Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Jay]

I'm back.  The Bowl is just too large a venue, I'm sorry to say, for ballet.  That the Joffrey had to perform Act II of The Nutcracker on a narrow strip of stage in front of the orchestra did not help matters, either, though they gave it noble effort.

The second half of the concert began with "The March of the Cossacks" from Franz Waxman's score for Taras Bulba.  Taras Bulba, according to Maestro John Mauceri, is the film in which Mr. Tony Curtis uttered the immortal words "Yonda lies da castle of my fodda."

Fireworks--and pleasant they were to watch--were integrated into the performance of "Pictures at an Exhibition."  Mr. Leopold Stokowski's orchestration of the piece is surprisingly transparent and lighter of weight than the familiar one by Mr. Maurice Ravel.
 
There were two encores:  "The Sabre Dance" by Mr. Aram Khatchaturian and--please don't ask me why--Mr. Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride."

[Jay]

Let's give Mahler a rest.  Here's one for Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and others of that ilk.

I love Russian composers.  (Oh.  A Danny Kaye reference.)

[Tomovoz]

Thanks for the review DR Jay.

"Sleigh Ride" would have been more appropriate for my Christmas In July event yesterday. Very odd.

Thank you George for your comments re Camelot.
There has of course been so much written about the  Authurian Legend - truth!!! Probably very little.  What I liked about "The Mists Of Avalon" is that the writer put the story into a much larger frame and thus there were reasons for actions and events to unfold as they did. The movie is quite faithful to the book.

Interesting comment from DR Panni after recent comments about "Six Feet" and its direction.

[bk]

Of course, Mr Mauceri, as is often the case, is completely wrong about the Curtis quote which was absolutely NOT in Taras Bulba.  I believe, if I remember correctly, it may be in The Black Shield of Falsworth or whatever it's called.  If not, it's from one of his earliest films.  Skammen on Mr. Mauceri, who should know better but often doesn't.