vinyl today prevents me from doing this: the advantages of analog sound are heard not by me alone.On the other hand, I understand perfectly. that you, with all your enthusiasm, will not be able to supply vinyl records to all lovers of opera singing, even if we are talking only about music lovers of Yorkshire.If the appearance of the Cds has greatly expanded the possibilities of music lovers, then TH-cam has made these possibilities almost limitless.Therefore, I can only welcome in every possible way both your efforts and the efforts of your colleagues, which do not become less valuable from some inevitable losses that may happen on the way to a wide range of listeners.
Your fears that my "analog skepticism" may alienate someone from your channel or from TH-cam in general, firstly, attribute to me intentions that I do not have, and secondly, clearly exaggerates the importance of my private opinion; that is somewhat flattering to me, but does not correspond to reality.
I admire your work, Michael, thank you for it and intend, with your permission, to follow its results with interest, hiding my impressions from everyone, if you like, or sharing them exclusively with you via email, if you so wish.
Best regards
Alexandr
@@purisermonisamator Hello Alexandr, thanks for your message and you will be pleased to hear that you have not offended me. I was disappointed that you were not impressed favourably but the example that I sent was very poor, I had problems improving it but it was the only other of Chaliapin that I had uploaded.'
I agree with much of what you say about the quality of vinyl and CD recordings but the main problem is that the CD companies think that they have restored a recording by simply reducing high and low frequency noise. The noise and the music are all mixed together like the flour, yeast and water in a loaf of bread and so in reducing the noise they also degrade and narrow the sound of the music. I do the opposite by expanding the music and I only reduce noise if it overshadows the music.I shall not bore you with anything further about this except just to say that I think that I produce an improved, more true-to-life and therefore more enjoyable sound.
In relation to one of my videos of Gigli, one listener, who has the sad misfortune of being without sight but, as a result, has excellent hearing said "I am hearing some space in this recording is that the room he recorded in or did you add some affect if it was it is done very well!!!!! Love hearing the orchestra how can you get the instruments so well balanced thank you very much love these restored recordings we can really hear what they sounded like!!!! Thank you very much "
Another in relation to Caruso's recording of Feneste che lucive said "Usually I am extremely critical of cleaned up and modernised 78 recording BUT by all means this recording is a credit to your talent . You have captured his soul !!!"
So I'll rest my case at that and, if you are kind enough to continue listening to my channel, hope that you will also find some that you like.
The only thing that worried me slightly and perhaps it was just your way of being light hearted and not meant to be offensive was your message to Virginia. She only became interested in classical singing a couple of years ago when, just by chance she came across and listened to the video I had uploaded of Jussi Bjorling's O Helga Natt (the one you yourself listened to a few days ago) and I wouldn't want people like Virginia to be afraid to listen or make a comment for fear of being criticized.
So please continue listening and feel free to make whatever comments about my videos, good or bad, that wish. You obviously have a deep knowledge of music and I know that your comments will always be based on experience and fair (unless, of course somebody criticizes Chaliapin, (in which case they had better watch out!!!)
Harriet (HR Books and Music) is also very knowlegable (much more so than myself) and I know that she will have enjoyed her conversation with you.
For myself, I just love music as a whole, it's always been one of the most important parts of my life and I know a small amount about most of it and if it pleases my ear I like it, whatever the genre.
Thrilling! But what is it from, is it Fidelio, doesn’t sound like it?
I hope it didn't spoil your breakfast Sheila, it's a bit sombre for early morning.
It was a poem (presumably the poet had a very unhappy marriage) and somebody issued a challenge to composers to set it to music. Beethoven was one of sixty-three to take up the challenge and apparently his is the only memorable version.
@@michaelmcgrailengland gosh I didn’t know that about Ludwig, of course Fidelio would be in German and the hubby was devoted to Leonora!
I'm not a great fan of the bass voice except for Paul Robeson but Chaliapins 1927 Recording of The Blind Ploughman is one of my favourites, by the way, have you heard the tenor on the Soviet Army Ensemble LP? Possibly not the best LP to be mentioning at the moment but there is a tenor on it, E. Belayev with a beautiful voice, his solo on Kalinka is really worth listening to!
Thanks for listening Helena, and I agree with what you say about bass voices generally and my exception is also the great Paul Robeson with his uniquely beautiful voice. I'm sure that he also recorded The Blind Ploughman as did John McCormack.
I haven't heard the LP that you mention but there's a great video on TH-cam of the Red Army Choir performing Kalinka in 1965 and, although his name is spelt slightly differently, it must be the same tenor. If you haven't already seen it the link to the video is th-cam.com/video/_XxK2JJisEc/w-d-xo.html
I uploaded a compilation video of Nessun Dorma and included an extract, at the end of a performance by the Red Army Choir in 2016. It lost me some subscribers at the time because Putin had just invaded Ukraine but I had just read the story of how the whole choir were killed in a plane crash a few months after the video was filmed. If you haven't already seen that video and wanted to watch it the link is th-cam.com/video/Zagwm5-AmUo/w-d-xo.html
The LP I have is one bought by my late husband before we met in 1964 and the sleeve notes were written by Myron Morris© 1956. It's the same singer( I missed out the a in the surname and the first name has different spellings depending on the translator) his voice was even better then! The subtitles aren't great on the video, the record sleeve says " Let me rest beneath the dark pine tree! O pine tree, do not whisper above me. Beautiful maiden, let us make love!" Keep an eye out for a copy in the second hand shops, HMV concert classics series, stereo SXLP30062.