Ray

I couldn't have put it better; there's no socialist plot afoot to divest the connoisseur of his hard-won artefact. And what's also part of the story, again, is the disingenuosness of the parties involved.

The author of the blog squarely takes issue with this: i.e., she argues that the writings of Shelley are part of Britain's national heritage, and as such must not be held privately, even if the artefact of the text may be. Quartich is acting "reasonably" only by one logic, quite unreasonably by others. Besides, it's already been sold. Furthermore, it's disingenuous and cynical for Quartich to add the lustrous phrase that the poem "represents a major find for Shelley and Romantic scholarship" if scholars can't read it.

I found this recent Guardian blog post , about the fact that even the contents of a newly discovered Shelley poem remains inaccessible to the public, fascinating. Perhaps we can draw some parallels to the Balanchine Trust's miserliness in re not allowing representations of GB's works to circulate?

There are some great models out there for controlled YouTube postings, where "control" doesn't equate to suppression.

I just wish the Trust would think a bit more strategically about electronic distribution as a vital part of their mission to preserve. I think it's awfully shortsighted to think it's enough just to disseminate the work through live performances. You have to get people IN to those performances; you also have to allow people to meditate on what they've seen (as any playgoer or music listener can do) by being able to watch it again (perhaps compare it to other performances) on video. I KNOW ABOUT THE COST ISSUES, but I'm not convinced that the Trust considers that widespread electronic dissemination is important enough for them to fight for.

I've been mulling over this comment, because I think it can be applied to so many other areas. As a figure skating fan, I've been trained by the fan culture to look for the "perfect" performance, unmarred by a step out of a jump landing, or traveling on a spin. Fortunately the new scoring system rewards the positives of performance in total, instead of awarding medals based on lack of mistakes. Somehow we've got to reclaim the original appreciation part of Art. I'm not sure if you're asking a question here, though, or making a statement; I think it's the latter. If so, who is the "we" here? I feel perfectly capable myself of appreciating "Art" and analyzing its technical aspects. I'm more than willing to give a pass to less technically accomplished dancers if there's something I like about their performance. What do you think the problem is with this in ballet, and how do you see it manifesting itself? Audience reactions? Critics? The decisions dance companies make?

Yes, I wasn't sure which was worse: her rendition of "Clowns" or the fact that she actually won. Ghastly!

No, but plenty that have ended in it (SOMEone had to say it!). OK, back to serious discussion now.

Dancers have very little say as to what they perform where. It's Artistic Directors and presenters you should be asking.

I like this one too. I have to say, though, I prefer the more informal-seeming, mostly choral singing emerging from the crowd than the more set apart, aria-focused performance in Valencia. And the canned music in Philly works better for me than the chintzy-sounding electronic rendition in Valencia. (And Diane, I think they stayed together so well b/c the music was being played pretty loudly. You can see someone holding their ears--unless they just don't like opera, which is possible!)

This book has my name all over it! There's a launch party for it on June 8 at BookCourt, Brooklyn (163 Court Street between Pacific and Dean).

I'm happy to say that this happened in Philadelphia: http://www.bilerico.com/2010/05/classiest_flash_mob_ever.php

I'm not going to attack or defend her performance art, but I did find her personal history much more engrossing than I imagined I would. I was fascinated by her parents' heroism in WWII, for instance.

Balanchine's Gounod Symphony. The music is so similar to Bizet's symphony in C; I'm intrigued as to how B handles the similarities (the pictures I've seen look quite different from his Symphony in C). I don't know if it's been performed since the 1985 revival. Also, I've somehow never seen B's Tombeau de Couperin, and I'd like to.

I liked September Songs, that 1997 CD of rock singers covering Kurt Weill, especially Elvis Costello singing "Lost in the Stars" and Lou Reed doing "September Song." But I suppose Weill is more amenable to crossover interpretations than a lot of other composers... (The CD has other kinds of singers on it too--Teresa Stratas and Betty Carter, for instance.)

You know, looking back at the title and original post of this thread, I think we need to clarify what "irregular" means. There's nothing irregular, for instance, about the uses of 5/4 we've been discussing--the time signature is adhered to w/out exception (i.e., regularly) in both the Tchaikovsky pieces, for instance. 5/4 in these pieces (and perpahs in some of the Folk music Sandik refers to) is irregular only in contrast to the prevailing preponderance of Western rhythms based on double and triple meters.

I think people just say that as a way to try to categorize it, Tchai. 6 being exemplary in this regard--the movement where it's used appears in the symphony where a waltz movement might appear, and it has a kind of lilt to it, like a waltz. And if you were to do a step to it on every beat, as one does in a waltz, it would alternate feet/sides. But one need look no further than Sapphire in Beauty to hear a 5/4 that doesn't evoke a waltz at all.

One of the fairy variations in Sleeping Beauty is in 5/4 -- anyone recall whose? EDITED TO ADD: So sorry, didn't see the post above that already discussed this!

....to strains of Rite. Not the first film to do this, surely.

Boy with a scintillating title like that, they should get a couple of dozen viewers, at least!

Of her career in the postwar 1940s, she described herself as "a butterfly pinned to a column, singing songs in Movieland." Fascinating life.

What a coincidence--I just read about this in the Tchai. biography by Wiley. If we're thinking about the same sound effect, it's from a flute-playing technique called frullato (sounds delicious), an Italian term for flutter-tonguing (sounds salacious).

Considering his interest in ballet, Wiley doesn't mention Balanchine or any other of Tchaikovsky's posthumous dance interpreters at all (and yes, he does discuss those who came after Tchaikovsky's death, most notably Stravinsky). Interestingly, he provides a wonderful description of the violin cadenza that begins theme 10 in the theme and variations section of Suite No. 3, which Balanchine used for a pas de deux in Theme and Variations: "It is a ballerina's music in the sparse texture, nuances of tempo, and unobtrusive arabesques in the winds .... Tchaikovsky has introduced an imperial, even Petersburgian image into his finale. ... he affirms the Petersburgian imagery in variation 12 [the final variation] with a massive polonaise. In its spacious dimensions and long approach to the main theme, it presses the boundary between theatrical conceit and the direct musical representation of imperial grandeur" (276-77). It's hard to believe Wiley hadn't seen Balanchine's work! In any case, I can't recommend this bio highly enough. The musical examples/descriptions using heavy terminology are easy to skim over (although I do wish I could sightread music better). I can hardly wait to get to Tchaikovsky's Ballets.

Thanks for all the suggestions. It's funny that you mention Una Kai. I just found out from Patricia Wilde that she lives here in Savannah about 5 minutes from my house. She was going to call her and see if she would meet with me to talk about Diana. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I hope you do! From my memories of working with her in Kansas City, she was very friendly and down-to-earth. And I'd love to hear--perhaps in a private message--how Pat is doing.

Just came across this link of Edwin Denby reading his poem "Subway."