Sitting in an office in the David Geffen Hall — home to the New York Philharmonic — venerated bassist, composer and founder of the Very Young Composers program, Jon Deak, is discussing his recent excursion to Wyoming to observe the full splendor of the solar eclipse. He mentions that while standing in a field to watch the celestial event, his attention was momentarily shifted to a sprig of wheat, which led him to ponder the harmony and interconnectedness between the elements of nature. As the expanse suddenly got dark, with mixed shades of purple being cast across the sky, Deak says he...
- 9/8/2017
- by Yvonne Juris
- PEOPLE.com
Many consider Dmitri Shostakovich the greatest composer of the 20th century. Born September 25, 1906, he might not have lived past his teens if he hadn't been talented. During the famines of the Revolutionary period in Russia, Alexander Glazunov, director of the Petrograd (later Leningrad) Conservatory, arranged for the poor and malnourished Shostakovich's food ration to be increased. Shostakovich's Symphony No. 1, his graduation exercise for Maximilian Steinberg's composition course at the Conservatory, was completed in 1925 at age 19 and was an immediate success worldwide. He was The Party's poster boy; his Second and Third Symphonies unabashedly subtitled, respectively, "To October". (celebrating the Revolution) and "The First of May". (International Workers' Day).
His highly emotional harmonic language is simultaneously tough yet communicative, but his expansion of Mahlerian symphonic structure, dissonances, sardonic irony, and dark moods eventually clashed with the conservative edicts of Communist Party officials. In 1936 he was viciously denounced by Pravda...
His highly emotional harmonic language is simultaneously tough yet communicative, but his expansion of Mahlerian symphonic structure, dissonances, sardonic irony, and dark moods eventually clashed with the conservative edicts of Communist Party officials. In 1936 he was viciously denounced by Pravda...
- 9/26/2016
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Hélene Grimaud Water: Berio: Wasserklavier: Sawhney: Water: Transitions 1-7; Takemitsu: Rain Tree Sketch No. 2; Fauré: Barcarolle No. 5; Ravel: Jeux d'eau; Albéniz: Almeria; Liszt: Les Jeux d'eaux a la Villa d'Este; Janáček: In the Mist: No. 1; Debussy: La Cathedrale engloutie (Deutsche Grammophon) Classical purists be warned: almost half the tracks here are not the solo piano recital you might expect from the billing. Instead, Grimaud had composer Nitin Sawhney create electronic bridging miniatures (ranging from 0:56 to 1:41) fitted between the solo piano tracks. This works wonderfully well, changing this album from a traditional presentation into a moody soundscape (though the purist crowd was quick to take offense, witness the extremely snarky review on classicstoday.com). Of course, Grimaud is her usual scintillating self on the solo piano pieces. The pieces she has chosen for this thematic program are in a couple of cases "usual suspects" -- the Ravel and Debussy...
- 5/31/2016
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
As I struggled, as every year, to get my end-of-year lists finished in a reasonably timely fashion, it occurred to me that I could publish half of the classical list earlier if I could find a reasonable way to split it into categories. Thus the non-contemporary/contemporary divide this year. The newer composers' work requires more listening; that's the only reason the older repertoire comes first.
1. Ivan Moravec Twelfth Night Recital Prague 1987 (Supraphon) Supposedly this release of a previously unissued concert recording was approved by the pianist shortly before his passing in July 2015. Certainly it's hard to hear anything of significance that he wouldn't have liked about it, because it is a magnificent testament to everything that made him one of the greatest pianists who ever lived: one of the most beautiful piano tones ever heard, allied to liquid phrasing that gave him one of the greatest legato touches ever recorded.
1. Ivan Moravec Twelfth Night Recital Prague 1987 (Supraphon) Supposedly this release of a previously unissued concert recording was approved by the pianist shortly before his passing in July 2015. Certainly it's hard to hear anything of significance that he wouldn't have liked about it, because it is a magnificent testament to everything that made him one of the greatest pianists who ever lived: one of the most beautiful piano tones ever heard, allied to liquid phrasing that gave him one of the greatest legato touches ever recorded.
- 1/6/2016
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
In the wake of the terrible attacks in Paris, I found myself listening to a lot of French music and thinking about the Leonard Bernstein quote going around on Facebook: "This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before." This list came to seem like my natural response. A very small response, I know. This list is chronological and leaves off people I should probably include. The forty [note: now forty-one] composers listed below are merely a start.
Léonin Aka Leoninus (c.1135-c.1201)
The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris in the 1100s was a major musical center, and Léonin (the first named composer from whom we have notated polyphonic music) was a crucial figure for defining the liturgical use of organum, the first polyphony. Earlier organum was fairly simple, involving parallel intervals and later contrary motion, but the mid-12th century brought...
Léonin Aka Leoninus (c.1135-c.1201)
The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris in the 1100s was a major musical center, and Léonin (the first named composer from whom we have notated polyphonic music) was a crucial figure for defining the liturgical use of organum, the first polyphony. Earlier organum was fairly simple, involving parallel intervals and later contrary motion, but the mid-12th century brought...
- 11/15/2015
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Kate’s Classical Corner: Hannibal, Ep. 3.03, “Secondo”
As a classical musician, I can’t help but be influenced in my interpretation of Hannibal by its amazing score and soundtrack, composed and compiled by music supervisor Brian Reitzell. This is not intended to be a definitive reading of Reitzell or showrunner Bryan Fuller’s intentions in regards to the music, but rather an exploration of how these choices affect my appreciation of the given episode. Read my review of “Secondo” here.
Classical pieces featured:
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 19, II. Adagio by Ludwig van Beethoven (1795): Dinner with Sogliato
While this is a lovely piece, it is a fairly straightforward choice for Hannibal’s dinner with Sogliato. The only thematic ties I note in its selection are that it was the first piano concerto composed by Beethoven (though it was published after Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op.
As a classical musician, I can’t help but be influenced in my interpretation of Hannibal by its amazing score and soundtrack, composed and compiled by music supervisor Brian Reitzell. This is not intended to be a definitive reading of Reitzell or showrunner Bryan Fuller’s intentions in regards to the music, but rather an exploration of how these choices affect my appreciation of the given episode. Read my review of “Secondo” here.
Classical pieces featured:
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 19, II. Adagio by Ludwig van Beethoven (1795): Dinner with Sogliato
While this is a lovely piece, it is a fairly straightforward choice for Hannibal’s dinner with Sogliato. The only thematic ties I note in its selection are that it was the first piano concerto composed by Beethoven (though it was published after Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op.
- 6/19/2015
- by Kate Kulzick
- SoundOnSight
The ghosts did not take long to present themselves. Oliveira's seventh feature, Visita ou Memórias e Confissões, conveys a bevy of autobiographical musings on his family house and himself. Filmed in 1981 when he was 73, yet shelved voluntarily until after his death, Memories and Confessions has since become a kind of talisman for the director, an n+1 variable where the n is his 31-item back catalogue cut short last year. The first character introduced in the movie is a magnolia that blooms twice a year—first in "a rapid blossoming," then in the shape of "a rare star of maturity." Conveniently, the film's structure comprises just what the original title enumerates: a visit, some memories, a handful of confessions. The visitors in question are a man and a woman whom we do not get to see but whose voices we keep hearing off-screen. As they drop in at an empty house...
- 6/3/2015
- by Boris Nelepo
- MUBI
Martha Argerich & Claudio Abbado Complete Concerto Recordings (Deutsche Grammophon)
One can't help but assume that this five-cd compilation is a tribute to its conductor, Claudio Abbado, who passed away last year. Certainly his collaborations with thankfully-still-with-us pianist Martha Argerich reveal music-making of brilliant spontaneity and imagination. Consider, for instance, their two recordings of Ravel's G major concerto. Their 1967 recording with the Berlin Philharmonic won immediate acclaim as one of the most sparkling and lively renditions the work had ever had. What good could come of re-doing it in 1984 with the London Symphony Orchestra? How often we have heard artists return to repertoire in which they'd made landmark recordings only to fail to reach their previous levels of achievement. Yet Argerich and Abbado came up with a new yet equally valid and compelling interpretation in 1984: darker, more detailed (and in better sound), and more emotionally profound.
The earlier Ravel was...
One can't help but assume that this five-cd compilation is a tribute to its conductor, Claudio Abbado, who passed away last year. Certainly his collaborations with thankfully-still-with-us pianist Martha Argerich reveal music-making of brilliant spontaneity and imagination. Consider, for instance, their two recordings of Ravel's G major concerto. Their 1967 recording with the Berlin Philharmonic won immediate acclaim as one of the most sparkling and lively renditions the work had ever had. What good could come of re-doing it in 1984 with the London Symphony Orchestra? How often we have heard artists return to repertoire in which they'd made landmark recordings only to fail to reach their previous levels of achievement. Yet Argerich and Abbado came up with a new yet equally valid and compelling interpretation in 1984: darker, more detailed (and in better sound), and more emotionally profound.
The earlier Ravel was...
- 2/15/2015
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
It was another year full of great classical music. Here are my favorites from 2014, new releases only, no reissues.
1. Magnificat/Philip Cave The Tudors at Prayer (Linn) This superbly programmed and performed album contains eight Latin sacred choral works (specifically motets, mostly votive antiphons and psalm motets) by John Taverner (c.1490-1545), Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585), William Mundy (c.1529-1591), Robert White (c.1538-1574), and William Byrd (c.1540-1621). Active during the period of greatest religious upheaval in English history, they kept writing richly layered polyphony despite changing fashions (though the later composers listed would also provide chordal English-language anthems as needed). The mightiest work here, Mundy's Vox Patris caelestis, leads off the program. The text, speaking as it does of "flowering vines" and their "heavenly ambrosial scent," practically begs for an elaborate polyphonic setting, and Mundy provided one that is among the most exquisite works of the 16th century.
1. Magnificat/Philip Cave The Tudors at Prayer (Linn) This superbly programmed and performed album contains eight Latin sacred choral works (specifically motets, mostly votive antiphons and psalm motets) by John Taverner (c.1490-1545), Thomas Tallis (c.1505-1585), William Mundy (c.1529-1591), Robert White (c.1538-1574), and William Byrd (c.1540-1621). Active during the period of greatest religious upheaval in English history, they kept writing richly layered polyphony despite changing fashions (though the later composers listed would also provide chordal English-language anthems as needed). The mightiest work here, Mundy's Vox Patris caelestis, leads off the program. The text, speaking as it does of "flowering vines" and their "heavenly ambrosial scent," practically begs for an elaborate polyphonic setting, and Mundy provided one that is among the most exquisite works of the 16th century.
- 12/28/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Is Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954) the greatest conductor ever? While there are some who, in preference to his highly inflected, interventionist style, would prefer a more straight-forward conductor such as his contemporary Arturo Toscanini, many cognoscenti believe that at the least Furtwängler, when heard in his favored 19th century Austro-Germanic repertoire, ranks supreme of his type in the pre-stereo era. The aforementioned Toscanini himself was an admirer; asked who aside from himself was the greatest conductor, he named Furtwängler, and also pushed for the German to take over the directorship of the New York Philharmonic when Toscanini relinquished its reins, though controversy prevented that.
While Furtwängler was a more versatile conductor than some observers give him credit for, his reputation is based firmly on his masterful conducting of the symphonies of Beethoven, Bruckner, and Brahms and the operas of Wagner. He said, "A well-rehearsed concert is one in which you have...
While Furtwängler was a more versatile conductor than some observers give him credit for, his reputation is based firmly on his masterful conducting of the symphonies of Beethoven, Bruckner, and Brahms and the operas of Wagner. He said, "A well-rehearsed concert is one in which you have...
- 12/1/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Controversial composer Alfred Schnittke was born November 24, 1934 in the Soviet Union's Volga Republic, an ethnic German enclave. In his mid-thirties he pioneered a broadly eclectic style of composing that drew on many classical styles (even sometimes quoting familiar Beethoven or Bach works, among others) as well as the occasional foray into jazz and pop. By 1972 his experimentalism had earned the disapproval of the Soviet Composers Union (the Soviets also weren't enamored of his occasional expressions of religion, for that matter), but a number of esteemed musicians who had left Russia to live in the West supported his work and brought him an international reputation. His work was basically pessimistic in outlook, but its emotional impact, and the accessibility of some of the styles he drew on, nonetheless seduced many listeners.
The contradictions in Schnittke's style are laid out in his liner notes to the Bis recording of his Symphony No.
The contradictions in Schnittke's style are laid out in his liner notes to the Bis recording of his Symphony No.
- 11/24/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Leon Fleisher/Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra/Andre Cluytens/Georg Ludwig Jochum Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1/Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 12 (Ica Classics)
An American-born pianist, Fleisher was a child prodigy who studied with Artur Schnabel. In 1950 he moved to Europe to pursue his career, which paid off when he won the Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition of Belgium in 1952. In this time, there was an abundance of radio orchestras, and the young Fleisher was a popular guest soloist. Released earlier this year -- I've been meaning to review them for months -- the recordings here are examples.
The participants' credentials in the Beethoven, recorded in 1960, are excellent. Fleisher studied with Schnabel, who studied with Theodor Leschetizky, who studied with Carl Czerny, who studied with Beethoven; Cluytens recorded all the Beethoven Symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic starting in 1957, that organization's first recorded Beethoven cycle -- consider how much respect this implies for...
An American-born pianist, Fleisher was a child prodigy who studied with Artur Schnabel. In 1950 he moved to Europe to pursue his career, which paid off when he won the Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition of Belgium in 1952. In this time, there was an abundance of radio orchestras, and the young Fleisher was a popular guest soloist. Released earlier this year -- I've been meaning to review them for months -- the recordings here are examples.
The participants' credentials in the Beethoven, recorded in 1960, are excellent. Fleisher studied with Schnabel, who studied with Theodor Leschetizky, who studied with Carl Czerny, who studied with Beethoven; Cluytens recorded all the Beethoven Symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic starting in 1957, that organization's first recorded Beethoven cycle -- consider how much respect this implies for...
- 10/24/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Frans Brüggen, who died today at age 79, co-founded the Dutch period-performance collective ensemble The Orchestra of the 18th Century in 1981 and continued to lead it even after he had to do so while seated. He was quoted in 2008 as saying that he planned to conduct until he dropped dead, and he did. And before his conducting career, he arguably did more to return the recorder (Aka flûte à bec, flauto dolce, Blockflöte) to prominence than anybody else in the 20th century. Brüggen's talents and intellectual devotion to period performance were recognized early; at age 21, he was appointed professor at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. He was one of the pioneers of "early music"/"period performance," a giant in his field, and his prolific recording career enriched the world immeasurably. Here are a few samples of his virtuosity.
J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4
J.S. Bach: Sonata Bwv 1033
Beethoven...
J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4
J.S. Bach: Sonata Bwv 1033
Beethoven...
- 8/13/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
London’s Roundhouse has always prided itself on its eclectic programming, and this summer’s line-up is no exception. Planted amongst the more obvious musical acts is the kind of cross-over event which has grown in increasing popularity of late, and is something of a real treat for both cinephiles and serious music fans – the live score.
While that opportunity to witness a key aspect of a film outside of the constraints of the screen is largely welcoming, this type of experience can also run the risk of having one element cancelling the other out – the sound potentially undermining the visuals, or the visuals taking away from the actual live performance. Luckily that wasn’t the case here, and the film in question was undoubtedly the reason behind a glorious and harmonious balance being struck.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s celebrated oil odyssey There Will Be Blood has already joined the...
While that opportunity to witness a key aspect of a film outside of the constraints of the screen is largely welcoming, this type of experience can also run the risk of having one element cancelling the other out – the sound potentially undermining the visuals, or the visuals taking away from the actual live performance. Luckily that wasn’t the case here, and the film in question was undoubtedly the reason behind a glorious and harmonious balance being struck.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s celebrated oil odyssey There Will Be Blood has already joined the...
- 8/8/2014
- by Adam Lowes
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Aug. 26, 2014
Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Olive Films
William Carter falls for Catherine McLeod in I've Always Loved You.
A beautiful young concert pianist is torn between her attraction to her arrogant but brilliant maestro and her love for a farm boy she left back home in Frank Borzage’s 1946 drama romance I’ve Always Loved You.
Set in the world of classical music, a domineering maestro (Philip Dorn) exerts a Svengali-like control over Myra, a talented young pianist (Catherine McLeod). Frustrated by Leopold’s domineering nature, the girl abandons her professional career and marries a humble farmer (William Carter). Years later, haunted by regret, Myra returns to face her former mentor, to prove that she was, and continues to be, a better musician than he ever credited her with being.
Legendary pianist Arthur Rubinstein performs the pieces heard in the film (by Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Wagner,...
Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Olive Films
William Carter falls for Catherine McLeod in I've Always Loved You.
A beautiful young concert pianist is torn between her attraction to her arrogant but brilliant maestro and her love for a farm boy she left back home in Frank Borzage’s 1946 drama romance I’ve Always Loved You.
Set in the world of classical music, a domineering maestro (Philip Dorn) exerts a Svengali-like control over Myra, a talented young pianist (Catherine McLeod). Frustrated by Leopold’s domineering nature, the girl abandons her professional career and marries a humble farmer (William Carter). Years later, haunted by regret, Myra returns to face her former mentor, to prove that she was, and continues to be, a better musician than he ever credited her with being.
Legendary pianist Arthur Rubinstein performs the pieces heard in the film (by Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, Wagner,...
- 7/7/2014
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
A classicist using Romantic harmonies, Johannes Brahms (1833-97) was hailed at age 20 by Robert Schumann in a famous article entitled "New Paths." Yet by the time Brahms wrote his mature works, his music was thought of as a conservative compared to the daring harmonies and revolutionary dramatic theories of Richard Wagner. But in the next century, Arnold Schoenberg's 1947 essay titled "Brahms the Progressive" praised Brahms's bold modulations (as daring as Wagner's most tonally ambiguous chords), asymmetrical forms, and mastery of imaginative variation and development of thematic material.
The son of a bassist in the Hamburg Philharmonic Society, Brahms was an excellent pianist who was supporting himself by his mid-teens. His first two published works were his Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2, and throughout his career he penned much fine music for that instrument, not only solo (including the later Piano Sonata No. 3) and duo but also his landmark Piano Concertos Nos.
The son of a bassist in the Hamburg Philharmonic Society, Brahms was an excellent pianist who was supporting himself by his mid-teens. His first two published works were his Piano Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2, and throughout his career he penned much fine music for that instrument, not only solo (including the later Piano Sonata No. 3) and duo but also his landmark Piano Concertos Nos.
- 5/8/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
As we rightfully celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' rockin'-vasion of America, it is also worth noting the 40th anniversaries of progressive rock albums released in 1974 -- a banner year for the genre.
In alphabetical rather than chronological order, here is just a short list, along with links to a representative composition from each album.
Enjoy!
Apostrophe (Frank Zappa)
Although Zappa had been "at it" since 1966 -- as one of the earliest progenitors of progressive rock -- and although he had already put out over a dozen important albums, Apostrophe (and the immediately prior album, Over-Nite Sensation) arguably brought him to the masses through his cross-over "hit," "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow," which, despite its length, received regular airplay on FM stations. It didn't hurt that the album also included two of his funniest, most fun songs, "Cozmik Debris" and "Stinkfoot."
Hamburger Concerto (Focus)
For those who only know Focus via their 1971 novelty mega-hit,...
In alphabetical rather than chronological order, here is just a short list, along with links to a representative composition from each album.
Enjoy!
Apostrophe (Frank Zappa)
Although Zappa had been "at it" since 1966 -- as one of the earliest progenitors of progressive rock -- and although he had already put out over a dozen important albums, Apostrophe (and the immediately prior album, Over-Nite Sensation) arguably brought him to the masses through his cross-over "hit," "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow," which, despite its length, received regular airplay on FM stations. It didn't hurt that the album also included two of his funniest, most fun songs, "Cozmik Debris" and "Stinkfoot."
Hamburger Concerto (Focus)
For those who only know Focus via their 1971 novelty mega-hit,...
- 3/30/2014
- by Ian Alterman
- www.culturecatch.com
As always, there are biases at play here; my greatest interests are symphonic music, choral music, and piano music, so that's what comes my way most often. There are some paired reviews; the ranking of the second of each pair might not be the true, exact ranking, but it works better from a writing standpoint this way.
1. Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1-4; Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80 Tragic Overture, Op. 81; Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a; 3 Hungarian Dances; 9 Liebeslieder Waltzes; Intermezzi, Op. 116 No. 4 & Op. 117 No. 1 Gewandhausorchester/Riccardo Chailly (Decca)
It is not easy, at this point in recording history, to match the giants of the baton in a Brahms cycle, but Chailly has done it (this is my fiftieth Brahms cycle, and I have more than another fifty Brahms Firsts, and upwards of thirty each of the other symphonies outside those cycles, so I've got some basis for comparison...
1. Brahms: Symphonies Nos. 1-4; Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80 Tragic Overture, Op. 81; Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a; 3 Hungarian Dances; 9 Liebeslieder Waltzes; Intermezzi, Op. 116 No. 4 & Op. 117 No. 1 Gewandhausorchester/Riccardo Chailly (Decca)
It is not easy, at this point in recording history, to match the giants of the baton in a Brahms cycle, but Chailly has done it (this is my fiftieth Brahms cycle, and I have more than another fifty Brahms Firsts, and upwards of thirty each of the other symphonies outside those cycles, so I've got some basis for comparison...
- 1/6/2014
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Yusef Lateef, who died on Monday after a bout with prostate cancer, was a devout Muslim who did not like his music to be called jazz because of the supposed indecent origins and connotations of the word (although those origins are still debated). He preferred the self-coined phrase "autophysiopsychic music." Furthermore, his music encompassed an impressively broad range of styles, and the only Grammy he won was in the New Age category -- for a recording of a symphony. Think about those things amid the flood of Lateef obituaries with "jazz" in the headline.
That said, certainly Lateef's own musical origins indisputably revolved around jazz. Growing up in Detroit, a highly fertile musical environment in the 1930s and beyond, Lateef got his first instrument, an $80 Martin alto sax, at age 18. Within a year he was on the road with the 13 Spirits of Swing (arrangements by Milt Buckner).
A Detroit friend,...
That said, certainly Lateef's own musical origins indisputably revolved around jazz. Growing up in Detroit, a highly fertile musical environment in the 1930s and beyond, Lateef got his first instrument, an $80 Martin alto sax, at age 18. Within a year he was on the road with the 13 Spirits of Swing (arrangements by Milt Buckner).
A Detroit friend,...
- 12/25/2013
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
In 2014 Tanglewood welcomes Andris Nelsonsfor his first festival appearances as Bso Music Director Designate. His first of four concerts with the Bso will be an all-Dvoak program, with the composer's symphonic poem The Noonday Witch, the Violin Concerto with soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter, and the Symphony No. 8 711. For his second Bso program on July 19, Maestro Nelsons will be joined by Swedish trumpeter Hakan Hardenberger performing his compatriot Rolf Martinsson's Trumpet Concerto, on a program with music by Brahms and Tchaikovsky. The following Sunday afternoon 720, Maestro Nelsons will open his Bso program withChristopher Rouse's Rapture, followed by Lalo'sSymphonie espagnole, with violin soloist Joshua Bell, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5.
- 11/21/2013
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
The Boston Symphony Orchestra has announced their 2013-2014 season. The Bso will tour China and Japan May 1-11 under the direction of Lorin Maazel. See the entire schedule below courtesy of the Bso: The Bso season of 2013-14 subscription season opens September 21:with Christoph Von DOHNÁNYI Leading An All-Brahms Program Featuring Augustin Hadelich And Alban Gerhardt In The Double Concerto Forviolin And Cello; Season Closes April 25 With Lorin Maazel Leading Aprogram Of Music By Glinka, Rachmaninoff, And Berlioz 2013-14 Season Features Bso In Major, Varied Repertoire Including Mahler.S Symphonies 2 And 5 And Das Lied Von Der Erde; Strauss.S Ein Heldenleben;Elgar.S Enigma Variations; Berlioz.S Symphonie Fantastique; Ravel.S Complete Daphnis And CHLOÉ; And Stravinsky.S Symphony Of Psalms, As...
- 4/23/2013
- by April Neale
- Monsters and Critics
The connection between music and animation is an incredibly close one. In 1940, Walt Disney pioneered with his first animated full-length feature, a musical telling of Snow White and even before, cartoons were common in movie theaters, rounding out the double bills along with newsreels and comedy shorts. For decades, audiences watched shorts this way and several studios duked it out for cartoon supremacy, from Disney (Silly Symphonies) to Warner Bros. (Looney Tunes) to MGM (Tom and Jerry). For the generations raised on the radio broadcasts of Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra, classical music was a common and valued source of entertainment and so it was a natural choice for animators as inspiration for some of their greatest cartoons. With the rise of television, however, shorts became less and less popular and prevalent in movie theaters and it seemed they may become like so many great classic films- underseen and...
- 3/9/2013
- by Kate Kulzick
- SoundOnSight
The quintessentially American story of classical piano hero Van Cliburn -- the Texan who at the height of the Cold War won the first Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow, when he was 23 years old, received a ticker tape parade in New York City on his return (as shown at left), made the first million-selling classical album, and (mostly) retired at age 44, having shrewdly invested his earnings in real estate -- is told in carefully balanced detail in Anthony Tommasini's lengthy obituary for The New York Times.
That obit includes the fact that some said that Cliburn didn't live up to his potential as a pianist, outside of his favorite repertoire, he did not always play with equal inspiration. While greater versatility would have been commendable, the same charge could be aimed at many pianists. In his comfort zone, though -- the music of Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, and of course...
That obit includes the fact that some said that Cliburn didn't live up to his potential as a pianist, outside of his favorite repertoire, he did not always play with equal inspiration. While greater versatility would have been commendable, the same charge could be aimed at many pianists. In his comfort zone, though -- the music of Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, Rachmaninoff, and of course...
- 2/28/2013
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
There’s an extraordinary moment in Rosetta, the Dardenne Brothers’ Palme d’Or winning slice of grungy life from 1999. About 22 minutes in, Emilie Dequenne’s sooty faced street urchin turns her ballistics up to eleven, and savagely cusses out her mother’s would-be John, then immediately greets her romantic interest by tearing him off his moped and trying to kick the living snot out of him. It’s a stunning display of unfocused rage, and firmly establishes Rosetta as a young woman capable of shockingly violent hysteria; a baby-faced waif consumed by anger and frustration that’s set on a hair trigger.
The Dardennes’ latest, The Kid with a Bike, is a grueling 87 minutes of such moments, as the Brothers reassert their mastery of desperate stories about screwed up young people. Set once again in the environs of Liege, Belgium, the film introduces us to, and quickly immerses us in,...
The Dardennes’ latest, The Kid with a Bike, is a grueling 87 minutes of such moments, as the Brothers reassert their mastery of desperate stories about screwed up young people. Set once again in the environs of Liege, Belgium, the film introduces us to, and quickly immerses us in,...
- 2/12/2013
- by admin
- IONCINEMA.com
Reposted For 2013 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
It was playing Bach that brought Canadian pianist Glenn Gould worldwide fame when his recording of the Goldberg Variations – at the time, 1955, a rather esoteric corner of the repertoire – and certainly a hefty percentage of his albums over the course of his career were devoted to the German Baroque master's keyboard output. But in celebrating the 80th anniversary of his birth on September 25, 1932 (and looking forward with sadness to the 30th anniversary of his death of a stroke on October 4, 1982), it's worth remembering that he was interested in many more composers. I didn't have to make too much of a conscious effort to diversify this baker's-dozen list until I got down to the last two spots. (All the recommended recordings were issued by Columbia Records/CBS Masterworks/Sony Classical.)
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, Bwv 988; Sweelinck: Fantasia in D major; Schoenberg: Piano Suite Op.
It was playing Bach that brought Canadian pianist Glenn Gould worldwide fame when his recording of the Goldberg Variations – at the time, 1955, a rather esoteric corner of the repertoire – and certainly a hefty percentage of his albums over the course of his career were devoted to the German Baroque master's keyboard output. But in celebrating the 80th anniversary of his birth on September 25, 1932 (and looking forward with sadness to the 30th anniversary of his death of a stroke on October 4, 1982), it's worth remembering that he was interested in many more composers. I didn't have to make too much of a conscious effort to diversify this baker's-dozen list until I got down to the last two spots. (All the recommended recordings were issued by Columbia Records/CBS Masterworks/Sony Classical.)
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, Bwv 988; Sweelinck: Fantasia in D major; Schoenberg: Piano Suite Op.
- 2/11/2013
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
The 55th Grammy Awards have arrived, and music's biggest night promises a ton of trophies, and hopefully some great live performances by today's hottest acts. Who has the best record of 2012? How about the year's best new artist? Stick with Zap2it throughout the night, as we continue updating the list of this year's winners!
All of the award categories are below, with the winners in bold.
Record of the Year"Lonely Boy" by The Black Keys"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" by Kelly Clarkson"We Are Young" by Fun., featuring Janelle Monáe"Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye, featuring Kimbra"Thinkin Bout You" by Frank Ocean"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift
Album of the Year"El Camino" by The Black Keys"Some Nights" by Fun."Babel" by Mumford & Sons"Channel Orange" by Frank Ocean"Blunderbuss" by Jack White
Song of the Year...
All of the award categories are below, with the winners in bold.
Record of the Year"Lonely Boy" by The Black Keys"Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" by Kelly Clarkson"We Are Young" by Fun., featuring Janelle Monáe"Somebody That I Used To Know" by Gotye, featuring Kimbra"Thinkin Bout You" by Frank Ocean"We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift
Album of the Year"El Camino" by The Black Keys"Some Nights" by Fun."Babel" by Mumford & Sons"Channel Orange" by Frank Ocean"Blunderbuss" by Jack White
Song of the Year...
- 2/11/2013
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
There's nothing quite like the sustained pleasure of immersing one's self in a huge chunk of a top-notch artist's output for a significant period of time. This was easily accomplished in 2012, because lately it seems like the classical arms of the major labels are trying to get all their best material into budget-priced box sets (in Europe even more than in the U.S., so check the imports, especially for Sony). And anything they aren't doing that with, another label would be happy to license. In that sense, it's a great time to be a classical fan. Nonetheless, I'm keeping this list shorter than my new releases list, because, well, there's too much to listen to all of it! So to make my list, these items had to make me very, very happy in 2012.
1. Hilliard Ensemble: Franco-Flemish Masterworks (Virgin Classics)
This eight-cd box is a delight for fans of choral music,...
1. Hilliard Ensemble: Franco-Flemish Masterworks (Virgin Classics)
This eight-cd box is a delight for fans of choral music,...
- 1/3/2013
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
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
Ravi Coltrane/Matthew Garrison/Jojo Mayer David Fiuczynski Quintet ShapeShifter Lab, Brooklyn June 8, 2012
Saxophonist John Coltrane’s saxophonist son playing with the bassist son of Coltrane Quartet bassist Jimmy Garrison might impress cynics as a gimmick, but everyone who heard the fireworks their ad-hoc trio (and, eventually, quartet) set off at this concert knows that it’s as far from a gimmick as can be. It is, instead, two friends who have known each other since childhood taking advantage of their deep rapport to create a music of intuitive reactions that is a very modern descendent of what their dads were doing half a century ago.
Originally, Ravi Coltrane and Matthew Garrison were scheduled to work with veteran drummer Jack DeJohnette, but the latter canceled due to a minor illness. Having heard what Jojo Mayer achieved with them on short notice, it was hard to feel disappointed by the change.
Saxophonist John Coltrane’s saxophonist son playing with the bassist son of Coltrane Quartet bassist Jimmy Garrison might impress cynics as a gimmick, but everyone who heard the fireworks their ad-hoc trio (and, eventually, quartet) set off at this concert knows that it’s as far from a gimmick as can be. It is, instead, two friends who have known each other since childhood taking advantage of their deep rapport to create a music of intuitive reactions that is a very modern descendent of what their dads were doing half a century ago.
Originally, Ravi Coltrane and Matthew Garrison were scheduled to work with veteran drummer Jack DeJohnette, but the latter canceled due to a minor illness. Having heard what Jojo Mayer achieved with them on short notice, it was hard to feel disappointed by the change.
- 6/28/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Bertrand Chamayou Liszt: Anneés de Pèlerinage (Naïve)
The musical harvest of last year’s Liszt bicentennial continues even now; this young French pianist (who already, six years ago, gave us an excellent cycle of the Transcendental Etudes) celebrated it by presenting this mighty collection, which amounts to three cycles, in single concerts and then recording this three-cd set. For decades Lazar Berman’s set for Deutsche Grammophon has set the standard in this repertoire for an integral set, but Chamayou equals it.
Berman’s primary assets, besides his sterling technical skills, are the fiery drama and monumental breadth with which he infused these mighty works. His total time for all three cycles is nearly 26 minutes longer than Chamayou's. The Frenchman by contrast leans towards the music's poetic side and plays with a lighter touch, though when the occasion demands power (the climaxes of "Sposalizio" and "Apres une lecture du Dante...
The musical harvest of last year’s Liszt bicentennial continues even now; this young French pianist (who already, six years ago, gave us an excellent cycle of the Transcendental Etudes) celebrated it by presenting this mighty collection, which amounts to three cycles, in single concerts and then recording this three-cd set. For decades Lazar Berman’s set for Deutsche Grammophon has set the standard in this repertoire for an integral set, but Chamayou equals it.
Berman’s primary assets, besides his sterling technical skills, are the fiery drama and monumental breadth with which he infused these mighty works. His total time for all three cycles is nearly 26 minutes longer than Chamayou's. The Frenchman by contrast leans towards the music's poetic side and plays with a lighter touch, though when the occasion demands power (the climaxes of "Sposalizio" and "Apres une lecture du Dante...
- 4/23/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
When Beethoven died on 26 March 1827 in Vienna, he had been ill for over three months, in which time he completed no compositions. It was the culmination of a long string of illnesses; his work was seriously interrupted in 1811, 1812, 1816-17, 1821, 1825, and from December 1826 to his death. (His extensive meddling in the lives of various relatives had also interfered with his musical productivity.)
We ran an Anniversaries piece for Beethoven's birthday in 2010 that looked at recordings of his symphonies. Now, to mark the anniversary of his death on, we look at his piano sonatas. Beethoven transformed the sonata nearly as much as the symphony, his 32 canonical works (which doesn't include the early C major sonata and F major sonatina without opus numbers or the three "Elector" sonatas Wo47) in the form varying greatly and achieving, especially in the last five or six, an epic, questing quality that's highly personal.
But even...
We ran an Anniversaries piece for Beethoven's birthday in 2010 that looked at recordings of his symphonies. Now, to mark the anniversary of his death on, we look at his piano sonatas. Beethoven transformed the sonata nearly as much as the symphony, his 32 canonical works (which doesn't include the early C major sonata and F major sonatina without opus numbers or the three "Elector" sonatas Wo47) in the form varying greatly and achieving, especially in the last five or six, an epic, questing quality that's highly personal.
But even...
- 3/26/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
It truly is the Year of Adele, as the British singer took home every Grammy she was for which she was nominated, totaling six wins altogether, including Album, Record and Song of the Year. Foo Fighters were second for total wins, with five, followed by the absent Kanye West with four wins.
The complete list of winners:
Album Of The Year:
21 -- Adele
Wasting Light -- Foo Fighters
Born This Way -- Lady Gaga
Doo-Wops & Hooligans -- Bruno Mars
Loud -- Rihanna
Record Of The Year:
"Rolling In The Deep" -- Adele
"Holocene" -- Bon Iver
"Grenade" -- Bruno Mars
"The Cave" -- Mumford & Sons
"Firework" -- Katy Perry
Best New Artist: (artist/producer)
The Band Perry
Bon Iver
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex
Song Of The Year: (songwriter)
"All Of The Lights" -- Jeff Bhasker, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter and Kanye West, songwriters
(Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and...
The complete list of winners:
Album Of The Year:
21 -- Adele
Wasting Light -- Foo Fighters
Born This Way -- Lady Gaga
Doo-Wops & Hooligans -- Bruno Mars
Loud -- Rihanna
Record Of The Year:
"Rolling In The Deep" -- Adele
"Holocene" -- Bon Iver
"Grenade" -- Bruno Mars
"The Cave" -- Mumford & Sons
"Firework" -- Katy Perry
Best New Artist: (artist/producer)
The Band Perry
Bon Iver
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex
Song Of The Year: (songwriter)
"All Of The Lights" -- Jeff Bhasker, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter and Kanye West, songwriters
(Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and...
- 2/13/2012
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Virtuoso violinist heard on a string of classic Hollywood movie scores
The American violinist Israel Baker, who has died aged 92, was renowned among his fellow musicians but unknown to most of the millions who heard him play on the soundtracks of such movies as Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 shocker Psycho, where he led Bernard Herrmann's screaming violin effects accompanying the stabbing of Janet Leigh in the shower scene.
Baker belonged to a select group of musicians who could fit into any situation at a moment's notice and read any piece on sight. But while making a lavish living in the Hollywood film and recording studios, he also had a considerable concert career.
He was born in Chicago, the youngest of four children of Russian immigrants. At six he appeared on national radio, and from his late teens he played in orchestras. At 22 he was concertmaster of Leopold Stokowski's All-American...
The American violinist Israel Baker, who has died aged 92, was renowned among his fellow musicians but unknown to most of the millions who heard him play on the soundtracks of such movies as Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 shocker Psycho, where he led Bernard Herrmann's screaming violin effects accompanying the stabbing of Janet Leigh in the shower scene.
Baker belonged to a select group of musicians who could fit into any situation at a moment's notice and read any piece on sight. But while making a lavish living in the Hollywood film and recording studios, he also had a considerable concert career.
He was born in Chicago, the youngest of four children of Russian immigrants. At six he appeared on national radio, and from his late teens he played in orchestras. At 22 he was concertmaster of Leopold Stokowski's All-American...
- 1/11/2012
- by Tully Potter
- The Guardian - Film News
Here's what I have to say to all the people who bemoan the state of classical music: My classical list is the last one I'm posting (as has often been the case) because there were so many great releases to listen to that I didn't finish until now.
I want to once again admit the biases operating in my best-of-the-year classical lists: I am most interested in the piano, choral, and symphonic literatures. I’m happy to listen to other things when they come my way, but those are what I seek out, vastly tipping the balance in their favor (tipping the balance against opera is the increasing disinclination of record companies to send promos for new opera recordings unless one specifically asks -- and even that is no guarantee). Also note: no reissues or compilations here. That disqualified even the first box-set appearance of David Zinman's fine Mahler cycle,...
I want to once again admit the biases operating in my best-of-the-year classical lists: I am most interested in the piano, choral, and symphonic literatures. I’m happy to listen to other things when they come my way, but those are what I seek out, vastly tipping the balance in their favor (tipping the balance against opera is the increasing disinclination of record companies to send promos for new opera recordings unless one specifically asks -- and even that is no guarantee). Also note: no reissues or compilations here. That disqualified even the first box-set appearance of David Zinman's fine Mahler cycle,...
- 1/5/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Niklas Sivelöv/Malmö Symphony Orchestra/Mario Vengazo Stenhammar: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (Naxos)
Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927) has been called "the finest Swedish composer after Berwald" by none other than Robert Layton. The PR materials and booklet notes for this release freely admit the heavy influence of Brahms on Stenhammar's Piano Concerto No. 1 (1893), but of course that just makes me like it more. A pianist himself, Stenhammar made his debut in 1892 with Brahms's First, and Stenhammar's own First is definitely influenced, right down to its four-movement structure, but it's also more extroverted and showier, less profound and densely woven (though just as big and thick). And not as great, alas, but that would be surprising; it is an extremely good work for lovers of big, Romantic symphonic works, especially its lovely, soaring Andante.
We are told that Stenhammar "found his personal voice" in the Piano Concerto No. 2 (1908); that voice sounds to...
Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927) has been called "the finest Swedish composer after Berwald" by none other than Robert Layton. The PR materials and booklet notes for this release freely admit the heavy influence of Brahms on Stenhammar's Piano Concerto No. 1 (1893), but of course that just makes me like it more. A pianist himself, Stenhammar made his debut in 1892 with Brahms's First, and Stenhammar's own First is definitely influenced, right down to its four-movement structure, but it's also more extroverted and showier, less profound and densely woven (though just as big and thick). And not as great, alas, but that would be surprising; it is an extremely good work for lovers of big, Romantic symphonic works, especially its lovely, soaring Andante.
We are told that Stenhammar "found his personal voice" in the Piano Concerto No. 2 (1908); that voice sounds to...
- 12/15/2011
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
The nominees have been announced for the 54th annual Grammy Awards. Kanye West leads the nominations with seven; Adele, Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars each garner six nods; and Lil Wayne and Skrillex each are up for five awards. The Grammys air live on CBS Feb. 12, 2012.
Album Of The Year:
21 -- Adele
Wasting Light -- Foo Fighters
Born This Way -- Lady Gaga
Doo-Wops & Hooligans -- Bruno Mars
Loud -- Rihanna
Record Of The Year:
"Rolling In The Deep" -- Adele
"Holocene" -- Bon Iver
"Grenade" -- Bruno Mars
"The Cave" -- Mumford & Sons
"Firework" -- Katy Perry
Best New Artist: (artist/producer)
The Band Perry
Bon Iver
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex
Song Of The Year: (songwriter)
"All Of The Lights" -- Jeff Bhasker, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter and Kanye West, songwriters
(Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Fergie)
"The Cave" -- Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford and Country Winston,...
Album Of The Year:
21 -- Adele
Wasting Light -- Foo Fighters
Born This Way -- Lady Gaga
Doo-Wops & Hooligans -- Bruno Mars
Loud -- Rihanna
Record Of The Year:
"Rolling In The Deep" -- Adele
"Holocene" -- Bon Iver
"Grenade" -- Bruno Mars
"The Cave" -- Mumford & Sons
"Firework" -- Katy Perry
Best New Artist: (artist/producer)
The Band Perry
Bon Iver
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex
Song Of The Year: (songwriter)
"All Of The Lights" -- Jeff Bhasker, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter and Kanye West, songwriters
(Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Fergie)
"The Cave" -- Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford and Country Winston,...
- 12/1/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
When Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was 20, and mostly known to audiences as a pianist, Robert Schumann basically proclaimed him the great hope of German music in an article entitled "New Paths." In those days, the general lament was that no symphonist had been able to measure up to the mighty example of Beethoven. He started composing what could have become his first symphony in 1854; he got cold feet and turned it into his Piano Concerto No. 1, which was premiered in 1859. In that same period, Brahms wrote two Serenades for orchestra -- seemingly to practice dealing with the challenges of those forces -- and his String Sextet No. 1, a fairly grand work for a chamber piece. In 1862 he sent to Clara Schumann (Robert's widow, whom he loved) an early version of the first movement of what he announced would be his First Symphony (it did not yet have its glorious introduction). A decade later,...
- 11/5/2011
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
Composer John Barry may be best known for his 007 scores, but we look beyond Bond for a detailed look at the rest of his extraordinary career...
Timeless, innovative, expansive and sensual, the music of John Barry Prendergast is a thought-provoking testament to a man who set the bar high and kept on raising it.
For many of us, the work of British composer, Barry, is synonymous with the Bond franchise, and there's no mistaking his contribution to that legacy. His work (along with that of Monty Norman) came to signify the arch, dangerously seductive swagger and cool, ambivalent melancholy that is the man behind the martini glass. He captured a world of intrigue, code and double meaning, of subterfuge, ambiguity, covert operation and sexuality. His was a trenchant and identifiable yet intriguingly elliptical and diverse musical sensibility that lassoed widely different vocalists from Louis Armstrong to Duran Duran, invariably producing something magnetic and memorable.
Timeless, innovative, expansive and sensual, the music of John Barry Prendergast is a thought-provoking testament to a man who set the bar high and kept on raising it.
For many of us, the work of British composer, Barry, is synonymous with the Bond franchise, and there's no mistaking his contribution to that legacy. His work (along with that of Monty Norman) came to signify the arch, dangerously seductive swagger and cool, ambivalent melancholy that is the man behind the martini glass. He captured a world of intrigue, code and double meaning, of subterfuge, ambiguity, covert operation and sexuality. His was a trenchant and identifiable yet intriguingly elliptical and diverse musical sensibility that lassoed widely different vocalists from Louis Armstrong to Duran Duran, invariably producing something magnetic and memorable.
- 7/25/2011
- Den of Geek
The nominations for the 26th Gémeaux Awards, Quebec's equivalent of the Emmy Awards, have been revealed today.
1. Best dramatic TV series:
* 19-2.
* Les rescapés.
* Malenfant.
* Prozac, La Maladie Du Bonheur.
2. Best soap opera:
* Destinées.
* La promesse.
* Providence.
* Yamaska.
3. Best comedy series:
* La galère.
* Les Parent.
* Mauvais Karma.
* Penthouse 5-0.
* Tout sur moi.
4. Best actor in a dramatic TV series:
* Claude Legault in 19-2.
* Réal Bossé in 19-2.
* Roy Dupuis in Les rescapés.
* Luc Picard in Malenfant.
* Éric Bruneau in Toute la vérité.
5. Best actress in a dramatic TV series:
* Maude Guérin in Belle-Baie.
* Guylaine Tremblay in Les rescapés.
* Julie McClemens in Malenfant.
* Isabelle Blais in Prozac, la maladie du bonheur.
* Maude Guérin in Toute la vérité.
6. Best actor in a soap opera:
* Sébastien Delorme in La promesse.
* Bernard Fortin in Providence.
* Hugo Dubé in Providence.
* Normand d'Amour in Yamasca.
* Denis Bernard in Yamaska.
7. Best actress in a soap opera:
* Marie-Chantal Perron in Destinées.
1. Best dramatic TV series:
* 19-2.
* Les rescapés.
* Malenfant.
* Prozac, La Maladie Du Bonheur.
2. Best soap opera:
* Destinées.
* La promesse.
* Providence.
* Yamaska.
3. Best comedy series:
* La galère.
* Les Parent.
* Mauvais Karma.
* Penthouse 5-0.
* Tout sur moi.
4. Best actor in a dramatic TV series:
* Claude Legault in 19-2.
* Réal Bossé in 19-2.
* Roy Dupuis in Les rescapés.
* Luc Picard in Malenfant.
* Éric Bruneau in Toute la vérité.
5. Best actress in a dramatic TV series:
* Maude Guérin in Belle-Baie.
* Guylaine Tremblay in Les rescapés.
* Julie McClemens in Malenfant.
* Isabelle Blais in Prozac, la maladie du bonheur.
* Maude Guérin in Toute la vérité.
6. Best actor in a soap opera:
* Sébastien Delorme in La promesse.
* Bernard Fortin in Providence.
* Hugo Dubé in Providence.
* Normand d'Amour in Yamasca.
* Denis Bernard in Yamaska.
7. Best actress in a soap opera:
* Marie-Chantal Perron in Destinées.
- 6/16/2011
- by anhkhoido@gmail.com (Anh Khoi Do)
- The Cultural Post
From the epic to the intimate, classical music has been at the centre of some of the most ambitious films at the Cannes festival
I've been especially interested this year in the striking use of classical music in scores for films in contention for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival.
Particularly brilliant, I thought, was the use of a single phrase of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto in Luc Dardennes's The Kid With a Bike. The film, which pleased me enormously for the economy, even severity, of its storytelling and editing, was similarly sparing with its music. The same, fleeting four bars – which lingered in the brain unresolved – were used on several occasions, and it was the only music in the film. It became an elegant punctuation mark, but because it hovered, always arrested in its motion, it helped lend the film an atmosphere of quiet tension. It was...
I've been especially interested this year in the striking use of classical music in scores for films in contention for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival.
Particularly brilliant, I thought, was the use of a single phrase of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto in Luc Dardennes's The Kid With a Bike. The film, which pleased me enormously for the economy, even severity, of its storytelling and editing, was similarly sparing with its music. The same, fleeting four bars – which lingered in the brain unresolved – were used on several occasions, and it was the only music in the film. It became an elegant punctuation mark, but because it hovered, always arrested in its motion, it helped lend the film an atmosphere of quiet tension. It was...
- 5/19/2011
- by Charlotte Higgins
- The Guardian - Film News
The 2011 Grammy Awards were big for the ladies -- country trio Lady Antebellum took home the most awards with five, while Lady Gaga earned three. Eminem had two honors, but Alternative Rock group Arcade Fire won the coveted Album of the Year.
Here is the full list of winners:
Album Of The Year
The Suburbs -- Arcade Fire
Recovery -- Eminem
Need You Now -- Lady Antebellum
The Fame Monster -- Lady Gaga
Teenage Dream -- Katy Perry
Record Of The Year
"Nothin' On You" -- B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars
"Love The Way You Lie" -- Eminem Featuring Rihanna
"Forget You" -- Cee Lo Green
"Empire State Of Mind" -- Jay-z & Alicia Keys
"Need You Now" -- Lady Antebellum
Best New Artist
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence & The Machine
Mumford & Sons
Esperanza Spalding
Song Of The Year
"Beg Steal Or Borrow" -- Ray Lamontagne, songwriter (Ray Lamontagne And The...
Here is the full list of winners:
Album Of The Year
The Suburbs -- Arcade Fire
Recovery -- Eminem
Need You Now -- Lady Antebellum
The Fame Monster -- Lady Gaga
Teenage Dream -- Katy Perry
Record Of The Year
"Nothin' On You" -- B.o.B Featuring Bruno Mars
"Love The Way You Lie" -- Eminem Featuring Rihanna
"Forget You" -- Cee Lo Green
"Empire State Of Mind" -- Jay-z & Alicia Keys
"Need You Now" -- Lady Antebellum
Best New Artist
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence & The Machine
Mumford & Sons
Esperanza Spalding
Song Of The Year
"Beg Steal Or Borrow" -- Ray Lamontagne, songwriter (Ray Lamontagne And The...
- 2/14/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
As Bertie — er, King George VI — might say, I’m gobsmacked that Tom Hooper won this year’s top award from the Directors Guild of America over David Fincher. Hooper also won the award over Christopher Nolan. And also over Debra Granik, Darren Aronofsky, Lisa Cholodenko, Danny Boyle, Roman Polanski, and Ben Affleck. Don’t get me wrong, the director of The King’s Speech did a fine job assembling a sturdy, effective drama out of familiar, good-quality components. But by my lights, any one of those also-rans did more interesting, original, artful work than the colleague voted best in 2010 show by his colleagues.
- 2/1/2011
- by Lisa Schwarzbaum
- EW - Inside Movies
Variety's Jon Burlingame is reporting the Academy has nixed the eligibility of four potential original scores for this upcoming awards season. The scores deemed ineligible include Clint Mansell's score for Black Swan, Michael Brook's score for The Fighter and Carter Burwell's scores for True Grit and The Kids are All Right.
I actually got in a discussion about this very thing this morning with some Oscar bloggers over email, surprised when the Chicago film critics named Mansell's Black Swan the best original score of the year, primarily because it seemed like more of an adaptation of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" and that turns out to be the very reason it was disqualified. Burwell's score for True Grit was axed because it was mostly based on 19th-century hymns, which are apparently not sufficiently "original."
The scores for Fighter and Kids were reportedly given the heave-ho because "both films are filled with songs,...
I actually got in a discussion about this very thing this morning with some Oscar bloggers over email, surprised when the Chicago film critics named Mansell's Black Swan the best original score of the year, primarily because it seemed like more of an adaptation of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" and that turns out to be the very reason it was disqualified. Burwell's score for True Grit was axed because it was mostly based on 19th-century hymns, which are apparently not sufficiently "original."
The scores for Fighter and Kids were reportedly given the heave-ho because "both films are filled with songs,...
- 12/21/2010
- 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
Two reputed pianists from Warsaw will commemorate Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin's 200th birth anniversary with a recital at the Ncpa on Sunday. Krzysztof Trzaskowski and Pawel Sobowiec from the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw will play Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 1, Andante Spianato and Grand Polonaise. Pawel Sobowiec, a highly versatile performer, started playing the piano at the age of seven. His solo repertoire presently includes pieces by Chopin, Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms and Prokofiev. Krzysztof Trzaskowski is a competent performer in his own right, having won numerous International competitions across the globe. He has performed ...
- 8/28/2010
- Hindustan Times - Cinema
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