Melodies Linger On – Notes from a Composer: Recent Episodes
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Video of the complete performance in the Cherry Esplanade section of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden March 22.
The Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center Friday night Ed and I attended the Met Opera performance of Beethoven’s one and only opera “Fidelio”, and it was glorious. I generally don’t cry at operas, but I did so twice this time, … Continue reading →
Another Year of the BBG’s Fabulous Light Show The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is in its fourth year of what appears to be an ongoing annual holiday tradition: Lightscape. Every year multiple artists create extravagant lightfilled sculptures and lightshows within and … Continue reading →
Pics and Clips from Her Farewell Tour Concert 1986 I attended Cyndi Lauper’s True Colors tour Madison Square Garden performance. Almost 40 years later she (and I) returned to MSG for the Girls Just Want to Have Fun Farewell Tour … Continue reading →
An Underwater Exploration with Musical Accompaniment The other day Ed and I went to Coney Island in the south of Brooklyn, and spent many hours enjoying the wonders of the aquarium. Underwater worlds from coral reefs to canyon gorges, multitudes … Continue reading →
The Polite The Boors The Cute The Rolling Scones The Beach Bots Supercramp Tears for Pears Thompson Twigs Stye Piss Van Haven The Why Yet The Why W2 Sample songs: Excuse Me For Standing So Close To You (The Polite) … Continue reading →
I spent 10 days in Cannes, attending the famous film festival on the Croisette. It’s my first Cannes. This will be the first in a series of blog posts of Cannes impressions, of the festival, the movies, the town. Below … Continue reading →
Aribert Reimann with my mother, Catherine Gayer, at rehearsal in 1971 Two Thursdays ago my mother called me from Berlin. Normally we talk on Sundays, so I was curious what occasioned this call. “Aribert Reimann has died”, she told me, … Continue reading →
This year’s LIGHTSCAPE at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is the most spectacular and elegant to date.
The German radio station Deutschlandfunk has posted a 55 minute program interviewing the opera soprano Catherine Gayer, and playing excerpts from her fantastic 60+ year career, highlighting her work with contemporary music. Listen to it here. Oh, Catherine Gayer just … Continue reading →
La Triviata Famous beauty ruins her lungs while playing Trivial Pursuit. CARMEX The Habanera declares that “L’Ipgloss est un oiseau rebel” when beeswax falls for menthol who then runs away with camphor. The Magic Klute After surviving the Fire and … Continue reading →
Childhood Anecdote and Queer Cornucopia Last Tuesday I attended “Der Rosenkavalier” for the first time. Or rather I attended all three acts of Richard Strauss’ opera “Der Rosenkavalier” for the first time. Family lore has it that I attended Act … Continue reading →
Filming the Deadly Progress of the Pendulum The most famous image from Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short story “The Pit and the Pendulum” is of the sword swinging back and forth, coming down ever closer over the hapless protagonist tied … Continue reading →
“The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre” is playing as part of the Offshore Film Festival, enjoying its inaugural year in the tony vacation town of Montauk at the far eastern tip of Long Island. The festival runs today … Continue reading →
If I was hopeful that the dark times might brighten after the Orange Menace was evicted by the people, well, those hopes look if not dashed, surely bruised and battered on the floor. Homegrown fascism and bigotry have only more … Continue reading →
One point for each correct answer. No googling! – since I didn’t use google to come up with these questions (only to spell check afterwards) – which is a bit of a brag, yes, yet maybe also revealing something questionable … Continue reading →
Here is a little portrait gallery from “The Pit and the Pendulum – a musicabre“, my second short film musical adaptation of a classic Edgar Allan Poe short story (after “The Tell-Tale Heart – a musicabre“). I’m focusing on close-ups … Continue reading →
TELL-TALE RETURNS TO FLORIDA IN AUGUST “The Tell-Tale Heart – a musicabre“, my musical short film Edgar Allan Poe adaptation, has been making the festival rounds since November 2019. And it’s still going strong, even though a one year to … Continue reading →
Friday I attended the live Adam Lambert concert. I missed out on his last concert appearance in New York because it sold out before I made it to the ticket website. But this time I got my ticket early. And … Continue reading →
“The Tell-Tale Heart – a musicabre” receives three SOFIE Award nominations from The Short Film Awards At 37 minutes, “The Tell-Tale Heart – a musicabre” falls within the 40 minute maximum length for short films as established by major film … Continue reading →
I just learned that Diana Rigg passed. Rest in Peace, Diana Rigg. Diana Rigg was probably my first childhood celebrity crush. I likely first loved Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins the way tots love their nannies, but I had my … Continue reading →
Boogieing Away the COVID 19 Blues New York City’s gyms were shut down four days after Broadway and one day after the schools. Six days later the whole state would be ordered to shelter at home. There was to … Continue reading →
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO RECEIVING THIS AWARD I received this email Sunday: Dear DANNY ASHKENASI, Congratulations! We are happy to announce that your film “THE TELL-TALE HEART – A MUSICABRE“ was a WINNER in our Quarterly Festival’s latest edition in the following … Continue reading →
The Pierre Cardin: Future Fashion exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum is coming to a close today. I went last Thursday, and found my shutterbug instincts whipped up until my cellphone needed recharging. Here are some of the images that … Continue reading →
A Photo Stroll around New York City’s biggest Holiday Market, plus a little Yuletide Music Quiz. answers tucked in the tags at the bottom of this post Yuletide Song Quiz 1: What is the name of the … Continue reading →
Well, one long national nightmare is finally over… It’s been too long. He should not have been invited onto the show in the first place, because it was likely from the beginning and now has been painfully born … Continue reading →
Just a little amuse bouche of photo and music quiz in between larger courses of Two-fisted Touristing Ed and I stayed a few days in an airbnb 20 miles south of the Grand Canyon (major photo blog post to … Continue reading →
East of Las Vegas. West of Lake Mead. North of the Hoover Dam. A Day in Valley of Fire State Park. We start our tour of the Valley of Fire in and amongst the Beehives, wonderfully fabulous … Continue reading →
Some views out the window on our flight home from Wisconsin will accompany this music quiz (as ever the answers are tucked within the tags below). Sky Music Query #1: Who sings this song called “Big Sky”? … Continue reading →
Includes the “Red” music quiz All answers, as ever here at Notes from a Composer, are tucked inside the tags below. Red Music Query #1: We all remember Prince’s “Purple Rain”. Which pop/rock legend sings “Red … Continue reading →
Lily Song Query 1: Who is the classic Hollywood star here singing about Lily Marlene? (As ever with these quizzes, the answers can be found tucked in the tags below) Tiger Song Query 1: Name the boxing movie that … Continue reading →