W tym tygodniu będę starała się codziennie umieszczać moje ulubione piosenki i utwory grane na pianinie/fortepianie/klawiszach. Zarówno te z pianinem w roli głównej, jak i te gdzie pojawia się w tle. Jestem zakochana w melodyjnych dźwiękach tego instrumentu i sama chciałabym się kiedyś nauczyć grać na pianinie…. Zachęcam do wysłuchania.

Na początek trochę klasyki.

Chopin – Polonez As-dur op. 53

O pianista de Roman Polanski

França, 2002

Com Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann , Frank Finlay , Maureen Lipman , Emilia Fox

Varsóvia, 1939. Um pianista tocando delicadamente Chopin, numa rádio. Repentinamente, o local começa a ser bombardeado, mas o pianista não deixa de tocar a sua música, mesmo que todos já tenham ido. É como se estivesse imerso num sonho; continua a tocar enquanto estilhaços de vidro e segmentos de pedra caem sobre sua cabeça. Ele vê o que ocorre à sua volta, mas prefere não desistir. Esse é Wladyslam Szpilman, personagem do filme O pianista. E é assim que somos apresentados a ele.

Roman Polanski, diretor do filme, ou melhor, da obra-prima, consegue chocar-nos com o filme. Retrata os horrores da Segunda Guerra Mundial. Hoje esse tema pode já estar um tanto repetitivo, porém depende do diretor que o aborda. E Roman Polanski, sem dúvida, conseguiu colocar O pianista como um dos melhores filmes atuais, vencedor de 3 Oscar (diretor, ator e roteiro adaptado).

Revendo filmes acerca do Holocausto e Segunda Guerra Mundial, O pianista se difere em um ponto importante: a proeza do herói é sobreviver. Parece que a morte lhe acompanha por todo o caminho, mas é como se ela desviasse de Szpilman. Ou ele desvia dela.

Acompanhamos Szpilman na sua tentativa de sobreviver. De um esconderijo a outro, ele consegue fugir. E assim, a cada tentativa de sobrevivência até o final da guerra, é que nos surpreendemos. O mais interessante é que não se trata de ficção, Szpilman realmente existiu. E o seu livro, hoje nomeado de O pianista, foi a base do roteiro. Após ter passado pela Segunda Guerra Mundial, ele relatou o que ocorrera, mas a sua perspectiva da guerra incomodara as autoridades (grande novidade). Assim, teve a tiragem de livros reduzida.

Para quem quiser ver o filme (o que aconselho, vale a pena), devo destacar que preste atenção nas músicas do filme. São do pianista polaco Chopin e são elas que direcionam o filme às melhores cenas. É surpreendente “sentir” a emoção da música, como se estivéssemos com Szpilman na mesma jornada. A cena em que ele toca Ballade nº1 diante de um soldado é incrivelmente emocionante e é o clímax do filme. Depois dela, não se sabe o que vai ocorrer com o personagem. É o primeiro momento que ele pôde tocar, deixar-se ouvir. A música, representando a alma de Szpilman, precisou manter-se reprimida para sobreviver. O toque do piano existia apenas na memória dele. Quando se depara com um futuro extremamente incerto, se sobreviverá ou não, Szpilman expõe sua alma e a infelicidade pela qual passara. E é Chopin que silencia-nos a fim de ouvirmos o sentimento do personagem. A música invade o filme e nos emociona.

O pianista do início do filme, aquele que continuou a tocar mesmo com a cidade sendo bombardeada, sempre esteve em Szpilman. A guerra apenas tratou de colocar o sobrevivente num palco principal. Apenas ele e o piano.

Después de muchas semanas sin escribir en el blog, por no tener apenas tiempo, hoy me dispongo a escribir éste artículo sobre pianistas, compositores e intérpretes.

No pretendo hacer un artículo tan genial como los de mi compañero Tetrasquel, solo dar mi opinión sobre ciertas composiciones que he escuchado últimamente, que no por primera vez.

En primer lugar, quiero rajar hablar sobre Richard Clayderman, pianista francés muy reconocido (y escuchado) generalmente entre gente que no tiene ni puta idea de música. Para definir la obra de Clayderman podemos utilizar el término “música de ascensor”, porque no existe un término mas exacto.

A éste pianista se le ocurrió la brillante idea (entre otras cosas) de hacer “versiones” de obras maravillosas de Chopin, Debussy etc., orquestándolas de una manera cutre y muy hortera. Para mas información, véase su album “En su piano sin control. Grandes éxitos”, y no, no es un chiste. El álbum se llama así.

Para demostrar ésto, os dejo su interpretación de la Sonata para piano número 14 (También llamada Quasi una fantasia, Op.27, Nº2, y mal llamada Claro de Luna), de LV Beethoven. Obra que todo el mundo conoce.

ADVERTENCIA: Es de muy mal gusto. SigoPensando no se hace responsable de los efectos derivados de la escucha prolongada de la siguiente interpretación. Si la quiere escuchar, es bajo su responsabilidad.

Ahora la gran pregunta: ¿Cómo es posible que éste hombre vendiese mas de 70 millones de discos?, yo aun no lo entiendo. ¿Por qué la necesidad de orquestar una obra de tal calibre?, ¿Está mejor orquestada?, en fin…

Por si no fuera poco, ha estropeado la obra mas conocida de la Suite Bergamasque de Debussy (ésto es imperdonable). Yo no me atrevo a buscarlo en YouTube, pero os dejo para los mas valientes un link a Spotify para que se os pongan los pelos de punta. Pulsar aquí.

Para compensar el mal trago que habrá pasado el lector tras la escucha de ésta abominable y horrísona interpretación, dejo La Interpretación de Wilhelm Kempff, que es de lo mejor que he escuchado:

La siguiente persona de la quería hablar es de Maksim, un pianista realmente interesante, porque al contrario que Clayderman, sabe interpretar a la perfección obras como la Hungarian Rhapsody nº2 de Liszt, pero también hace barbaridades como orquestar el Revolutionary Etude de Chopin de la peor forma posible.

Veamos un ejemplo de la fantástica -y difícil- interpretación de la obra de Franz Liszt:

Fantástica, ¿verdad?. Además de interpretar genial la obra, Maksim está muy cachondo. Pero mucho mucho.

Ahora veamos, de la mano del mismo artista, la interpretación de Revolutionary Etude, de Chopin. Vayan preparando los oidos:

Sin comentarios…

En breves haré otro artículo recomendando alguna obra de música clásica, pero tranquilos, no habrá sobresaltos.

Un abrazo a todos.

2010 est l’anniversaire de sa naissance. J’aurai le plaisir au cours de cette année de présenter la conférence

“Oser Chopin. La quête du héros”

pour plus d’informations jbgenest@yahoo.ca

Lorsqu’il présente ses 2 concertos pour piano, Chopin n’a que 19 ans. Il étudie le piano à Varsovie avec …un professeur de violon. Le jeune Chopin n’apprécie pas la mode “mécaniste” de l’époque.  La Pologne est sous domination Russe et ça le révolte. Sa patrie ne connaîtra l’indépendance qu’en 1918 avec un pianiste premier ministre ” Ignace Paderewski”.

Chopin exprime l’énergie de la jeunesse et sa révolte surtout dans son  concerto en mi mineur. Le feu et l’eau s’affronte et la virtuosité est omniprésente. Mais la virtualité l’est aussi. Cette oeuvre évoque la vie,  le combat et les souffrance du héros polonais imaginaire avec grande éloquence. On doit oublier l’objet musical classique pour aller dans le paysage sonore épique de Frédérique. Le combat, l’échec et la queste spirituelle (analogue à celle du Graal) sont suivit de l’affrontement final, fort, brillant, fier et…humoristique, puis la victoire à la Mozart. Oui, ici non seulement Chopin affronte ses démons mais les tourne en dérision tout comme Wolfgang dans le k488! Écoutez les 2 dernières pages du 3e mouvement. Je me suis demandé longtemps pourquoi il avait inséré 2 pages d’exercices et de gammes aussi grotesqueS dans une œuvre si merveilleuse  et…biologique?

En fait, il se moque, oui il se moque de la musique classique mécaniste qui est en vogue à Varsovie. Il se moque des faiseurs de gammes et des pianistes automates qui n’ont rien compris à la musique. Puis il  quittera son pays où les polonais sont  à genou devant leur Dieu et devant les brutes russes. Notons que Chopin est moitié français d’où un certain athéisme. Reviendra-t’il de son exil? Malheureusement, malgré le feu qui le dévore, Chopin ne vaincra pas ses démons et sa santé ne le mènera guère plus loin que l’orée de la quarantaine.

Mais il nous laisse un outil merveilleux. Le modèle de la guérison du héros.Pourquoi lui-même n’a t’il pas guéri? Trop d’eau, de tristesse. Trop de Pologne dans son sang. Entouré de femmes, l’eau aurait dominé le feu? Pourtant Georges Sand, quel feu! Trop peu, trop tard?  Comme Marie Curie (polonaise) sa recherche l’aura intoxiqué? On en reparlera.

Il présentera ces concertos sans orchestre: “La version de Varsovie”

D’ailleurs, de son vivant on ne connait pas de partition d’orchestre. Celle-ci est attribuée à son élève violoncelliste: Auguste Franchomme. La plupart des musiciens d’orchestre connaissent cette partition pour son total manque d’intérêt. En fait le piano y fait tout le travail ne laissant que quelques miettes pour l’orchestre. Chopin n’avait pas besoin d’orchestre. A t’il jamais joué ses concertos avec orchestre? Une critique de concert à Paris l’évoque mais où sont les partitions? Aucune partirtion n’existe de son vivant. Avec ses élèves, il se met au piano et improvise un accompagnement. Oui, ne l’oublions pas,  Chopin était un grand improvisateur!

L’orchestre brise le climat intime et profond du concerto.

En fait on a ici une des plus grandes sonates de tout les temps. Si ce n’est la plus grande.

La sonate des sonates!

pour plus d’informations jbgenest@yahoo.ca

今週は訃報が2件。どちらも身近な人のご家族だった。

そして、飼っていた鳥も・・・

別れは、いつも悲しい。

::: Frederic Chopin – Etude Op. 10 No. 3

だけど、

辛い別れもあれば、嬉しい出会いもあって。

もうすぐ、新しい命が誕生する。

もうすぐ・・・

arrivée　&　départ。人生とは、長い旅のよう。

Bon voyage!

Shaggy în spectacolul ‘Night of the proms’
‘Strength of a woman, ‘Angel’ iar la început un fragment din Chopin – preludiul pentru pian op.45 mai cunoscut ca ‘Serenada pentru Elisabeth’

Ivo Pogorelich, pianista di eccellente talento, si esibisce sabato 28 novembre alle 19 (turno B) per la Stagione concertistica 2009-2010 del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari con il suo recital di pianoforte che prevede l’esecuzione di un programma che spazia dal romanticismo di Chopin (1810-1849) al brillante e virtuosistico Mephistowalzer (1883) di Liszt (1811-1886) ed al celebre Valse triste (1904) di Sibelius (1865-1957), per arrivare alle lunari atmosfere del raveliano Gaspard de la nuit (1908).

Il programma musicale prevede: Notturno in mi bemolle maggiore op 55 n. 2, Sonata in si minore op. 58 di Fryderyk Chopin; Mephistowalzer R 38 di Franz Liszt; Valse triste op. 44 (versione per pianoforte) di Jean Sibelius; Gaspard de la nuit di Maurice Ravel.

La Stagione concertistica 2009-2010 si avvale del contributo della Fondazione Banco di Sardegna.

Prezzi biglietti

platea € 35,00 (settore giallo), € 30,00 (settore rosso), € 25,00 (settore blu);

I loggia € 30,00 (settore giallo), € 25,00 (settore rosso), € 20,00 (settore blu);

II loggia € 10,00 (settore giallo), € 10,00 (settore rosso), € 7,00 (settore blu).

Per informazioni

Biglietteria del Teatro Lirico

dal martedì al sabato, dalle 8 alle 14 e dalle 18 alle 20

telefono 0704082230 – 0704082249, fax 0704082223, biglietteria@teatroliricodicagliari.it;

www.teatroliricodicagliari.it;

prevendita www.vivaticket.it, call center 899.666.805.

A.M

Do you really think you’re that [fill in the blank]:

a. intelligent

b. beautiful

c. DESIRABLE?

I amb l’últim treball de Muse, The Resistance, és segurament la millor manera d’entrendre en un sol disc -alhora, el rock amb la música clàssica; fins i tot millor, m’atreviria a dir, que el treball de Metallica S&M, de fa ja una colla d’anyets. Una mescla espectacular entre ritmes rock, bases vuitanteres, simfònica, guitarres elèctiques, i els acords menors tant i tant usats per Muse; i amb tot això, hòstia, és que enmig et trobes de cop obres d’òpera francesa de Camille Saint-Saëns, o del geni més geni de tots: Chopin. En una cançó, United States Of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage), s’acaba així, amb un Nocturn del polonès. El número 2 Opus 9, Andante. Això sí, amb uns arrangaments orquestrals que no estan gens malament. I tot amb lletres Muse, és clar. When these pillars get pulled down / It will be you who wears the crown / And I’ll owe everything to you / How much pain has cracked your soul? / How much love would make you whole? / You’re my guiding lightning strike. Doncs això, The resistance. I no és perdin per res del món les tres últimes peces: Exogenesis Symphony: Overture, Cross-Pollination i Redemption. I dimarts al Sant Jordi. Però per començar a fer boca, vegin, vegin, encara que sense el piano del final:

LA CANÇÓ: United States Of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage), de Muse.

John Axelrod

La simpatia, contagiosa e irresistibile, è la prima qualità che caratterizza John Axelrod, il giovane direttore texano che avevamo già conosciuto la scorsa stagione sul podio dell’OSN Rai. Fondatore dell’Orchestra X a Houston, sua città natale, è stato nominato direttore dell’Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire dopo un incarico quinquennale alla Luzerner Sinfonieorchester. La sua carriera è in costante ascesa e il suo repertorio, molto vasto, comprende le sinfonie dei maggiori compositori. Le sue interpretazioni sono caratterizzate da una notevole estroversione, che rende chiaro il significato generale della composizione; forse manca un approfondimento e una ricerca di nuove prospettive di lettura, ma credo che ciò esuli dai suoi obiettivi. Insomma Axelrod mira a lasciar soddisfatto e rassicurato il suo pubblico con performance ben eseguite e cerca di valorizzare gli strumentisti gratificandoli anche con un atteggiamento visibilmente empatico: è un piacere verderlo rivolgersi alle varie sezioni con un sorriso sincero e trascinante. Il brano più riuscito è stato a mio parere la Seconda Sinfonia di Schumann, in cui forse sembrava di scorgere l’ombra del grande Lenny che di Axelrod fu maestro e che di questa sinfonia fu sempre interprete massimo. Nella prima parte, preceduto dalla Pavane op.50 di Fauré, il Concerto op. 11 di Chopin, brano conosciutissimo, amatissimo dal grande pubblico, di frequente esecuzione nelle sale da concerto. Solista Louis Lortie, che nello scorso aprile aveva eseguito Mendelssohn insieme a Augustin Dumay.

Louis Lortie

Il pianista canadese, patito per le integrali, è soprattutto conosciuto per una fortunata e riuscita incisione dell’integrale raveliana, ma il suo repertorio è molto vasto e Chopin ha in esso un posto d’onore. Lo ha evidenziato con una bella performance del Concerto, dove al solista spetta la parte del leone, avendo l’orchestra il ruolo un po’ subordinato di mero accompagnamento. Forse anche per questo non mi è parsa tanto curata ieri sera la partecipazione orchestrale e nel secondo movimento (ma anche nel terzo) l’intesa tra solista e orchestra era tutt’altro che perfetta. Poche prove? probabile: i solisti giungono spesso in extremis e rimane il tempo di una sola prova oltre alla generale. È possibile che stasera le cose procedano meglio e che domani a Vercelli vadano benissimo. Scarso afflusso di pubblico, contrariamente a quel che prevedevo visto l’appeal del brano principe e del nome del solista. Boh? la concorrenza del Film Festival in corso? la campagna martellante di Topo Gigio contro i contagi influenzali? oppure la programmazione di brani di largo consumo anziché incrementare l’afflusso di pubblico ha finito per ridurlo? Su quest’ultima ipotesi (la meno confortante per una prospettiva a medio-lungo termine per l’Orchestra) non dispongo dei numeri necessari per esprimermi, però non mi dispicerebbe se qualcuno più informato e documentato di me lo facesse nei commenti.

I’m having two relatively slow weeks at work with no hearings and nothing important going on all round, which I suppose is perfect for me to sit out the fatigue from my hellish KL trip over the last weekend (where I was made to carry one Peanut and another in situ and walk for a total of more than 2 kilometres…don’t ask).

On Wednesday evening, I left work super early to catch Maksim live in Singapore at the Esplanade with Elmi and friend.

It was really lovely. The choice of the programme was a little strange, ranging from the very childlike and popular Alla Turca from Mozart, Brahm’s very serious Piano Sonata No. 3 in F Minor, Op 5, the very cheesy Exodus, the elevator-music-esque Claudine, ending with the very energetic Hall of the Mountain King from Greig: all of these most effortlessly rendered in a neat one and a half hour showcase.

I was a little disappointed that he didn’t play any Rachmaninov (I feel in love with him watching him do a Rachmaninov on a telecast of one of his concerts on TV) and that he only did one Encore (which was some crazy atonal thing which I am not fond of as a rule but was fascinating to watch anyway). But then he made that up by doing a really great Bohemian Rhapsody and a nice Chopin nocturne.

And he does the most lovely cantabile. His tonal shading is perfect. It was such a joy listening to him, even through the unfamiliar pieces. He is really quite the performer.

I will be watching Hamlet the Clown Prince next week before my schedule goes into a blip of trials again. Sigh.

*
I took a rather small intern (with a rather unfortunate name) to Court with me this afternoon. He is about 15 years old and today was his last day at work. We had the following conversations through the afternoon:

Me: Oh, so after this internship you’ve still got about 4 more weeks of holiday fun!
He: Well, I’ll probably spend it hanging around studying.
Me: Studying?!
He: Yes, studying for next year.
Me: *speechless*

Me: So what do your parents do? Are they lawyers?
He: No, they are not.
Me: And they want you to be a lawyer?
He: No.
Me: So why are you interested in being a lawyer?
He: Because of politics…and other things…it’s a really long story…

Random opponent: Do you have a girlfriend?
He: No. I’m too young to have a girlfriend…well, not until university at least…
Random opponent: How old are you?!
He: 15 years old.
Random opponent: You are far too young to want to be a lawyer!! When I was 15, all I wanted to do was play football and go out and play!!

It was good fun. My opponents were quite amused by my very serious and very small intern. They kept asking me whether he was my son (haha). He kept insisting on carrying my court bag and umbrella too. He tried to even carry my handbag while we were entering chambers (you see, I have a nasty habit of leaving my handbag around the waiting area because I figured that if a bunch of lawyers would steal my handbag, then I really deserve it) until I told him that one of the guiding rules in life for men should be that they should never, under any circumstances at all, carry a woman’s handbag.

I do hope that he eventually finds his way in life. Such serious and driven young men are quite rare to come by.

Povestea fixaţiei de azi e mai complicată. În timp ce mă ocupam cu diverse activităţi creaturiceşti ascultând nişte Gilbert Becaud, am dat peste o melodie care mi-a atras atenţia. Le pianiste de Varsovie pe numele ei. Toate bune şi frumoase, până  la final  - când se aude un scurt pasaj cântat la pian, vreo 20 de secunde, dintr-o piesă clasică. Mai auzisem fragmentul respectiv undeva, dar nu ştiam unde. Cât ai zice „peşte”, Micul Devorator  a început să tropăie nemulţumit – „De unde e? De unde e? Trebuie să aflăm! Trebuie, îţi spun! Repede!”.

Când e vorba de o melodie cu versuri nu e prea complicat de găsit. Googleeşti frânturi de versuri şi ai descifrat enigma. Însă, dacă e instrumentală (în cazul meu clasică sau jazz – pentru că din fericire, muzica electronică nu mă atrage încă) ai cam încurcat-o. Aşa şi eu. Era ca şi cum aş fi căutat acul în carul cu fân. Vreo două zile m-am tot întrebat unde am mai auzit-o, în speranţa că voi avea o revelaţie. Fără succes. Noroc cu versurile melodiei lui Monsieur Becaud, din care am tras concluzia că fragmentul căutat face parte dintr-o compoziţie a lui Chopin. Un moment dificil, pentru că respectivul nu-mi era deloc familiar. Nu că aş fi cine-ştie-ce iniţiat în muzica clasică, dar dacă mă pui să enumăr câteva compoziţii ale lui Ceaikovski, Beethoven sau Bach, cred că mă descurc. La Bach nici nu e greu, că doar e tatăl muzicii clasice. În schimb, dacă mă întrebai de Chopin – zero. Ştiam doar că a compus în special muzică pentru pian – la modul generic – studii, nocturne, poloneze şi mazurci fără număr.

Prin urmare,  am apelat din nou la tehnica modernă. Am căutat o listă cu cele mai cunoscute compoziţii ale lui Chopin (se pare că şi alţii au frământări de genul ăsta) şi m-am pus pe treabă. Am început să ascult. LittleCreature, care s-a nimerit prin preajmă, a tolerat o vreme căutările mele. Ba chiar mi-a spus că a auzit fragmentul respectiv în timp ce vizitam Schonbrunn-ul. Ceea ce evident că nu mi-a folosit la nimic. După un timp,   Little Creature s-a plictisit, aşa că am continuat căutările singur, cu căştile pe urechi.

Într-un final, am făcut marea descoperire – era vorba despre Poloneza numărul 6 opus 53. După ce am ascultat cu entuziasm prima înregistrare de pe youtube de câteva ori, a început veşnica dilemă a ascultătorului de muzică clasică – cine mai interpretează piesa şi care sunt înregistrările de referinţă (da, se cântă aceleaşi note, dar diferenţele între interpretări sunt clar sesizabile). N-o să vă mai plictisesc mult cu detalii, cert e că până una-alta, am ales interpretarea Martei Argerich. Însă nu mă pot abţine să pomenesc versiunea înregistrată de Vladimir Horowitz care la momentul respectiv avea 83 de ani.

Deci – Martha Argerich 1965 – albumul Chopin – Legendary 1965 recording – Poloneza nr6 op.53 de Chopin:

Just for fun

Wedding march under different perspectives.

Bueno, bueno, bueno. Alicia se nos convierte en la santera oficial del Bronx en su nuevo vídeo: Try sleeping with a broken heart. La canción es un puto TEMAZO de ésos que empañan nuestros ojos de lágrimas (y ya sabéis lo que nos pirrian el POP y la melancolía cuando van cogidos de la mano). Y el vídeo, como no podía ser de otra manera, no decepciona. Hay tantos HIGHLIGHTS y tantos cameos que necesitamos hacer un visionado segundo por segundo para satisfacer toda vuestra curiosidad. Allá vamos:

0:04 – Comenzamos con un fondo de satén color Mora de Rubielos, ese mismo fondo que lo fue todo en los vídeos de finales de los 90 en el extranjero (y principios de los 2000 en España, como siempre igual de retrasadas atrasadas). Muy bien Alicia. EFECTO RETROSPECCIÓN.

0:10 – “Pero qué cachonda estoy…” (intentad cantar esto al ritmo de la melodía de la canción y encontraréis el nirvana). Alicia es toda una declaración de intenciones.

0:25 – Mirada LATAVIA. ¿Es esto un tutorial de maquillaje para negras en paro? Alicia, no entendemos.

0:30 – “killaaaaaa, mira com man djao la espalda de fina i elegntonaaaa”. Sí, ideal para acudir a un cóctel de Porcelanosa. CLASE.

0:38 – Alicia ya ha meado en su esquina favorita, se ha limpiado con kleenex… ¿y ahora qué? Ahora a seguir moviendo el esqueleto al ritmo de este beat tan remolón y tan de barrio. Cabe destacar el peinado totalmente crack del 29 que nos lleva Alicia. Sabe que estamos en crisis y quiere reflejarlo en su música y sus estilismos: muy bien.

0:55 – Ali, cielo, no has vendido 30 millones de discos a nivel mundial para que acabes comprando chaquetas de cuero de los Pegamoides en el Rastro.

1:15 – Mira cómo me paseo de farruca por la calle. Qué tiempos aquellos en los que lavaba cabezas en Rizzo’s…

1.20 – Que viene la SUPERWOMAN!

1:27 – ¡Agárrate a la rama, Valderrama! Alicia, en un alarde de X-Woman, Jesucristo Superstar y Martin Luther King, resucita al perrucho callejero para júbilo de su dueña Shontelle. ¡Qué alegría se lleva la condenada cuando ve a Skipper convulsionarse como si de la Björk más entripada se tratase!

1:41 – “¿pillas? “10 euros” “¿en la esquina de la keli de mi prima?” “va, pero date prisa que tengo que ir a la tintorería”

1:51 – Y ahora es cuando empiezan los cameos de los que os hablábamos al inicio del artículo. FIRST ROUND: Aaliyah – More than a woman (algo inverosímil teniendo en cuenta que Aaliyah está muerta… de verdad).

2:00 – Alicia llega a su destino sorprendentemente con el pelo alisado: está claro que lo de SUPERWOMAN no iba en broma y Ali es capaz de plancharse su rizada cabellera mientras va a 180 por el puente de Brooklyn. DIOSA.

2:06 – SECOND ROUND: Whitney Houston – cualquiera de sus videoclips.

2:17 – Primerísimo primer plano de sus labios rosa chicle. Para no dejar huella cuando una está ocupada, ¿verdad?

2:23 – SUPERWOMAN AL CUBO… y a la azotea que me subo.

2:29 – THIRD ROUND: Mónica Naranjo – Sobreviviré (éste particularmente nos ha encantado. ¡Alicia, ya tienes nuevos fans!).

2:48 – Pero qué DIVA, qué movimientos, qué paquete, qué garra…

2:55 – Y ahora la pianada de turno, para no defraudar al jurado de los Grammy a mis fans de siempre.

3:04 – “nena, que no me has dao los 10 lebros” “¿cómo? pues me hago la sueca y te rompo la cara”.  THE HOOD.

3:43 – La famosa lágrima keysiana vuelve a hacer aparición en la mejilla de Ali. ¡Desde No one que no la avistábamos! BIENVENIDA.

Esto tiene que ser #1 ya en medio mundo. Sólo hemos encontrado una razón por la cual no pueda llegar a petarlo.

Some music is so beautiful that words just seem—no matter what you say—tawdry.

Chopin, Nocturne Op. 27, No. 2 in D flat Major (1836)/Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950), piano

**********

lagniappe

Want to hear Thelonious Monk play Chopin? Go here (a home recording [click on "LISTEN TO THELONIOUS PLAYING CHOPIN"]).

*****

Like all his [Monk's] nieces and nephews, Teeny [Benetta Smith] treated her uncle as an uncle—not as some eccentric genius or celebrity. During one of her many visits in 1959 or ’60, when she was about twelve years old, Teeny noticed a book of compositions by Chopin perched on her uncle’s rented Steinway baby grand piano. Monk’s piano was notorious for its clutter. It occupied a significant portion of the kitchen and extended into the front room. The lid remained closed, since it doubled as a temporary storage space for music, miscellaneous papers, magazines, folded laundry, dishes, and any number of stray kitchen items.

Teeny thumbed through the pages of the Chopin book, then turned to her uncle and asked, ‘What are you doing with that on the piano? I thought you couldn’t read music? You can read that?’ The challenge was on. In response, Monk sat down at the piano, turned to a very difficult piece, and started playing it at breakneck speed.

‘His hands were a blur,’ she recalled decades later.—Robin D. G. Kelley, Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original (2009)

Pop music vs. Classical

I’m not sure what it is, however, there has been an “elitist” bias among practitioners of classical music (and jazz to an extent) towards pop music. With their complexities, and often times, numerous years of study at music programs, classical musicians reverence of historical catalogues, yet it doesn’t improve their popularity among the masses.

On the other hand, pop music (in this case all popular music) keeps growing in popularity with the advent of the internet. Sometimes there has been collaborations like Metallica’s orchestral performances, or anytime you bring in a string section in a pop tune ballad.

Classical music activists say there is no interest to classical/jazz music & that in many ways it’s dying (sales of songs/albums). Critics blame it on the public for not appreciating the greatness of the music. Meanwhile, pop musicians like Miley Cyrus and Linkin Park sell tons of albums, itunes, merch, and ticket sales for tours. Today I checked ticketmaster and the top billed ticket price for Bonjovi concert was over $1,100 (and those were sold out within 10 minutes). And no offense, but I’m not sure if any pop artist will last as long as a Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin.

#1 Music is music & it needs be promoted through press, given publicity, shared, passed on to each successive generation. It doesn’t happen by osmosis.

My point, is that in my experiences as a music writer, I have got a lot of positive response from the pop music community and silence/ignored by the classical/jazz community. Now, I admit I don’t search out classical or jazz as much as pop music, but I have a beef with the “Classical” mindset.

Simple example, whenever I have contacted pop musicians/bands about doing an article or contacting them for background info, etc., I have usually been given a positive and response. They seem to welcome publicity and press. So, I’ve been sent many press releases, invites to shows, and made contacts within the pop music world.

On the other hand, whenever I have contacted classical/jazz musicians or venues about writing articles and giving some press on this genre of music, I’m usually “stiffed at the door.” I have contacted Koerner Hall multiple times, which is the new performance hall in Toronto specifically made for the RC (Royal Conservatory).

My beef is that I contacted them through the appropriate channels knowing that the 1st season of this concert hall is a big deal for Toronto. The thing is they didn’t get back to me with any response after taking my info down & saying it would be passed to “blah blah” and I think that’s poor that they don’t get back to me with at least an explanation as to why it’s a “no”.

If given press access, I would’ve went to the “9’s” in writing about all the great classical, jazz, world music performances that are going on there. And I really don’t understand it, because classical/jazz is definitely in the decline and a lot less popular than pop music, which get’s most of the music press.

So, I’ve got the beef out & it’s done. No grudges, I’ll even leave the link to Royal Conservatory/Koerner Hall, so you can check out their shows & go to them if you are in the GTA region (Greater Toronto Area). If you want to get the younger mainstream audiences into classical/jazz, you need all the promo you can get.

I just wonder if classical music society purposely want to keep the concerts small, quiet, in order to…have the masses stay away.

The Royal Conservatory: http://performance.rcmusic.ca/

~ Jason Chu

http://twitter.com/Chodidees

http://www.examiner.com/x-19981-Canadian-Music-Examiner

http://www.myspace.com/chodidee

http://www.youtube.com/user/Chodidee

By Frédéric Chopin. Also know as “Revolutionary” étude from his “Douze Grandes Etudes” (dedicated to Franz Liszt). Pianist: Maurizio Pollini.

One of several things I do for money (working for a living is so inconvenient!) is transcribing audio from business meetings, conferences, interviews, etc. It’s a telecommuting job with very quick turnaround times, and that suits me pretty well; I get to work in my Cheeto-stained pajamas, but I still have that looming external deadline that I need for motivation.

I tend to keep the local classical music station playing in the background while I work, because when you’re listening to corporate-speak for hours on end, you definitely need the counterweight of some untarnished beauty to keep your soul from shriveling.

For a couple of days last week, one of the station’s hosts went on Chopin Ballade kick. I mentioned in my previous post how hearing two of them in a row sent me stumbling down memory lane.

The next day, that pesky host just had to go and play the Ballade no. 1 in G minor.

There I was, minding my own business, typing away as fast as I could while some slick suit bloviated in my ear, when outside my headphones I heard a sound that grabbed me the way I imagine a child’s cry seizes the attention of a parent. Whatever I was currently doing seemed insignificant; that sound was not just the most important thing – it was the only thing that existed in the world in that moment.

Naturally, I was annoyed. I didn’t have time to go to Music Nerdvana! I had a deadline of ASAP!

But I couldn’t help it; as had happened the previous day, a wave of emotions and memories welled up in me in response to that music. I’m no Oliver Sacks, but I know from experience that when you’ve listen to a piece of music over and over, when you associate it with certain events or situations – sometimes even if you hear it only once but it impacts you deeply – that music gets stamped onto your DNA, and when you hear it again, it’s as if some crazed brain surgeon stuck an electrode into your brain in just the right place so as to bring up everything you associate with that music.

Who needs hallucinogenic drugs, man?

I don’t want to go off on a tangent right now (I know what you’re thinking: “Why change now?” Shut up! ), but I suppose I should write up some of my Ballade-associated stories, by way of explanation. They involve such things as frizzy hair, teenage angst and Gunne Sax dresses — I know the world is breathless to read all about it!

In the meantime… It’s your turn, music nerds: what music stops you in your tracks?

~ Inspired by Chopin’s “Nocturne”…as rendered by Joshua Bell…

~*~

My world turns as slowly
as the ebb and fall of your chest
A dove flutters to the window
I watch her as I lay next to you
Just as she watches me across the glass
I wonder…
if I could see the world with only one view
…as she does
Would I still view it as complete
…as she does?
Would I be as content with it
…as she is?
If I saw two different perspectives
which merge in the darkness that lies between my eyes
Would I still be as peaceful
…as she is?

The truth runs across the dancing everglades
With the storm clouds of dreams
threatening to explode above them
Would I be the woman
that lets her child run through them
willing to let it fall
to let it come back bleeding,
or would I protect it
so much that it never knows
to walk against the winds of change
never knowing what existence
my womb has to it lent?

Silence falls like feathers in the night
It’s a nocturne symphony the gifted are meant to hear
Fewer among them are the messiahs
betrothed to the art in their souls
who play them as if the world exists no more
I wonder…
if I were one of them
Would I find the song of every movement
…as they do?
Would I bleed willingly with the pain of so much tenderness
…as they do?
Would I close my eyes to open my ears to the Uni Verse
…as they do?
And let my soul depart from this containment to the towers of musical splendor
…as they do?

Form gives way to formlessness
the names hush into namelessness
griefs shatter into peace
and violence breaks down into melody
such is a magic…a thing called beauty…that lasts an eternity.

Last night, the UP Singing Ambassadors performed a full concert at the Ipil Residence Hall in fulfillment of our dormitory manager, Ma’am Alma Tirona’s, request to the group’s conductor, Mr. Ed Manguiat, who happens to be a good friend of hers.

As a music buff, I watched the event dubbed as “Ipil Cafe”. It was the first time that I heard the group perform live and at the end of the show, I was astounded to the highest level of their superb renditions of various pieces from compositions of Filipino Artists to works of European composers.

As I listened to their voices that blended with each other perfectly, my thoughts raced back to an event in my life that happened more than four years ago.

I first studied the instrument of black and white keys way back in Grade 2 when my parents enrolled me in a piano class during the summer of that year. When classes resumed, I lost my focus in studying the piano and concentrated instead on playing after class. I simply quit.

My interest in the instrument suddenly resurfaced almost five years after I quit and more than four years ago. When I was in first year high school, I got reunited to a former “classmate” in the piano classes that I attended out of sheer fate. I was invited by two of my classmates to her house. On their sala was an upright piano. I forgot the details of it but I do remember that day as the day when I was “reawakened” to my interest in music through a classical piece that I asked her to play.

That, too, was the day I first fell in love.

For more than an hour, we shared lucid moments about various things around the sun. On top of them was the confirmation that she was really one my “classmates” in that piano school. When it was time to leave, I asked her to play any piece that she was asked to memorize by our teacher. She was hesitant but I was insistent. In the end, she gave in, sat on the piano chair, and began playing a familiar classical piece composed by Ludwig van Beethoven.

It was the Fur Elise, a bagatelle which was originally titled as Fur Therese. The piece was intended to Therese Malfatti, one of his students whom he fell in love with and whom he decided to marry. He was to play the piece at a party and propose afterwards. He never got to play it for he got too drank to perform. The love story ended at that brief overture.

It was named as Fur Elise after his copywriter mistook it as a piece intended for his sister, Elise. Apart from being renowned as one of the best classical composers of all time, he is also known among music enthusiasts that he had a very scruffy handwriting.

She only played the first part of the piece but that was enough to strike my heart with a feeling that was totally Greek to me before and it was more than enough for me to regain my interest in learning the piano. In an instant, I fell in love, to music and to the young woman who played music to my heart.

When the UPSA sang, I remembered her and the day that I will forever remember. When the UPSA sang, I remembered the feeling of falling in love for the first time in my life.

Four years later, that feeling lingered and it never ceased to exist.

]]> http://derricksblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/lola-astanova-plays-chopin/ Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:30:59 +0000 Derrick Robinson http://derricksblog.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/lola-astanova-plays-chopin/

Lola Astanova is no stranger to readers of this blog.  In September, we saw her electrifying performance of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Sonata.  October featured my extended interview with Lola, which touched on her early life in Tashkent, the influence of Vladimir Horowitz, and her views about contemporary classical music composition, among other subjects.

This month, we hear Lola perform three pieces by Frederic Chopin.  Lola is a passionate interpreter of Chopin; her longtime instructor and legendary piano professor Lev Naumov said of her, “Lola Astanova possesses a rare and truly ingenious intuitive ability.  Chopin performed by Lola is simply outstanding…” - an opinion I think you will share after watching these videos.

For our first video, Lola plays Chopin’s famous Nocturne Op. 27, No 2.  Many musicologists rank the two Nocturnes of Opus 27 among Chopin’s greatest compositions, and Robert Schumann referred to them as “the most heartfelt and transfigured creations evolved in music.”

In our interview last month, Lola spoke about the next piece as follows:  “I guess the first piece that I was consciously truly excited about learning was Chopin’s “Fantasie Impromptu”.  I was about ten years old, but I had heard and loved that piece from the early childhood.  The score looked very busy with lots of notes, so in my mind playing it well somehow symbolized being a good pianist.”

In our final video, Lola gives an impassioned performance of one of Chopin’s most dramatic études (and one of my personal favorites), Op. 25, No. 12.  She also delivers a short message on a subject close to her heart: the need for all of us to continue to support the arts despite a difficult economic climate.

I encourage you to visit http://lolaastanova.com, where you can learn more about Lola and watch additional videos.  You can also purchase her CD, which is entitled “Debut” and features the music of Liszt, Beethoven, and much more by Chopin.