jmc's classics
Did not watch Grammy or Oscars on TV. None of my favorites made it. It is usually the movies that nobody wtches that get the awards.
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There are commercials using classical music. people watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. I do not like commercials unless they are funny. Especially political commercials. during election season, we see and hear political commercials ad nauseum. Everybody knows who they are going to vote for. Most commercials are silly. Even You Tube has commercials, but we have the option to skip them. I wish that could be that way on TV. a lot of commercials make use of music of various genres including classical music. some of them I do like. Commercials should only be 15 minutes instead of thirty minutes.
It snowed in St. Louis today. Christmas season is over. Getting ready for Lent. I like the Jazz song "Snowfall" by big Band leader Claude Thornhill (1908-1965). it has been also played by Tony Bennett and Doris Day. I also like waking in a Winter Wonderland and its parody Walking in Women's Underwear.
Claude Thornhill Was born In Terre Haute, Indiana. He enlisted in the U.S. navy and was the chief musician. he studied at the defunct Cincinnati conservatory of Music. Thornhill is not as well known as other Big Band leaders. However I do like this song and other Big Band music Today is the birthday of Leontyne Price( B 1927) one of the first African Americans opera stars. She is a retired. She is a Lirico spinto (Italian for "pushed Lyric"). That means that they can be pushed to sing high notes. There are several types of sopranos in opera.
She was born in Laurel, Mississippi. She was given a toy piano at the age of three. Her father worked in a lumber mill and her mother was a midwife. In high school she worked for a rich white family who incouraged her musical talents and helped to pay for her college tuition. She attended Wilberforce College in Ohio which is a predominitly black college. In generations past, during segregation most black people attended all black colleges. until the 60's especially in the south, blacks and whites were segregated in America. She won the presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. She also studied at Juillard in New York which is one of America's most prestigious music schools. She was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority which is a predominantly African-American sorority. She sang in La Scala in Milan Italy. She made her debut on the grand opera in 1957 in the premiere of Poulenc's opera Dialogues of the Carmelites. She is most famous for her role in Verdi's opera Aida. On January 27, 1961 she made her debut at the Met in Il Trovatore also by Verdi. She has also sang in Porgy and Bess by Geroge Gershwin one of the first operas to have an all black cast. Another role that she has sang is in Richard Strauss' opera Ariadne auf Naxos. She has had a long illustrious career and was a pioneer for African-Americans on the opera stage. Giuseppi Verdi wrote 28 operas. One of his lesser known operas is the opera Stifellio. He re-wrote this opera late as Araldo. He withdrew it and later re-wrote it. The main reason it was rejected is the plot. it involved a protestant minister in whos wife was involved in an extramarital affair. The Catholic Church did not like it. It involved a married clergymen. There are a few married Catholic priests which we do not hear about. They have taken a few clergymen who have been ordained on other denominations. Also widowers and divorced men. Also the Eastern rite Catholics( Maronites, Ukrainians, etc.)
It is based on the play "Le Pasteur d' hommes" by Emile Souvestre. It is set in 19th Century Germany. It was first performed in on November 16th 1850. In 1993 after I started following classical music again, PBS televised a performance of this work with Placido Domingo in the lead role. At her end of the Opera a new Testament quote "let he who is perfect cast the first stone" from John 8:7 when the protagonist forgives the adultery. It is not as popular as Verdi's other Operas. It has a powerful story. Many operas involve adultery and sex etc. It was censure in the 1800's. A lot of people want to censure literature, music etc. today. it was popular to sanction music etc. I hope that this opera is revived soon. Sometimes it is necessary to censure lewd music or arts. There are a lot of things that are not appropriate for children and some people might find offensive. I attended a SLSO concert tis evening featuring Rachmaninoff's Isle of the Dead (Opus#29), Alexander Scriabin's Piano concerto (Opus #20) and Mendelssohn's Third Symphony "Scottish". The conductor was German conductor Matthias Pintscher and the soloist was Russian-America Kirill Gerstein.
Today is Groundhog's Day and the feast of the Presentation of Christ. in some countries this is when the Christmas Season officially ends. Mendelssohn wrote Hark the Herald one of the most popular Christmas carols which was featured in Charlie Brown Christmas. The Scottish Symphony contrary to popular belief is about Mendelssohn's visit to Scotland. It does not incorporate Scottish folk songs. Max Bruch (1838-1920) wrote the Scottish Fantasy for violin and orchestra which does make use of Scottish folk songs. Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) was a German composer is one of the more well known composers. The version that I have is with Lorin Maazel conducting the Berlon Philharmonic. It is coupled with Cesar Franck 's (1822-1890) single symphony. Mendelssohn also wrote three other symphonies for full orchestra and Thirteen symphonies for string orchestra. The most famous of his symphonies is the Fifth Symphony "Reformation" (Opus#64) which has the Hymn "A Mighty Fortress is our Lord' It is based on psalm 46 and was written by Martin Luther. I do not have a copy of this work. The Isle of the Dead (opus#29) BY Sergie Rachmaninoff was the first work played. I am not familiar with this piece. Rachmaninoff and Scriabin were both pianists and were classmate at the Moscow Conservatory. Rachmaninoff wrote choral music for the Russian Orthodox Church. His name can be confused by fellow Russian Nicholi Rimsky-Korsakoff. The second work Played was the Piano Concerto(Opus#20) by Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915) It is one of my favorite pieces. Especially the second movement. Although Racmaninoff and Scriabin were classmates their careers took different paths. Scriabin was interested in mysticism and color. The version that I have is of with Lorin Maazel and the Clevelnad Orchestra with Vladimir Ashkenazy on the piano. |
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