If Music Be The Food Of Love, Play On: The Music Thread: What Are You Listening To?

lizkat

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The magisterial and magnificent piece "The Montagues and the Capulets" from the ballet Romeo and Juliet, (based on Shakespeare's play) by Sergei Prokofiev.

The juxtaposition of strings and brass in that thing is fearsome... and then the delicacy of the woodwinds picking up the theme later, a preview of wistful mourning before the battling families motif returns. I haven't listened to that for a long time... the recording I have of the Romeo and Juliet ballet suites is the one by Paavo Järvi w/ Cincinnati Symphony. I'm going to fish the CDs out tomorrow and play it on the rack system and decent speakers!
 

Scepticalscribe

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The juxtaposition of strings and brass in that thing is fearsome... and then the delicacy of the woodwinds picking up the theme later, a preview of wistful mourning before the battling families motif returns. I haven't listened to that for a long time... the recording I have of the Romeo and Juliet ballet suites is the one by Paavo Järvi w/ Cincinnati Symphony. I'm going to fish the CDs out tomorrow and play it on the rack system and decent speakers!

I actually saw that ballet live, in Tbilisi, over a decade ago, in the State Opera House on the Main Street (Rustaveli Avenue) in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The Georgians (their music is amazing, and a disproportionate number of seriously talented artists in the late Soviet Union - artists, musicians, jazz, movie directors, sculptors, ballet, etc - were Georgian - another minority who were disproportionately influential in the arts, were, of course, Jews) - have a culture where knife dances and sword dances feature, and where male bonding (or male competition) is emphasized.

Anyway, the Georgian interpretation of Prokofiev's ballet (based on Shakespeare's play) emphasized the fight between the families (the choreography of the sword fights was spectacular, - sparks came off those swords and the movement was magnificent - whereas the balcony scene, well, I have never seen such a perfunctory interpretation of the balcony scene) - with a silly, soppy, love story getting in the way of what really mattered, namely, the bone deep hatred between the two families - was fascinating, and yes, instructive.
 
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Scepticalscribe

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The juxtaposition of strings and brass in that thing is fearsome... and then the delicacy of the woodwinds picking up the theme later, a preview of wistful mourning before the battling families motif returns. I haven't listened to that for a long time... the recording I have of the Romeo and Juliet ballet suites is the one by Paavo Järvi w/ Cincinnati Symphony. I'm going to fish the CDs out tomorrow and play it on the rack system and decent speakers!
That particular scene was awesome, astounding: It played out - well, Georgians are brilliant at scene setting - on a stage (floor) of black and white tiles (think of a Rembrandt - or a Vermeer - painting, that Dutch style interior expanded to a sort of sumptuous, representational, i.e. lavish city-state - ballroom size, and not just the size of an elegant living room), - the costumes, needless to say, were flawless - anyway, the choreography (for, remember, this is a culture with a mastery of exquisite timing on sword and knife dances) was stunning...not quite (but not entirely unlike) life size chess pieces being moved....

I have to say that it was nothing short of spectacular.
 

lizkat

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French cabaret singer Patricia Kaas: tracks from a 1993 album, Tour de Charme.

album art patricia kaas tour de charme.jpg
 

lizkat

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Weekend adventure: In my own library I only had one or two tracks featuring classically trained jazz violinist and educator Regina Carter, so prowled around her albums last weekend for some more selections. Her work has included more than jazz, and I ended up with a playlist that also includes tracks with R&B, African, gospel/blues, Cajun and Appalachian themes.

My refreshed sampling of her work will now become one of my Friday "jazz night" playlist options going forward. Was prompted into this excursion by having read a piece in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about Carter's upcoming concert midweek in that city.

 

lizkat

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Friday night jazz hunt for me. Blues / swing on the menu tonignt. Catching up with the Catherine Russell album Send for Me that I had read about last April and hadn't remembered to listen to. Nice collection with backing from assorted little groups of very fine players, covering all the bases by time last track has ended: piano, brass, reeds, guitar, drums... definitely a tuba and possibly a tambourine. It's a keeper.

album art Catherine Russell  Send for Me.jpg
 
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