Episode 20

Episode 20 is our first discussion of Spanish Lyric Diction, with Pablo Assante, the chorus master at the Semperoper in Dresden. We discuss some of the differences between Spanish and Italian, as well as the differences between Castilian and Argentinean Spanish, the letters B (which can be transcribed as [b] or [β]), D ([d] or [ð]), the unvoiced TH pronunciation of C and Z [θ] and the aspirate S used in Spain. Our texts for today are the Obradors' song "Del cabello más sutil" and "Bonita rama de sauce" set by Argentinean composer Carlos Guastavino. In "Bonita rama de sauce", the word that looks like "río" on the Lied and Art Song Text Page is really just "rio", it's just a strange quirk on the page. If you are interested in hearing these songs, there are many YouTube clips of both of these songs, by many different performers, you can find them by going to YouTube and typing in the titles. For those of you who want to know more about the River Plate, here is the Wikipedia article. You can find Spike Jones' "All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth" here--remember that this is totally exaggerated, I'm not saying it should really sound like this! But it's a fun way to hear someone whistle through an S and get in the holiday spirit awhile! Please feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions here, on the Facebook page or directly at ellen@ellenrissinger.com