Music talk

[Dreamer]

On 4/18/2020 at 9:35 AM, SitTwizzle said:

Speaking of Nikolay Tsiskaridze... Yesterday evening I have rewatched his Haryu yo, Koi and thought about a comparison between the takes on a pink flower by the two dancing G.O.A.T., and wondered in which thread it would fit. Maybe this.

Though the differences are great between these programs. Haryu yo, Koi is a solo representing the spring (with all its Japanese and YH meanings) through a cherry tree flower turning in the spring wind, whereas The Spirit of the Rose is a duo, where the young maid personifies innocence (with a very-XIXth Century, reserved style of dancing) while the rose is twofold : both an innocent (but captivating) flower and a messenger/symbol of the lust of the poet, causing a turmoil in the young maid's dreams by his "Ballets russes" sensual style of dancing. The music being XIXth Century but a waltz, rather sensual.

Warning : on the ballet video, the first ballet (11 first minutes) is The Spirit of the Rose, which I think is "general public", but it is followed by Afternoon of a Faun and Sheherazade, which I find much less so.

Here is a translation of the Théophile Gautier poem on which the ballet is based, found on mcglamorous.com :

 

Sweet lady, let your lids unclose.–
Those lids by maiden dreams caressed;
I am the phantom of the rose
You wore last night upon your breast.
Like pearls upon my petals lay
The weeping fountain’s silver tears,
Ere in the glittering array
You bore me proudly ‘mid your peers.

O lady, ’twas for you I died–
Yet have I come and will I stay;
My rosy phantom by your side
Will linger till the break of day.
Yet fear not, lady; naught claim I–
Nor mass, nor hymn, or funeral prayer;
My soul is but a perfumed sigh,
Which pure from Paradise I bear.

My death is as my life was–sweet;
Who would not die as I have done?
A fate like mine who would not meet,
Your bosom fair to lie upon?
A poet on my sentient tomb
Engraved this legend with a kiss:
‘Here lies a rose of fairest bloom;
E’en kings are jealous of its bliss.

 

Here's the original poem in French :

Soulève ta paupière close

Qu’effleure un songe virginal ;

Je suis le spectre d’une rose

Que tu portais hier au bal.

Tu me pris encore emperlée

Des pleurs d’argent de l’arrosoir,

Et parmi la fête étoilée

Tu me promenas tout le soir.

Ô toi qui de ma mort fus cause,

Sans que tu puisses le chasser

Toute la nuit mon spectre rose

À ton chevet viendra danser.

Mais ne crains rien, je ne réclame

Ni messe ni De Profundis ;

Ce léger parfum est mon âme

Et j’arrive du paradis.

Mon destin fut digne d’envie :

Pour avoir un trépas si beau,

Plus d’un aurait donné sa vie,

Car j’ai ta gorge pour tombeau,

Et sur l’albâtre où je repose

Un poète avec un baiser

Écrivit : Ci-gît une rose

Que tous les rois vont jalouser.

 

 

What are your thoughts about these two takes on a pink flower, one century distant, one Easter, the other Western, etc?

 

Wow...most beautiful arm, wrist and hand movements I have seen on a male ballet dancer

[SitTwizzle]

Just now, Dreamer said:

 

Wow...most beautiful arm, wrist and hand movements I have seen on a male ballet dancer

He entered the Bolshoi school at 13 and his principal teacher, Piotr Pestov (who had already had Vladimir Malakhov as a pupil, and would have Friedemann Vogel later in Stuttgart) was as aware of his potential with such limbs, as of the problems they may induce, and as to how to maximise the former and advert the latter.

And once in the Bolshoi Ballet, he was "finished" by Marina Semenova and Galina Ulanova, who overcame their legendary hostility for him (and the sake of ballet), among others.

He was a very understanding and quick-learning pupil, and now a great (and demanding) teacher and rector of the Vaganova Academy.

[FlyingCamel]

What do I have to sacrifice to see Yuzu skate to Hisaishi again? :’) 

[blownrose]

this is so random because it's a 2am thought (at least for me) but would you like to see masquerade as a free skate?

[mmmrazorz]

I want him to skate to something dark and mature, something like this :

 

 

 

[SitTwizzle]

6 hours ago, blownrose said:

this is so random because it's a 2am thought (at least for me) but would you like to see masquerade as a free skate?

I don't think it could be a "winning free skate", I mean at a great championship, but at a smaller event where he is sure to win even with "only" three quads, it would be great! But then, if Yuzuru Hanyu takes part into such trophies, it is also because he needs to practice "in championship conditions".

[mercedes]

14 hours ago, blownrose said:

this is so random because it's a 2am thought (at least for me) but would you like to see masquerade as a free skate?

honestly I'd like to see Masquerade again period 

But yeah I don't think it would be easy to turn it into a competitive program.

[TallyT]

17 hours ago, blownrose said:

this is so random because it's a 2am thought (at least for me) but would you like to see masquerade as a free skate?

 

Yes and no.... I adore Masquerade but Yuzu himself said it was too emotionally intense for competition.  Maybe as a formal gala piece...

[memae]

On 4/18/2020 at 10:22 PM, fyere0 said:

Which warhorses do you think need to be brought back and sparkled up into a Yuzu program?

 

 

To be fair, Yuzu only uses warhorses or makes his own. One one hand we've got POTO, Swan Lake, and Romeo & Juliet and on the other there's H&L, Chopin, and Seimei - we've already seen a few inspired programs and costumes in the juniors and below. Origin and Otonal are well on their way to being warhorses now that he's done them and he was inspired to do so because of other big names in skating history.

 

I would love to see him skate to something from home (in whatever that means to him) that he connects with. H&L does not come across as what anyone in the west typically expects when they think of Japanese (or even Asian in very broad terms) but if you have knowledge of music or even just listen to a lot of music from different places, Japan obviously included, it is very noticeably Japanese. It's especially obvious when you listen to the full pieces of music that Yuzu snipped from.  That said, he seems to connect with Ballade in a way that is beyond even his usual (and incredible) musicality - Yuzu has said/alluded that it's the purity of a single instrument and the wait at the start that helps with that and I think that there is a purity to his Ballade programs (all its incarnations) that is emphasised by the music and emphasises it in return. Ballade makes me think of fresh snow and like a cool freshwater stream. 

 

That said I would love to see him skate to Meditation from Thais (which was my favourite ever exam piece). You just know he'd do something exquisite with those harmonics. I adored playing Faure's Sicilienne when I was a kid too but it's much nicer on cello than violin - I don't know that it suits Yuzu so much but I think Jason Brown could do a beautiful program to it.

[makebelieveup]

Id like to see him skate to Les Miserables

[Glory]

2 hours ago, makebelieveup said:

Id like to see him skate to Les Miserables

That would be nice if he did. I really want POTO 2...but probably won't happen

[fyere0]

He might not want to go for Hisaishi again (and Hisaishi might not even give him permission again, Yuzuru Hanyu WHO tbh ) but The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is a really charming soundtrack with a light, magical feel. There's variation to the instrumentation (western-style orchestra, guitar, traditional drums and koto, and of course piano-driven parts) and I think it could be stitched together into a really interesting program. I don't see it suggested as often for him as Spirited Away or some other Ghibli soundtracks.

 

[makebelieveup]

44 minutes ago, fyere0 said:

He might not want to go for Hisaishi again (and Hisaishi might not even give him permission again, Yuzuru Hanyu WHO tbh ) but The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is a really charming soundtrack with a light, magical feel. There's variation to the instrumentation (western-style orchestra, guitar, traditional drums and koto, and of course piano-driven parts) and I think it could be stitched together into a really interesting program. I don't see it suggested as often for him as Spirited Away or some other Ghibli soundtracks.

 

I have been suggesting this since forever! Finally someone with the same mind! Princess mononoke soundtrack is also great and I feel like has more dynamic for a fs

[SitTwizzle]

What bright ideas! I haven't been tempted to watch Princess Kaguya because of the synopsis (and how different from the original tale) but the first half of the soundtrack is great.

And even better with Princess Mononoke, as Ashitaka is supposed to be an Emishi, normally from Tohoku. They were ethnically more Jomon than Yayoi (the two main components of Japanese population since two millenaries), and Tohoku and Ryukyu people are the Japanese with more Jomon blood, from recent surveys. Though Yuzuru Hanyu himself doesn't look very Jomon or Emishi (does he even need to shave?), but it doesn't mean much, as we see with Black/White mixes for instance, where a large family, with the same parents, can have very different skin colours and types. Plus the more dynamic soundtrack, yes.

[makebelieveup]

 

 

 

are also beautiful soundtracks from Studio Ghibli