Thursday, July 5, 2012

Conductor Mariss Jansons and the Music Behind the Notes

At the Guardian, The Observer's Fiona Maddocks reports in an article headlined:

Mariss Jansons: 'The notes are just signs. You have to go behind them:
"Mariss Jansons is regarded by many as the best conductor in the world. On the eve of a visit to the UK with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw he talks about his Latvian roots, his heart attack on the podium, and why he's never satisfied with his performances"

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The BOSS is Back! YouTube: We Take Care Of Our Own (With Lyrics) - Bruce Springsteen

Maybe better than just talking politics....

See Bruce Springsteen on YouTube and
We Take Care Of Our Own (With Lyrics)

Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball is a Populist Vision of the USA, via The Blog at the Huffington Post

Wrecking Ball: Springsteen's Populist Vision of America is the title of Russell G. Smith's review of the new album by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
Smith writes:
"Taken as a whole, the songs present a stark view of the current state of America...."
Read the entire review.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Quad Loudspeakers Revisited at the Robb Report

Home Electronics: What Hath Quad Wraught? | Robb Report
"With replacement panels no longer available from the factory, owners have sought myriad remedies, from performing homemade repairs to purchasing new panels from the German firm QUAD Musikwiedergabe (www.quad-musik.de), which has been licensed to manufacture the original design since 1996....

To some Quad connoisseurs, the best-sounding ESL-57s are the ones brought back to life by Quads Unlimited of Longwood, Fla. Wayne Picquet...."


Thursday, July 15, 2010

Latvian Tenor Israel Feigelson Sings Verdi's La Traviata with Riga Opera Soprano Elfrida Pakule (1956)

YouTube - TENOR ISRAEL FEIGELSON SINGS VERDI (uploaded to YouTube by fenterp)

Latvian tenor Israel Feigelson (1921-1991) in live excerpts from Verdi's "La Traviata" with Elfrida Pakule (20 May 1912 -- 31 December 1991), in 1956 singer and soloist of the Latvian Opera in Riga (coloratura soprano), plus a recital performance of the Count's Song from "Rigoletto" in 1977.

Elfrida Pakule was a sister first cousin of Emma Pakule, grandmother of Andis Kaulins, owner of "Make it Music".



Friday, July 9, 2010

Sesta Judze ("The Sixth Mile", Sestā Jūdze) : A Popular Country Music Group from Latvia

Agris Gedrovics, my second cousin, is the founder and lead singer of the very popular Latvian country group Sestā Jūdze, which has received many country music awards.

My current favorite is their album Emigrants - which you can download at Hello.dj.






One can also hear some of the group's music for free at their MySpace pages here.

Sesta Judze means "The Sixth Mile" or simply "Sixth Mile". Sestā Jūdze is the correct orthographic spelling in Latvian - pronounced Sess-tah You-dzeh with the emphasis always on the first syllable of each word .

Their album Kalendārs (video ad here) is available for download at Micrec.lv (payment required).

Downloadable songs (payment required) are found at Doremi.lv.

Sestā Jūdze consists of the band members Agris Gedrovics (Gedrovičs), Gatis Leitis, Modris Mikelsons (Miķelsons), Aldis Strazdins (Strazdiņš), Janis Misins (Misiņš) -- the Latvian orthography is in parentheses.

See also a sample YouTube video at Sestā Jūdze Smiltenē (Sesta Judze in Smiltene).

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Google Currently Projects Germany's Candidate Lena as the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest Winner in Oslo, Norway based on the present Search Results

Google currently projects Germany's candidate Lena as the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest Winner based on search results, where Lena has a substantial lead over other competitors.

See
Google projects winner based on search results | News | Eurovision Song Contest - Oslo 2010.

There are many excellent songs and performers this year, but it is unlikely that Lena can lose, given the unique nature of her song.