MADRIGAL WITHOUT SOUND

MADRIGAL WITHOUT SOUND

Aug 5, 2023 | BOOKS

Madrigal Without Sound is the book recommended by Monica to help me dealing with a period of history that is actually not in my league.

Published by Bollati Boringhieri, Madrigal without sound won the 2019 Campiello Prize.

About the author: Andrea Tarabbia has a WordPress blog and I was struck by the header image: a photograph of the entrance to apartment No. 50 on Sadovaja Street, Moscow, taken in the year 2000.

Actually, given the particular construction I should speak of authors because if the Madrigal is soundless, the book on the other hand has multiple voices.

Three different visions take the reader to look at the soul of Carlo Gesualdo, known as Gesualdo da Venosa, famous for being an excellent madrigalist, but also a bloody uxoricide.

Igor Stravinsky, Glenn Watkins, and Gioachino Ardytti.

Igor Stravinsky certainly needs no introduction.

Glenn Watkins is defined as the greatest expert of Gesualdo da Venosa.

Finally, I would define Gioachino Ardytti as the embodiment of the legends around the life of Carlo Gesualdo.

The exchange between Watkins and Stravinskji is epistolary, you know how much I love letters. 

And it is a prelude to what will happen in Venice in 1960: Monumentum pro Gesualdo da Venosa ad CD annum.

 

 

On the other hand, Andrea Tarabbia ascribes to Gioachino a manuscript narrating the life of Carlo Gesualdo down to the dark details of evil reported in a manner as ruthless as it is functional in portraying the character perhaps with the same criterion of repentance that he intended by extruding it in the famous Pala del Perdono.

 

Franco Battiato also dedicated a song that invites reflection on morality and the actions of men.

The madrigals of Gesualdo, prince of Venosa
Musician murderer of the bride
What does it matter?
He strikes his note
Sweet as a rose.

Strong words indeed.

Carlo Gesualdo’s bride: Maria D’Avalos, was slaughtered at Palazzo San Severo, where they lived, and various legends have been passed down about her ever since.

Certainly Maria remains a constant presence in the narrative of Gesualdo da Venosa’s life, in a sort of seesaw between alter egos and a mixture of good and evil.

I rather like to quote you this sentence from the book:
I think that music is the bride of words, and that every word is a box where all pain, and joy, and life are contained. With sounds we can explode this box, give it more pain, more joy, more life than it already has.

 

I find this to be very true: music for me can amplify states of mind.

What do you think?

WOMAD

WOMAD

Jul 29, 2023 | WORLD, MUSIC

Womad stands for World of Music, Arts and Dance, an international music and arts foundation known primarily for its festivals, held annually in multiple locations around the world.

“You never know where interesting news may come from” is the concept I have learned throughout my years.

To confirm it I will tell you that the first time I found information about Womad I was reading with my son from his English school book.

We owe the idea of this music art and dance festival to Peter Gabriel. 

 

In 1982 the author of the immortal 7/4 song with that harmonic theme that brought everyone’s thoughts on that perfect green to the sky, together with a group of people started the first festival right in Somerset, in Shepton Mallet.

Later the project evolved into a mission: to create opportunities for cultural exchange and learning to bring the arts of different cultures to the widest possible audience by developing arts education and creative learning projects.

After all, Peter Gabriel’s spirit of contamination appeared to us loud and clear in the blending of tribal percussion and electro-synth sounds in Shock the monkey.

The resounding aspect of the Womad festival that is being held these days is that Carmen Consoli announced her participation with this picture.

 

The Singeress.

I would say she is perfect to represent the strength of roots and the richness of collaborations.

 

Carmen is the first Italian artist to perform at the world music festival.

July 27 / 30 – Charlton Park are the coordinates of Womad 2023.

While waiting, we can watch highlights from last year’s edition: the 40th.

 

 

GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL

GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL

Jul 1, 2023 | MUSIC, ROCK, WORLD

Glastonbury Festival is another iconic music event that takes place in the days following the summer solstice. 

Glastonbury is located about an hour from Stonehenge and is famous for the Glastonbury Tor or a hill on which St. Michael’s Tower is located.

 

There are legends about this place that lead back to Avalon, Ynys yr Afalon, the famous island linked to the myth of King Arthur, very exciting indeed.

Glastonbury also stands on a Ley line: a temporary line i.e. one of the lines that virtually connect places of historical significance related to the spiritual sphere.

Glastonbury Festival on the other hand concerns the musical sphere and was born in 1970 from the inspiration of Michael Evis after attending a Led Zeppelin performance.

What can we say … there is to be understood.

Throughout the years there have been memorable performances, difficult even to rank, out of all of them I would like to mention this one

Recently R.E.M. published on their twitter profile five songs taken from their 1999 concert asking their fans to vote for the best among: Loosing my religion, It’s the end of the world as we know it (we have already chatted about this song here)  Everybody hurts, At my most beautiful and Man on the moon. 

Would you know how to choose?
Or do you have your own favorite performance by any other artist?

The Glastonbury Festival is also a case opportunity to indulge in distinctive outfits, but they turn out differently than those sported in the California sunshine for Coachella. 

The British weather calls for raincoats and boots: here is a roundup of looks  among which we can admire Emma Watson. 

How about?
Sun or rain as long as there is good music!

And of course coffee 🙂 

CATS

CATS

Mar 4, 2023 | A COFFEE WITH, A COFFEE WITH

A-mici in città is a focus on cats by Legambiente, which offered an opportunity to survey some data.

The aspect I would like to focus on is this: at the feline registry, the municipality with the highest number of cats per number of inhabitants is the town of Sant’Angelo in Lomellina: more than one cat for every two citizens.

We may say that in these parts cats do particularly well 🙂

In fact, Gravellona even boasts a cat mayor.

I can’t help but immediately think of the cats from the famous “junkyard somewhere in London” … did you guess yet?!

I’m talking about the legendary Jellicle Cats!

There is no need for me to add anything else, is there?

If anything, I should add gratitude to Andrew Lloyd Webber for giving us Cats: a joyously engaging musical, full of vitality, and magically kaleidoscopic.

Wonderful music, stunning costumes and makeup, enchanting choreography.

Source of inspiration: Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Elliot. 

I still remember my amazement the first time: immediately enraptured by the thought of the three names:

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn’t just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter.
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.

How many names do you have?

Actually we humans have more names too, don’t we?

One of the nicknames I have always used is really the name of one of the characters in Cats.

My husband gave me the musical dvd back in the days when it was not so easy to get this kind of things, and he gave me even more: we saw Cats at the Arcimboldi! Sitting in our seats as the Jellicle Cats peeked out around us, I’m still heart-eyed 🙂

May I invite you to review a small excerpt together?

Now would you tell me about the cats living with you or near you?

SHADOW

SHADOW

Oct 8, 2022 | TECHNOLOGY

Shadow, what is your first thought?

I start by quoting people: Nick. 

Then random: motors

Music

Movies

I could go on, more and more, would you like to mention other examples as well?

The world is full of shadows …

I wonder how the choice to call Shadow even a computer that can be accessed remotely came about.

It is is a powerful Windows PC that allows to use any kind of application without buying hardware, which as you know, tends to be obsolete very quickly, as well as expensive.

A faculty that opens up a kind of new and important revolution with respect to the use of technology in our daily lives.

Or do you see it more as another standardization?

The obvious and immediate benefits come in the form of being able to operate at maximum power without having to shell out large sums in equipment purchases.

Also at the level of the environment, the exploitation of certain materials would certainly be reduced, and above all, the need for disposal of many devices would be reduced, since everyone would be able to operate with the available device, simply by connecting.

However, connection may also be the first downside: if it goes off, all work would stop.

The same if the “server” would break.

And again: the conditions at the beginning may appear advantageous, but the costs could rise uncontrollably, as we are unfortunately seeing.

So there is a risk of finding oneself regretting the old PC, perhaps slow but working.

Light, or shadow?

While we decide, something “dark” undoubtedly is the cloud!

I can’t help but think about the scene in which Jason Segel yells at Cameron Diaz, “nobody knows what the cloud is!”

The infamous cloud: a kind of black hole where our data ends up, or a valuable opportunity?

To USerS 🙂 the harsh judgment.

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