A Musical Occasion Of Sin…UPDATED

While I would never claim to have the pristine mouth of an angel (I worked around stockbrokers too long for that…) I do not, no matter how provoked I might feel, take the Name of the Lord in vain – never. Buster will tell you this because one of the few times I ever reached out and whacked him upside the head like an Italian mother was when he did it.

Which means that I – a New Yorker – routinely use such “Southern” sounding expressions as “Gol-darnit,” and “Dagnabbit.”

Well, I can’t say never, anymore. And it’s the fault of that giant Welshman, the Terfel.

I picked up this CD used, at Amazon, and by the third number I was gasping, “J**** C*****, that son of a gun can sing!”

What power, what range, what remarkable delicacy of expression.

Renee Fleming & Bryn Terfel here sing songs from Sweeney Todd, Phantom of the Opera (egad, but he would be a glorious Phantom, he brings remarkable expression to the role), Ragtime, Woman of the Year, The Music Man, Secret Garden and Edwin Drood, among other shows. It’s really good, with some unusual selections.

I’m not a big fan of female voices, and Renee Fleming sometimes over-colors or tries too hard to move away from what she does best, and then I want to smack her, (she is – at least to me – just unlistenable on All The Wasted Time) but other times she is swooningly good, as in the haunting Moonfall from Edwin Drood.

Anyway, if you can’t tell, I’m listening to it right now (I have found after a lifetime of not being able to write or work with music playing, I can work very well with Bryn in the background…he’s like basso profundo wallpaper – every once in a while I look up and appreciate – the rest of the time he’s just there)

UPDATE: Oh, my! I’m getting lots of emails from people assigning me penances! One gent suggested that I kiss the floor. A good blogger friend is teasing me that I am a hussy! :-)

Oh, I’m ashamed…I really am! But as I told her, the guy’s voice just plumbs my depths. And it’s not like I’m manic about it, either…I’ll be typing along not even listening then he’ll sing a phrase – loud or soft, tender or tough, it doesn’t matter – and my stomach drops down to my knees and I’m like a little puddle of egad!

Anyway, if you like showtunes and are tired of hearing the same old stuff, you should check it out, I think you’d like it.

A musical occasion of sin…UPDATED