Once Upon a Time in America
Visually, the film is stunning. Leone’s attention to detail, from the sepia-toned streets of 1920s New York to the lavish interiors of gangster hideouts, immerses the audience in a bygone era.
What a Way to Conduct Themselves
Sir Thomas Beecham, one of England’s great conductors, on finishing his Australian tour was asked by a reporter when he would be returning. He replied: ‘Does anyone ever return to Australia?’
Playing the Right Notes brings Joy
The world is a wonderful place. What you sow, you reap. Please help others as best as you can. In the long run, you may be helping yourself. The universe never forgets anyone who sows a good seed in others, never.
SPAIN’S SHAMEFUL SECRET REVEALED ~ VIDEO
As the sun settles over Seville’s Plaza de Espana the mournful melody of a guitar completes the rapture. Your head swims with delight to Sueno en la Floresta. The incomparable beautiful evocation of Iberian charm was composed by Paraguayan, Agustin Barrios Mangore, who John Williams described as the […]
Hitting the Wrong and Right Notes
As the night’s entertainment arrived, I glanced at my watch; it was 9.40pm. Rarely did I visit a pub on my own but that night I was at a loose end and I thought, why not. A man’s spirit and his mortality embrace whilst gazing at the bar’s […]
The Story behind the world’s most loved Christmas Carol
In 1816 Joseph Mohr created the text Silent Night! in the form of a poem in Mariapfarr in the Lungau region where he was living at the time. 1818 In the schoolhouse of Arnsdorf, on Christmas Eve, Franz Xaver Gruber composes a melody to fit the text. 1818 Silent Night! Holy […]
THE STORY BEHIND THE WORLD’S MOST LOVED CHRISTMAS CAROL
Leipzig, 1824: Ernst Anschütz, the choirmaster of the Saint Georg church, is preparing for Christmas festivities. He’s looking for suitable old songs that can be adapted for young listeners. Along the way, he discovers something in a different vein. Written by Joachim August Zarnack, it’s a tragic love […]
The real history behind The Phantom of the Opera
MICHAEL WALSH MUSIC CORRESPONDENT. Is The Phantom of the Opera based on a true story? Yes and no — the plot of The Phantom of the Opera is fictional but parts are inspired by true stories and legends. While everything in the musical did not actually happen, many elements of the show […]
Charles Aznavour: The Legend who immortalized a woman without a name
International crooner Charles Aznavour (1924-2018) immortalized the hit ballad ‘She.’ Unusual for a balladeer, he once accepted an invitation to become Armenia’s ambassador to Switzerland. It was an unusual appointment for an entertainer by any account but more so when we remember he was 84 years old when […]
THE MUSIC BEHIND BRIEF ENCOUNTER AND DOCTOR ZHIVAGO
Elton John says it for many people: ‘I regard all pop music as irrelevant in the sense that people in 200 years won’t be listening to what is being written and played today. I think they will be listening to Beethoven.’ The music we leave for the enjoyment […]
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