domingo, março 30, 2014

Everything is connected, V.

Yesterday, just after lunch, I realized that Liebestod's climax (1:34:40 in Leonard Bernstein's version) is in yet another of my dearest memories: John Lennon's Imagine. Yes, it is there, almost everywhere, in the fast and higher pitch piano part that connects to the repeating motiv (48'', 54'', 1'00'' etc in the video below). Did a bunch of Liebestod-fan neurons in my brain influence my preferences in music, films, etc all my life? And how does this connects to my lunch yesterday? And how come John's expression in the image below reflects so well my surprise?

Addendum: The period of Liebestod's climax repetition is the same as the repetition in Lennon's Imagine or am I imagining things?
Oh well. 4 posts in the middle of the night when all I wanted was to turn off the computer that was left on...

sexta-feira, março 28, 2014

Everything is connected, IV.


(Found this after the posts below. Search and you shall find...)

Everything is connected, III.

Chaplin and Wagner, again. Subliminar powers music has, Yoda would say.

Everything is connected, II.

Hitchcock, Bernard Herrmann and... Libestod (some similarities, e.g. minute 53)?
What devious memes hide behind some of the movies/music that I love the most?

Everything is connected.

Dali, Buñuel and Libestod. Don't worry, I will not post Un Chien Andalou (that eye in the beginning...), which also features Libestod.

quarta-feira, março 26, 2014

The road to the utmost beauty and enchantment

The last time I went to the cinema with my family, I had an argument with my kids because, although the film was technically impeccable, I said that it lacked ambiguity. The kids loved the film and were shocked when I started with my "yes, the film was good but...".
 
In fact, that argument allowed me to realize that, in great part, the sense of unfulfillment I get after seeing a movie at the cinema comes from the lack of ambiguity of most current cinema (blockbusters movies, mainly). Hollywood, are you listening? You don't have to explain the whole movie to the public! The intriguing sense of mystery that comes from ambiguity has its own charm and can leave a sweet, enduring, mesmerizing impression (I saw "2001 a Space Odyssey" for the n'th time recently). Ambiguity can be more important than the consistency of the story!

Ok, that happened a few weeks ago. Today, I saw a 2h20m video with Leonard Bernstein talking about "The Delights and Dangers of Ambiguity". My first impression was: "Bernstein! Ambiguity! 2 hours! Wow!" (my second probably was: "He talks! And what a great communicator/teacher/player he is!"; Third: "Liebestod! Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune!"). The video is remarkable for many reasons and leaves important hints to better understand the paths towards beauty and emotion.  The magnificent rendition of Liebestod, maybe the most beautiful piece of music ever written, with its long and difficult progression to the climax, here with the superimposed image of the emotion of Bernstein, dancing and feeling the music, is priceless.  It starts at 1:16:20 in the video, but do not miss the discussion that starts at 59:45.

(I mentioned Liebestod before in this blog. This blog needs to have a valid link to it, because I do not trust my memory enough. Oh,and sorry for my bad english...)