Saturday 21 April 2012

A birthday memory (about Mozart)


It is my birthday today, I have the venerable age of 35. I didn't know exactly how to blog about it, I mean blogging it differently than how I did it before. And then I just thought about some memories I have from my birthdays. As an adult, a birthday is just one extra day, you are one day older than before, unless you start thinking that you are getting old. But as a child, it is something magical.

So for some reason today, I had in mind a precise birthday gift I had: when I was 9 or 10 (or maybe younger), I received the life of Mozart on a disc, narrated by Gérard Philippe, from the collection Le Petit Ménestrel. They still sell it, but in CDs. My first Petit Ménestrel was the life of Beethoven, which turned me into a fan, but I think Mozart had a lasting impression on me, for one single reason: there was Finch'han dal vino, an aria from Don Giovanni, on it. It got me hooked on the opera, which I received at my next year's birthday. Since then, Don Giovanni is my favourite opera. My brothers and I used to play the last scene. And it all started with this single aria, which I have been listening to today. So I decided to upload it here, my birthday gift to my readership. It is sung by the baritone Simon Keenlyside. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed it when I first heard it.

5 comments:

Cynthia said...

Joyeux anniversaire, joooooyeeeeuuux anniiiiveeeeeeersaire!

Hope you had a nice day :)

Gwen Buchanan said...

Happy Birthday Guillaume... You became interested in Opera very early in life.. so wonderful to have an appreciation for it then.

He sounds like me when i am in the kitchen cooking.. something about the barrenness of that room that gives great sound so I can't help myself.. Simon really is enjoying himself here and that makes it really enjoyable, even if I don't know a single thing he is saying. but that doesn't matter cause it is music and i like it for that..
Hope your day was great!!!

tao.owl said...

Happy birthday Guillaume! Really enjoyed listening to Simon and love the violins too!

Anonymous said...

Belated happy birthday:-)

Louise said...

Ah ben j'ai raté ça. Ça grouille ici.
Happy Birthday, Feliz navidad, joyeux anniversaire en retard.