Sunday, December 07, 2008

Tune of the Day #32

"Warm as the autumn light", from The Ballad of Baby Doe (Douglas Moore / John Latouche)

This is from the premiere recording with Beverly Sills as the title character, and Walter Cassel and Frances Bible as Horace and Augusta Tabor. Heretically, I don't think this is the best recording ever, but it's hard to argue with the emotion the singers put behind it (even if their tuning isn't always spot on). Also, this entire opera was recorded in one take. Which is insane.

I picked this song because A) it is gorgeous, and B) it is a good example of the unparalleled quality of poetry this opera offers (perhaps even better is Baby Doe's closing aria, "Always through the changing"). It definitely is not a perfect show, but in terms of character development in American opera...it's pretty hard to beat. And, again, this music is fantastic.

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