I think today, and possibly tomorrow, poses the most difficult selection when it comes to this 30 Day Song Challenge malarky. The theme is a songs that "you hear on the radio often". Hmmm, I don't listen to the radio much, unless it is the BBC World Service, and when I lived in the UK over a decade ago, I was a convinced Radio 5 listener, with the occasional dash of Radio 4 thrown in for good measure. As you can imagine, I am very much out of touch with modern chart music.
Given that I listen to our local NPR station here in Virginia, WVTF, I do get to hear quite a bit of classical music, so here are some of the highlights of recent listening.
Track 1 - "Song to the Moon" from Rusalka by Dvořák, sung by Gabriela Beňačková
Not only does Beňačková have a beautiful voice, but this aria from Rusalka is simply haunting.
Track 2 - "Papageno" from The Magic Flute by Mozart
The Magic Flute is my favourite opera, and I have no qualms in admitting that I love to sit and listen to whole thing at work, and have been known to sing along to myself - where I know the words.
Track 3 - "Land of Hope and Glory" by Edward Elgar and A.C. Benson, from the 2009 Proms
A wonderfully stirring ditty and lyrics that make my want to sing loud and proud, in as thoroughly an unBritish manner as possible of course.
Oh what the heck, I have to choice the Elgar/Benson stuff, even listening to it now has me thinking about cricket on the village green, maiden aunts cycling to church, oh god, I think I'm going to puke.
No comments:
Post a Comment