Voices framing argenta

"In 1983 Nancy Argenta attracted critical attention as La Chasseuresse in Rameau’ Hyppolyte at Aricie at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Since making her professional debut in 1983 she has established a reputation as one of the foremost sopranos of her generation. She is generally regarded as "the supreme Händel soprano of our age". However, this probably fails to show her wide range of repertoire, as she is also a renowned interpreter of Bach, Purcell, Mozart, Schubert and even Schoenberg. Her repertoire stretches from the 17th century to the present and comprises songs as well as oratorio and opera." (Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Classical Musicians (1997)

i remember going up to vancouver bc with elisabeth cutler in 1978 to see joni mitchell, performing on that tour with jaco pastorius and pat metheny, an amazing band, a truly lovely performance, much of which came from "hejira". we drove up in elisabeth's vw fox, she and i had a sweet friendship that allowed for gentle touchdowns of affection without crossing the line into romance. our passion was the love of music. later i know she studied guitar with ralph towner, then went on to have a career based out of nashville and traveling mostly in italy.

then next time i saw joni was in 2000 when she toured with van morrison and bob dylan - they had a show at the gorge. it was windy and she stood facing into the wind, moving like a willow trunk, supple, dedicated, and again, song after song from "hejira" - all dressed in black and with a bass player only. that was amazing, as were bob and van... who had just released "the healing game", one of my favorite albums for cleaning the house, driving to lebam, fixing the car and other spiritual pursuits.