Album of the Evening

[rando]

7 minutes ago, AnotherSpin said:

 

I saw this name, Dubravka Tomsic so many times in low-budget poor quality CDs. Just guess, is it really a virtual entity which covers some young talented Chinese students?

 

3 minutes ago, Allan F said:

 

FYI, Strasbourg is located in the Alsace region of France, approximately 500km from Paris.

 

Yes, yes.  Expected someone to pick up on that much earlier.  I typed in haste.  

[Nikhil]

20 hours ago, rando said:

Chitrangada: Musical Opera of Rabinranath Tagore" caught my eye so I decided to see what this disc was about.  Maybe @Nikhil will be kind enough to expose some of the subtleties of the story and why it's interpreted through dance.  Obviously this is pretty wild stuff I'm quite sure is escaping my cultural and musical comprehension. 

 

Not sure if I can do justice but here goes ...

 

The wiki link given by Anotherspin covers the storyline but the overarching that and which provides the setting is the story of Arjuna, one of the principal characters (think along the lines of Hercules) of the Mahabharata, which chronicles the stories of the Kaurava and Pandava princes.   Arjuna is identified by his prowess with the bow and arrow (as the hero with the bow in the video).   As the events unfold, Arjuna is obliged to spend 12 years as an ascetic in what is known as his Tirth Yatra.  It is during this period that his travels take him to the kingdom of Manipura where he meets the Chitrangada who is the daughter of the king.  Chitrangada is smitten with Arjuna but having being raised as a warrior princess takes the help of Madana, the god of love and Vasanta, the god of springtime and youth to cast a spell of beauty to help her win over Arjuna.  

 

Rabindrinath Tagore's play is primarily based on this story and is described by the wiki link given earlier.  In the West the play received critical acclaim as among other things it was considered ahead of it's time for the role of Chitrangada as a warrior princess  etc in the light of women's roles in society at the time.   The use of dance as a medium is consistent with stylistic portrayals of  mythological traditions but Tagore's works took the form of plays, dramas and poems as well.      

 

 

 

 

[AnotherSpin]

27 minutes ago, rando said:

 

 

Yes, yes.  Expected someone to pick up on that much earlier.  I typed in haste.  

 

Oh, dear, do not type in haste. Your input is appreciated no matter what typed and how fast.

[WAM]

Never thought I would like this one, but I think it's good, very good.

 

[Jud]

3 hours ago, Nikhil said:

 

Not sure if I can do justice but here goes ...

 

The wiki link given by Anotherspin covers the storyline but the overarching that and which provides the setting is the story of Arjuna, one of the principal characters (think along the lines of Hercules) of the Mahabharata, which chronicles the stories of the Kaurava and Pandava princes.   Arjuna is identified by his prowess with the bow and arrow (as the hero with the bow in the video).   As the events unfold, Arjuna is obliged to spend 12 years as an ascetic in what is known as his Tirth Yatra.  It is during this period that his travels take him to the kingdom of Manipura where he meets the Chitrangada who is the daughter of the king.  Chitrangada is smitten with Arjuna but having being raised as a warrior princess takes the help of Madana, the god of love and Vasanta, the god of springtime and youth to cast a spell of beauty to help her win over Arjuna.  

 

Rabindrinath Tagore's play is primarily based on this story and is described by the wiki link given earlier.  In the West the play received critical acclaim as among other things it was considered ahead of it's time for the role of Chitrangada as a warrior princess  etc in the light of women's roles in society at the time.   The use of dance as a medium is consistent with stylistic portrayals of  mythological traditions but Tagore's works took the form of plays, dramas and poems as well.      

 

I have an unreasonable liking for this version: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0097810/

[AnotherSpin]

43 minutes ago, Jud said:

 

I have an unreasonable liking for this version: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0097810/

 

Another episode with participation of Arjuna makes a plot of one of the most important books in current history, Bhagavad Gita.

[semente]

Speaking of Tagore, this is a good read:

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Home-World-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140449868/

[AnotherSpin]

54 minutes ago, semente said:

Speaking of Tagore, this is a good read:

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Home-World-Penguin-Classics/dp/0140449868/

 

Or, beautiful and poignant Gitanjali, most famous book from Tagore. Bangla (Bengal) gave the world unique musicians, such as Ravi Shankar and Nikhil Banerjee, movie directors - Satyajit Ray, and most important of all, spiritual figures as Ramakrishna, and Aurobindo.

[Paul R]

And, it is even free in a Kindle edition from Amazon right now...  

 

https://www.amazon.com/Home-World-Rabindranath-Tagore-ebook/dp/B0084ANSES/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Rabindranath+tagore+the+home+and+world&qid=1556407181&s=gateway&sr=8-2

 

 

[Hugo9000]

Marais published a short score of this lyric tragedy from 1709, but performance parts were lost long ago.  The orchestration used here was reconstructed.  This is a gorgeous work, given a beautiful performance in this 2-CD set from Glossa.

 

Marin Marais

Sémélé

Hervé Niquet/Le Concert Spirituel

 

 

 

[AudioDoctor]

I don't know when it came available, but for a while this album was absent from Qobuz in its entirety. It is here now.

 

 

[Musicophile]

Sunny music for a rainy Sunday morning 

 

[biosailor]

[WAM]

My daily Bach fix:

 

[sphinxsix]

Actually the album of yesterday afternoon but I'm posting it cause as for posthumous album it's surprisingly good. SQ differs from track to track. 24bit version available.

 

[semente]

[AMR/iFi audio]

 

[Jud]

2 hours ago, sphinxsix said:

Actually the album of yesterday afternoon but I'm posting it cause as for posthumous album it's surprisingly good. SQ differs from track to track. 24bit version available.

 

 

Love this guy, and this is a wonderful album.

[AudioDoctor]

I think it is a shame these guys never got as popular as they should have.

[sphinxsix]

I'm actually listening to Handel's solo piano pieces for the first time in my life. IM(very, very)HO Smirnova plays this material in a really beautiful way with great sensitivity and with lots of subtle expressive nuance. I like her 'timing' (is this word used in the field of classical music.?). And of course ECM sound is never a bad thing.

 

[HIFI]

[HIFI]

Great recording from Mapleshade

[HIFI]

Porcupine Tree, In Absentia

 

I enjoy this band and especially the drummer.  One of the best “Close  Mic” drum sets I have heard.

[Paul R]

This is still a great album, even if I never went to see Prince (or the artist temporarily called something nobody could ever pronounce...) 

I don't like all the sentiments expressed in the music, but the music is just a cut above anything else from the time.  

The last track (Purple Rain)  is playing right now, and I still can't help but get chills from it. 

 

This from the same guy that gave the Bangles Manic Monday.  If only he could have stayed off the damn drugs...

 

-Paul 

[Paul R]

LOL!  And I moved on this this... I had almost forgotten this album. For those who are not familiar with it, this is Ry Cooder's very left of center take on the issues we faced during the DustBowl and Great Depression.  Told by Buddy the cat, Lefty Mouse, and of course, the Reverend Toad.

 

I wonder what Buddy would have to say about the trump this chump that politics of today? Well worth a listen if your politics can handle it.

 

Why did we let people go hungry during that time? Was it really just the political view that people need to take care of themselves, and the only reason people are not rich is they did not work hard enough?  I find it difficult to accept that, but both my parents lived through that time, and both of them had hard feelings for the politicians of the time. 

 

-Paul