An anthem written by Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of 12 new pieces of music commissioned by King Charles for his coronation.
Lloyd Webber said he was “incredibly honoured” to have been given the opportunity to compose a new number. “My anthem includes words slightly adapted from Psalm 98. I have scored it for the Westminster Abbey choir and organ, the ceremonial brass and orchestra.”
The maestro also said he hoped the anthem “reflects this joyous occasion” when the new king is crowned.
Lloyd Webber, 74, was among those who travelled to Buckingham Palace to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth II, after her death in September last year.
In a tribute posted to Twitter, he honoured the queen as “the most extraordinary ambassador” and thanked her for “all she has done”.
King Charles’s coronation is scheduled to be held on 6 May, and he has selected the musical programme for the ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
Lloyd Webber said he was “incredibly honoured” to have been given the opportunity to compose a new number. “My anthem includes words slightly adapted from Psalm 98. I have scored it for the Westminster Abbey choir and organ, the ceremonial brass and orchestra.”
The maestro also said he hoped the anthem “reflects this joyous occasion” when the new king is crowned.
Lloyd Webber, 74, was among those who travelled to Buckingham Palace to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth II, after her death in September last year.
In a tribute posted to Twitter, he honoured the queen as “the most extraordinary ambassador” and thanked her for “all she has done”.
King Charles’s coronation is scheduled to be held on 6 May, and he has selected the musical programme for the ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
- 2/19/2023
- by Helen William
- The Independent - Music
Andrew Lloyd Webber, the English composer who created the scores for blockbuster musicals such as “Cats,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Evita”, has written the anthem for King Charles III’s coronation, adapting a piece of church music that encourages singers to make a “joyful noise.”
The work by Webber is one of a dozen new pieces Charles commissioned for the grand occasion taking place May 6 at Westminster Abbey. It includes words adapted from Psalm 98 and is scored specifically for the abbey’s choir and organ.
“I hope my anthem reflects this joyful occasion,” Webber said in a statement distributed by Buckingham Palace.
Read More: Prince Harry & Meghan Markle Won’t Attend King Charles’ Coronation If Atmosphere Remains ‘Toxic’: Source
The program for the king’s coronation ceremony includes older music and new compositions as the palace seeks to blend traditional and modern elements that reflect the realities of modern Britain.
The work by Webber is one of a dozen new pieces Charles commissioned for the grand occasion taking place May 6 at Westminster Abbey. It includes words adapted from Psalm 98 and is scored specifically for the abbey’s choir and organ.
“I hope my anthem reflects this joyful occasion,” Webber said in a statement distributed by Buckingham Palace.
Read More: Prince Harry & Meghan Markle Won’t Attend King Charles’ Coronation If Atmosphere Remains ‘Toxic’: Source
The program for the king’s coronation ceremony includes older music and new compositions as the palace seeks to blend traditional and modern elements that reflect the realities of modern Britain.
- 2/19/2023
- by Brent Furdyk
- ET Canada
Oliver Hermanus is no stranger to the festival or awards circuit, but his latest film, “Living,” is a very different story from those he has directed in the past, which have dealt with issues in his native South Africa. “Living,” the tale of an English bureaucrat in 1950s London who decides to actually get something done instead of shuffling files, won accolades in Sundance, where it world premiered, and was released in the U.S. on Dec. 23 by Sony Pictures Classics.
“It was a really strange phone call,” Hermanus says of being asked to direct the film, which stars Bill Nighy. Knowing that it was a remake of an Akira Kurosawa film with Nighy made it “really scary,” but then he thought “why not?”
“It was written for Bill, it was a vision for Bill. I don’t even know if Bill realizes how perfect he was [for the role]. I think it’s obvious now,...
“It was a really strange phone call,” Hermanus says of being asked to direct the film, which stars Bill Nighy. Knowing that it was a remake of an Akira Kurosawa film with Nighy made it “really scary,” but then he thought “why not?”
“It was written for Bill, it was a vision for Bill. I don’t even know if Bill realizes how perfect he was [for the role]. I think it’s obvious now,...
- 1/10/2023
- by Shalini Dore
- Variety Film + TV
Stop all the clocks,” Wh Auden famously wrote of the enormity of grief; “cut off the telephone... Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.” If Auden were writing that poem about the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, the clocks might be replaced with “traffic” and the telephone with “central London”. For one day, Britain seems to have ground to a halt.
In a television landscape increasingly dominated by on-demand streaming, where live “event TV” has become limited to the Euros finals and Love Island, today we bore witness to the passing of a seminal moment in our island’s story: all the major channels devoted their scheduling to the Queen’s funeral, in a sombre, striking acknowledgement that an era is ending. And in this wall-to-wall broadcast, the protagonists – the new King Charles, his wife Camilla, sons William and Harry, and their wives, Kate and Meghan – moved with the enforced dispassion of performers.
In a television landscape increasingly dominated by on-demand streaming, where live “event TV” has become limited to the Euros finals and Love Island, today we bore witness to the passing of a seminal moment in our island’s story: all the major channels devoted their scheduling to the Queen’s funeral, in a sombre, striking acknowledgement that an era is ending. And in this wall-to-wall broadcast, the protagonists – the new King Charles, his wife Camilla, sons William and Harry, and their wives, Kate and Meghan – moved with the enforced dispassion of performers.
- 9/19/2022
- by Nick Hilton
- The Independent - TV
Nicholas Britell, Kris Bowers, Hildur Guðnadóttir Spotlight Film Music at Disney Hall With L.A. Phil
The Los Angeles Philharmonic took a major step forward over the weekend with its “Reel Change” series devoted to contemporary film composers.
By inviting Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir (“Joker”) and Americans Kris Bowers (“Green Book”) and Nicholas Britell (“Moonlight”) to curate programs of their music, and those of composers that inspired them, the Phil is formally acknowledging the importance of media music as a legitimate part of the contemporary musical scene.
Symphony programmers are notorious for ignoring film music unless it’s on a “pops” program or a live-to-picture event, which in recent years have proven extremely lucrative. The L.A. Phil has rarely programmed, much less celebrated, music for visual media on a subscription concert.
And the fact that the series included a woman and a person of color was more than a token nod to diversity, as this trio is among the most sought-after of modern composers for film,...
By inviting Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir (“Joker”) and Americans Kris Bowers (“Green Book”) and Nicholas Britell (“Moonlight”) to curate programs of their music, and those of composers that inspired them, the Phil is formally acknowledging the importance of media music as a legitimate part of the contemporary musical scene.
Symphony programmers are notorious for ignoring film music unless it’s on a “pops” program or a live-to-picture event, which in recent years have proven extremely lucrative. The L.A. Phil has rarely programmed, much less celebrated, music for visual media on a subscription concert.
And the fact that the series included a woman and a person of color was more than a token nod to diversity, as this trio is among the most sought-after of modern composers for film,...
- 11/22/2021
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Sean Wilson Jul 6, 2017
Composer John Powell chats to us about scoring Jason Bourne, working with John Woo, his upcoming work and more.
Few contemporary film composers have made an impact quite like John Powell. From animation to drama to his immediately influential, propulsive Bourne soundtracks, Powell's energetic, emotional and heartfelt blend of symphony orchestra, electronics and percussion make him a singular voice.
See related Jurassic World review Looking back at Jurassic Park
Ahead of his BAFTA Screen Talks event at the Royal Albert Hall on 10th July, we were delighted to catch up with John to discuss his remarkable career and the secret to a truly great film score.
So 10 years after I saw The Bourne Ultimatum on the big screen and being electrified by your score I'm sat here talking to you, which is a real privilege. I wondered was there a particular film score that inspired you to become a film composer?...
Composer John Powell chats to us about scoring Jason Bourne, working with John Woo, his upcoming work and more.
Few contemporary film composers have made an impact quite like John Powell. From animation to drama to his immediately influential, propulsive Bourne soundtracks, Powell's energetic, emotional and heartfelt blend of symphony orchestra, electronics and percussion make him a singular voice.
See related Jurassic World review Looking back at Jurassic Park
Ahead of his BAFTA Screen Talks event at the Royal Albert Hall on 10th July, we were delighted to catch up with John to discuss his remarkable career and the secret to a truly great film score.
So 10 years after I saw The Bourne Ultimatum on the big screen and being electrified by your score I'm sat here talking to you, which is a real privilege. I wondered was there a particular film score that inspired you to become a film composer?...
- 6/25/2017
- Den of Geek
There's nothing more earnest than an English national epic, and this is a valiant expedition that becomes a low-key disaster. Told straight and clean, it's a primer on how to behave in the face of doom. Scott of the Antarctic Region B Blu-ray Studiocanal (UK) 1948 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 110 min. / Street Date June 6, 2016 / Available from Amazon UK £ 14.99 Starring John Mills, Derek Bond, Harold Warrender, James Robertson Justice, Kenneth More, Reginald Beckwith. Cinematography Osmond Borradaile, Jack Cardiff, Geoffrey Unsworth Editor Peter Tanner Original Music Vaughan Williams Written by Walter Meade, Ivor Montagu, Mary Hayley Bell Produced by Michael Balcon Directed by Charles Frend
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
English film companies fell on hard times during the postwar austerity period. But the relatively small Ealing Studios maintained its creative underdog brand even after it was taken over by Rank, and is still celebrated for wartime greats like Went the Day Well?, the singular masterpiece Dead of Night,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
English film companies fell on hard times during the postwar austerity period. But the relatively small Ealing Studios maintained its creative underdog brand even after it was taken over by Rank, and is still celebrated for wartime greats like Went the Day Well?, the singular masterpiece Dead of Night,...
- 7/10/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Dailies is a round-up of essential film writing, news bits, videos, and other highlights from across the Internet. If you’d like to submit a piece for consideration, get in touch with us in the comments below or on Twitter at @TheFilmStage.
The Criterion Collection will launch in the U.K., Variety reports:
Sphe will bring selected titles from Criterion’s extensive catalog and future new release slate to the U.K. for the first time. The first wave of films, featuring all the supplements from the U.S. editions along with their exclusive artwork and packaging, are “Grey Gardens,” “It Happened One Night,” Roman Polanski’s “Macbeth,” “Only Angels Have Wings,” “Speedy” and “Tootsie.”
Watch Bradford Young discuss shooting Denis Villeneuve‘s Story of Your Life:
David Bordwell looks at Tony Rayns‘ new book on In the Mood For Love:
In fewer than a hundred pages, many of...
The Criterion Collection will launch in the U.K., Variety reports:
Sphe will bring selected titles from Criterion’s extensive catalog and future new release slate to the U.K. for the first time. The first wave of films, featuring all the supplements from the U.S. editions along with their exclusive artwork and packaging, are “Grey Gardens,” “It Happened One Night,” Roman Polanski’s “Macbeth,” “Only Angels Have Wings,” “Speedy” and “Tootsie.”
Watch Bradford Young discuss shooting Denis Villeneuve‘s Story of Your Life:
David Bordwell looks at Tony Rayns‘ new book on In the Mood For Love:
In fewer than a hundred pages, many of...
- 3/7/2016
- by TFS Staff
- The Film Stage
There are always plenty of Christmas-music roundups this time of year. This one's different. The others usually focus on the newest offerings. Nothing I've gotten this year has really struck a chord, but there is no shortage of favorites from years past that have proven their merits and held up over time. It is those in the classical realm, where trends matter least; and choral, because it's sacred choir music that's at the heart of the celebration of Christmas, that are listed below.
Ancient
If you want some Christmas music you don't already know by heart, just look further back in history.The early music movement of the past half-century has unearthed many long-forgotten masterpieces from the Medieval and Renaissance eras.
Sequentia: Aquitania: Christmas Music from Aquitanian Monasteries (12th century) (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi)
This was Sequentia's second album of Aquitanian Christmas season music, following on the heels of the much-praised Shining Light.
Ancient
If you want some Christmas music you don't already know by heart, just look further back in history.The early music movement of the past half-century has unearthed many long-forgotten masterpieces from the Medieval and Renaissance eras.
Sequentia: Aquitania: Christmas Music from Aquitanian Monasteries (12th century) (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi)
This was Sequentia's second album of Aquitanian Christmas season music, following on the heels of the much-praised Shining Light.
- 12/24/2015
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Complete list of winners and nominees of the 2014 Grammy Awards, held in Los Angeles at the Staples Center on Sunday February 8. Winners will be updated as they're announced during the telecast and pre-telecast. Record Of The Year “Fancy,” Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli Xcx “Chandelier,” Sia **Winner** “Stay With Me (Darkchild Version),” Sam Smith “Shake It Off,” Taylor Swift “All About That Bass,” Meghan Trainor Album Of The Year **Winner** “Morning Phase,” Beck “Beyoncé,” Beyoncé “X,” Ed Sheeran “In The Lonely Hour,” Sam Smith “Girl,” Pharrell Williams Song Of The Year “All About That Bass,” Kevin Kadish & Meghan Trainor, songwriters (Meghan Trainor) “Chandelier,” Sia Furler & Jesse Shatkin, songwriters (Sia) “Shake It Off,” Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift) **Winner** “Stay With Me (Darkchild Version),” James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith, songwriters (Sam Smith) “Take Me To Church,” Andrew Hozier-Byrne, songwriter (Hozier) Best New Artist Iggy Azalea Bastille Brandy Clark...
- 2/8/2015
- by Donna Dickens
- Hitfix
This is how it goes with Terrence Malick — long stretches of quiet around whatever he's working on, followed by an intense period of scrutiny as it gets unveiled. And so it goes today, with "Knight Of Cups" premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival. The first poster was revealed, our review is right here, and we've gotten our hands on all the music featured in the director's latest look at the soul of man (or something). As per usual, Malick leans heavily on classical jams, with compositions by Arvo Part, Claude Debussy, Edvard Grieg, and more. For those of you want to cue up your playlists with something more contemporary, there are tunes by Thee Oh Sees, Explosions In The Sky, Burial, and a ton of music by ambient electronic artist Biosphere. Below you'll find the full list of songs, and on the next page, all the tracks your ears can handle.
- 2/8/2015
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2014 discoveries”…
Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum: Plants Can Hear. Atmos. Stumbling Stones in Potsdam.
Lavallee: We read Nikole Beckwith’s Stockholm, Pennsylvania as psychological warfare —— what was the approach in audibly depicting Leia’s longing?
Kroll-Rosenbaum: Stockholm is a nuanced portrait of an incredibly complex situation. The music is full of possibility and openness. It comes in waves and breathes. It was important that the music leave room for interpretation, so that the audience could experience discovery along with Leia. Nikole paints in very clear and purposeful strokes, and the music is designed to be transparent in its motivation.
Kroll-Rosenbaum: There is a range of different kinds of music in the score. There is music that is about the outside, literally and figuratively. I built a harmonic structure out of two chords that sits somewhere between resolution and forward motion. I thought about ancient music,...
Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum: Plants Can Hear. Atmos. Stumbling Stones in Potsdam.
Lavallee: We read Nikole Beckwith’s Stockholm, Pennsylvania as psychological warfare —— what was the approach in audibly depicting Leia’s longing?
Kroll-Rosenbaum: Stockholm is a nuanced portrait of an incredibly complex situation. The music is full of possibility and openness. It comes in waves and breathes. It was important that the music leave room for interpretation, so that the audience could experience discovery along with Leia. Nikole paints in very clear and purposeful strokes, and the music is designed to be transparent in its motivation.
Kroll-Rosenbaum: There is a range of different kinds of music in the score. There is music that is about the outside, literally and figuratively. I built a harmonic structure out of two chords that sits somewhere between resolution and forward motion. I thought about ancient music,...
- 2/5/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Odd List Ivan Radford Jan 3, 2013
As 2012 recedes into history, Ivan counts down his pick of the year's finest movie soundtracks...
While Den of Geek writers were busy voting for the top film of the year, I’ve been rifling through my collection of albums from the last 12 months to work out which film soundtrack was the best. The conclusion? It’s been one heck of a year. (Please excuse the long list of Honourable Mentions at the end…)
These are the best movie soundtracks of 2012. Probably.
1. The Master (Jonny Greenwood)
A quick rewatch of the trailer to Paul Thomas Anderson’s film reminds you of the power of Jonny Greenwood’s music. The Master is surpassed by its haunting score, which nails the psychological state of Joaquin Phoenix’s Able-Bodied Seamen, increasingly dominated by His Master’s Voice. It may not be as lyrical as Greenwood’s Norwegian Wood soundtrack,...
As 2012 recedes into history, Ivan counts down his pick of the year's finest movie soundtracks...
While Den of Geek writers were busy voting for the top film of the year, I’ve been rifling through my collection of albums from the last 12 months to work out which film soundtrack was the best. The conclusion? It’s been one heck of a year. (Please excuse the long list of Honourable Mentions at the end…)
These are the best movie soundtracks of 2012. Probably.
1. The Master (Jonny Greenwood)
A quick rewatch of the trailer to Paul Thomas Anderson’s film reminds you of the power of Jonny Greenwood’s music. The Master is surpassed by its haunting score, which nails the psychological state of Joaquin Phoenix’s Able-Bodied Seamen, increasingly dominated by His Master’s Voice. It may not be as lyrical as Greenwood’s Norwegian Wood soundtrack,...
- 1/2/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
The son of a vicar (and Charles Darwin was his great-uncle), Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) became one of the most popular English composers. He studied under Charles Villiers Stanford and Hubert Parry at the Royal College of Music, but also read history and music at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he palled around with the philosophers Bertrand Russell and G.E. Moore. He also went to Germany for lessons with Max Bruch, but ultimately rejected the 19th century German Romantic style Friendships with fellow Rcm students Gustav Holst and Leopold Stokowski later bore more fruit, in different ways: Stokowski, who moved to the United States, became Rvw's biggest supporter there; Holst and Vaughan Williams critiqued each others' work and joined in the study and collection of English folk songs. "The knowledge of our folk songs did not so much discover for us something new, but uncovered something which had been hidden by foreign matter,...
- 10/12/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Peter Strickland's thriller about a home counties sound engineer hired by a 70s Italian horror studio is one of the films of the year
One of the most remarkable British movies of the past couple of years, Berberian Sound Studio is a psychological thriller set entirely in the Kafkaesque offices of a sleazy Italian film company in the 1970s. It brings together a gifted trio of independent British film-makers: producer Keith Griffiths, who has been behind a dozen or more daring, offbeat pictures, including most recently the Cannes Palme d'Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives; the cinematographer Nic Knowland, whose numerous credits since the late 1970s include Tony Palmer's Shostakovich biography Testimony and the Quay brothers' Institute Benjamenta; and writer-director Peter Strickland, a truly European director who made his feature debut in Hungary three years ago with Katalin Varga.
The low-budget Katalin Varga,...
One of the most remarkable British movies of the past couple of years, Berberian Sound Studio is a psychological thriller set entirely in the Kafkaesque offices of a sleazy Italian film company in the 1970s. It brings together a gifted trio of independent British film-makers: producer Keith Griffiths, who has been behind a dozen or more daring, offbeat pictures, including most recently the Cannes Palme d'Or winner Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives; the cinematographer Nic Knowland, whose numerous credits since the late 1970s include Tony Palmer's Shostakovich biography Testimony and the Quay brothers' Institute Benjamenta; and writer-director Peter Strickland, a truly European director who made his feature debut in Hungary three years ago with Katalin Varga.
The low-budget Katalin Varga,...
- 9/1/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Emi Classics have announced plans for an official soundtrack to Fifty Shades of Grey. The classical pieces on the album have been collected as an accompaniment to El James's erotic novel series. Fifty Shades of Grey - The Classical Album will be released digitally on August 21, followed by a physical release on September 18. The label credits the books for the recent rise in classical music sales, with Thomas Tallis's 16th century 'Spem in Alium' having topped the UK classical charts after it was referenced in Fifty Shades of Grey. El James said: "I am thrilled that the classical pieces that inspired me while I wrote the Fifty Shades trilogy are being brought together in one collection for all lovers of the books to enjoy." Pieces by Chopin, Bach, Debussy and Vaughan Williams are also among the album's tracklisting. (more)...
- 8/7/2012
- by By Tom Eames
- Digital Spy
Probably some of you were a little too busy with, er, other things on your mind while reading Fifty Shades of Grey to realize author E.L. James was giving you the perfect playlist for your very own, um, enjoyment. Or if you’re that great a multi-tasker, in between buying that complete set of restraints and riding crops, you’ve already downloaded all the Thomas Tallis, Bach and more that accompanies Ana and Christian’s adventures in and out of the “Red Room of Pain,” For the rest of us, Emi has actually compiled a bunch of those songs into Fifty Shades of Grey – The Classical Album (alas, that means no Britney Spears or Kings of Leon will be included).
“I am thrilled that the classical pieces that inspired me while I wrote the Fifty Shades Trilogy are being brought together in one collection for all lovers of the books to enjoy,...
“I am thrilled that the classical pieces that inspired me while I wrote the Fifty Shades Trilogy are being brought together in one collection for all lovers of the books to enjoy,...
- 8/7/2012
- by Sabrina Rojas Weiss
- TheFabLife - Movies
Is Danny Boyle's vision of England's green and pleasant land all that it seems?
Something has happened on the way to the Olympics. On Tuesday morning the opening ceremony was launched as a vision of rural Britain, a land of fields and ploughmen, cottages, cows, sheep and horses, of Glastonbury, cricket and the Proms. According to its impresario, Danny Boyle, the title of the show, Isles of Wonder – a metaphor for Olympian Britain – was "inspired by" Shakespeare's The Tempest, specifically Caliban's speech.
You could have knocked me down with a first folio. Danny Boyle, of Trainspotting and Slumdog, turned cheerleader for Country Life? And quoting The Tempest? Have those Olympic corporates actually read the play? Caliban, monster offspring of a witch, makes no mention of isles of wonder. Instead, he inhabits an island awash in conflict, drink, sex and dark arts. He does at one point call it "an isle full of noises,...
Something has happened on the way to the Olympics. On Tuesday morning the opening ceremony was launched as a vision of rural Britain, a land of fields and ploughmen, cottages, cows, sheep and horses, of Glastonbury, cricket and the Proms. According to its impresario, Danny Boyle, the title of the show, Isles of Wonder – a metaphor for Olympian Britain – was "inspired by" Shakespeare's The Tempest, specifically Caliban's speech.
You could have knocked me down with a first folio. Danny Boyle, of Trainspotting and Slumdog, turned cheerleader for Country Life? And quoting The Tempest? Have those Olympic corporates actually read the play? Caliban, monster offspring of a witch, makes no mention of isles of wonder. Instead, he inhabits an island awash in conflict, drink, sex and dark arts. He does at one point call it "an isle full of noises,...
- 6/15/2012
- by Simon Jenkins
- The Guardian - Film News
Fictionalised account of animator's life, one of nine new productions to be staged by the company, will present a 'nightmarish' vision of Walt Disney
A new work by Philip Glass about Walt Disney will have its UK premiere at English National Opera (Eno) in June 2013. Glass's opera – his 24th – is based on Peter Stephan Jungk's 2004 novel The Perfect American, a fictionalised account of the final years of Walt Disney's life, described by Glass as "unimaginable, alarming and truly frightening". The novel, narrated by Wilhelm Dantine, a fictional Austrian cartoonist who worked for the animator in the 50s, mixes fact and fantasy, including meetings with Andy Warhol and Abraham Lincoln, to discover Disney's delusions of immortality and glimpse into his murky private life. He is controversially depicted as a racist, a misogynist and an antisemite.
La Times reviewer Richard Schickel called the book a "partially successful fiction ... [that asks us to] reflect on fame and...
A new work by Philip Glass about Walt Disney will have its UK premiere at English National Opera (Eno) in June 2013. Glass's opera – his 24th – is based on Peter Stephan Jungk's 2004 novel The Perfect American, a fictionalised account of the final years of Walt Disney's life, described by Glass as "unimaginable, alarming and truly frightening". The novel, narrated by Wilhelm Dantine, a fictional Austrian cartoonist who worked for the animator in the 50s, mixes fact and fantasy, including meetings with Andy Warhol and Abraham Lincoln, to discover Disney's delusions of immortality and glimpse into his murky private life. He is controversially depicted as a racist, a misogynist and an antisemite.
La Times reviewer Richard Schickel called the book a "partially successful fiction ... [that asks us to] reflect on fame and...
- 4/24/2012
- by Imogen Tilden
- The Guardian - Film News
The madness of war is exposed by a stallion in Spielberg's emotional, no-holds-barred moral epic
Steven Spielberg has been working in Britain off and on for 30 years now, long enough in fact to have been awarded an honorary knighthood. But a few days ago, he described War Horse, his movie based on Michael Morpurgo's children's novel about the madness of war, as his first truly British film. "After I heard the reaction last night at the Odeon, Leicester Square," he said, "I realised I'd made my first British film with War Horse. Through and through."
Actually, the tradition War Horse belongs to is the Hollywood celebration of British pastoral that reached its peak during the second world war with Lassie Come Home and National Velvet. Both were movie versions of novels about lonely, lovable, innocent, working-class children passionately attached to animals in an idealised provincial England.
The narrator of the novel is Joey,...
Steven Spielberg has been working in Britain off and on for 30 years now, long enough in fact to have been awarded an honorary knighthood. But a few days ago, he described War Horse, his movie based on Michael Morpurgo's children's novel about the madness of war, as his first truly British film. "After I heard the reaction last night at the Odeon, Leicester Square," he said, "I realised I'd made my first British film with War Horse. Through and through."
Actually, the tradition War Horse belongs to is the Hollywood celebration of British pastoral that reached its peak during the second world war with Lassie Come Home and National Velvet. Both were movie versions of novels about lonely, lovable, innocent, working-class children passionately attached to animals in an idealised provincial England.
The narrator of the novel is Joey,...
- 1/15/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
His life was as romantic and colourful as his exquisite music, yet his works are rarely performed today. Delius deserves better, writes Julian Lloyd Webber
No other composer polarises opinion like Delius. You either love or loathe his music. And it is rare to find someone who has grown to like it. Although this coming year – the 150th anniversary of his birth – will bring opportunities to reassess his work, that central fact will never change.
I feel as if I have known Delius's music forever. My father was a devotee and I must have heard all of his most famous works (On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, The Walk to the Paradise Garden, La Calinda, et al) well before I started playing his cello music. I always felt instinctively attuned to Delius's unique musical language, which seemed akin to watching a painting that is slowly changing in a constantly moving canvas of sound.
No other composer polarises opinion like Delius. You either love or loathe his music. And it is rare to find someone who has grown to like it. Although this coming year – the 150th anniversary of his birth – will bring opportunities to reassess his work, that central fact will never change.
I feel as if I have known Delius's music forever. My father was a devotee and I must have heard all of his most famous works (On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring, The Walk to the Paradise Garden, La Calinda, et al) well before I started playing his cello music. I always felt instinctively attuned to Delius's unique musical language, which seemed akin to watching a painting that is slowly changing in a constantly moving canvas of sound.
- 1/6/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
Gifted by the author's widow, the resource includes a great deal of music writing, as well as new literary gems
A greatly expanded slang lexicon for the delinquent droogs of the novel A Clockwork Orange has been unearthed in a vast archive of the work and life of Anthony Burgess held in Manchester, alongside the libretto and score of an unseen opera about Leon Trotsky, and the script for an unmade TV series about Attila the Hun.
In preparation for next year's 50th anniversary of his notorious novel, one of the most controversial modern works in the English language, the small team at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation have been working to organise and catalogue hundreds of papers, letters and original compositions, ready for an influx of international visitors.
The extraordinary resource, which has been left to the foundation by Burgess's widow Liana, is newly housed in a renovated building...
A greatly expanded slang lexicon for the delinquent droogs of the novel A Clockwork Orange has been unearthed in a vast archive of the work and life of Anthony Burgess held in Manchester, alongside the libretto and score of an unseen opera about Leon Trotsky, and the script for an unmade TV series about Attila the Hun.
In preparation for next year's 50th anniversary of his notorious novel, one of the most controversial modern works in the English language, the small team at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation have been working to organise and catalogue hundreds of papers, letters and original compositions, ready for an influx of international visitors.
The extraordinary resource, which has been left to the foundation by Burgess's widow Liana, is newly housed in a renovated building...
- 11/20/2011
- by Vanessa Thorpe
- The Guardian - Film News
London, August 7: Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Madonna all failed to make the top 100 Desert Island Discs playlist chosen by listeners to the show.
The acts, who have more than 150 top 40 hits between them, all missed out on a place on the track list after more than 25,000 people took the chance to select the discs they would want if they were marooned on the fictional island.
The top three choices were Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending, Nimrod from Sir Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations and Beethoven's Symphony No 9 in D minor.
Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen and Pink Floyd's Comfortably.
The acts, who have more than 150 top 40 hits between them, all missed out on a place on the track list after more than 25,000 people took the chance to select the discs they would want if they were marooned on the fictional island.
The top three choices were Ralph Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending, Nimrod from Sir Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations and Beethoven's Symphony No 9 in D minor.
Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen and Pink Floyd's Comfortably.
- 8/7/2011
- by Meeta Kabra
- RealBollywood.com
London, June 12: Vaughan Williams' 'The Lark Ascending' has emerged as the most popular track of Desert Island Discs after it was chosen by the public when they were invited to compile their own discs.
More than 25,000 people submitted nearly a quarter of a million tracks to the Desert Islands Discs, the BBC Radio 4 website, reports the Scotsman.
Desert Island Discs presenter Kirsty Young, the fourth broadcaster to front the long-running show, has revealed the eclectic selection.
More than 25,000 people submitted nearly a quarter of a million tracks to the Desert Islands Discs, the BBC Radio 4 website, reports the Scotsman.
Desert Island Discs presenter Kirsty Young, the fourth broadcaster to front the long-running show, has revealed the eclectic selection.
- 6/12/2011
- by News
- RealBollywood.com
BBC National Orchestra of Wales/Richard Hickox Edmund Rubbra: Complete Symphonies (Chandos)
Edmund Rubbra (May 23, 1901 - February 14, 1986) was an English composer much admired by some connoisseurs in his native country, but not much recorded even there and rarely heard overseas. His teachers included Cyril Scott, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Ireland, and Eugene Goosens. Rubbra wrote much excellent chamber and choral music, but as is so often the case, his reputation seems most closely linked to his symphonies, and they certainly reward attention. From much commentary that exists about these works, especially the first four, the neophyte might expect pedantic grayness, but I think that's unfair.
read more...
Edmund Rubbra (May 23, 1901 - February 14, 1986) was an English composer much admired by some connoisseurs in his native country, but not much recorded even there and rarely heard overseas. His teachers included Cyril Scott, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Ireland, and Eugene Goosens. Rubbra wrote much excellent chamber and choral music, but as is so often the case, his reputation seems most closely linked to his symphonies, and they certainly reward attention. From much commentary that exists about these works, especially the first four, the neophyte might expect pedantic grayness, but I think that's unfair.
read more...
- 5/24/2011
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Royal couple Prince William and Kate Middleton sealed their love on Friday by exchanging vows in front of a worldwide audience of two billion.
The second-in-line to the British throne and his longterm sweetheart became husband and wife in a traditional ceremony at London's Westminster Abbey.
The couple, who began dating in 2003 after they met while studying at university, married in front of a hushed congregation of 1,900 guests, including Britain's royal family, 50 foreign heads of state from across the world, and an array of close friends and showbiz pals.
Outside the abbey, an estimated one million royal-watchers gathered on the streets of London to join in the celebrations. Two billion people are thought to have watched the event live on television around the world.
The groom, wearing the famous red tunic of the Irish Guards and a garter sash of the Royal Air Force, and his best man, brother Prince Harry - in his Blues & Royals army officer's uniform - arrived at the venue in a two-car convoy at 10.18am local time, some 25 minutes ahead of their father, Charles, Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and 30 minutes before Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
The bride arrived at the venue by chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce Phantom VI, with her father Michael, at 11am.
Wearing a dress by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, and the late Queen Mother's halo tiara, she walked up the aisle to the coronation anthem, "I was glad", trailed by her Maid of Honour - sister Philippa Middleton - bridesmaids Lady Louise Windsor, seven, The Honourable Margarita Armstrong-Jones, eight, and three year olds Eliza Lopes and Grace van Cutsem, along with page boys William Lowther-Pinkerton, 10, and Tom Pettifer, eight.
The royal couple chose the Series One (1966) Book of Common Prayer ceremony, and the occasion was soundtracked by classical compositions by Elgar, Britten and Vaughan Williams, as well as the hymns Jerusalem and Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer, and the English melody Greensleeves.
During the service, conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the couple said "I will", vowing to "love, comfort, honour and keep" each other, as the official witnesses - Prince William's father and stepmother, Prince Harry, the bride's parents Carole and Michael Middleton, her sister Philippa and brother James - looked on.
James Middleton then gave The Lesson, reading Romans 12: 1-2, 9-18 before an address by the Bishop of London, the Right Reverend Dr Richard John Carew Chartres, a recital of the Lord's Prayer, and the blessing of the marriage by the Dean of Westminster. The 50-minute ceremony was concluded with a rendition of the National Anthem and the signing of the marriage register.
As the newlyweds - now officially the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - left the abbey hand-in-hand to be greeted by thousands of cheering, flag-waving fans, two groups of 12 military personnel lined their route as they headed to the horse-drawn 1902 State Landau carriage.
The open-top carriage - escorted by the Household Cavalry and followed by the Queen's procession with a sovereign's escort - will then make its way along Parliament Square and Whitehall, through Horse Guards Arch into Horse Guards Parade and then along The Mall to Buckingham Palace.
Tens of thousands of onlookers lined the entire route, cheering, applauding, waving flags, and shouting their best wishes to the beaming couple, who responded by smiling and waving at the assembled crowds.
On arrival at the palace, the band of the Welsh Guards will play the British National Anthem before the royal couple is expected to appear with Queen Elizabeth II on the palace balcony to greet their adoring public. A fly-past by the Royal Air Force and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will take place before the Queen hosts a private lunchtime reception for selected guests.
On Friday evening, the groom's father Charles will host a private dinner at Buckingham Palace before the newlyweds relax with 650 family and friends.
The second-in-line to the British throne and his longterm sweetheart became husband and wife in a traditional ceremony at London's Westminster Abbey.
The couple, who began dating in 2003 after they met while studying at university, married in front of a hushed congregation of 1,900 guests, including Britain's royal family, 50 foreign heads of state from across the world, and an array of close friends and showbiz pals.
Outside the abbey, an estimated one million royal-watchers gathered on the streets of London to join in the celebrations. Two billion people are thought to have watched the event live on television around the world.
The groom, wearing the famous red tunic of the Irish Guards and a garter sash of the Royal Air Force, and his best man, brother Prince Harry - in his Blues & Royals army officer's uniform - arrived at the venue in a two-car convoy at 10.18am local time, some 25 minutes ahead of their father, Charles, Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and 30 minutes before Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
The bride arrived at the venue by chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce Phantom VI, with her father Michael, at 11am.
Wearing a dress by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, and the late Queen Mother's halo tiara, she walked up the aisle to the coronation anthem, "I was glad", trailed by her Maid of Honour - sister Philippa Middleton - bridesmaids Lady Louise Windsor, seven, The Honourable Margarita Armstrong-Jones, eight, and three year olds Eliza Lopes and Grace van Cutsem, along with page boys William Lowther-Pinkerton, 10, and Tom Pettifer, eight.
The royal couple chose the Series One (1966) Book of Common Prayer ceremony, and the occasion was soundtracked by classical compositions by Elgar, Britten and Vaughan Williams, as well as the hymns Jerusalem and Guide me, O Thou Great Redeemer, and the English melody Greensleeves.
During the service, conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the couple said "I will", vowing to "love, comfort, honour and keep" each other, as the official witnesses - Prince William's father and stepmother, Prince Harry, the bride's parents Carole and Michael Middleton, her sister Philippa and brother James - looked on.
James Middleton then gave The Lesson, reading Romans 12: 1-2, 9-18 before an address by the Bishop of London, the Right Reverend Dr Richard John Carew Chartres, a recital of the Lord's Prayer, and the blessing of the marriage by the Dean of Westminster. The 50-minute ceremony was concluded with a rendition of the National Anthem and the signing of the marriage register.
As the newlyweds - now officially the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge - left the abbey hand-in-hand to be greeted by thousands of cheering, flag-waving fans, two groups of 12 military personnel lined their route as they headed to the horse-drawn 1902 State Landau carriage.
The open-top carriage - escorted by the Household Cavalry and followed by the Queen's procession with a sovereign's escort - will then make its way along Parliament Square and Whitehall, through Horse Guards Arch into Horse Guards Parade and then along The Mall to Buckingham Palace.
Tens of thousands of onlookers lined the entire route, cheering, applauding, waving flags, and shouting their best wishes to the beaming couple, who responded by smiling and waving at the assembled crowds.
On arrival at the palace, the band of the Welsh Guards will play the British National Anthem before the royal couple is expected to appear with Queen Elizabeth II on the palace balcony to greet their adoring public. A fly-past by the Royal Air Force and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight will take place before the Queen hosts a private lunchtime reception for selected guests.
On Friday evening, the groom's father Charles will host a private dinner at Buckingham Palace before the newlyweds relax with 650 family and friends.
- 4/29/2011
- WENN
Did a folksong-loving teacher really just happen to write England's most famous classical work? Film-maker Tony Palmer questions the myth of the author of The Planets
Making a film – any film – is a journey of exploration. If you knew at the beginning what you know at the end, why bother to make the film? This is one of the reasons I am often spurned by commissioning editors: I begin with no script, certainly no "agenda" (their favourite word), and no schedule. Not much of a budget either, come to think of it.
It was 40 years ago, while filming Benjamin Britten, that I first thought of making a film about Gustav Holst. I had noticed a photograph of the young Holst in Britten's music room, and asked him why. He told me, "I owe him more than I can tell you." Which was odd, because you almost never heard the name...
Making a film – any film – is a journey of exploration. If you knew at the beginning what you know at the end, why bother to make the film? This is one of the reasons I am often spurned by commissioning editors: I begin with no script, certainly no "agenda" (their favourite word), and no schedule. Not much of a budget either, come to think of it.
It was 40 years ago, while filming Benjamin Britten, that I first thought of making a film about Gustav Holst. I had noticed a photograph of the young Holst in Britten's music room, and asked him why. He told me, "I owe him more than I can tell you." Which was odd, because you almost never heard the name...
- 4/21/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
In an interview with New York Magazine this week at an after-party screening for Scream 4, Mickey Rourke not only said that the movie he recently made with 50 Cent was a "really bad movie," but also went on to bash both his upcoming feature, Passion Play and his co-star, Megan Fox. Refreshingly honest? Yes! Kind of a dick move? Absolutely. But occasionally, it is nice to know that, when we think a movie is crap, that the actors who worked on them at least agree. Rourke's admission is different here, because it's one of the few instances where an actor called out his own movie before it was released.
To commemorate Rourke's honesty, I have tallied up nine more glorious instances of an actor shitting on his or her own work, although the nine other instances were long after the fact.
Sam Worthington on Terminator Salvation
"I gotta be a...
To commemorate Rourke's honesty, I have tallied up nine more glorious instances of an actor shitting on his or her own work, although the nine other instances were long after the fact.
Sam Worthington on Terminator Salvation
"I gotta be a...
- 4/14/2011
- by Dustin Rowles
Top Ten Worst Movies of 2010 ...that I saw
I typically don't like making "Worst of" lists because I tend to avoid several films throughout the year that I know I probably wouldn't like. So, when reading through this list just know these are the top ten worst films of the year among those I've seen.
I've perused the lists of others on the internet and noticed titles such as The Bounty Hunter, Marmaduke, Killers, Flipped, Grown-Ups, The Nutcracker In 3D, Little Fockers, Cats and Dogs: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore, You Again, Skyline, Yogi Bear, Burlesque, The Last Song, Dear John, Life as We Know It, Vampires Suck or Lottery Ticket. I didn't see any of these and have no intention of seeing them. So please take that into consideration.
However, before we get to the ten there were a few that fell shy of making the list, including The Tourist,...
I typically don't like making "Worst of" lists because I tend to avoid several films throughout the year that I know I probably wouldn't like. So, when reading through this list just know these are the top ten worst films of the year among those I've seen.
I've perused the lists of others on the internet and noticed titles such as The Bounty Hunter, Marmaduke, Killers, Flipped, Grown-Ups, The Nutcracker In 3D, Little Fockers, Cats and Dogs: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore, You Again, Skyline, Yogi Bear, Burlesque, The Last Song, Dear John, Life as We Know It, Vampires Suck or Lottery Ticket. I didn't see any of these and have no intention of seeing them. So please take that into consideration.
However, before we get to the ten there were a few that fell shy of making the list, including The Tourist,...
- 12/31/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
We all know his Adagio for Strings (from Platoon, if nowhere else), but little else Samuel Barber wrote. Leon McCawley urges a revival of a neglected 20th-century great
This year has seen a glut of important musical anniversaries. We've had Chopin aplenty, plus Schumann and Mahler to boot. Samuel Barber's centenary (1910-1981) has also fallen during this eventful season, but I guess we're out of candles and there's no more cake. Why has this wonderful composer somehow missed the cut?
At the tender age of nine, Barber left this touching note for his mother:
"Dear Mother: I have written this to tell you my worrying secret. Now don't cry when you read it because it is neither yours nor my fault. I suppose I shall have to tell it now without any nonsense. To begin with I was not meant to be an athlete. I was meant to be a composer,...
This year has seen a glut of important musical anniversaries. We've had Chopin aplenty, plus Schumann and Mahler to boot. Samuel Barber's centenary (1910-1981) has also fallen during this eventful season, but I guess we're out of candles and there's no more cake. Why has this wonderful composer somehow missed the cut?
At the tender age of nine, Barber left this touching note for his mother:
"Dear Mother: I have written this to tell you my worrying secret. Now don't cry when you read it because it is neither yours nor my fault. I suppose I shall have to tell it now without any nonsense. To begin with I was not meant to be an athlete. I was meant to be a composer,...
- 11/18/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
Yes, I know that Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's film is set in 1973 but why, in 2010, do they still see homosexuality as fair game for sneering humour?
We can tell the three lads at the centre of Cemetery Junction aren't out of adolescence from their first encounter, when one farts in another's face while the third stands by laughing. In that context, a few yuks about gayness could pass as classy banter – as in the lads' first verbal exchange, where a taste for Vaughan Williams is designated "the test of queerness". "Stop listening to music made by poofs," one says. "Put some Elton John on!"
Little do they know, Elton John's a poof too! So, just banter. And, when two of them interrupt the other at work to declare over a train station Pa that a particular passenger is "a massive bender", that's just a giggle too. When...
We can tell the three lads at the centre of Cemetery Junction aren't out of adolescence from their first encounter, when one farts in another's face while the third stands by laughing. In that context, a few yuks about gayness could pass as classy banter – as in the lads' first verbal exchange, where a taste for Vaughan Williams is designated "the test of queerness". "Stop listening to music made by poofs," one says. "Put some Elton John on!"
Little do they know, Elton John's a poof too! So, just banter. And, when two of them interrupt the other at work to declare over a train station Pa that a particular passenger is "a massive bender", that's just a giggle too. When...
- 4/21/2010
- by Ben Walters
- The Guardian - Film News
Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant combine their talents on the big screen for the first time. Here's what we thought of Cemetery Junction...
The crackle of vinyl gives way to sweeping Vaughan Williams strings, as the camera gazes over sun-bronzed English countryside. Vistas of double decker buses and vine-chewed pubs share space with graceful tableaux of hard graft factory work.
This is the 1970s in Cemetery Junction, a fictional town near Reading, home to a trio of cheeky 20-somethings who are still finding their place in life, stuck between youthful rebellion and the inevitable march towards blue-collar labour. Breaking from the cycle, Freddie (Christian Cooke, a sort of British Emilio Estevez, with sandy hair, blue eyes and a boyish charm) decides to shoot for the big money, by going into the life assurance business.
The tone is leaden and poignant, but it doesn't take long for the first punchline to slice through the atmosphere,...
The crackle of vinyl gives way to sweeping Vaughan Williams strings, as the camera gazes over sun-bronzed English countryside. Vistas of double decker buses and vine-chewed pubs share space with graceful tableaux of hard graft factory work.
This is the 1970s in Cemetery Junction, a fictional town near Reading, home to a trio of cheeky 20-somethings who are still finding their place in life, stuck between youthful rebellion and the inevitable march towards blue-collar labour. Breaking from the cycle, Freddie (Christian Cooke, a sort of British Emilio Estevez, with sandy hair, blue eyes and a boyish charm) decides to shoot for the big money, by going into the life assurance business.
The tone is leaden and poignant, but it doesn't take long for the first punchline to slice through the atmosphere,...
- 4/13/2010
- Den of Geek
The writer/director/producer/failed pop star explains the music choices for his most personal work yet
Cemetery Junction is probably the most personal of all my work so far. Sure, I worked in an office for 8 years as a middle manager, like that David Brent, then I worked my way up in TV like that Andy Millman, and like most comedians, my stand up is observational. But Cemetery Junction is not only based on my memories of my most formative years but it feeds on the most fundamental things in the making of a man: family, economics, the time and place you happened to be plonked in. Even though the movie is a fiction, the values, themes and characters are based on my memory of growing up in Reading in the early 70's. The soundtrack had to reflect that. It's purely coincidence that the songs in the film happen...
Cemetery Junction is probably the most personal of all my work so far. Sure, I worked in an office for 8 years as a middle manager, like that David Brent, then I worked my way up in TV like that Andy Millman, and like most comedians, my stand up is observational. But Cemetery Junction is not only based on my memories of my most formative years but it feeds on the most fundamental things in the making of a man: family, economics, the time and place you happened to be plonked in. Even though the movie is a fiction, the values, themes and characters are based on my memory of growing up in Reading in the early 70's. The soundtrack had to reflect that. It's purely coincidence that the songs in the film happen...
- 4/9/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
The Infernal Comedy, based on true story of Austrian serial killer, among highlights of Barbican's plans for coming year
It might not be the cheeriest night out, watching John Malkovich as a resurrected Austrian serial killer on stage with a baroque orchestra and two sopranos singing arias about murder and abandonment, but it will, the Barbican's artistic director cheerfully suggests, be one of his personal highlights.
"It's a kind of 21st-century version of an 18th-century melodrama," said Graham Sheffield. "Absolutely brilliant and completely unique."
The Malkovich piece, The Infernal Comedy – part drama, part concert – is based on the true story of Jack Unterweger, who killed at least 11 prostitutes. "Probably not a thing to take a person on a first date," Sheffield conceded.
The show was announced today as part of the Barbican's plans for the coming year, along with the return of big-name regulars such as Peter Brook, with The Magic Flute; Michael Clark,...
It might not be the cheeriest night out, watching John Malkovich as a resurrected Austrian serial killer on stage with a baroque orchestra and two sopranos singing arias about murder and abandonment, but it will, the Barbican's artistic director cheerfully suggests, be one of his personal highlights.
"It's a kind of 21st-century version of an 18th-century melodrama," said Graham Sheffield. "Absolutely brilliant and completely unique."
The Malkovich piece, The Infernal Comedy – part drama, part concert – is based on the true story of Jack Unterweger, who killed at least 11 prostitutes. "Probably not a thing to take a person on a first date," Sheffield conceded.
The show was announced today as part of the Barbican's plans for the coming year, along with the return of big-name regulars such as Peter Brook, with The Magic Flute; Michael Clark,...
- 3/12/2010
- by Mark Brown
- The Guardian - Film News
Critics didn't exactly fall in love with last month's romantic comedy Leap Year, and neither did its co-star, Matthew Goode. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Goode was refreshingly blunt, describing the movie as "turgid" and proclaiming that "I just know that there are a lot of people who will say it is the worst film of 2010." (There go the DVD sales.) So, if Goode didn't like the movie, why did he do it? To avoid something else he despises: traveling.
That was the main reason I took it — so that I could come home at the weekends. It wasn't because of the script, trust me. I was told it was going to be like The Quiet Man with a Vaughan Williams soundtrack, but in the end it turned out to have pop music all over it. A bit like Chasing Liberty again. Do I feel I let myself down?...
That was the main reason I took it — so that I could come home at the weekends. It wasn't because of the script, trust me. I was told it was going to be like The Quiet Man with a Vaughan Williams soundtrack, but in the end it turned out to have pop music all over it. A bit like Chasing Liberty again. Do I feel I let myself down?...
- 2/26/2010
- by Ryan Gowland
- Reelzchannel.com
Matthew Goode has admitted that he is unhappy with his latest film. Goode, who stars alongside Amy Adams in Leap Year, explained that he only accepted a part in the movie because it was filmed close to his house. "It's turgid," The Sun quotes him as saying. "I just know that there are a lot of people who will say it is the worst film of 2010." He added: "The location is the main reason I took it - so that I could come home at weekends. It wasn't because of the script, trust me. I was told it was going to be like The Quiet Man with a Vaughan Williams soundtrack, but in the end it turned out to have pop music all over it. "Do I feel I let myself down? No. Was it a bad job? Yes, it was. But, you know, (more)...
- 2/25/2010
- by By Catriona Wightman
- Digital Spy
The following quote comes from the London Telegraph from which I could have made the headline "Matthew Goode auditioned for The Hobbit," but instead his comments on the incredibly loathsome Leap Year are far more interesting: "It's turgid. I just know that there are a lot of people who will say it is the worst film of 2010. [The location] was the main reason I took it - so that I could come home at the weekends. It wasn't because of the script, trust me. I was told it was going to be like The Quiet Man with a Vaughan Williams soundtrack, but in the end it turned out to have pop music all over it. ... Was it a bad job? Yes, it was. But, you know, I had a nice time and I got paid." Yes Matthew, the film is turgid. It was a bad job. Will it be the worst of...
- 2/24/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
British actor Matthew Goode has auditioned for the role of Bilbo Baggins in Guillermo Del Toro's upcoming, "The Hobbit."
At least, that's what he told the Telegraph recently, although he pooh-poohed the notion of actually getting the part with a dismissive, "Look at the size of me for Christ's sake."
He is quite tall but that shouldn't matter in this new CGI world. Besides, he has those bright blue eyes and impish grin like Frodo (Elijah Wood).
You may remember Goode as Colin Firth's dead lover in Tom Ford's A Single Man" or Ozymandias in "The Watchmen."
Matthew talked with The Dish Rag about "Single Man," how happy he is for Colin's Oscar nod, and his recent romantic comedy "Leap Year," also starring Amy Adams, which he has now described as" turgid."
"I just know that there are a lot of people who will say it is the...
At least, that's what he told the Telegraph recently, although he pooh-poohed the notion of actually getting the part with a dismissive, "Look at the size of me for Christ's sake."
He is quite tall but that shouldn't matter in this new CGI world. Besides, he has those bright blue eyes and impish grin like Frodo (Elijah Wood).
You may remember Goode as Colin Firth's dead lover in Tom Ford's A Single Man" or Ozymandias in "The Watchmen."
Matthew talked with The Dish Rag about "Single Man," how happy he is for Colin's Oscar nod, and his recent romantic comedy "Leap Year," also starring Amy Adams, which he has now described as" turgid."
"I just know that there are a lot of people who will say it is the...
- 2/24/2010
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
One of his 2009 movies earned its lead actor an Oscar nod, but Matthew Goode thinks his 'turgid' rom-com 'Leap Year' deserves a different distinction: the worst. "I just know that there are a lot of people who will say it is the worst film of 2010," he said in an interview with UK's Telegraph. Goode told the paper he knew the script of the Amy Adams flick was awful going in but isn't above taking an easy paycheck with a convenient shooting location. "That was the main reason I took it - so that I could come home at the weekends," he said. "It wasn't because of the script, trust me. I was told it was going to be like The Quiet Man with a Vaughan Williams soundtrack, but in the end it turned out to have pop music...
- 2/24/2010
- by Katy Hall
- Huffington Post
Matthew Goode has slammed his new movie Leap Year as "turgid" - insisting the Amy Adams movie will be labelled "the worst film of 2010."
The Brit plays the Enchanted star's love interest in the new romantic comedy, which tells the story of an American woman travelling to Dublin, Ireland to propose to her boyfriend on 29 February during a leap year.
But Goode insists he only took the role because the shoot was filming on location close to his home in Britain.
He says, "It's turgid. I just know that there are a lot of people who will say it is the worst film of 2010.
"(The location) was the main reason I took it - so that I could come home at the weekends. It wasn't because of the script, trust me. I was told it was going to be like The Quiet Man with a Vaughan Williams soundtrack, but in the end it turned out to have pop music all over it. Do I feel I let myself down? No. Was it a bad job? Yes, it was. But, you know, I had a nice time and I got paid."
And Goode doesn't regret speaking out against the film - he is adamant actors should be free to tell the truth about their work.
He adds, "Because of the way my repartee comes out, people tend to think that I don't care. Actually, it's often just a result of my being in a situation where I'm embarrassed about having to talk about a film which I don't think is that brilliant - but obviously I can't say that. I do think that it's important that one should be able to speak out without worrying about causing offence, or whatever. And it saddens me that the romanticism has been ripped out of being an actor. It wasn't like that in Peter O'Toole's time, was it?"...
The Brit plays the Enchanted star's love interest in the new romantic comedy, which tells the story of an American woman travelling to Dublin, Ireland to propose to her boyfriend on 29 February during a leap year.
But Goode insists he only took the role because the shoot was filming on location close to his home in Britain.
He says, "It's turgid. I just know that there are a lot of people who will say it is the worst film of 2010.
"(The location) was the main reason I took it - so that I could come home at the weekends. It wasn't because of the script, trust me. I was told it was going to be like The Quiet Man with a Vaughan Williams soundtrack, but in the end it turned out to have pop music all over it. Do I feel I let myself down? No. Was it a bad job? Yes, it was. But, you know, I had a nice time and I got paid."
And Goode doesn't regret speaking out against the film - he is adamant actors should be free to tell the truth about their work.
He adds, "Because of the way my repartee comes out, people tend to think that I don't care. Actually, it's often just a result of my being in a situation where I'm embarrassed about having to talk about a film which I don't think is that brilliant - but obviously I can't say that. I do think that it's important that one should be able to speak out without worrying about causing offence, or whatever. And it saddens me that the romanticism has been ripped out of being an actor. It wasn't like that in Peter O'Toole's time, was it?"...
- 2/24/2010
- WENN
Violinist Karen Gomyo will join the New York Philharmonic to perform Vaughan Williams?s The Lark Ascending at the Orchestra?s 18th free, Annual Memorial Day Concert at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street, Monday, May 25, 2009, at 8:00 p.m. David Robertson will conduct. The program also features Ives?s The Unanswered Question, Barber?s Adagio for Strings, and Messiaen?s L?Ascension.
- 5/9/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
In a hectic world, people seek peace. For their March 15th concert, aptly titled "Serenity," Orchestra Seattle and the Seattle Chamber Singers present Beethoven's bucolic sixth symphony, Vaughan Williams' intensely personal Serenade to Music and Stravinsky's other-worldly Le Baiser de F?e. Each musical selection was specifically chosen for this concert because it comes from a place of peace and love; transporting the listener with calm, serene beauty.
- 3/4/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
In a hectic world, people seek peace. For their March 15th concert, aptly titled ?Serenity,? Orchestra Seattle and the Seattle Chamber Singers present Beethoven?s bucolic sixth symphony, Vaughan Williams? intensely personal Serenade to Music and Stravinsky?s other-worldly Le Baiser de F?e. Each musical selection was specifically chosen for this concert because it comes from a place of peace and love; transporting the listener with calm, serene beauty.
- 3/4/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
Imagine structuring an entire feature-length movie around the constraints of existing symphonic scores and have to use them in their entirety.
That's the challenge filmmaker Richard Horian put upon himself when deciding to make "Williamstowne", a drama built around the musical works of British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The result, not surprisingly, is not so much a film but rather a technical exercise that, at 93 minutes, is in musical terms a dirge; in dramatic terms, it's a drudge. This indie effort essentially has no commercial value beyond the radius of its participants, their relatives and their teachers.
Using Williams' bristling and resplendent musical works -- "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis," "The Lark Ascending", "Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus" -- Horian has painstakingly constructed a drama around these full-bodied compositions.
Unfortunately, his scenario is so bathetic and so overpitched that one soon loses interest entirely. The story -- tucked, fitted and distended to meet the bars of the music -- is monotonously tedious. It centers on Sarah (Deni Delory), who died in 1850 but returns in spirit to visit her survivors on the 10th anniversary of her death.
It's kind of an "ectoplasmic" journey not unlike the "Topper" movies of years gone by. Unfortunately, these swoony visits are maudlin and not particularly touching, and the wide-gesturing, symbolic acting style favored by Horian reduces the "performances" to college-level, experimental session work. The same dramatic refrain is repeated over and over as Sarah descends into the lives of those who were once close to her.
While Horian must be commended for his diligence and careful superimposition of this quasi-drama upon some very rich and emotion-packed music, it comes across as a futile and loopy exercise in aesthetics. In the end, it's the type of innovation that one suspects would be a big hit among arts-council types in the Hudson Valley nattering about which production they'd recommend for an NEA grant.
Still, we applaud Horian for his taste in music and his perfectionism in getting this opus to fit in the required time signature and frame. However, the film might be retitled "Obsession".
WILLIAMSTOWNE
A film by Richard Horian
Credits: Producer-writer-director-cinematographer: Richard Horian; Makeup: Jan Cushing; Costumes: Eaves Brooks Co.; Music: Based on the works of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Cast: Sarah: Deni Delory; Jack: Richard Horian; Sarah's Mother: Lynn Britt; Sarah's Father: Brian Heath; Jack's Friends: Adisa Bankole, Tom White; Rebecca: Cheri Severns; Tom: Noah Bean. No MPAA rating. Color/stereo. Running time -- 93 minutes.
That's the challenge filmmaker Richard Horian put upon himself when deciding to make "Williamstowne", a drama built around the musical works of British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The result, not surprisingly, is not so much a film but rather a technical exercise that, at 93 minutes, is in musical terms a dirge; in dramatic terms, it's a drudge. This indie effort essentially has no commercial value beyond the radius of its participants, their relatives and their teachers.
Using Williams' bristling and resplendent musical works -- "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis," "The Lark Ascending", "Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus" -- Horian has painstakingly constructed a drama around these full-bodied compositions.
Unfortunately, his scenario is so bathetic and so overpitched that one soon loses interest entirely. The story -- tucked, fitted and distended to meet the bars of the music -- is monotonously tedious. It centers on Sarah (Deni Delory), who died in 1850 but returns in spirit to visit her survivors on the 10th anniversary of her death.
It's kind of an "ectoplasmic" journey not unlike the "Topper" movies of years gone by. Unfortunately, these swoony visits are maudlin and not particularly touching, and the wide-gesturing, symbolic acting style favored by Horian reduces the "performances" to college-level, experimental session work. The same dramatic refrain is repeated over and over as Sarah descends into the lives of those who were once close to her.
While Horian must be commended for his diligence and careful superimposition of this quasi-drama upon some very rich and emotion-packed music, it comes across as a futile and loopy exercise in aesthetics. In the end, it's the type of innovation that one suspects would be a big hit among arts-council types in the Hudson Valley nattering about which production they'd recommend for an NEA grant.
Still, we applaud Horian for his taste in music and his perfectionism in getting this opus to fit in the required time signature and frame. However, the film might be retitled "Obsession".
WILLIAMSTOWNE
A film by Richard Horian
Credits: Producer-writer-director-cinematographer: Richard Horian; Makeup: Jan Cushing; Costumes: Eaves Brooks Co.; Music: Based on the works of Ralph Vaughan Williams. Cast: Sarah: Deni Delory; Jack: Richard Horian; Sarah's Mother: Lynn Britt; Sarah's Father: Brian Heath; Jack's Friends: Adisa Bankole, Tom White; Rebecca: Cheri Severns; Tom: Noah Bean. No MPAA rating. Color/stereo. Running time -- 93 minutes.
- 11/10/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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