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ETA: And because it's almost Christmas and I'm in the mood for more Tom, here's a link to a youtube video I can't embed in here. Tom sang "Human remains" (the song I love and that he NEVER sings in Paris!) with the Matangi Quartet in November in Eindhoven . And here are links to other videos, same place, same day, singing "My Vampire Heart" and "I Won' Lie" and Language Of Fools, and  Draw Down The Stars (in which he recorded his voice and sang over it as he did in Paris). There is never enough Tom to see and listen to.

Yesterday evening S. and I went out for dinner and for a movie. We saw Tarantino 's Inglourious Basterds which I did like, as the great crazy uchronia it is, despite the fact that we arrived only 5 minutes before the showing and therefore ended in the first row (S. appreciated it for he has long legs but we were too close to the screen and to the speakers!). It is not a masterpiece but it is a good Tarantino.

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Speaking of good stuff, I re-watched Caprica pilot and enjoyed it even more than the first time. It's partly due to the deep sadness the pilot conveys (what did you expect I'm a fan of Tom McRae!), both because it's a prequel and we know that Caprica is doomed while the characters are clueless, and because of the pilot arc and how the connection between the Adamas and the Graystones started. It is also due to the first-class acting from Eric Stoltz who found the perfect role in Daniel Graystone, and, to the score.

Bear McCreary composed a beautiful soundtrack indeed. It's spot-on and the pilot wouldn't be the same without it. Bear's music has really become a key element of the BSG world/mythology in its own right. However the score doesn't imitate the themes he composed for Battlestar Galactica. Here it is more "classical" and elegant, often haunting and melancholy, sometimes nagging like a persistent pain (it's all about grieving and longing) but never indulging in schmaltz. Bear plays around a main melody and intertwines various themes in a complex yet evident way. I have been listening to the soundtrack for hours now. Here's the last track, a sort of medley of the major themes.

Bear himself explains its structure: "The first sound you hear is Paul Cartwright’s solo fiddle playing the Tauron Theme.  At 0:25, the chamber orchestra sneaks in playing the Graystone Theme.  At 1:02, after the theme is fully stated, the low strings enter with an ominous version of the Graystone Ostinato. From there, a harp begins the Tauron Ostinato at 1:22.  A solo flute introduces a full statement of the Tauron Theme, at 1:30, and the orchestra begins cascading variations of that melody and ostinato, building intensity. At 2:44, the strings and bassoons burst into an energetic version of the Daniel Ostinato that gradually fades out at the end of the track."


Bear McCreary actually explained in details how he worked on Caprica score on that wonderful blog of his. It's a fascinating read.

( Thoughts about what might happen in the series )
I know there's a long wait until the series begins in January but I look forward to watching it. As for those on my flist who weren't BSG fans but might consider watching its spin-off for James Marsters only, I strongly urge them to watch the pilot first.

LJ is very quiet in my corner these days but I'm totally stealing stormwreath's idea of music meme !

Can you guess 20 of songs(in English) that I often play on my computer, from the first two lines (or the first two lines of the chorus if the title appears int he first two lines of the song)? Gimme the title, the artist and if possible, the album.

Turns out that four of them are Buffy-related and one is Dollhouse-related!

1. When the wind blows and the rain feels cold /With a head full of snow
2. There's always a party on a funeral row, where the cross flashes red to the street.
3. The dance of the puppets /The rusted chains of prison moons
5. Maybe I didn't love you quite as good as I should have, maybe I didn't hold you quite as often as I could have,
6. It's a god-awful small affair/to the girl with a mousy hair
7. Before you slip into unconsciousness/I'd like to have another kiss
8. Oh, Mario,/Sit here by the window;
9. Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go/just put me in a wheelchair, get me on a plane
10. I bruise you, you bruise me/we both bruise too easily
11. Out on the wiley, windy moors/Wed roll and fall in green.
12. this is what you get/ this is what you get,
13. Every man has a place, in his heart theres a space/And the world cant erase his fantasies
14. A stoness throw from Jerusalem/ I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight
15. Waking to these sounds again / I wonder how I'll sleep
16. Holding hands/Skipping like a stone/On our way/To see what we have done
17. I'm coming up only to hold you under/ I'm coming up only to show you wrong
18. Well you can bump and grind/ If it's good for your mind
19. No one knows what its like/To be the bad man
20. When I look up from my pillow/ I dream you are there with me


ETA - songs already guessed are in italics.

So yesterday I spent 4:30 hours (including two interludes) at the opera. I did enjoy that Lohengrin even though I wasn't always convinced by Carsen's mise en scène. The voices were great. Waltraud Meier was a vibrant and flamboyant Ortrud and Mireille Delunsch's performance as Elsa was more than just credible. Ben Heppner sang well too but I must say that he's not very convincing as the young and handsome Swan Knight. He looked a bit ridiculous in his armour, and was still heavy and clumsy in his suit.

Lohengrin isn't my favourite opera but the famous ouverture with the violins is sublime, and so is the prelude before the last Act. Also what I like is the fact it's based on a fake suspense and somewhat of a misunderstanding. The big secret of the Swan Knight that he reveals only in the end is his name...which happens to be the title of the opera!

Of course the secrecy that surrounds the Swan Knight, Elsa being saved by him but not being allowed to question him about his origins and her blind faith in her fiancé/husband is an allegory of Christian's faith since Lohengrin is Parsifal's son and the Knight of the Holy Grail.

Also the opera is more about Elsa and Ortrud than about Lohengrin himself. The two women mirror each other. One is mystical, quite hysterical actually, the other is a calculator, plotting her revenge. One is good and innocent, the other is evil. I can't help thinking of Shakespeare there. Ortrud is to Elsa what Iago is to Othello. She's perfidious but she may be there only to represent that part of Elsa that cannot die...the side that still calls upon the ancient gods (Wotan and Freia), that side that keeps doubting. Ortrud never gave up, she doesn't bow and she's still alive in the end.

What's the connection with Buffy? Well, when BTVS was on and I was posting on the BC&S spoiler board one of my hobby-horses was to seek and point out links to opera works. I found many and I may post someday, on LJ, a compendium of all the opera stuff that we can find on Buffy but until I get around to writing it...

I keep eating chocolate and cookies, and drinking coke...

But as usual, Chopin helps me to go through the papers. I don't know why but for me it's the best music to mark on. I tried Holst's  The Planets earlier but it was less efficient. And when it's Samson François who plays Chopin, Marking Hell tastes a bit like heaven.

He looked like a poet and played piano like a poet, and of course his life ended too soon due to a reckless spendthrift lifestyle and a surfeit of alcohol, tobacco and drugs..

I think I'll go on with The Preludes when the beautiful 4th Ballade is finished.