danajohnhill.org

Listening live now to Ernani from the Metropolitan Opera, and Thomas Hampson–a baritone I generally love–just wussed out on the high A-flat at the end of “Oh, de’ verd’anni miei”, Don Carlo’s great aria in Act III. It’s an option, of course, but when you have the note, and I am sure Hampson does, it takes the performance to another level, especially considering the text as set by Piave.

If you want to hear what the ending sounds like with the high note, sample the excellent DVD of the 1983 Met production–the last time Ernani was staged there–with Sherrill Milnes as Don Carlo:

Nothing personal against Thomas Hampson. He’s a fantastic baritone in Mozart, Schumann, Mahler, etc., and many of his discs are among my favorites. But his Verdi isn’t to my taste. What really sucked, though, about today’s broadcast were the cuts in the score. Silva’s cabaletta was halved. Boooooo!

American sound historians have figured out a way to play phonautograms, the bizarre invention of Édouard-Léon Scott which converted sound into markings on a paper roll.  Scott apparently never intended the phonautograms to be played back; rather, he thought a visual depiction of sound was impressive in and of itself.

The New York Times today features an article about the work of the researchers, and even includes an mp3 of what now must be considered the oldest functional sound recording, a phonautogram of “Au Clair de la lune” recorded in April 1860.  Don’t get too excited, though: it sounds real bad.

I have been taking a lot of portraits lately, and am enjoying doing so. 

I don’t want to be presumptuous and call myself the “official photographer” of the Gainesville Roller Rebels, but I have taken pictures at many of their practices and promotional events, and this month began a series of individual player portraits.  It began with Evey Slammond, then last week was the extremely photogenic Patsy Clothesline, and last night I photographed Ms. Rebel herself.

Kathleen–aka Snow White–was on hand to do Ms. Rebel’s makeup, and the shoot was fun.  I still have to organize and edit last night’s pictures before I post them, but I am really loving the way each derby girl is bringing her personality to the fore in the photographs.  There are many ideas still to be explored, and I will post more about upcoming sessions in the future.

This is the first Easter I haven’t spent with my family in a long time, which is sad, but the holiday was made much brighter this morning when Elke knocked on our door and invited us to an Easter Egg Hunt in her garden.  I found one nest of treasure right away, but it got much harder after that.  I finally spotted a chocolate bunny wrapped in gold foil stuck in the branches of a tree.  In the end I had that bunny, plus some smaller chocolate eggs and some fruit-shaped candy in bright colors.  I traded my chocolate bunny for a white chocolate one, and then we all posed for a photo with our winnings.  The eggs the kids dyed were beautiful: brown with the imprint of leaves from herbs and flowers from the garden, and stripes from the skin of an onion.  The weather is stunningly beautiful today.