Beginning of February 2012 multi-talented dancer Meenakshi Srinivasan tours in Holland and Belgium. She’s one of the most prominent performers of the classical temple dance bharata natyam, a dance style originating from South India with its earliest roots dating back to 1000 B.C. The repertoire of this traditional dance style is based on old choreographies depicting the classical myths and legends of Hindu deities.
Meenakshi doesn’t confine herself to tradition only. Based on modern themes and ideas she also creates new choreographies by combining the language of the bharata natyam with modern dance techniques. Meenakshi’s dancing is highly stylised and energetic, but looks playful and effortless at the same time.
Her performances in The Netherlands and Belgium are accompanied by voice, violin, nattuvangam (little cymbals) and mridangam (a two-sided drum). Meenakshi Srinivasan is a must for people interested in traditional and modern dance and in Indian classical music.
In 2007 the closing scene of Steven Spielberg’s A.I., filmed in bad quality from a tv or a computer screen, was uploaded on YouTube, this one…
On February 4th 2012 this one had already more than 183000 views, over 500 likes and almost 650 comments. Impressive figures, but what really makes the video interesting and very intriguing to me is that most viewer comments relate to a tearshedding experience when watching this scene. To highlight this ’sobbing effect’ I decided to do something crazy. I went through the comments, picked the sniffy ones out and then put all the stuff together, separating evry remark only by this ‘|’ mark. In this way the response might work as a ’special effect’ and also maybe as a sort of tribute to the A.I.-scene that pokes in the gut of soo many people. At least half of the incoming response on the clip is ‘crying’-related. No matter how one looks at this scene - as a tearjerker, a masterfully crafted sensitive masterpiece or something in between - anyone can grasp that this kind of watery response in huge numbers on a video is unusual. You’ll find the response below. I’ve abbreviated many of the comments, but of course I didn’t correct their spelling errors.
OK, here we go… “I cried buckets of tears while a pang gripped my throat|I cried so hard while watching this video|I am a really big guy, bit this makes me cry like a five year old boy!|watched this again to see if it is as sad as i remembered…. and it is *in tears*|It’s so sad…but it’s also so beautiful. It touches something deep inside of you. Tanks Mr. spielberg for these tears|I stopped at 2:33 because I knew waterworks were coming|I tried to use this movie as an example in an essay. I cried like a baby instead|Nothing like having your heart ripped out your chest!back then i cried like a fucking bitch and right now, i’m crying like a whore!| Read the rest of this entry »
An artist I’ve been admiring for many years is Natascha Nikeprelevic. With overtone singing as her basic means of musical expression she performs, improvises and interprets contemporary music. For a reference: on her MySpace page she mentions Pina Bausch, Kazuo Ohno, Robert Wilson, Michael Vetter and Karlheinz Stockhausen as her most important influences. Here’s a beautiful excerpt from ‘Alice in Wonderland’, her ‘journey of the human natural voice to the wonderland of synthetic sounds’.
Is there anything Natascha Nikeprelevic can’t do with her voice?
In Natascha Nikeprelevic’s work harmonic melodies and overtone arias emerge from what seem to be amorphous sound structures, noises and almost bizarre atonalities. Since 1997 she collaborates with Michael Vetter. Natascha Nikeprelevic has performed all over Europe and in the Far East and besides performing she also lectures for programmes of musicology, dance/theatre and jazz at several universities in and outside Europe.
An overtone singing workshop led by Natascha Nikeprelevic
And speaking of Natascha’s work, I can’t resist referring to a video and a soundscape I made for fun a few years ago, in which her voice is one of the predominant elements. This one…
Sébastien Giniaux is a marvellous french virtuoso guitarist. Absolutely brilliant. He plays all ‘the right notes’, does all the right timing, improvises with great imagination, knows exactly how to give the right feel to a piece and he incorporates in his compositions an interesting range of influences, varying from Balkan to Mali and from Classical to Gypsy Jazz/Jazz Manouche. This introduction to his latest album - ‘Mélodie des Choses’ - features some of his inspired playing with fellow musicians.
A picture I took of Valentina after her recital in Haarlem
What a musical triumph on Friday night 27 January 2012 in Haarlem, where Valentina played a recital. It was stunning-superb! In contrast to her recital in Delft on January 22nd - where she played on a terrible Yamaha - the stage in Haarlem offered far better conditions to help improve the performance and to stimulate Valentina to give her best. The Philharmonie in Haarlem had (from my position in the middle of its hall) good acoustics and Valentina played on a well prepared Steinway and - very crucial - one on which she had been practicing the past few days with good guidance of a piano technician. It paved the way to push Valentina to yet another extraordinary musical result. She played an astonishing programme, that covered many composers and a huge array of emotions: Beethoven’s Sonata No.26, Schumann’s Kinderszenen, Thalberg’s Grande Fantaisie Op.63, five Chopin Nocturnes and Liszt’s Totentanz.
Her touch ranged from the utmost delicacy to the most exuberant and extreme. In some pieces I heard an angelic poet (Schumann), in some a tempting siren (Chopin), in some a devilish lady with stainless steel in her mighty hands (like no one else really and totally amazing in the Totentanz!) and in yet other pieces all these musical powers greatly combined.
The Steinway that was put to the test by Valentina. Afterwards the instrument was diagnosed with PTS-syndrome, due to its peak-experiences on ‘1/27′
Throughout the evening the musical delivery was clearly articulated and expressed with subtlety in evry detail. The audience was spellbound and carried away by the eloquence of Valentina’s musical tale-telling, always interesting and alternating from sheer poetry to an amazing virtuosity that doesn’t look difficult for her.
There was a nice surprise at the beginning: because of Mozart’s birthday - on January 27th - Valentina started her recital with a brilliant execution of his Fantasia in C-minor, KV475. Then the programme unfolded as mentioned. The audience’s great enthusiasm (there was already a standing ovation before the break) was rewarded with three marvellous encores: first Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria’ (arranged by Liszt), then the charming Chopin Nocturne in E Flat Major Op.9, No.2 and Valentina ended with a mighty virtuoso-bravura piece: Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No.12.
This was a night to remember. Wow!
(click on picture to enlarge)
An article on Friday 20 January 2012 about virtuoso classical pianist and YouTube-sensation Valentina Lisitsa in dutch national newspaper De Volkskrant. Valentina plays in The Netherlands, on Sunday 22 january 2012 in Delft and on Friday 27 January 2012 in Haarlem. The article in De Volkskrant shows that more and more big media finally begin to recognise what I (see my videos of Valentina on the web) and so many people on YouTube have known for years already… the unique stature and greatness of Valentina!
Raga Unlimited growth rate figures (click on picture to enlarge)
The LinkedIn-group that I run, Raga Unlimited, launched on 12 December 2008, has now 344 members. Anyone interested and registered on LinkedIn can join, that is, after (my) admission (don’t worry, there have been no refusals so far). A lot of knowledgeable people show up in the ranks. 37% works in the music industry and 16% is active in arts & design. In 2011 the group’s membership figure more than doubled, from 150 to 343, that’s an increase of 193 members in one year. Most people joined in May (28x), June (29x) and December (29x). Today, New Year’s Day 2012, I’ve already welcomed one more newbie, so we’re talking about a membership growth rate of 1 per day so far this year :).
The group’s ‘mission statement’ (click on picture to enlarge)
A couple of days ago - on 18 December - Valentina Lisitsa published on her YouTubechannel a wonderful performance of Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria’, transcribed for piano by Liszt. In the comment on her video Valentina made this suggestion: “If you feel creative, please go ahead and make better visuals - or just use it as a soundtrack for a self-made Christmas card (..).” As I was planning to make a Christmas & New Year-video, I took my chance and combined Valentina’s awesome playing with some footage that I thought would fit in nicely and so on the evening of Thursday 22 December I made this video… and oh, don’t forget to play in HD.
I reported earlier on ‘Raga Unveiled’, an ambitious cinematic effort to take a look at the history and essence of the Hindustani classical music system. In this film - directed by Gita Desai and released in 2009 - scholars and great artists of today unveil the raga and demonstrate evrything you always would have liked to know about Indian classical music.
Part 1
Part 2
For anyone interested in raga music this 260 minute-film is a ‘must’ and of course it’s needless to say that you should see and buy the film on dvd in much better quality.
