Setting the bar too low
Musically, Maestro Pavarotti's funeral was appalling. Certainly a someone better than a wobbly Raina Kabaivanska could have been chosen and certainly someone more appropriate than Bocelli could have massacred Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus as well as he did. The final straw was "On Eagle's Wings" something I've sung a time or two in my life but which has never struck me as appropriate or good.
On other hand I've recently seen some programs on Princess Di which reminded me that her funeral was an incredibly emotional and tasteful affair. The Libera me from the Verdi Requiem was an very appropriate and I think everyone was suprised at the pathos elicited from Tavener's Song for Athene. I even thought Elton John's contribution dignified even if he did recycle an old cliche.
Had did the bar get set so low? There is so much great religious music out there, wasn't there someone in Pavarotti's life who could add a little taste to the proceedings. The Roman Catholic Church, for all its great history and musical tradition, is not the place to hear good music these days (a few exceptions including Manahattan's St. Ignatius Loyola aside).
Can't we aspire to a little higher quality?
On other hand I've recently seen some programs on Princess Di which reminded me that her funeral was an incredibly emotional and tasteful affair. The Libera me from the Verdi Requiem was an very appropriate and I think everyone was suprised at the pathos elicited from Tavener's Song for Athene. I even thought Elton John's contribution dignified even if he did recycle an old cliche.
Had did the bar get set so low? There is so much great religious music out there, wasn't there someone in Pavarotti's life who could add a little taste to the proceedings. The Roman Catholic Church, for all its great history and musical tradition, is not the place to hear good music these days (a few exceptions including Manahattan's St. Ignatius Loyola aside).
Can't we aspire to a little higher quality?
posted by Rich Russell at
1:06 AM
1 Comments:
The thing is Princess Diana's death was unexpectd, nobody was really prepared to say goodbye to her. So, my impression was, even though well organised, her funeral was a genuine moment of grief, not really a media event.
Pavarotti, on the other hand, was ill, and everybody knew it was just a matter of time, everybody was "prepared" to that, media were alerted, crossover singers ready to destroy Mozart to pay respect (...) to Big Luciano, everything too big, exaggerated, just like il Maestro himself was. A gigantic kitsch (sp?) fair. Rather embarassing, although at the time nobody dared to say so, just out of respect to him and his family. But yes, it was a dreadful ceremony.
Thank God *only* Bocelli took part to the ceremony, guess what would've happened if Katherine Jenkins and Paul Potts had showed up, too...
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