As has been oft-lamented, there’s a lot of junk on the Internet. Even worse, I’m pretty sure I’m responsible for a bit of it myself. (Nothing evil, mind you. Just banal.) Sometimes, though, I stumble across something that is so fantastic, it makes me forget all the banality and junk. Like Jeremy Irons (and Alec Guinness) reading T.S. Eliot. Or pianist Maria João Pires performing an unexpected Mozart concerto from memory. Or this, an audio recording of “The Taming of the... Read more
YouTube has failed me. I can’t find the version of “Ge Mig En Dag” I want, and it’s driving me nuts. Instead, all I can find is this: Pretty, no? Ring any melodic bells? Recognition is made slightly more complicated by the fact that this is hardly its most famous setting. The one that springs most readily to mind when I hear the name “Gi Mig En Dag…” …OK, so nothing springs to mind when I hear that title. But... Read more
The Polish animator Tomasz Bagiński has been on my radar ever since the day I accidentally stumbled across his visually stunning Katedra. I can’t remember the details of my fortuitous discovery, but the short definitely caught my attention; it was gorgeous, atmospheric, and a bit disturbing. Hunting down his subsequent short, Fallen Art, I found it nowhere near as gorgeous or atmospheric, and a whole lot more disturbing. But just as unforgettable. (His debut piece, Deszcz, is as rough as one might expect from... Read more
On Saturday, as Sarah and I skimmed through Safeway’s most recent Just For U offers in preparation for the terrifyingly-unending-and-budget-busting project that is feeding our kids each week, I noticed this: See it? No? Here. I’ll give you a hint: This is either an abject failure of algorithmic marketing, or pure genius. I’m not sure which, though my money’s on the former (and I’d dearly love it to be the latter). Lots and lots and lots of cleaning products, and then The... Read more
It’s been just a little over a year since I shared one of my favorite things ever: “Jeremy Irons Reads Eliot’s “The Waste Land.” Iron’s performance is still available (which is a bit surprising, given the transitory nature of the InterWebs), and it’s still awesome. So is the reader-provided link to Alec Guinness’ version, and the links to Elliot’s own reading of “What the Thunder Said” (from “The Waste Land”) and his rendition of his “Four Quartets.” Quite the audio... Read more
I’ve never been a Nikolaus Harnoncourt fan. I can’t say entirely why, though I’ve long claimed that it’s a matter of respecting and admiring his work rather than enjoying it. (It might be an instance of irrational prejudice, but I’ve got so many of those already, I’m hoping that’s not the case.) I am, however, a (fairly recent) fan of pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, thanks in large part to my recent brush with Pianomania. And I’ve always been a fan of listening to... Read more
One of my favorite activities of late is watching documentaries with Sean. He loves ’em, I’ve always loved ’em, and it’s a genre of significant strength for Netflix Streaming. We don’t (usually) watch them in one sitting, because I need my beauty sleep. Or something. But documentaries often lend themselves to staged viewings, so it works out nicely. A few days ago, we (and also Mark, actually) finished off Pianomania, from 2009. It’s a bit hard to describe. Its creators say... Read more
A recent post from Greg Willits — “A Dad’s Guide to Minecraft” — made me realize something very important: I’m not alone. Minecraft makes me feel stupid. That’s me. From the day I first encountered the phenomenon — watching in disbelief as my younger brother wander through an enormous, LEGO-y world with a few trusty friends — I’ve wondered what the heck I was missing. Can I really be that far out of touch with the gaming age? Am I, at... Read more
Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood, a samurai-themed, Noh-tinged re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, has always fascinated me. It’s not a particularly faithful adaptation, in my opinion. But it might be a great one. (Harold Bloom once famously said that it was “uncannily the most successful film version of Macbeth, though it departs very far from the specifics of Shakespeare’s play.” And I’m tempted to agree.) Whatever its status as an adaptation might be, it does feature an unforgettable finale (SPOILERS!): “Toshiro Mifune’s... Read more
Summa This, Summa That
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In
No Commentary Necessary — Mozart’s “Commendatore”
For some strange reason, my most vivid college memories almost always involve music — a fact that ceased to surprise me long ago, but one that I still find curious. And which my professors would probably find depressing. C’est la vie… A corollary to my peculiarly melodic style of recollection is that my roommate’s musical tastes had a tremendous impact on my college days. Case in point, my long-standing fascination with the Commendatore’s dramatic confrontation scene from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” We used... Read more