Wearing Your Music on Your Gown

by Maureen Buja

The 2023 Met Gala brought out all kinds of dresses, including Karl Lagerfeld’s 40-year-old violin dress, designed in 1983 for Chloé, worn here by Olivia Wilde.

Olivia Wilde in Lagerfeld

But Lagerfeld wasn’t the only designer to find his inspiration in the instruments of music. Viktor and Rolf used pink violins to great effect in 2008.

Viktor & Rolf, Spring 2008 Ready-to-Wear (photo by Marcio Madeira)

In fact, if we go back to 1939, we have Elsa Schiaparelli’s music dress in white organza and gloves, embroidered with coloured metallic threads.

Elsa Schiaparelli, 1939 (Met Museum)

In 1988, Yves Saint Laurent’s Spring collection used Braque’s musical instruments as its inspiration.

Michael G. Cunningham: Free Designs: IV. Georges Braque (Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra; Vit Micka, cond.)

Yves Saint Laurent, Braque, Spring 1988 Couture

In their Fall 2011 Ready-to-Wear collection, Threeasfour used parts of real instruments in their design, such as this violin body.

Threeasfour, Fall 2011 Ready-to-Wear, Violin

Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli created Valentino’s Spring 2014 show completely based on opera, including this dress based on La Traviata that was later worn by Katy Perry to the 2014 GRAMMY Awards.

Giuseppe Verdi: La traviata – Act I: Dell’invito trascorsa e gia l’ora (Rosanna Carteri, Violetta; Rome Opera House Chorus; Rome Opera House Orchestra; Pierre Monteux, cond.)

Valentino, La Traviata, Spring 2014 Couture

Katy Perry at the 2014 Grammy’s in Valentino

For the Spring 2017 Ready-to-Wear collection, Dolce & Gabbana used the familiar keyboard design for a very short skirt, worn under a highly elaborate jacket.

Dolce & Gabbana, Spring 2017 ready-to-wear

For the Spring 2020 catwalks, Jeremy Scott for Moschino also dipped into Braque’s cubist instruments.

Yellow Violin, Moschino

Pink Guitar, Moschino

And Kerby Jean-Raymond for Pyer Moss used not only the familiar piano key pattern but also the shapes of instruments, such as the curve of an electric guitar on a lapel.

Pyer Moss, Spring 2020, Ready-to-Wear – Piano top

Pyer Moss, Spring 2020, Ready-to-Wear, Piano bag

Pyer Moss, Spring 2020, Ready-to-Wear Piano – Red with Keyboard

Pyer Moss, Spring 2020, Ready-to-Wear – Guitar Lapel

If all this is just a bit too high-style, then we can look at the new villain character for next season’s Doctor Who. Played by actor Jinkx Monsoon, the character’s costume not only has a piano keyboard extra- extra-wide lapel but also a piano keyboard lining to her ominous cape.

Jinkx Monsoon, 2023

And all of this is just a small part of how music has become part of couture.

Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin

36,510,687 views May 26, 2008

Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin Moody Blues - Nights in White Satin Nights in white satin, Never reaching the end, Letters Ive written, Never meaning to send. Beauty Id always missed With these eyes before, Just what the truth is I cant say anymore. cause I love you, Yes, I love you, Oh, how, I love you. Gazing at people, Some hand in hand, Just what Im going thru They can understand. Some try to tell me Thoughts they cannot defend, Just what you want to be You will be in the end, And I love you, Yes, I love you, Oh, how, I love you. Oh, how, I love you. Nights in white satin, Never reaching the end, Letters Ive written, Never meaning to send. Beauty Id always missed With these eyes before, Just what the truth is I cant say anymore. cause I love you, Yes, I love you, Oh, how, I love you. Oh, how, I love you. cause I love you, Yes, I love you, Oh, how, I love you. Oh, how, I love you. Awakening (Awakened), Christ Consciousness, Consciousness Exploration, Cosmic Consciousness, Electronic Voice Phenomena, Empathy, Enlightenment, Esoteric, God, Healing, Inner-Peace, Love, Meditation, Mental and Spiritual Healing, Metaphysical Phenomena, Metaphysics, Music, NDE, Near-Death Experiences, New Age, Nirvana, OBEs, Occult, Out-of-Body Experiences, Paranormal, Personal Transformation, Philosophy, Psychedelics, Robert Monroe, Samadhi, Self-Help, Self-Realization, Spiritualism, Spirituality, The Monroe Institute, Visionary Art, Yoga

Catherine, Princess of Wales plays piano in incredible surprise cameo at Eurovision

Catherine, Princess of Wales plays piano in the Crimson Drawing Room of Windsor Castle, for the opening sequence of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Grand Final. Picture: Alex Bramall

By Classic FM

@ClassicFM

 

Catherine, Princess of Wales, stunned Eurovision viewers with a surprise cameo appearance playing piano as the song competition finale began.

As is tradition, the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 opened with a ‘flag parade’, as performers from the 26 competing countries assembled in the UK’s Liverpool Arena, to a soundtrack of musical performances.

Amongst them: a surprise piano performance from Catherine, Princess of Wales.

This year’s theme was a celebration of Ukraine, as Liverpool hosted the event on behalf of the country since the ongoing Russian invasion made it impossible for last year’s Eurovision winners to do so.

Read more: Catherine, Princess of Wales is a former pianist with a solid grade 5 music theory

Kalush Orchestra - Voices of a New Generation | Grand Final | Eurovision 2023 #UnitedByMusic 🇺🇦🇬🇧

The performance kicked off with 2022 Eurovision winners, Kalush Orchestra, performing ‘Voices of a New Generation’.

The performance blended their winning song ‘Stefania’ with string quartet, a guitar-shredding solo by 2022 runner-up Sam Ryder atop the city’s Royal Liver Building, a ballet performance, and piano cameos from the Princess of Wales and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Wearing a royal blue dress in a subtle nod to the Ukrainian flag, the Princess of Wales played a short segment on the piano against the rich, red backdrop of Windsor Castle’s Crimson Drawing Room. 

The opening segment also featured a piano performance by the great British composer and musical theatre legend, Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Following the broadcast on Saturday 13 May, the Kalush Orchestra released a statement thanking the Princess of Wales for joining their performance.

They also extended an invitation for her to join them on a future tour: “We would definitely like to invite her to tour with us if she would like to pursue a new career in a hip-hop folk band?!”  he Princess of Wales’ first public piano appearance was on Christmas Eve in 2021, when she accompanied singer-songwriter Tom Walker in ‘For Those Who Can’t Be Here’ at Westminster Abbey, dedicating the performance to the ‘unsung heroes’ of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Princess learned piano as a young girl, taking lessons with Daniel Nicholls between the ages of 10 and 13. She is also known to have achieved Grade 5 in singing and music theory, having reportedly been deputy head chorister in her chapel choir, as well as having played flute in a chamber orchestra and flute choir, alongside her sister Pippa.

An epic ‘Nessun Dorma’ that leaves a Royal Albert Hall audience in awe

By Kyle Macdonald

 

One of the great singers of our time, brings Puccini’s timeless opera masterpiece to an iconic concert hall. It’s a performance not many will ever forget.

“Vincerò!” or “I will win!” – it’s the famous and always moving climax to the aria from Puccini’s opera Turandot.

The aria is one of those very special moments of music that has gripped and enchanted millions over the years. It found truly global fame in the 1990s thanks to Luciano Pavarotti, Italia 90, and Three Tenors CDs that were on virtually everyone’s shelf.

Its drama and power, combined with that enduring public appeal makes it a natural show-stopper in live performances.

And so it was on this night, before 5,000 people at London’s Royal Albert Hall, during an opera-themed Classic FM Live with Viking.

But there’s always more than just those high notes at the very end of the aria. And on that night, there was a singer perfectly matched to reveal every glorious, moving moment of ‘Nessun Dorma’. Watch above.

Michael Spyres at Classic FM Live. Picture: Classic FM

Michael Spyres is an American opera singer. He’s rare for the fact that he can sing in both baritone and tenor voice types. His range spans from the rich and resonant baritone register, up to the highest notes of most agile Bel Canto tenor. Alongside the Puccini, he also gave us a Rossini baritone aria that night.

It’s one of the reasons why this performance was so special. 

Michael Spyres and conductor Paul Daniel at Classic FM Live with Viking. Picture: Matt Crossick

Puccini sets the scene with hushed orchestra, on this occasion it played by English National Opera and conductor Paul Daniel. The singer then enters, pleading ‘Nessun dorma’ – first in the middle of his register, and then low. Then that powerful lyricism starts. This is all perfect territory for Spyres to show off that sonority and voice.

From these opening cries, to the final ‘Vincerò!’ on that winning high B, it’s a journey like few others in music. Spyres held that hall in rapt silence, before everyone erupted. ‘Nessun dorma’ does it every time.

Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond 1990 Live Video

96,798,033 views

Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond 1974 (Album Wish You Were Here 1975) "Live at Knebworth" 1990 Hertfordshire, England David Gilmour - Guitars, Vocals Nick Mason - Drums Rick Wright - Keyboards Guy Pratt - Bass Candy Dulfer - Saxophone Jon Carin - Keyboards Music Festival in Knebworth Park

Heart - Stairway to Heaven (Live at Kennedy Center Honors) [FULL VERSION]

Don Jack

104K subscribers

36,257,730 views Jun 16, 2014

Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, along with Jason Bonham, playing Stairway to Heaven as a tribute for Led Zeppelin on Dec. 2, 2012 at Kennedy Center. It was televised by CBS on Dec. 26, 2012, but as a short version. This is the full version released on iTunes in 2013. No copyright infringement intended.