<div style="text-align: center;">===========================================<br>L O W L A N D S - L - 05 December 2008 - Volume 05<br style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">-------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">
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===========================================<br></div><br><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">sassisch@yahoo.com</span></a>>
<br>
Subject:</span><br><br><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5Crhahn%5CLocal%20Settings%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C02%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><style>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Dear
Lowlanders,<br>
<br>
As the weekend is upon us and we are getting farther into the Northern
Hemisphere winter holiday season, please allow me to share with you one of my
favorite pieces of music, a piece that to me is one of the closest to being "divine":
<i>Ombra mai fù</i>.<br>
<br>
It is the first aria in the opera <i>Serse</i> (<i>Xerxes</i>) by the baroque
composer Handel (Händel). The opera was a flop, playing only five times in London. But this aria endures
as one of the most beloved and performed pieces of baroque music. For some
reason, perhaps because it is a rarity and "typically renaissance and baroque," I particularly
like it sung by countertenors.<br>
<br>
Countertenors are adult males that sings in contralto, mezzo-soprano or even soprano
ranges, thus in ranges usually sung in by women. True countertenors are rare and are
highly sought after, even these days. I particularly enjoy <i>Ombra mai fù</i> as performed by
the following three countertenors:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<ul><li><b><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Andreas
Scholl</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> (Germany) who
has a more academic approach to the art</span></li><li><b><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Yoshikazu
Mera</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> (</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: SimSun;" lang="ZH-CN">米良美一</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">, Japan)</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> being very popular in Japan,</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">having overcome
the handicap of congenital <i>osteogenesis imperfecta</i> (brittle bone
disease)</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">, a singer of traditional and
popular Japanese music as well as of Western Classical music</span></li><li><b><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">David Daniels</span></b><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> (USA) who combines Andreas Scholl's
academic approach with what to me seems a remarkably clear and close-to-pure
countertenor voice, like Mera rarely resorting to <i>falsetto</i> range</span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">And how
does this fit into the Lowlands scope of
interest? There are two reasons:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<ul><li><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Handel was
from Northern Germany, from Halle, close to the southern
edge of the Low-Saxon-speaking area, and he later moved to England.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">I have
translated the aria in a singable form from Italian into 18th-century
English, Low Saxon and German, and I have posted this in my part of the
Lowlands-L gallery along with video clips of the three singers' performances: <br></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"></span><a href="http://lowlands-l.net/gallery/hahn_ombra.php">lowlands-l.net/gallery/hahn_ombra.php</a><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> <br>
(Please click on the pictures to access the video clips.)<br></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Even though
the words of the aria should stand by themselves, let me add for academic
interest that in the opera it is King Xerxes' love song to a sycamore tree. Here
is the preceding recitative with my English and German translations (which I
have not posted). (You will hear it sung in Daniels' performance.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 40px;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="med1"><i><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Frondi tenere e belle</span></i></span><i><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><br>
<span class="med1">del</span><span class="med1"> mio platano amato</span><br>
<span class="med1">per voi rispende il fato;</span><br>
<span class="med1">tuoni, lampi, e procelle</span><br>
<span class="med1">non v'oltraggino mai la cara pace</span><br>
<span class="med1">ne giunga a profanarvi, austro rapace!</span></span></i><span class="med1"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br style="">
<br style="">
</span></span><span class="med1"><i><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></i></span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 40px;" class="MsoNormal"><span class="med1"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Fronds so tender and so handsome</span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><br>
<span class="med1">Of my sycamore tree beloved,</span><br>
<span class="med1">For you shineth fate and fortune;</span><br>
<span class="med1">Thunder, lightning, even tempests—</span><br>
<span class="med1">Let them ne'ermore upset the peace so precious</span><br>
Nor rapacious southern winds come here to blaspheme you!<br>
<br>
</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="DE">Zarte, wunderschöne Wedel</span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 40px;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="DE">meiner Platane, die ich liebe,</span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 40px;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="DE">euer Schicksal ist erleuchtet;</span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 40px;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="DE">Donner, Blitze, wilde Stürme –</span></p>
<p style="margin-left: 40px;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="DE">lass' sie niemals den geliebten Frieden stören</span></p>
<div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="DE">noch den gierigen Südwind kommen euch zu schmähen!</span><br><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="DE"></span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;" lang="DE">
<br>
</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">I hope that several of
you will enjoy the music, words and performances of the song. As I said earlier, to me they
are close to divine. Should anyone ever look for music to play in my memory,
look no further!<br>
<br>
Yours,<br>
Reinhard/Ron<i></i></span></p>