I confess: I came for the virtuosity and stayed for the art. This is sung so beautifully and captivating that I could totally forget how enormously difficult it is.
Handel seems to have liked it too. He reused it in his opera Sosarme (not frequently heard), with a slightly altered contour, but equally over the top and with the same text. I sang it once in recital, but not nearly as well as this, of course.
I am ignorant of how difficult this piece may be to sing, so I cannot assess the virtuosity displayed (assuredly very great). But, I am rarely moved to repeat listening to any performance over and over these days. Not so in this case. I admire so very much the musicality displayed by all. A very "connecting" performance which reminds me of how much I miss seeing live performances - connecting us to each other in the audience, to the performers, to the composer and their time. Imagine being there, next to the camera for this! My sincere thanks to Mr. Bowes and all of the performers.
this range from D below the bass staff to A treble clef should be humanly impossible. but he proves it can be done, and beautifully. how many people can achieve this?
Forse l’aria piú difficile per basso per via di quei salti assurdi dal grave all’acuto. Come vorrei sentire il primo interprete che l’ha eseguita. O era una voce unica al mondo o non so cosa aveva in testa Händel 😂
Con David Thomas e James Loomis, sorprendenti i bassi inglesi nel repertorio barocco ! (Concorrono coi bassi russi dell'opera russa o i bassi italiani dell'opera italiana !).
@@toothless2323 There is a drop from G4 to C2 ( 2:54 ), which are respectively the highest and the lowest notes in the aria, so two octaves and and a fifth. Mister Bowes flexed on us with some high coloraturing later on that isn't on the sheet, too (haven't checked if that's higher or not). To be fair, in the low that's bass tessitura, but in the highs it's more high baritone highs. It's really high for a bass that also has to drop to C2.
lonewaer so good. I could try singing this one semitone higher or 2 and see how my chest fry feels but even so it’s incredibly difficult to go from high to low rapidly and make it sound good. Even if I go from a G2 to a A4 right after or viceversa it’s really hard to do
@@toothless2323 Yeah, so difficult… I'm just a puny baritone, so I should also probably try singing it 2 semitones higher, but like you say, the drop itself is the real challenge, it requires incredible control and precision. I'm not trained so the whole thing sounds like a mess for me anyway haha.
lonewaer hahaha. I’m being trained as a tenor (not fully classical but much more classical than pop) I like to think it’s a lovely middle, it’s a well balanced technique and then I can go anywhere from there. Actually in a few months I want to move more to musical theater mix belting and open and wide vowel placement. Anyways I’m still a hardworking student but for real this aria feels light years ahead. My range used to be A2-G4 and I thought I was a baritone. Then I was taught to sing correctly and Shazam I am a tenor Lol. Now my full connected range from chest fry mix to head (without straining or pushing) is A1-A5. Specially from a chest dominant chest fry mix. Because if not I can take chest fry like an octave lower and that just doesn’t make sense. I like to think of range not only as for a range aspect but as a dynamic component too.Being able to stay connected through all of your range and have no strain, different placements and techniques, different chord closure and support etc. For example being able to chest a G4, also mix it, also head voice and also falsetto
Sounds really... baroccously. Bravo! I dig all over the Internet and couldn't find piano score for this outrageous aria, only for strings. Do you have it for piano and voice?
Very musical but quite wrong dramatically. Polyfemo is a giant monster who eats the Greek sailors of Odysseus. Mr. Bowes looks beatific while singing this. This is a dramatic piece. It is not meant to be performed like an reposeful oratorio aria or a lullaby. It should be sung like Rigoletto's "Cortigiani vil razza danatta". Or maybe like Caspar's arias in "Der Freischütz" The bottom notes are voiced so softly they could not be heard in any sizeable hall. It's much better than mine of course, but I was trying to make a point not actually perform the music. The world is still waiting for someone who can sing it fiercely.
@@lachumayo Actually I didn't suggest that at all. You are just trying to work in an insult. There's a lot of such behavior, sadly, on RUclips. I wouldn't claim to be an expert but have performed several operas by Monteverdi and Cavalli. I formed a little opera company to perform these pieces. We used authentic instruments too. (That means Crumhorns and sackbuts.) How about you? BTW neither Verdi nor Weber is verismo. You seem a little approximate in your musicology.
*Polifemo What in the text, situation and orchestration (muted strings and senza cembalo) makes you think it should be sung fiercely, let alone to deign to say so definitively "it should be sung like..."? Trevor's interpretation here is magnificent
Bass: "How much range should I cover?"
Handel: "Yes."
I confess: I came for the virtuosity and stayed for the art. This is sung so beautifully and captivating that I could totally forget how enormously difficult it is.
Your comment couldn't express my own feelings better. This is extraordinarily beautiful.
Put me down as another awed listener..
This is the most beautiful aria ever created for low voices. Im shook.
Monteverdi has a few rad tunes down there as well
C. Saint-Saëns any recommendations?
@@lukeroy5676 This video has plenty of good excerpts: 'Baroque bass notes, low C, George, Abete, McLeod, Carnovich, van der Kamp and Frederiksen'
Handel seems to have liked it too. He reused it in his opera Sosarme (not frequently heard), with a slightly altered contour, but equally over the top and with the same text. I sang it once in recital, but not nearly as well as this, of course.
This is also one of if not the most difficult
Looking at the thumbnail I thought he will be a tenor. That was a surprise lol
Glad I'm not the only one XD
I am ignorant of how difficult this piece may be to sing, so I cannot assess the virtuosity displayed (assuredly very great). But, I am rarely moved to repeat listening to any performance over and over these days. Not so in this case. I admire so very much the musicality displayed by all. A very "connecting" performance which reminds me of how much I miss seeing live performances - connecting us to each other in the audience, to the performers, to the composer and their time. Imagine being there, next to the camera for this! My sincere thanks to Mr. Bowes and all of the performers.
Yes absolutely, really miss live performances.
Magnifique air, superbement chanté malgré sa grande difficulté... Bravo Trevor Bowes👍💖🌹
Stunningly sensitive performance of a beautiful aria. The precision of the huge intervals whilst maintaining the dynamics is breathtaking.
I’m hooked, I’m in love with this piece and the performer. Exquisite! If it was on vinyl I would have worn it out by now. Very moving.
All killer and no filler! That subaqueous D is unreal. I swear there are blue whales resonating along with Polyphemus' angst. Glorious.
Fra l'ombre e gl'orrori
Farfalla confusa
Già spenta la face
Non sa mai goder.
Così fra timori
Quest'alma delusa
Non trova mai pace
Né spera piacer?
voce perfettamente calibrata. tecnica ineccepibile e grande gusto musicale. Cantante di grande versatilità. È una grande lezione di canto
So perfect.
Merci pour cette magnifique interprétation.
Thanks for this spelling job.
what a gifty voice!, i loved this magnifique interpretation! i wish you had more videos
Great job and thank you for this wonderful performance!! BRAVO E BRAVI!!!
Incroyable 👌 l’un de mes arias préférés. Merveilleusement interprété 👍🏼
Many congratulations for this so beautiful interpretation with a such difficult musical piece......... Incredible................
this range from D below the bass staff to A treble clef should be humanly impossible. but he proves it can be done, and beautifully. how many people can achieve this?
awesome...totaly in love
Well done. Great performance 👍🏼
Bravississimoooo!
This incredibly beautiful performance of this incredibly difficult piece will not be surpassed in the next 300 years.
Che maraviglia! Bravo! Mille Bravi!
Великолепно!!! 🔥
Hermosa voz. Brillante!!
God this is so awesome
Good job! :D I can't wait to hear more of your singing.
Bravo!!! Very great excellence!!!😀👍
Perfect!!!
Forse l’aria piú difficile per basso per via di quei salti assurdi dal grave all’acuto. Come vorrei sentire il primo interprete che l’ha eseguita. O era una voce unica al mondo o non so cosa aveva in testa Händel 😂
Bravíssimo 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻saludos desde Madrid ...😍
awesome video
Beautifully sung! More impressive than some examples sung with more volume and less warmth.
Con David Thomas e James Loomis, sorprendenti i bassi inglesi nel repertorio barocco ! (Concorrono coi bassi russi dell'opera russa o i bassi italiani dell'opera italiana !).
Impressive technique, very clean transitions
Mate, this is exceptional!
This aria is one of the most difficult pieces I’ve tried to sing
How many octaves does this cover??? Like 3? I’m a tenor and I’m embarrassed to just think that hahah Nessun Dorma seems easy next to this
@@toothless2323 There is a drop from G4 to C2 ( 2:54 ), which are respectively the highest and the lowest notes in the aria, so two octaves and and a fifth. Mister Bowes flexed on us with some high coloraturing later on that isn't on the sheet, too (haven't checked if that's higher or not). To be fair, in the low that's bass tessitura, but in the highs it's more high baritone highs. It's really high for a bass that also has to drop to C2.
lonewaer so good. I could try singing this one semitone higher or 2 and see how my chest fry feels but even so it’s incredibly difficult to go from high to low rapidly and make it sound good. Even if I go from a G2 to a A4 right after or viceversa it’s really hard to do
@@toothless2323 Yeah, so difficult… I'm just a puny baritone, so I should also probably try singing it 2 semitones higher, but like you say, the drop itself is the real challenge, it requires incredible control and precision.
I'm not trained so the whole thing sounds like a mess for me anyway haha.
lonewaer hahaha. I’m being trained as a tenor (not fully classical but much more classical than pop) I like to think it’s a lovely middle, it’s a well balanced technique and then I can go anywhere from there. Actually in a few months I want to move more to musical theater mix belting and open and wide vowel placement. Anyways I’m still a hardworking student but for real this aria feels light years ahead. My range used to be A2-G4 and I thought I was a baritone. Then I was taught to sing correctly and Shazam I am a tenor Lol. Now my full connected range from chest fry mix to head (without straining or pushing) is A1-A5. Specially from a chest dominant chest fry mix. Because if not I can take chest fry like an octave lower and that just doesn’t make sense. I like to think of range not only as for a range aspect but as a dynamic component too.Being able to stay connected through all of your range and have no strain, different placements and techniques, different chord closure and support etc. For example being able to chest a G4, also mix it, also head voice and also falsetto
gran gusto...bravo
Bravo!
Bravo è dire poco... complimenti
Perfect.
This is sofa king glorious.
Wow! :O
you don't have the visibility you deserve. I have heard this aria from at least 50 singers. Your version is one of the most peculiar.
Sounds really... baroccously. Bravo!
I dig all over the Internet and couldn't find piano score for this outrageous aria, only for strings. Do you have it for piano and voice?
Its onRUclips.
👏👏👏
true story
Bravo. A very difficult song for a Bass-Baritone to sing. Did he use falsetto to hit the G4at the end?
Voix mixte I would say
why does he have 2 eyes
Because he thought he must play a cyclist instead of a cyclop. 😅
Very musical but quite wrong dramatically. Polyfemo is a giant monster who eats the Greek sailors of Odysseus. Mr. Bowes looks beatific while singing this. This is a dramatic piece. It is not meant to be performed like an reposeful oratorio aria or a lullaby. It should be sung like Rigoletto's "Cortigiani vil razza danatta". Or maybe like Caspar's arias in "Der Freischütz" The bottom notes are voiced so softly they could not be heard in any sizeable hall. It's much better than mine of course, but I was trying to make a point not actually perform the music. The world is still waiting for someone who can sing it fiercely.
@@lachumayo
Actually I didn't suggest that at all. You are just trying to work in an insult. There's a lot of such behavior, sadly, on RUclips. I wouldn't claim to be an expert but have performed several operas by Monteverdi and Cavalli. I formed a little opera company to perform these pieces. We used authentic instruments too. (That means Crumhorns and sackbuts.) How about you?
BTW neither Verdi nor Weber is verismo. You seem a little approximate in your musicology.
@@lachumayo Ignore him. For someone accusing you of working an insult, he needs to take a look in the mirror.
It ain't waiting for anybody, Christopher Purves absolutely smashes this song, and even interpolates a contra A, or A1
*Polifemo
What in the text, situation and orchestration (muted strings and senza cembalo) makes you think it should be sung fiercely, let alone to deign to say so definitively "it should be sung like..."?
Trevor's interpretation here is magnificent