The controversial Lady Gaga...?

For so long the public have discussed Lady Gaga and the opinions seems to vary widely...


Why?

When last was there a pop singer that people could talk about in such depth,trying to analyze an artist and their craft? An example could be Madonna, as she is also a controversial pop artist? Think back to when Madonna just started in the eighties. Her exposed belly was just TOO MUCH!! (what, a naked belly?? - not that!). She continued to challenge the conservative ideas of what a pop singer should do. She changed her look for every project she put her mind to, even though it was risky. She ventured into all possible arts: from an actress, a performer/dancer, a model, from stage to film (Andrew Lloyd Webber;s Evita), an author http://www.absolutemadonna.com/books/ and a singer.

Look at Madonnna today, she has made history in the music industry (in the same league as Michael Jackson), creating fashion trends, creating human awareness amongst people (sometimes challenging political leaders and questioning their motives) and she created a legend.

Today, Lady Gaga is pushing the buttons of all people. Yes, she too is challenging TODAY'S conservative thoughts of what a pop singer should do (but viewing numerous interviews of her, I realized that that is just who she is?). She burst onto the pop scene with numerous hit singles, surprised all with unique outfits and staging of shocking/controversial performances. Is this not reminiscent of how Madonna started?

If you do not know anything about Lady Gaga, please do yourself a favour and read her biography at
http://www.ladygaga.com/default.aspx

"It’s been a while since a new pop artist has made her way in the music industry the old-fashioned/grass roots way by paying her dues with seedy club gigs and self-promotion. This is one rising pop star who hasn’t been plucked from a model casting call, born into a famous family, won a reality TV singing contest, or emerged from a teen cable TV sitcom. “I did this the way you are supposed to. I played every club in New York City and I bombed in every club and then killed it in every club and I found myself as an artist. I learned how to survive as an artist, get real, and how to fail and then figure out who I was as singer and performer. And, I worked hard.” - Lady Gaga

I am not comparing Lady Gaga to Madonna. I am simply questoning why are people trying to judge Lady Gaga like they judge/d Madonna?

Why do we always expect the worst from a new commer / unknown artst simply because they "challenge" convention by being true to themselves?

Please comment on this blog if you have something to add, I would appreciate your opinion!

Tygervalley Wedding Expo

I will be playing at the Tygervalley Wedding Expo next weekend, everyday (27, 28 and 29 August). Please visit my gig guide on my website for the times:
"http://www.thomasflute.com/gig-guide.php"

Cape Town Opera's murder mystery dinner

I had the priviledge of providing solo flute music for this event, at La Mouette Restaurant (78 Regent Road), Sea Point in Cape Town. It was a wonderful and charming evening as all the guests were dressed up in costumes relating to the 17th/18th century.

With the theme of the evening set in the 17th century, I found it suitable to be playing parts and movements from G.F. Handel's flute sonatas. So as the guests arrived at the entrance of the restaurant, I was playing beautiful baroque flute music. The wheather was lovely on Friday evening, and all the guests were standing outside, chatting with a glass of welcomming juice and I provided the background music, creating the mood for the evening!

The evening's plot for the murder mystery was inspired from the forthcoming opera Lucia di Lammermoor, conducted by Chris Dowdeswell and directed by Angelo Gobbato, which takes place in October this year.


Set in the 17th century in the Scottish Lowlands, The Mystery of the Ravenswood Castle Ghost, introduces you to Lucy Ashton who is haunted by a ghost on her father’s estate. Lucy is certain that the ghost means to warn her of something and she has the distinct feeling that the warning may relate to her forthcoming marriage. She is certain that if she can establish who murdered the woman who keeps haunting her, she will once more feel safe and have the courage to break her unwilling engagement. The guests were invited to join Lucy at her engagement party and help uncover the murderer of the Ravenswood Castle Ghost.

For more information regarding Cape Town's Opera, visit http://www.capetownopera.co.za/ or join the group "encore" on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=140253295990593&ref=mf#!/group.php?gid=186531685922&ref=ts

Philippe Jaroussky: french songs

Ever since the movie, "Farinelli: Il Castrato" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farinelli_(film) I have been intrigued with the castrato (Italian, plural: castrati - a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty, or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castrato. As a castrato is no longer heard today, as it was made illegal in 1870 in Italy, countertenors (a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano or (less frequently) a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely the normal or modal voice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countertenor) are used today to replace the castrati roles of baroque opera. A specific kind of countertenor, is the male soprano - a male singer who is able to sing in the vocal tessitura of a soprano usually through the use of falsetto vocal production.


Philippe Jaroussky is a male soprano http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Jaroussky

In Philippe's discography, you do find cantatas and operas, but then he has recorded a jewel, Opium: Mélodies françaises - http://www.jarousskyopium.com/ A very interesting preview/description of the CD by Philippe can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEFjCFuDdAo and it will give you a taste of what you can expect.

Philippe's phrasings are sensitive and so musical. The ensemble work is remarkable and the communication between the musicians are evident in the music. Philippe Jaroussky colours the music with tone colours through his voice.


Be on the lookout for his other recordings, his voice is truely an instrument you don't want to ever miss!!

Bach flute sonatas

When one decides to write about the flute sonatas of Johann Sebastian Bach, you can write chapters upon chapters - from the controversy surrounding playing Bach sonatas on the modern silver flute (instead of the authentic baroque flute), to which parts are authentic (immediatly I'm thinking of the A major sonata where authentic parts are missing).

I am not attempting to write an essay on the Bach Flute Sonatas (not yet anyway..), just merely a blog to make my readers aware of a brilliant recording that's out there of these masterful compositions.

An internationally acclaimed flutist that I've been following for many years now, Emmanuel Pahud, has done a recording of the sonatas: the e minor and major, the b minor and A major, E flat and C major, G major and minor. It is a 2 CD album - http://www.pahudbach.com/

I have always admired Pahud's tone quality and technique, and on this recordings he has such an incredible tone (very very slight vibratos on the long notes and a wonderful fat sound on the low notes), fluent phrasings and amazing breath control (needed for the long passages). It just seems that the music flows out of his golden flute as his finger technique is just fantastic! On this recording, he is joined by Trevor Pinnock on the harpsichord.

Please do yourself a favour, when you visit http://www.pahudbach.com/ have a look at the video where Pahud and Pinnock is talking to Stephen Johns about the recording of the sonatas (3rd page of the website). For more information regarding Emmanuel Pahud, you can visit http://www.emiclassics.com/artistbiography.php

    

                                                                                     

Some other flutists that have recorded the flute sonatas, are:
Jean-Pierre Rampal http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1224266/a/Bach3A+Flute+Sonatas.htm
Aurèle Nicolet http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/bach-j-s-flute-sonatas-bwv/id4364814
William Bennett http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Sonatas-Michael-J-Evans/dp/B0000CEONH
Peter-Lukas Graf http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&keywords=Graf%2C%20Peter-Lukas&rh=n%3A85%2Ck%3AGraf%5Cc%20Peter-Lukas&page=1
James Galway http://www.amazon.com/Bach-Flute-Sonatas-Johann-Sebastian/dp/B000003FP6

Renée Fleming - "The peoples' diva"

With more than 50 CD's to her name, about 39 opera roles, sung in opera houses around the globe, awards (including a grammy award for Verismo), Renée Fleming, http://www.reneefleming.com/ ,is one of the most celebrated operatic figures of today. Sir Georg Solti, who conducted Renée Fleming's first solo aria recording for Decca, described the impact of her singing; "Quite apart from the sheer lyrical beauty of voice, she has an innate musicianship which makes every performance a great joy." "Here's a singer who has reached complete maturity as a singer and artist, revelling in her vocal and interpretative powers", said Gramophone of Great Opera Scenes. Her 1996 collection of Mozart arias, with the Orchestra of St Luke's conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras received a Grammy nomination and her first Decca release was as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Sir Georg Solti. -
http://www.renee-fleming.com/

      

She has the incredible talent to be versatile and to be able to successfully cover a wide range of musical styles as this excellence can be witnessed in her Decca recordings, http://www.decca.com/artists/renee-fleming-1013

"One of the most beloved and celebrated musical ambassadors of our time, soprano Renée Fleming captivates audiences with her sumptuous voice, consummate artistry, and compelling stage presence. Known as “the people’s diva,” she continues to grace the world’s greatest opera stages and concert halls, now extending her reach to include other mediums. Over the past few seasons, Ms. Fleming has begun hosting a wide variety of television and radio broadcasts, including the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series for movie theaters and television, and Live from Lincoln Center on PBS. In 2008, a precedent was broken when Ms. Fleming became the first woman in the 125-year history of the Metropolitan Opera to headline an opening night gala." - http://www.reneefleming.com/about/

Personally, isn't it wonderful for such a beautiful and talented artist to raise opera to such an extremely high level that the world of opera is rediscovered?...

Renee Fleming goes jazz

The great opera singer, Renee Fleming (http://www.reneefleming.com/), has recorded a jazz CD. This CD is called Haunted Heart and it was released in 2005.

How many times have heard opera singers singing different genres of music besides opera? Sometimes it just doesn't work, and all of a sudden here comes Renee Fleming, an internationally acclaimed opera diva, with a jazz CD. She has dropped her vocal range an octave, adding a 'husky' tone and whisper to her voice making this CD a truely remarkable. She is accompanied by Fred Hersch on the piano and Bill Frisell on the guitar.

Songs from Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Guy Lombardo, Stevie Wonder and The Beatles (to name a few), are recorded with unique, sensitive and emotional arrangements. One of my favourite tracks on this CD is Answer me. Follow the link to hear it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMHCNrmGues

For more information and a review of the CD, visit http://www.puremusic.com/49fleming.html or if you would like to listen snippets of the tracks, visit http://www.amazon.com/Haunted-Heart-Sonny-Burke/dp/B0007Z9QUS%22

Flute beatboxing

I was not sure how to categorized this style of music: beatboxing is actually categorized as "hip hop", but some of this techniques are used in the classical flute repertoire, for example:

George Crumb's Voice of the Whale, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6IWoHguF4o,

Toru Takemitsu's Voice for Flute, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiblAoSDobY&feature=related,

or several works by Ian Clarke such as Within, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6U-vE8YKE0.

But after listening to some of Greg Patillo's recordings, I have decided to categorize it as jazz.

But what is flute beatboxing or fluteboxing? It "represents an innovation in the extended technique of the flute". "Involving the production of stereoscopic flute tones (producing two separate sounds by humming while blowing into the flute) combined with vocal percussion and aural prestidigitation (slight-of-ear), flute beatboxing enables the use of the flute as a rhythmic instrument".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flute_beatboxing

"Greg Pattillo, http://www.pattillostyle.com/, has developed a system of essentially traditional notation for flute beatboxing, with one staf for the flute and one - similar to that for drum kits for the percussice effects". With the "Project Trio", more information regarding this can be found on his website, Greg teams up with a cellist and a bassist, playing a variety of music genres and arrangements. Have a look at this link, here he and the cellist, Eric Stephenson, does their rendition of Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams, http://vodpod.com/watch/3104602-youtube-greg-pattillo-and-eric-stephenson-sweet-dreams.

Another beatboxing flutist is Nathan Lee. Do yourself a favor and have a look at this amazing video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3kyNGVK-hI.

It is so amazing to see how classically traditional instruments are used to produce such modern and "cool" sounds and effects..and I'm so proud to see how hip a flute can sound!!

Eurovision Young Musician 2010

The Final of the 2010 Eurovision Young Musician Competition was held on 14 May, at the Rathausplatz, Vienna.
This competition was won by a flutist!! A sixteen year old flutist from Slovenia!

16 year old Eva-Nina Kozmus won the competition with her interpertation of the Ibert Flute Concerto (3rd movement).

"Born in 1994 in Celje, Slovenia, she began playing flute and piano at age 7. She is currently an undergraduate at the Ljubljana Music and Ballet Conservatory. Eva-Nina Kozmus began competing in 2005 in an international flute competition in Serbia and has since gone on to compete in several competitions in Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, as well as Italy. She is a member of the Ljubljana Music and Ballet Conservatory Symphony and Chamber Orchestra and performs with several renowned international orchestras." - http://www.youngmusicians.tv/

Have a look at the video of her performance, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrcKu4YSnIg. Wonderful musicality,sensitivity, great intonation, and amazing breath control for the phrasings that looks and sounds to be so effortless for her..