A little bit of a hiccup ...
Quote of the week
Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass … it’s about learning to dance in the rain.
Vivian Greene
Hello,
That is what I have been doing, dancing in the rain. First I got a cold, and then I got a gastritis, from which I am still recovering. But, that is life and we can only go with it, and wait for the storm to pass by. I have been able, in between, to visit two cultural events which made me happy.
Lords of the Sound
The group is a Ukranian symphony orchestra, with, as it seems rather young people. They are touring with a show on film music by Hans Zimmer. He is, today, one of the most popular composers for film music, and I think we all know the theme from The Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a wonderful evening with lots of film music, of which I had heard hardly any of them. Powerful music, even if you felt you needed the visuality of the film to go with it. The show was very well done, also with singers, and a big screen where we met Hans Zimmer himself, telling us about his love, or you could say, almost obsession with music.
Turandot
I love Giacomo Puccini’s operas (except Tosca, I think the music is rather terrible) such as La Bohème. I had not seen Turandot, which I think is seldom shown these days. It was the parade role of our great opera singer Birgit Nilsson. It runs at the Malmö Opera House for a couple of months and is almost sold out. However, I managed to get a couple of tickets.
It was all worth it. Beautiful, dramatic music, and great performances of the cast and the choir. Captivating story about an ice cold princess that kills her suitors when they cannot answer three riddles. Until the right man comes along, solves the riddles and wins her heart. The story is said to be based on a real princess who lived in the 13th century, and is a mixture of asiatic folk sagas and legends.
Giacomo Puccini never heard his opera live. He was very ill when he wrote Turandot and died on the 29 November 1924, with the opera still unfinished. The family and his publisher asked composer Franco Alfano to finish the work. The opera premiered at the La Scala in Milan, on 25 April 1926. At the premier, the conductor Arturo Toscanini suddenly stopped conducting during the third act with the words: "Here, the Maestro laid down his pen." At least, that is one of the versions. There seem to be several endings, and I am not able to say which one was shown here.
It was a great performance, and I was waiting for one of the most popular opera arias ever, Nessum dorma. Such beautiful music. Puccini is the only opera composer that composes music that makes me cry. Goose bumps anyone?
On my blog this week
Well, the blog has been sleeping like myself. However, I have been reading a few books so more reviews will come. For this week there is a review of Anders Tegnell’s book about the pandemic. He was the face outside from the Public Health Agency and he tells us all about it. A very interesting account of a dramatic time.
That was all for today. On Thursday, I am having a small operation on one of my fingers. I will probably have a huge bandage afterwards, and I don’t know how I will be able to type for a couple of weeks. Back to the “index finger waltz” as we say in Sweden?
Those were some great concert you watched or rather listened to. I'm sure I would have loved that, as well.
Good luck on Thursday. I'll press my thumbs, as we say in German.
You've been very busy and it sounds like fun, too! I would especially love the concert with the Zimmer music. Now, off to check your blog!