Orson Welles | The 3rd Man (1949) Film-Noir, Thriller | Colorized Movie,...

384,961 views Premiered Jul 9, 2023 VIENNA

In postwar Vienna, Austria, Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives penniless as a guest of his childhood chum Harry Lime, only to learn he has died. Martins develops a conspiracy theory after learning of a “third man” present at the time of Harry’s death, running into interference from British officer Major Calloway, and falling head-over-heels for Harry’s grief-stricken lover, Anna. Original title: The Third Man (1949) Black & White version:    • The Third Man (19...   Director: Carol Reed Writers: Graham Greene, Orson Welles, Alexander Korda Cast: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli Genres: Colorized classic, Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller

10-year-old pianist plays Chopin’s Fantaisie Impromptu with extraordinary command and poise

 

By Kyle Macdonald

 

Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason is now one of the nation’s finest young musicians. This performance from 2013 gives an incredible insight into her developing talent.

Meet a 10-year-old who was in full command of music, giving a Chopin performance beyond her years.

The Fantaisie-Impromptu is a piece for solo piano at a breathless tempo, with rapid rolling broken chords in the left hand and flowing semi-quavers in the right. Composed in 1834, the fantasy showcases the full virtuosity, poetry and inventiveness of Chopin’s writing.

As fiendish and technical as it is, a talented pianist will have command of the notes. But as with the greatest music performances, it’s the expression, emotion and poetry beyond those notes that hit the heart.

And that’s just what we got from this talented youngster ten years ago. It’s a five-minute window into the musical ability of a prodigy who has already gone on to achieve great things.

The young player is Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, the third youngest of the seven siblings of the Kanneh-Mason family.

It was filmed by her father Stuart Mason for the family’s YouTube channel, which has showcased the almost unbelievable musical talents of the two brothers and five sisters as they have lived and grown with music.

The Kanneh-Mason family react to their very first viral video | Classic FM

“Jeneba plays Chopin with sensitivity and maturity beyond her tender age of only 10,” commented one YouTube user, on this performance. 

“Such technical ability and such emotion,” remarked another.

This video was recorded a few months after the young pianist gained Grade 8 Distinction and won the Nellie Greenhill Memorial Prize from the Associated Board for the highest marks in the Nottingham area.

Jeneba is now aged 20, and is studying at the Royal College of Music, where she holds the Victoria Robey Scholarship and studies piano with Vanessa Latarche.

Her talents now extend to great piano concertos with recent performances including Tchaikovsky, Ravel and Saint-Saëns’ concertos, as well as Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in One Movement with Chineke! Orchestra.

Jeneba was also among the young performers that were showcased at Classic FM’s Rising Stars with Julian Lloyd Webber in 2022. Watch her intoxicating performance of Liszt’s rollicking Hungarian Rhapsody No.2 below.

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason plays Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 | Classic FM’s Rising Stars

That raw talent and sense of poetry in music-making has only grown over a decade. She is a very special musician and one to watch into the future.

Romeo proposes to Juliet, after stunning ballet duet on stage at Verona Arena

Romeo proposes to Juliet, after stunning ballet duet on-stage at Verona Arena. Picture: Timofej Andrijashenko / Nicoletta Manni

By Maddy Shaw Roberts

 

A real life-Romeo proposed to his Juliet, on stage during a ballet celebration at the Arena di Verona.

On a balmy night in July, a Romeo and Juliet ‘Pas de deux’ ended in a proposal, for these two ballet dancers in Verona.

Timofej Andrijashenko and Nicoletta Manni had been together for seven years, and both dance at La Scala in Milan as primo ballerino and prima ballerina.

The pair had just performed the duet scene from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet on the stage of the Arena di Verona, the Italian city’s famously atmospheric open-air theatre, and were enjoying the audience’s applause.

As the ovation began to quieten, much to the delight of the audience, Timofej then ever so gracefully made the descent onto one knee. Shakespearean romance then became reality, as he popped the question to a stunned Nicoletta, whose reaction was all elation and adoration.

Speaking afterwards to Italian news agency ANSA, Nicoletta confessed she was “the only one who did not know” about the proposal.

Read more: 11-year-old Japanese dancer takes top ballet prize with this dazzling routine

The show, aptly named ‘Roberto Bolle and Friends’, was put on by the Italian dancer Robert Bolle in the summer of 2022.

Bolle, who is principal dancer étoile at La Scala Theatre Ballet, happens to be a friend of Timofej’s. After Timofej confided in his friend about his plans, Bolle suggested the romantic setting, and asked the couple to dance the Romeo and Juliet dance. 

From that point on, all behind the scenes of the show were involved in the elaborate staging.

Nicoletta’s brother, a lighting designer for the production, had hidden the ring on stage, for Timofej to pick up at the end of their duet.

At that moment, “time had slowed down,” Timofej told ANSA. “It seemed to me that it would never end, until I saw Nicoletta’s eyes looking at me.”

Timofej had also organised for Nicoletta’s parents to be in the audience that night, along with other close friends of theirs.

“I did not know that my boyfriend had organised everything perfectly, without telling me,” Nicoletta said. “He had invited my parents… my brother is a light-designer and is working at the Arena.

“All our dearest ones were there, without my knowledge.”

She said yes... Picture: Timofej Andrijashenko / Nicoletta Manni

Timofej waited until after the final applause, and waited until the other dancers had moved into their places.

“Let’s say that I haven’t recovered yet, I was already very happy to be able to play Juliet in Verona, her city, to dance the duo with Tima, the man I love, my Romeo,” she told the news agency.

It was the perfect setting – Verona, famous for its connection to the Shakespearean couple, and the city to which people from all over the world flock to indulge in the fantasy.

Nicoletta added that much like Romeo and Juliet, “Our love will be immortal”, before adding, “… but less tragic!”

Puccini - La Bohème - Musetta's Waltz

La Bohème is an opera in four acts, composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème (1851) by Henri Murger. The story is set in Paris around 1830, and shows the Bohemian lifestyle of a poor seamstress and her artist friends.

Irish singer Sinead O'Connor dies aged 56

BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Jul 27, 2023 07:58 AM

  

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Sinead O'Connor (AFP)

DUBLIN (AFP) - Irish pop singer Sinead O'Connor, who shot to worldwide fame in the 1990s, has died at the age of 56, Irish media reported on Wednesday.

Her family said it was with "great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinead. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time," Irish national broadcaster RTE reported.

Born in County Dublin, O'Connor made 10 albums in her career from "I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got" to 2014's "I'm not Bossy, I'm the Boss", and was best known for her cover of Prince's Nothing Compares 2 U, released in 1990.

Ireland's President Michael Higgins said Ireland had lost "one of our greatest and most gifted composers, songwriters and performers of recent decades".

He praiesd O'Connor's "fearless commitment to the important issues which she brought to public attention, no matter how uncomfortable those truths may have been".

Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar said O'Connor's "music was loved around the world and her talent was unmatched and beyond compare".

"Condolences to her family, her friends and all who loved her music," he added.

Instantly recognisable with her trademark shaved head, O'Connor courted controversy throughout her career, speaking out frequently against the Catholic Church.

Iconoclast

Beginning her career busking on the streets of the Irish capital and performing in pubs, she recorded her first album "The Lion and the Cobra" -- a punk cult classic released in 1987 -- in London.

The artist said she had been abused by her mother as a child and in 1992 protested the abuse of children by the Catholic Church tearing up a picture of Pope John Paul II performing on US television programme Saturday Night Live.

In recent years O'Connor had melded her outspoken political views with spiritualism and was ordained as a priest amid controversy in 1999.

She later converted to Islam, changing her name to Shuhada' Sadaqat in 2018.

Writing on Twitter, which is being rebranded as ‘X’, Canadian singer Bryan Adams wrote "RIP Sinead O'Connor, I loved working with you making photos, doing gigs in Ireland together and chats, all my love to your family."

Irish comedian Dara O Briain said O'Connor's death came as "just very sad news. Poor thing.

"I hope she realised how much love there was for her."

Irish mixed martial arts superstar Conor McGregor commented on the singer's death writing: "The world has lost an artist with the voice of an Angel.

"Ireland has lost an iconic voice and one of our absolute finest, by a long shot. And I have lost a friend."

Moyet's 80s British pop singer Alison Moyet said O'Connor had a voice that "cracked stone with force by increment".

"As beautiful as any girl around & never traded on that card. I Loved that about her. Iconoclast," she added.

Lead singer for 90s rock band The Charlatans Tim Burgess wrote: "Sinead was the true embodiment of a punk spirit.

"She did not compromise and that made her life more of a struggle. Hoping that she has found peace."

Cultural impact

"It is hard to think of an artist who has had the social and cultural impact of Sinead," Colm O’Gorman, executive director of Amnesty International Ireland wrote in reaction to her death.

"What a loss. Heartfelt condolences to her children, her family and all who loved her," he added.

O'Connor had also spoken publicly about her mental health struggles, telling Oprah Winfrey in 2007 that she struggled with thoughts of suicide and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

More recently she had shunned the limelight, in particular following the death of her son Shane from suicide last year at the age of 17.

O'Connor is survived by three children and had reportedly been dividing her time between Ireland and Britain prior to her death. 

Why Listen to Mahler?

546,818 views Aug 13, 2021

Gustav Mahler has been one of my favourite composers since I discovered Classical Music – and in this video I try to explain why he holds that place, from many angles, channelled through the extraordinary, moving story of Mahler’s life and works.

Memories of Alhambra - Francisco Tárrega

Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea (21 November 1852 – 15 December 1909) was a Spanish composer and classical guitarist of the Romantic period. Tárrega was born on 21 November 1852, in Villarreal, Province of Castellón, Spain. It is said that Francisco's father played flamenco and several other music styles on his guitar; when his father was away working as a watchman at the Convent of San Pascual, the child would take his father's guitar and attempt to make the beautiful sounds he had heard. Francisco's nickname as a child was "Quiquet". As a child, he ran away from his nanny and fell into an irrigation channel and injured his eyes. Fearing that his son might lose his sight completely, his father moved the family to Castellón de la Plana to attend music classes because as a musician he would be able to earn a living, even if blind. Both his first music teachers, Eugeni Ruiz and Manuel González, were blind.

Vangelis - La petite fille de la mer

Never Let Me Go - Rachel Portman - We All Complete

953,752 views May 13, 2011

Never Let Me Go Soundtrack Rachel Portman

Meet the 12 finalists of 2023 PhilPop Himig Handog songwriting festival

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AT A GLANCE

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Eight of the Top 12 finalists of PhilPop Himig Handog

A new batch of talented young artists will compete in this year's PhilPop Himig Handog songwriting festival. Only one of the 12 finalists will be hailed as the winner for their creative songwriting and music production. 

The collaborative project, which was produced and presented by songwriting institutions PhilPop and Himig Handog, kicked off with a Digicamp series that is carefully designed to develop the skillset of aspiring participants in the fields of songwriting, music arrangement and recording, branding, marketing, career development, and intellectual property.

After a two-month workshop with some well-known musicians, including National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab, Jim Paredes, Paolo & Miguel Guico of Ben&Ben, Gino Cruz and more. 

The entries went through multiple rounds of adjudication, headed by an esteemed panel of Board Members, producers, key leaders, prominent songwriters, and decision-makers affiliated with PhilPop and Himig Handog.

Without further ado, here are the 12 finalists with their original compositions that will compete in the PhilPop Himig Handog Songwriting Festival:

Bulacan: Rinz Ruiz – “Papahiram”

Laguna: Francis Contemplacion – “ATM”

Metro Manila: Tiara Cino – “Wag Paglaruan”

Metro Manila: Kevin Yadao – "Ghostwriter"

Metro Manila: Rob Angeles – "MHWG"

Metro Manila: Geca Morales – “Langit Lupa”

Metro Manila: Alvin Serrito – “Kurba”

Bacolod: Shantel Lapatha – “Tulala”

Cebu: Relden Campanilla – “Dili Nalang”

Cebu: Jimmy Grajo – “Salamat (Nga Wala Na Ta)”

Bohol: Keith Quito – "Buhi"

Davao: Maric Gavino – “Taliwala”

ABS-CBN Music Creative Director Jonathan Manalo stated that one of their considerations for picking the song is based on the quality of songwriting and composition. 

"It was important to us that the songs were up to the standard that were set by bothPhilPop and Himig Handog. We also wanted to see how effective the fellows were in applying the lessons and insights that they've learned from the PhilPop Himig Handog DigiCamp. We wanted to challenge the fellows to break borders and push the boundaries of Filipino pop music. Lastly, we also had to factor in the appeal and marketability of the entries since our goal was also for the top songs to appeal to a wide range of Filipino music listeners," he said. 

PhilPop Himig Handog Songwriting Festival is an initiative of Himig Handog and PhilPop Music Foundation. This year's game-changing event remains unwavering in its obligation to come up with innovative approaches in music-making and songwriting that are at par with international standards.

A Pinoy-themed opening night for Broadway’s first all-Filipino musical 'Here Lies Love'

BY MANILA BULLETIN ENTERTAINMENT

  

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AT A GLANCE

• Among those who joined HLL stars Arielle Jacobs, Conrad Ricamora, Jose Llana and Lea Salonga, director Alex Timbers, producer Jose Antonio Vargas and creator David Byrne, were HLL producers H.E.R. and Jo Koy, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Spike Lee with his children Jackson and Satchel, Korean actor-director Daniel Dae Kim of “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-O”, Fil-Am actress Tia Carrere, fashion designer Josie Cruz Natori, drag queen and reality TV star Manila Luzon, and Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang (who even wore a Barong Tagalog).

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The cast of 'Here Lies Love' (Images by Jenny Anderson)

On the night that the Broadway musical Here Lies Love opened at New York City’s historic Broadway Theater, the famous theater district’s environment was distinctly Filipino. The colorful jeepney was parked at the façade as the creators and cast of the musical and guests from Hollywood and the Philippines walked the red carpet.

Among those who joined HLL stars Arielle Jacobs, Conrad Ricamora, Jose Llana and Lea Salonga, director Alex Timbers, producer Jose Antonio Vargas and creator David Byrne, were HLL producers H.E.R. and Jo Koy, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Spike Lee with his children Jackson and Satchel, Korean actor-director Daniel Dae Kim of “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-O”, Fil-Am actress Tia Carrere, fashion designer Josie Cruz Natori, drag queen and reality TV star Manila Luzon, and Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang (who even wore a Barong Tagalog).

Jo Koy, one of the producers

H.E.R., one of the producers

David Byrne created the music and lyrics

Mark Bautista, who played the role of Ferdinand Marcos in the London and Seattle productions of Here Lies Love, also attended the opening, so did actresses Yassi Pressman and Yam Concepcion, HLL co-producers Bobby Garcia and Girlie Rodis, photographer BJ Pascual, and singer-actress Rachel Alejandro.

The all-Filipino cast also took the opportunity to wear the Barong Tagalog and terno to express their Filipino pride.

Tia Carrere

David Henry Hwang

Daniel Dae Kim of 'Hawaii Five O' and 'Lost'

In a review, Entertainment Weekly (EW) gave Here Lies Love a rating of “A minus,” and said, “The all-Filipino cast does a marvelous job telling the Cold War history of the Philippines and making it resonate with our current moment…” The review by EW’s Christian Holub also noted the show’s upbeat and probing qualities “Bravo to a Broadway show that's willing to ask such big questions in such an entertaining way.”

Lea Salonga

Jackson Lee, Spike Lee, and Satchel Lee

Mark Bautista, Bobby Garcia, Rachel Alejandro, and Girlie Rodis

'Here Lies Love' creative team Clint Ramos, Hal Luftig, Kevin Connor, Patrick Catullo, Jose Antonio Vargas, Diana DiMenna

'Here Lies Love' director Alex Timbers

As stellar as the cast and the production was the big passenger jeepney, an icon of Manila, which was emblazoned with the musical’s title on the side. The cast couldn’t resist having their photos taken there.

For updates about the musical, visit herelieslovebroadway.com and follow herelieslovebway on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.