Am on a depri trip......

I love this song.... it breaks my heart. Just like a lot of things.

Days of our Lives...

Leave it to the Mormons....

Glenn Beck is certifiable. He belongs in a very quiet place where he can't harm anyone. And I despise Chris Wallace, aka 'chipmunk man' to my mind. I usually want to slap the smirk right off his face. Today he surprised me... with the question, 'Who made YOU the God sqad?' I nearly shit myself. Is Chris finding a spine??? You have to hear the drivel that followed.

Listen, I don't know how much Beck believes, or how much is show, he's despicable. And seems to be on a self-aggrandizing trip. And I am agnostic. I don't believe in anything. But this clip is mind-bending. I should have stuck with looking at the Daytime Emmys I caught on YouTube today. There was an amazing tribute to Dick Clark, and it was stellar with live acts. He broke down and cried. American Bandstand was a wonderful invention. I don't think Dick is doing all too well, health-wise, but he was part of my childhood. So yeah, that would have been better, getting all nostalgic.

This just ticked me off.

Just a note... the kindness of strangers.....

I was on the way back from Gamlitz to Ehrenhausen yesterday. And normally, I'm fired up and make him laugh, because normally, I'm the only person on the bus, so I do my Ren shuffle to cheer him up, so to speak. It HAS to be depressing to have only one passenger on your bus, after all. He's sort of a Hippie at heart, I guess.... And I was quiet, not really in the mood for talking....

And he wanted to cheer ME up all of a sudden. He had been to see a concert John Fogarty gave in Graz. And flipped out. Big CCR fan, turns out. 'Man, what he DOES with a guitar, it was fantastic!' Well, we went from that to the idea that all the musicians MUST have been Americans, and I said, 'That's not true. When I was working, we had many groups in, and they were on tour, and the musicians were from all over the world, they just had to be good.' And he asked, 'How can they DO that?' And I said, 'Music is an international language, hey. It always works.'

You give a bit, and you get. I had to smile. I lurves me some wild-assed Austrians....

Am getting worried....

Have been down with a bug the past three days. I would have risked going to Gamlitz on Friday, but got a call at six a.m. They were taking him to Graz for tests, and by the time he would have gotten back, it would have been time for me to leave. Swell.

There ARE not direct connections to Gamlitz on the weekends. It is a nightmare. And on Monday, I HAVE to go to social services on his behalf, and present some documentation, what his pension and his rent costs, otherwise he can pay the whole shebang.

Cripes, all they need to is call the Pension insurance people and his social habitat service, and get the info, but no, I have to bring it in black on white. Buraucracy.. Horrible invention.

Since he got there, his sugar levels went up amazingly, his voice is very weak, and he surely isn't faking it. And they run over 4oo. This is not a good place for him to be.

Tonight's evening meal was Kaiserschmarrn. Herrgottnochmal. The last thing he should eat, and have only served it once, in a very small portion, without all the extras. Kaiserschmarrn is a sort of fried pankcake cut into noodle sized strips, and covered with apricot or plum jam, and then sugared. So tonight his sugar level was at 489. It has never been so high.

Are those people ticking correctly, as we say?

I don't wish to say more, as I still haven't been there, but that doesn't sound right at all.

And he doesn't have any money to bribe anyone, because I have his bank card, and he didn't have much when he got transferred.

And NO, I haven't touched his account, but I didn't want him doing unrash things with it or entrusting it to people who would take him for a ride.

Besides which, I need it for getting a print out to bring to the Social Service people so they can see what was going in for his pension, and out for his rent, and then they will take care of it.

I can get down there on Tuesday.

And am absolutely, totally... frustrated, and somewhat angry.

We shall see.

As for the rest---worry month. It comes down to the wire, as regards health-care reform in the US. Rachel Maddow had two very good segments the last two days regarding Bart Stupak and his obstruction regarding even stricter abortion rules, and she went for the juglar. He is part of a cult. Women should decide. Men should STFU. But oh no, they don't want government to interfere in people's personal decisions.... The hypocrisy stinks to high heaven. And this supposed Dem seems to be part of a cult.

And then she deconstructed the newest Liz Cheney logic in an ad her 'Keep America Safe' campaign put out, and it was so crass. So following her logic, she followed the 'leads', and it turns out EVERYBODY is linked to Al Quaeda, and because she greeted her once at an official gathering in Washington, it must mean she is a member as well.... and got 'arrested' at the end of her show. It was brilliant.

She always makes fun of the way the right uses the opening song of 'Carmina Burana' in their ads, because it makes people fearful. 'Oh. Fortuna'.

It sounds pagan, and skeery. True.

The composer was Austrian, Carl Orff. Scripts from monks were found here, and he pieced them together, and composed a very forceful piece of work from them, musically. A lot of it was in Latin. And sometimes very lyrical.

And 'Oh, Fortuna' was the opening number of the cycle. I have always loved it. 'Oh, Fortuna, velut luna, statu variabilis....' A huge cresendo. 'Oh fate, like the moon, always changing'. That is a loose translation...

I think Orff's heirs should sue. For misusing something to make people afraid, who do not know what the background is, and being as bad as Goebbels.

She has pointed this out often in the past few months, the 'scary music', but that was never what it was about.

Not originally, at least...

What comes next, demonizing Strawinsky?

In political ads?

It is mind-boggling.

I found a YouTube clip with English subtitles, and am putting it up here so you see what I mean. If the Republicans were smart, they might have found out what it had meant.

So, scary music....

I wish to do a post about a late uncle of mine.....

It is selfish in one way, but it is my blog, and I can do what I wish on it.

When I was very young, I had an uncle among many.

But he was special. And was going deaf.

And music was his entire life, especially classical.

And if I were at my aunt's house, he would call me into his room, and play records for me.

Beautiful music. And he would roll his eyes upwards, and be very thrilled with what he could still hear. At that time, in the Dark Ages, all it was was 45's, and I don't know if anyone knows what that was about any more.

So one fine day, he had gotten a new system.... LP's. With fucking 'stereo sound'...

We are still talking about the Dark Ages here....

I guess he was in seventh heaven...

I was just a kid.

And he gave me a set of 45's.... those were small records... which were remarkable.

They were my entry into the world of classical music, and the conductor was Arturo Toscanini.

Who conducted all of Disney's Fantasia in 1933.

I have fambly whom I took to that movie over many years. I wanted to give the gift my uncle gave me and pass it on. Some of them 'got' it.

And when I came to Europe, thanks to him, I wasn't 'the dummy' I knew a bit.

And went on....

I never got to thank him properly for the great gift he gave me. Not really....

He was invaluable, and I will never forget....

Evah

I just found who it was who conducted yesterday's concert...

Impressive man. Peter maintains he was denied an entry visa to the US, but he must be confusing something, as so often lately, because I can't find anything on Google about that.... I hadn't heard about him before....

Interesting link here.... It isn't long...

Why I love New Year's Day....

I just got home, and was afraid I was gonna miss the New Year's concert from Vienna fully for the first time in 34 years... They are in the break, but not before I heard a fabulous 'Perpetuum Mobile' by Strauss that was so driving, and frenetic, and I haven't heard it that good in years.

For those of you who do not know.... The New Year's concert in Vienna is an institution. Held in the so-called 'Golden Hall' of the Musikvereinssaal in Vienna. The Vienna Philharmonic orchestra is so wonderful, they defy description.

It is the strings. Every country has a strong point in music. In America, it is the brass instruments, and reeds... No one does it better, and I say that without envy. In Vienna, it is the string instruments... no one does that better, not that I have ever heard....

Almost all the music in these concerts is by the Strauss family. Uplifting, and just beautiful...

If anyone has PBS there, they usually broadcast this a couple of days later in America. People would KILL to get tickets to this... you only get them per lottery. Just the setting and the acoustics are so terrific, you want to melt.

Oh... just heard that they are doing something different this year, using other composers as well.... Otto Nikolai, and Offenbach, for instance. Good move. (Nikolai is on now, was a prussian, and one of our music schools is named after him... He was just as sweet and sugary and light as the Strauss family, but has his own note. Lovely.)

Gawwd, I want someone to get up and waltz with, and Preciousses, I doesn't dance. Always has too much baggage in its' pocketses. Gorgeous. If they keep this up, it is gonna go down in history as one of the best of all time since Karajan directed.

It will end as it always does.... But what I am hearing is so exceptional at the moment, I want to just melt away.... The past few years have been 'par for the course', but believe me when I tell you, I 'know' remarkable when I hear it.

Whoever heard of a RenB wanting to get up and dance about the room? Even alone? Unthinkable.

Oh God, now they are doing the Champagne Polka... Strauss. What is it about the horns here? They always sound muffeled.

This is turning into live blogging. Right now, I want to do a polka mazur with someone.

Silly RenB.... he nevah dances...

Oh the end... is always our sneakret national anthem, 'The Blue Danube Waltz'. Followed by the ever popular Radetzky March. I lurv me that once a year. It is so much fun to clap along with..

Oooo, Offenbach. First opera I ever saw, and the music is magnificent. The story is macabre... 'The Tales of Hoffmann'. If you have never seen an opera, that is the one you should start with, believe me. What they are playing takes place in Venice, and it would be familiar to you if you heard it. And it just broke my heart. I saw it in Vienna, after having seen it in Graz a few times. The Vienna production had top stars, and it knocked my socks off. This was beautiful.

Oh man...

More Strauss with so much verve, it is incredible.

The audience has been reserved till now, but they are warming up, which is normal, sometimes I could throttle them. Let's wait a bit.

Oh... another waltz where you want to melt. Und want someone to dance elegantly with in a tux. Silly RenB... who never dances, or waltzes, unless it is by himself with emptiness in his arms...

When no one can look or make fun of his clumsiness....

Oh... now a danish composer, more champagne... He stole it from Johann Strauss. It's ok. It is pretty. Different, but pretty...

The official part is over. Oh, I wanna polka...

Oh gawwd... our sneakret national anthem, and I'm going to lose it. And the audience is finally going nuts. Yup, am gonna--am crying. Not especially because of the music, which is so beautiful... Peter just called for the second time since I got home. It wasn't good.

I still don't know who this conductor from France is... he is fucking amazing, and sets accents I have never heard before. Oh my gawd, it is so furious, sensuous, and this has to set a record. My gawwd... I have NEVER heard it like this before. Brilliant.

People are screaming bravo... No, not since Herbert Karajan have I ever heard that so good.

The audience is completely freaked.

The veritable end is the Radetzky Mach... The horns sound muffled.

I haven't heard this kind of reaction from a Viennese audience in ages. Screaming, shouting, yelling 'Bravo'.

When I began this idjit post... it was just another New Year's day, and we have our little traditions. And as I explained, I have never missed one in 34 years. Mostly they aren't exciting, they are just nice. And that is whatchoo do, while preparing dinner, and listen...

Most times, it is just, 'aw yeah, heard it before'. Nothing to get excited about.

It is always 'nice'. I LIKE listening to Strauss on New Year's DAY, so shoot me or something.... it is uplifting for me. Bucks me up, so to speak. It's just a tradition.

But once every decade... you get bowled over by the sheer virtuosity of that orchestra if they have an exceptional conductor.

Today was one of those days.

It freaked me out.

If you like classical music, try to catch it on PBS in the next few days.

Extraordinary. And you won't be sorry, I promise....

I hadn't heard this before....

The text was sort of a wake-up call... it just resonated, is all.... You can interpret the text to other contexts, you know? It made me cry.

just when you think something got buried for good...

It comes baaack!

Ok, ok, I have an allergy, or am algerian against this piece. It keeps coming back to haunt me over and over and over again..l. The music is lovely. Really. Some of it is such kitsch, you could retch. And now they are putting it on at the local opera house, and I am pissed off!

Now there are several reasons why I really get a bee in my bonnet about this. My godmother took me to see it when I was nine, and evening performance... ooo, that was cool. And we came away feeling cheered up and singing some songs from it. But that was at NINE...

That piece of treacle ran en suite for six months in a town of one hundred thousand people. It was cult.

Eventually, I forgot about it, of course. Till I arrived in Salzburg to find a place to stay in the Fall to study. Arrived in pouring rain, drenched to the skin at two in the a.m. with luggage for a year, and a receptionist took pity on me and gave me a room at the Hotel Pitter.

Next morning, I called my friend Susan to arrange a meeting, and fix a room for the Fall. My inner clock was so fucked up, my body didn't know where it was, but that is another story.

And btw... Salzburg gets an average of 265 days of rain a year. You can imagine what it does to the dispositions of the average citizen there. Sour....

BUT.... it was a lovely day after, and you could even see the mountains. Glorious view. So I followed instructions and headed across the park across the street, the Mirabelle Gardens... And was struck nearly blind with dejà vu. 'I've been here before', I thought...

There was a hill with a beautiful fortress on it, and the park before me, and I thought, 'why in the world does this look so familiar????' And then I went a little further, and I saw it... Two naked guys with their arms outstretched, pointing to one another over the exit. (Yeah, even subliminally, it caught my attention when I was NINE.)

And I thought, 'Oh shit, 'The Sound of Music. This is where I landed?'

I will not torture you with the nonsense I had to face every day in that city when it came to the 'true believers', and fanatics who were crazy about that film.

But it got weirder. I had a roommate who was very quiet. And one day in the Fall he asked me to go to dinner with him where his family used to work. He was a quiet, unpreposessing young man, we worked in Munich together, but he never talked about his past, you see.

So I just said 'ok..', was curious... and we bussed out to behind the hill with the fortress, and the place where he used to live... was the Palace of Leopoldskron, set on a small lake. The US took it over after the war, and held seminars for the brightest students in Europe on the most diverse topics.

His parents used to run those seminars. We had lunch on the terrace, overlooking the lake, with those horses just like in the fucking movie? And looked left and there was the glass summer house? Gawwd. Color me speechless.... Turns out his parents had run the program during the filming, and he knew Julie Andrews, and played ping-pong with the kids in it. At which point I was spitless. And THEN he showed me the sneakret door that led from the library to the then archbishop's bedroom.

It was a bit much to take in, believe me.

When I got back from my year abroad, what was the first thing I had to do at my work in a cinema? Being on duty inside the theater. And what was playing? 'The (Fucking) Sound of Music!) It was a curse, somehow...

Over the decades, I have had to deal with groupies who really truly believe that the song 'Edelweiß' from that is our national anthem. It is NOT. Ours is from Haydn.

And... 'The Sound of Music' flopped badly in Austria...just so you know... People still wrinkle their nose if you mention it. And Salzburg named a tiny street in Aigen after the von Trapp family... begrudgingly.

So... I cannot figure out why the local opera would want to put this on now, I really can't.

I am half-tempted to get a standing-room ticket and watch them burst into flames and crash.... And I still think the flash-mob version in Atwerp Begium was brilliant, and I know, I have posted it before, but it is a joy to watch.

It might even be worth it.

This comes two days late, but wish to place my

feeling of sadness on-line. Mary Travers died. Yes, She of Peter, Paul, and Mary. For anyone who thinks that Obama was gonna indoctrinise people... She and her friends did more than even he would have dreamed of. They were elegant... for that time. Their lyrics were eloquent, and thought-provoking, and outright provocative.

I believe that they were the first music group who really hit me in the gut with their music. They made Dylan 'salon-fähig', acceptable, and gave credibility to things that were against the Viet Nam war, which came later.

They played live in a theater in the little town I grew up in, and I SO wanted to go. I did extra errands, so as to earn the money to go and see them. So I was a little groupie, before that term got coined. My plan got nixed by my 'rents. Because the concert was at night, you see....

They wouldn't let me go out nights. Which isn't any wonder to me nowadays, but at the time was crushing. I WANTED to see Peter, Paul and Mary perform. But there was a problem. I was somewhere between eight and ten years old. And in my family at that age... bed time was eight p.m. Period.

So I had to miss it. And never caught up with them ever again.

But they influenced me greatly. Obama? Pfft. Indocrination? Pshaw, get outta here! That group did more to raise my political conciousness than anything I can think of.

Now Mary Travers has passed on. I still so wish I could have seen her and her trio perform in my little burgh.

All that gets left is on YouTube. Their message wasn't strident. They sounded absolutely wonderful. And we get the loss. RIP.

Who would have thought...

That Susan Boyle could turn a Rolling Stones number into a torch song?

This is nice. Listen. If you listen to the lyrics closely, you might understand why I am still with Peter....

oh... I didn't know

That Austria is number nine on the list of good health care systems! That is nice...

Just a reminder.....

Good concert to be heard on Austria radio one about 1 p.m. US Eastern time. And the link is here. I hope some people really enjoy it.

2:20 pm EST... There is a 25 minute intermission at present. The first part was quite beautiful. Everyone is in fine voice and have such clarity, you can just shake your head in wonder at how effortless it sounds. Oh good, we're back. I hope someone else was able to turn in, the connection is very good.

Sunday we get a new fun concert to listen to....

Nicholas Harnoncourt is going to direct Händl's last piece of music, Jeptha. Händl went blind half-way through composing it, seemingly. I remember attending a concert of one of his very early compostitions, and being thrilled by it. So it will be another, what goes around comes around concert. It was seemingly his last composition.

If anyone comes around, it seems you can tune in per internet, so this is going to be on Sunday 7 pm our time, which would be 1 pm Eastern time. The instructions for hearing it world-wide are here. Unfortunately only in German. Or you can try it via this link on the day of the transmission, and hope it works. So far it does. And the latter has a download link so that you can hear it more than once if you like it.

It will be performed in the Stephaniensaal, which has perfect acoustics. Picture above. Am sure it will be something very special.

Mark it on your calendars, ok? If anyone finds a better link to hear Österreich 1 in the meanwhile, please tell me so I can pass it on in time. Thank you.

Just a ps... am willing to bet that Donna Leon will be there for the premiere. Most of you won't know who that is. But she is crazy for Händl, lives in Venice, teaches English lit at a university on the mainland, and writes very interesting murder mysteries that sell thousands and thousands of copies throughout German speaking territory. Sort of a Patricia Highsmith, who fled the US, and invented the most amoral thugs ever written. Leon's main figure has morals. And she is crazy for opera, and Händl in particular, so I imagine she will be here. I met her at a book signing some years ago. And she was surprised that I had read the book, because it looked pristine. And I assured her I had, and she sort of twinkled at me, eyes sparkling, and asked 'Was I BAD?' And I said, 'My dear, you should have gone much further. Upon which she laughed so heartily, it made my day.

The US doesn't publish her books, btw. She belongs to us central Europeans.

Autotuned news # 6

Fun... Esp. Boehner.

Music still in my head....

I found this You Tube today. The third movement of Gershwin's concerto in F, third movement. Good stuff.... The concert took place in Rumania, Seiji Osawa conducted, the pianist is Italian, and yes, blind.

Oh, how nice, and what a full circle this makes...

When I first arrived, the friend who help get me started surprised me with a ticket to a guest run of Porgy and Bess at the opera.

I was stunned off my ass in the upper balcony. Wonderful.

We have a summer arts festival run by Nicholas Harnoncourt. He is a direct descendant of the Archduke Johann, who was a brother of the last Kaiser, and did much for the state.

And all of a sudden, there were posters up that he was going to do a concert version of 'Porgy and Bess' here. And I tried to get a ticket, oh boy did I try....

I haven't mentioned that Harnoncourt is a bloody GENIUS. He is a stickler for sticking to the original score, never messes around with the tempi much, he brings it as it was written.

And every time I have attended one of his concerts, I learned. I didn't like Haydn all that much, church music? He gave an evening of other things that showed the humour and joy in his personality, and pieces that were absolutely wonderful.

And so many other things.

Whatever, I was disappointed. I couldn't get any kind of ticket for this concert version of Porgy and Bess.

I do not know if any of you have ever seen it, but it is overwhelmingly good. And it was a breakthrough in American theater. African Americans on stage, hey.... In the forties, or something.

But the historical meaning is less than the musical one. Sure, it borders on opera. And it is tragic, and ends horribly.... Even over thirty years later, I still have this image in my mind of Porgy, an amputee, wheeling himself out on a board, going to New York to find his Bess.

(Sort of hard to figure, right?)

Whatever, the good news is.... the national radio is going to broadcast it LIVE and in Dolby tonite. And I am so looking forward to it I could just piss my pants for joy. I finally get something I pay for.

(Yes, you have to pay tee-vee and radio fees here, and ignore them since they went to minimum info on EVERYTHING.)

Wish me a nice evening. Have to sleep two hours, and then I get to hear something wonderful. And if the fucking Couch Critter decides to drive me crazy, will throw him out of my house for three hours.

Am not in the mood for that.

Update: am listening to a live broadcast. Could cry at not having a ticket to be there. Musically, a revelation. Am enjoying totally.

The Arnold Schönberg Chor ist so good, it's to die for. I like most of the soloists. The woman singing Bess has a marvelous voice, but I would wish she had a better enunciation, she leaves me confused.

Update 2: The second half was breath-taking. There is a huge storm sequence. And Harnoncourt inserted some score that has never been publicly performed before. The sudden calm, and insect noises, and African drums... Even W. perked up at that one, said, that sounds like 'Africa at night.' And I replied, 'That is what he intended it to be..' The audience went nuts at the end.

During the intermission, a moderator gave a mess of info on background. Was astounded to learn that the orchestra was composed of 144 musicians!!!! And how they sounded, hey! To die for. The soprano who sang Bess had a wonderful voice... but was somewhat unclear in the enunciation, and that was the only drawback to the entire performance.

And I so wish I could have been there. But it was beautifully done, and very complex.

And links to the photos of what that looked like are here.


Update 3: Thanks to musicfiend76 below for the correction. During the intermission I was being berated by someone in my apt. who just did not understand the music, and seemingly I misheard, and musicfiend is correct, of course. And yes, it is Harnoncourt who is 80.

The Gregory Brothers do it again... cool

This is for my favorite people in NH

Atrios at Eschaton thinks this is the best video EVER made, you guys. It brought back some memories of sitting with you in the Raimund Theater, in Vienna, watching the Polanski version of the 'Fearless Vampire Killers' as musical, and the song was a centerpiece of it. It IS a good video, and all. But seeing it in that setting was over the top. And seeing Steve Barton from Long Island had me in paroxysms of envy, in the main role of the head vampire. His diction was so perfect I cringed about my own. The Vienna production was perfect. New York was a disaster of enormous proportions. Because Steve Barton was supposed to re-create the role on Broadway, and died of a heart attack in a recording studio in Germany shortly before rehearsals were to begin. And then Michael Crawford ruined it, and it went belly-up in one week. Or so.

So, D and L... the video was interesting for its' time... but we all three know it got better.

And this is my early St. Nick's present for you. It made me remember. Hope you like it.

Now.... to get away from morbid thoughts... a little Sondheim

Putting it Together. Lovely.