Two Words, One Answer.
Patricia Richardson
 Total Classics $17.98 Nice eclectic collection - Russel Watson presentation of Nella Fantasia using guitar interlude instead of traditional oboe is special piece.  California Dreaming $9.98 That is what this movie deserves. Zero. After the house alarm gag going on for over 10 minutes, I thought I will give it another 15 minutes, and then if it does not get better I will turn it off. It did not get any better--in fact the situations dragged on and on. Each time something funny could have happened, it dragged out into not being funny. Now, maybe this was supposed to be a comedy mixed with some serious points? All I could do was cringe over neurotic women (as presented in the film), dysfunctional families and situations, -- eventually I just started fast forwarding. It never got better, and I found myself mumbling, "ok, now this is happening...", "next this will happen" as I skipped forward. I feel like I just wasted over 1 hour of my life.  Tavener: Fall and Resurrection $18.98 EXOTIC, EROTIC, EXCITING TAVENER! "This could be called Tavener's Creation, an oratorio-like account of the Biblical tale beginning with the representation of primordial Chaos. Tavener takes the story much further than Haydn....But like Haydn's, this is a warmly mature work, epitomizing it's composer's style and personality...Tavener's richly exotic textures are beautifully evoked by Hickox." GRAMOPHONE. (RICHARD HICKOX PASSED AWAY A WEEK AGO; HE WILL SURELY BE MISSED BY MUSIC LOVERS EVERYWHERE.) This is an excellent live recording of Tavener's massive millennial cantata made at its premiere performance in St. Paul's Cathedral on Jan. 4, 2000, and captures something of the exraordinary epic atmosphere created at the performance. 'Fall and Resurrection' tries to encompass ,in brief glimpses, the events which have taken place since the beginning of time. It is divided into three parts. Part I has seven sections and procedes from Silence to Chaos to Paradise to the Serpent to The fall to Adam's Lament to the Lament of Mankind. Part II entitled 'Prediction' incorporates verses or hints from the psalmist ( the divine David) and are sung by a countertenor (Michael Chance) interspersed with dance-like music. Part III is divided into two parts and introduces the Grand Organ in all its magnificence at the incarnation/Creation. John Tavener made the following comments about this work: 'Fall and Resurrection' is a kind of musical metaphysics, but it came to me in a vision which I hope contains a message of hope for the next millennium........This work should ideally be performed in a building with a large acoustic. The resonance of beautiful ancient instruments- the kaval, the ram's-horn and the tibetan temple bowls-brings to mind and soul something primordial, something lost, sometning innocent, something wild and untamed.' I have both the CD and the DVD of this work. Unfortunately I viewed the DVD before the CD. I found it to be very annoying and distracting. It took my attention away from the music which needs all the listening attention when you first hear it. Let's face it! Tavener is not the usual "run of the mill" composer. I find him challenging to listen to, but I continue to follow his musical trail and have learned to really enjoy most of what he writes. Now I can enjoy the DVD because the music is quite familiar. The performers are all very skillful and do well with the Eastern Orthodox sounds. Michael Chance was certainly a good choice for his solo part; he handled all the small sliding intervals in his usual flawless manner. And it is quite interesting to view some of the more unusual instruments and hear their strange sounds. |
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