I am currently engaged in reviewing the four seasons series Monty Python's Flying Circus , issued at the BBC between 1969 and 1974. Last night, watching the second episode of season three, I found this. The interpretation of the final piano concerto, by Sviatoslav Richter, is priceless.
I am very poor reader and therefore wait for the summer soil sink his teeth into novels, which read at times of year in which I'm more busy could last forever. This summer it came his turn, among others, Bomarzo , the Argentine writer Manuel Mujica Lainez. This novel chronicles the life of Pier Francesco Orsini, called Vicino by their relatives, a noble of the Italian Renaissance marked by his deformity (he was hunchbacked and lame) who is remembered for having created the garden of monsters, a group of sculptures of dark meaning in his palace Bomarzo. In the pages of the book go celebrities: Renaissance artists, nobles, popes, alchemists ... and such important events as the coronation of Charles V and the Battle of Lepanto, narrated with lots of details, always through the eyes of the protagonist. Magic also plays an important role as Vicino's life is marked by the supernatural from the moment of his birth, when an astrologer predicted his immortality.
knew of the existence of an opera with music Alberto Ginastera and libretto by Manuel Mujica Lainez thereof based on the novel, so the time advantage ginasteriana is going through the blog, I got a recording of its premiere and heard recently. This premiere took place in Washington in 1967 and recording with the handicaps of making some poor sound, poor pronunciation of some interpreters, who may not know the meaning of his words and the tendency to scream wildly from the deal. The truth is that the twelve-tone style that combines singing and recitation lends itself to it, but there are times when you are missing a more restrained reading, particularly by the protagonist.
Interestingly, the book soon to be released in Argentina, as a last-minute ban by the de facto ruler Juan Carlos Ongania, because, I quote, " the argument of the piece and its staging revealed be at odds with basic moral principles regarding sexual assault ", led to its withdrawal from the lineup when everything was ready for release. The Buenos Aires had to wait until 1972 to see the play, when he had been represented in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Kiel, Zurich and London. After his release, he recovered in 1984 and 2003.
Mujica Lainez used to joke with Ginastera opera saying that if it had been censored because of the score he had composed, and that the novel contained more sexual content and had passed the censorship. Ginastera, satirically, encouraged the government to ban any function Onganía opera, because he said that if Bomarzo had failed to pass the censor would not Don Giovanni, Tristan und Isolde and , much less Salome . We read an article on the subject (in English) published in 1967 in Time Magazine by clicking HERE .
My opinion about the opera is not over yet form, need to listen more often, possibly in a different version. And the ideal would be to see represented, then, as often happens with the operas composed in the twentieth century, the visual element becomes immensely important. The style is reminiscent enough to Alban Berg, twelve-tone mixing melody and sung word passages with others, although for some it remains this the hallmark of the author and does not give great strength is reached with the two operas of the Austrian author . However, it is a remarkable work, especially for the effectiveness with which creates a dark and oppressive atmosphere. I wish we had the chance to see represented in a English theater.
now hear the fifth scene of Bomarzo , Girolamo's death on the banks of the Tiber River as interpreted in Washington in 1967, premiere of the opera. The performers are Claramae Turner (Diana Orsini, Pier Francesco grandmother), Salvador Novoa (Pier Francesco Orsini) and Robert Gregory (Girolamo, his brother).
And then the final scene, with Claramae Turner, Salvador Novoa and David Prather in the role of the young pastor.
I am very poor reader and therefore wait for the summer soil sink his teeth into novels, which read at times of year in which I'm more busy could last forever. This summer it came his turn, among others, Bomarzo , the Argentine writer Manuel Mujica Lainez. This novel chronicles the life of Pier Francesco Orsini, called Vicino by their relatives, a noble of the Italian Renaissance marked by his deformity (he was hunchbacked and lame) who is remembered for having created the garden of monsters, a group of sculptures of dark meaning in his palace Bomarzo. In the pages of the book go celebrities: Renaissance artists, nobles, popes, alchemists ... and such important events as the coronation of Charles V and the Battle of Lepanto, narrated with lots of details, always through the eyes of the protagonist. Magic also plays an important role as Vicino's life is marked by the supernatural from the moment of his birth, when an astrologer predicted his immortality. 
