Classic Ross Amico

Category: Daily Dispatch

Ana Rucner: Classical Kitsch or Gateway to Music?

Yeah, yeah, I know, it might be enough to bring a curious young person to want to explore classical music. But I’m not so sure. If I were a curious young person, I would more likely be interested in hanging a poster of her in my room.

I’ve recently been made aware of the Croatian cellist Ana Rucner, who apparently subscribes to the philosophy, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it.” I am happy if her particular brand of artistry brings joy to some, but to me it’s all a mite too kitschy (and not in a good way). If the bagpipes don’t get you, hang in for the drum kit and electric guitar at the two-minute mark.

BTW – I wouldn’t recommend playing your electric cello in a fountain.

Is it just me, or is the theme to “Pirates of the Caribbean” longer than the actual film?

http://vimeo.com/83656860

PHOTO: The artist in platinum wig, with strategically placed fans

September 3, 2014
Acrostify Spotify’s New Time-Wasting App

Will the internet never cease to come up with fresh ways to waste my time?

Spotify has introduced an application called “Acrostify,” which generates music playlists based on acrostics. In case you need to be reminded about these things, as I often do, an acrostic is a secret message embedded in a letter or poem, commonly (though not exclusively) with each letter of the message forming the start of a sentence or line.

For instance, Lewis Carroll employs the device in this poem from the final chapter of “Through the Looking Glass,” in which the real-life Alice’s name, Alice Pleasance Liddell, is enshrined. It can be seen by reading down the left margin.

A boat, beneath a sunny sky
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July –

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear –

Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream –
Lingering in the golden gleam –
Life, what is it but a dream?

Since today is the birthday of the Dutch composer Alfons Diepenbrock, I typed in his name, and the following playlist was generated:

A Andrea Chénier: Act III – La Mamma Morta by Umberto Giordano
L La naissance d’Osiris: Premier et deuxieme tambourin by Jean-Philippe Rameau
P Prelude by Cesar Franck
H Hypnotic Canon in D with Lucid Drones and Pink Noise Overtones by Johann Pachelbel
O O’Fortuna by Carl Orff
N Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1 by Bryden Thomson
S Sonate pour piano: III. Choral et Variations by Henri Dutilleux

D Danse bohemienne by Jean-efflam Bavouzet
I In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg
E Ein Heldenleben, Op.40: Des Helden Widersacher by Richard Strauss
P Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18: I. Moderato by Sergei Rachmaninov, Leopold Stokovsky, Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia orchestra
E Excursions, Op. 20: III. Allegretto by Samuel Barber
N Nocturne No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 9, No. 2 by Frédéric Chopin
B Baal Shem Three Pictures of Hasidic Life for Violin and Piano (1923) – II. Nigun (Improvisation) by Ernest Bloch
R Rhapsodie Espana by Chabrier
O O For the Wings of a Dove by Phillip McCann
C Chansons (arr. for voice and chamber ensemble): Helas mon dueil by Unicorn Ensemble
K Kinderszenen, Op. 15: Von Fremden Ländern Und Menschen by Robert Schumann

I was elated the system came up with Samuel Barber’s “Excursions” and Vaughan Williams’ “Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1.” Not sure about the “Hypnotic Canon in D with Lucid Drones and Pink Noise Overtones” or the augmented brass arrangement of “O Fortuna,” however, but it’s a diverting experiment nonetheless.

The playlist can be saved to a Spotify account and enjoyed over and over again.

You too can trim productivity from your work day by following the link:

http://static.echonest.com/enspex/web/Acrostify/index.html

PHOTO: “I can answer hard acrostics, I’ve a pretty taste for paradox…”

September 2, 2014
TCM Celebrates Jewish Film & The Jazz Singer

“You ain’t heard nothin’ yet!”

Turner Classic Movies: TCM will begin its month-long festival, “The Projected Image: The Jewish Experience in Film,” tonight at 8 ET. Robert Osborne’s co-host for the event, which will air on Tuesday evenings through September, will be Eric Goldman.

The prime time schedule features two versions of “The Jazz Singer,” including the one commonly credited as the first feature-length quasi-talkie, starring Al Jolson, and a musical version with Danny Thomas. (Sorry, no Neil Diamond.)

Tonight’s line-up:

8:00 The Jazz Singer (1927)
9:45 The Jazz Singer (1953)
11:45 Hester Street (1975)
1:30 Avalon (1990)

“The Jazz Singer” tells the story of a cantor’s son, who forsakes the ways of his fathers to pursue his dream of finding work in show business. This, of course, sets up a conflict of duty and devotion to family vs. the protagonist’s hopeless love for worldly jazz.

Jolson, who was born Asa Yoelson, sells it all with a confidence born of the stage, including, naturally, “Mammy,” delivered in his signature black-face. The cantor is played by Warner Oland, who would later achieve enduring fame as Charlie Chan.

Lest you be tempted to dismiss the film on these grounds as a landmark of racial insensitivity, “The Jazz Singer” is a fascinating document on many levels, dealing with the issues of personal and ethnic identity, an inspiring example of the immigrant experience in a country determinedly on the way up. The film proved a major hit and changed the industry forever.

Here’s the full TCM festival schedule:

http://www.tcm.com/projectedimage/schedule.html

And a snippet of Jolson’s immortal improvisation prior to launching into “Toot, Toot, Tootsie”:

PHOTO: “TRADITION!” Warner Oland (center) with Jolson at the piano

September 2, 2014
Labor Day Guide Deals History and Fun

Labor Day. Sing it, Paul.

September 1, 2014
Labor Day Road Trip American Music

Labor Day weekend. Summer’s last hurrah.

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” it’s an hour of quintessentially American music about travel by car.

Frederick Shepherd Converse’s “Flivver Ten Million” celebrates the Ford Motor Company’s affordable assembly line automobile, from its creation in a Detroit factory to the manifest destiny of America’s roadways.

John Adams’ “Road Movies” has nothing to do with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, alas; what it is, however, is a violin sonata written firmly within the American tradition, with a special affinity at its core with Copland’s Violin Sonata.

Virgil Thomson’s “Filling Station,” written for Leon Kirstein’s Ballet Caravan, may have the distinction of being the only ballet set at a gas station. The work’s success gave Copland the confidence to follow through on a Caravan commission which resulted in “Billy the Kid.”

Finally, we’ll hear one of Michael Daughtery’s most performed works, the exuberant “Route 66,” inspired by the storied “Main Street of America.”

Join me for “The Last Roads of Summer.” American composers hit the road for Labor Day this week, on “The Lost Chord.” This Sunday night at 10 ET, with a repeat Friday morning at 3. Or catch it later as a webcast, at http://www.wwfm.org.

August 31, 2014

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