Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…
I wrote a couple of months ago that I was looking forward to the release of Adele’s next album: 21. We got it a couple of weeks ago, and have been playing it frequently ever since. It’s very, very good.
Here she is performing “Someone Like You” at the BRIT Awards recently; just her voice and a piano – but what a depth in that performance:
Well, it’s a new year, and the annual spectacle of Eurovision is on the horizon. Last night, we were treated (if that’s the word) to the selection process of the Dutch entry. This year, the Dutch banner is being lofted by a three-man band called the 3JS, whose main claim to fame seems to be that they hail from Volendam.
Last night, the Dutch TV viewing public (including Martin and I) were subjected – I think that is the correct term – to the 3JS performing five of their songs, from which one would be selected by the public to be the official Dutch entry to Eurovision 2011.
Dear lord, but it was truly dire… I honestly think that if you sat yourself down to pick five songs that you, in your heart of hearts, believed had not a snowball’s chance in hell of being the winner of any Eurovision contest in its long and chequered history, let alone Eurovision 2011, then these five songs would be the result.
The schadenfreude of seeing the judges desperately trying not to say that the songs were utter crap as potential Eurovision entries was truly wondrous to behold. It was car-crash television at its finest.
This is the winning entry. Judge for yourself. To give the song credit, this was the last song, and the only decent stab at what Eurovision demands (you really don’t want to experience the others). However, the Netherlands has failed to qualify for the Eurovision final for the past six years running. This song is not going to change that.
If this wins Eurovision, I’ll eat my hat.
I’ve just watched the version of Mozart’s Magic Flute filmed by Kenneth Branagh. I was absolutely blown away by its sheer bravura. From the opening single tracking shot beginning in the trenches of World War 1, then rising far above; to the finale where summer returns to the blasted fields, it was an absolute visual tour-de-force.
But the visuals were not alone. It was Mozart’s glorious music, after all. The performers were excellent, singing was top class, and there was an English translation of the libretto that was extremely good and witty. I saw from the credits at the end that the translation was done by Stephen Fry, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised at its quality.
In the end though, the visual feel of the film was what struck me, and Kenneth Branagh’s direction reminded me of the baroque style of Ken Russell –particularly of Tommy, his rock opera. The sheer adrenaline rush of watching their imaginations writ large on the silver screen is terrific.
After the last post featuring Rebecca Drysdale, here’s a rather tamer effort in the same theme from Ricky Martin.
http://www.youtube.com/v/kzxoQ9rbDAA&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3
While it’s really good to see that he’s dropped the pretence that he’s straight, I still don’t find this latest video as good as the one from Ms. Drysdale. For one thing, it is so carefully bland, with good-looking young people, chosen from an IKEA diversity catalogue. Perhaps as I approach 62 years of age I am just having an attack of sour grapes, but, Ricky, you really could have done better.
Although I no longer live in the UK, I still follow what’s happening there. And the acts of the new coalition government fill me with despair. We seem to have learned nothing since Thatcher. Here’s a musical take on the situation.
Henryk Górecki’s 3rd Symphony, the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, was composed in 1976. While many take its meaning as a remembrance of the Holocaust, Górecki himself said that it was an evocation of the ties between mother and child.
Here’s the second movement in a filming that underscores the Holocaust interpretation. It’s an extract from Holocaust – A Music Memorial Film, which was shot in Auschwitz. The soprano is Isabel Bayrakdaraian, and she is accompanied by the Sinfonietta Cracovia, conducted by John Axelrod.
According to the Wikipedia entry for the 3rd Symphony, the text of the second movement is an inscription scrawled on the wall of a cell of a Gestapo prison in the town of Zakopane, in southern Poland. The words were those of 18-year-old Helena Wanda Błażusiakówna, a highland woman incarcerated on 25 September, 1944. It read “O Mamo nie płacz nie—Niebios Przeczysta Królowo Ty zawsze wspieraj mnie” (Oh Mamma do not cry—Immaculate Queen of Heaven support me always).
(hat tip to The Observer for the link to the video)
I’m looking forward to the release of Adele’s next album “21” on the 24th January. That young woman has talent. Here she is singing one of the songs from the forthcoming album.
I’m currently enrolled with Watson in a series of dog training courses. We’ve got an exam coming up in November, whereby I have to convince an independent examiner that Watson is well-behaved and obeys me. I can’t say that I’m full of confidence. Watson has a will of his own, and usually demonstrates that he does not yet see me as top dog.
Having wrestled with training, I’m always impressed when I see other dogs who apparently obey their owners every command. Like these dogs in OK Go’s latest music video:
Did you spot the goat?
An amazing video done in one take…
http://www.youtube.com/v/qybUFnY7Y8w&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xd0d0d0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1
I wonder how many attempts they had before it all worked? – Thanks to this, I’ve answered my own question: it took 85 takes before everything worked together.
"Fuck you, fuck you very, very, mu-u-u-u-uch…"
My heart goes out to the shade of Sir Adrian Boult. His earthly remains must surely be spinning in his grave over this LP cover. Yes, it was the 1970s, but still – did no-one register that this was not quite the best image to use to advertise Gustav Holst’s The Planets? And I can’t help feeling that the comment by Extracrispy points out something further that is troubling in the image.
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