She Dominates

What do you think Paganini, whose unprecedented virtuosity sent the musical world into a frenzy and persuaded the simple-minded that he must be in league with the devil, or indeed his audiences, would have thought had they been able to witness the large number of players, some quite young, who today can reproduce with complete assurance, apparent ease and impeccable intonation all his most dazzling feats flying scales and arpeggios over the instrument's entire compass, passages in thirds, octaves or tenths, chords, harmonics in thirds, left-hand pizzicatos, rapid archet volant runs, ricochet bowing and wizardry of every kind?

TDK presents a remarkable staging of one of Bellini’s opera masterpieces on DVD: The wonderful singer-actor and coloratura soprano Eva Mei presents one of her showpieces - Amina, the sleep-walking heroine. She has sung the role all over Italy, from Palermo to Turin and has been loved by audiences all over the world for her clear voice and her stage personality. Beside her, the Catalan tenor José Bros, a renowned Bellini specialist, repeats what Il giornale della musica described as his “secure and committed” performance in the role of Amina’s fiancé Elvino. But the show belongs to the heroine, and Eva Mei was praised in the same periodical for her “bel canto skill, her pure, radiant top notes and the resolute, yet unaffected and elegant way she dominates the stage.” This performance at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 2004 is lead by the superb opera conductor, Daniel Oren, who has a long alliance with Italian opera houses and regularly conducts at the Arena di Verona.

Bessie Smith - The Complete Recordings Vol. 1 (1991) {2CD Set Columbia 467895 2 rec 1923-1924}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 450 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 294 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 34 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1923-24, 1991 Columbia / Legacy / Sony Music | 467895 2
Blues / Jazz / Classic Female Blues / Early Jazz / Vaudeville Blues

In the 1970s, Bessie Smith's recordings were reissued on five double LPs. Her CD reissue series also has five volumes (the first four are double-CD sets) with the main difference being that the final volume includes all of her rare alternate takes (which were bypassed on LP). The first set (which, as with all of the CD volumes, is housed in an oversize box that includes an informative booklet) contains her first 38 recordings. During this early era, Bessie Smith had no competitors on record and she was one of the few vocalists who could overcome the primitive recording techniques; her power really comes through.