Singing Poetry

Natalie Merchant has just released an album, Leave Your Sleep, generated from a six-year-long project to put to music the words of a number of mostly 19th- and 20th-century poets: Robert Graves, Ogden Nash, others. Here is a sample:



Whether the singing of these things is a better experience than the reading of them, I suppose, is a question. But, they certainly do provide some inspiration to revisit or discover the originals. And I will be listening to this music again.

Find an NPR piece on this project here.

Jacques Offenbach, E.T.A. Hoffman, et. al.

Last night I watched the Met production of Offenbach's Tales Of Hoffman on PBS-TV:



I don't know much about Hoffman (played by Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja) himself, except that he was a real 19th-century German poet/musician/artist.

Always rowdy and a bit weird, this zany Fellini-like production included the androgynous muse (Kate Lindsey), topless ladies dancing with dwarves, guys making out with mannequins, an incredible coloratura performance of the singing "doll" (Korean soprano Kathleen Kim) in Act I (seen by Hoffman through his rose-colored glasses), and much more craziness from the 19th century, perhaps a precursor to French and German cabaret.

This opera, as you may know, is probably most famous musically for its second (or third?) act barcarolle, probably one of the best known pieces in all of opera. I browsed up half a dozen or more performances, of which the following was my favorite variant, as done by Romanian opera sisters, Irina and Christina Iordachescu:



Keep on an eye on your local PBS station and don't miss this production when it inevitably reruns.

What The Still Photo Still Does Best

Friend and fellow photog John sends along a link to this New York Times piece on recently-deceased civil rights photographer, Charles Moore and the role of photojournalism.

Toby Works Out - Practicing With A New Drum Kit

Remember Imelda?

Here is some information on the unusual David Byrne project on the life of Imelda Marcos, for the soon-to-be-released Here Lies Love album:

Learn more here and here.

Also don't miss the video for the Please Don't track.

Don't know who Imelda is? She was one of the most famous women in the world at one time -- do some Googling and sharpen your knowledge of world history.

Johnny Carson and the Rat Pack

A friend sends along this rarity, for those who might be old enough to appreciate it:

Veering A Bit Off Topic Here

But I can't resist ...