excerpt from 'Musical Reminiscences: Containing an Account of Italian Opera in England, From 1773. The Fourth Edition, Continued to the Present Time, and Including The Festival in Westminster Abbey.' pp. 78-80 (345 words)
excerpt from 'Musical Reminiscences: Containing an Account of Italian Opera in England, From 1773. The Fourth Edition, Continued to the Present Time, and Including The Festival in Westminster Abbey.' pp. 78-80 (345 words)
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Banti, whom I must ever consider as far the most delightful singer I ever heard. She had begun the world as a cantante di piazza, and as such, having attracted notice by her fine voice, she had been taken from her humble calling, taught, and brought out as a singer in concerts, first at Paris, and then in England, as before mentioned, at the Pantheon, under the name of Giorgi. But though she had the best masters, she was an idle scholar, and never would apply to the drudgery of her profession: but in her, genius supplied the place of science, and the most correct ear, with the most exquisite taste, enabled her to sing with more effect, more expression, and more apparent knowledge of her art, than many much better professors. She never was a good musician, nor could sing at sight with ease; but having once learnt a song, and made herself mistress of its character, she threw into all she sung more pathos and true feeling than any of her competitors. Her natural powers were of the finest description: her voice, sweet and beautiful throughout, had not a fault in any part of its unusually extensive compass. Its lower notes, which reached below ordinary sopranos, were rich and mellow; the middle, full and powerful; and the very high, totally devoid of shrillness: the whole was even and regular, one of those rich voci di petto, which can alone completely please and satisfy the ear. In her youth it extended to the highest pitch, and was capable of such agility, that she practised and excelled most in the bravura style, in which she had no superior; but losing a few of her upper notes, and acquiring a taste for the cantabile, she gave herself up almost entirely to the latter, in which she had no equal. (Not sure if thios is a listening experience as it seems generalise over several performances. Also, it's rather long and I'm not sure if, along with the following entries, I'm including too many words from the source) |
appears in search results as | excerpt from 'Musical Reminiscences: Containing an Account of Italian Opera in England, From 1773. The Fourth Edition, Continued to the Present Time, and Including The Festival in Westminster Abbey.' pp. 78-80 (345 words) |
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