Monday, November 15

Some Enchanted Evening

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Who could fail to appreciate the deep rich baritone voice of Brian Stokes Mitchell singing the part of Emile and the immortal words of ‘ Some Enchanted Evening ‘ from that great Broadway show ‘ South Pacific ‘ from the genius of Rodgers & Hammerstein. Occasionally a singer ‘owns’ a song as it seems no one else can bring that unique powerful vocal interpretation into play; but he is even better singing ‘This nearly was mine’ from the same show but there is a block on the encoding.

Standing next to Brian is Reba McIntyre (who was for 4 years in a row Country Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year and is also a fabulous actress) in Concert from Carnegie Hall. Reba aptly sings the part of Nellie elswhere in the performance. All I can say if you don’t like this version you don’t like ice-cream.

I have sung the song many times but never heard a version as rich as this one. Surprisingly he does not take the top note at the end; possibly to maintain the depth and tessitura (musically the most comfortable range for a given singer) that encapsulates this song so magically within his vocals range.

4 comments:

Seraphine said...

well, i confess. i like ice cream. i saw reba sing about ten years ago at caesar's south lake tahoe. even though i'm not a particular fan of country music, she was the only show in town-- and she was a great performer.

brian stokes mitchell has a wonderful voice. it doesn't hurt that he is singing a wonderful song. wow.

i'm not sure i have a tessitura. nobody, including myself, is 'comfortable' when i sing. maybe i have a backwards condition called 'arutisset' or 'uncomfortable' range, musically speaking...

lindsaylobe said...

Hi Sera,
I don’t think that backwards singing condition (singing from the back of the throat) couldn’t be brought forward by any able vocal coach.

You could surprise everyone one day and delight yourself by singing like a bird once you were shown how to raise your soft pallet, maintain good posture and engage in even diaphragmatic breath control. – given the time or inclination. !
Best wishes

gfid said...

even Reba is sighing and awestruck as he sings. gave me goose bumps, Lindsay.

Mercutio said...

Stokes has an incredible voice, but I'm sure it gave his vocal coach fits to see him sing out of the side of his mouth on occasion.
Can't argue with the results though.

I was thinking about what I had said about string arrangements a few weeks back, and I have a somewhat different view these days. I still like horns and a well-placed woodwind, but the string arrangement is a standard; the other standard accompaniment for singers being solo piano.
I believe that both the string arrangement and solo piano are more or less place-holders; as in a more complete arrangement might go well here.
And further, I believe that the development of recorded music made string arrangements more popular, as having a more lush and fuller sound than solo piano.
But the chord structure isn't the same between the two.
Today's prominence of digital keyboards and other midi devices practically ensures that a lot of what you hear as string arrangements will bear the flaccid chord structure of the solo piano.
I wish it were otherwise.