Hola David,
>> What do you think... does Sting knows less about Dowland than M. Figueras >> about Milan? > ... >> In my opinion, Sting offered another version, as many other in the >> market. > ... >> In any case, I wonder why people are being so hard with these two > > Ola Ariel > > I'm sure Sting knows all about Dowland, but that doesn't make him a good > singer of his songs. That applies to many "informed" singers. To me, Sting shouldn't be judged differently from any other. > > True enough he offered us another version of the songs, but that doesn't > mean we are to like it. What do you mean with "WE"? I'm not saying that anyone should be forced to like this cd. I'm just saying that it has it is as rigorous and as decent as many other previous Dowland recordings. And I was really looking forward to it: a > non-classical approach to this repertoire I love so much. But for me he > didn't make the text speak, his vowels were too distracting. Strange, > really, for in his pop songs Sting is very good in bringing the text > across. I like the guy and his songs. Funny enough, I found that one of the good things of his cd is the text, and how it is treated. > > Why are we so hard on these two? Sorry if I give the impression of being > negative just for the sake of it, it is not my intention. Perhaps by > releasing yet another approach on this so well-known, and much-loved > repertoire, they give themselves open to criticism. More than with other > repertoire. But they are big boys and can take it. When we release our cds > we expect criticism, too. That's allright as long as it is fair. I hope we > are being fair on Sting. I at least try to be. I'm sorry David, but if everyone on the list would say frankly what they thought about other members recordings, I'm sure people wouldn't feel as comfortable. Again: I love Dowland songs, and heard many concerts and recordings of them as many of you. Some of them, even performed by professionals, were insulting. > > For another 'different' approach to Dowland listen to Zoe Vandermeer, > soprano, who accompanies herself on baroque triple harp on a cd entitled > 'Angel's Wine'. Debatable singing, perhaps, but very expressive and > certainly 'different'. Everything is debatable, that's the problem. There's no standards nor reference points to be taken as infallible models. Ariel. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
