Saturday, July 15, 2017

THE RUSSIANS FORCED SWANS TO DANCE


 
This is my second post on the subject of Russian collusions (and some of you are hoping it will be my last). Lighten up - my sole purpose is to charm and entertain.
BTW
If you're "into" Russian collusions, check out my previous post.

The very first "live" ballet I ever saw was Tchaikovsky's The Sleep Beauty at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Rudolph Nureyev was the principal dancer, and he was at the zenith of his career. We had front row seats. 
I was nineteen years old at the time and was accompanied by my very close friend Linda (Linda and I are still close - a thousand years later).

This was the beginning of my ballet mania era. I signed up for ballet classes at college, but then quickly scrapped the idea. I not only had a bad back, I figured I was too old to dabble in dancing.
Besides, you have to be a narcissist to be a dancer...and narcissism isn't on my agenda.

Note:
Every dancer I've ever known vehemently denies that they are narcissistic. I vehemently disagree.

Let's fast forward to a year later.
I took my mother to an ABT performance of Swan Lake at the L.A. Music Center. It was a spectacular evening and I was completely enthralled.

Without ever seeing the music score of Swan Lake and without knowing much about the music, I sat down and quickly wrote a piano transcription of the final act.

It's a shoddy, choppy, haphazard rendition - but it's also very difficult, requiring substantial keyboard virtuosity.  I performed it several times at my college with great success.
And I used to play it everywhere else. In time, it became one of my concert "staples"...an encore favorite.

Nowadays, in grim retrospect, I'm not half as fond of it as I used to be. 
The particular recording that I've posted is old, with poor audio quality.

Anyway, so much for Russia and swans.

Note:
The latest update about Soundcloud is that they  intend to beat the odds and stay afloat.  They won't be shutting down as initially planned.

18 comments:

  1. Magnificent! I'd have so enjoyed watching you perform in person.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really appreciate that, Myra. I have some more VHS tapes of me playing the piano, but I have to transfer them to disks and it's a heckuva lot of trouble.

      Delete
  2. I've never been to a ballet...or an opera. No desire to, I confess. I've seen snippets on TV, though. Maybe they are better in person. I went to an orchestral concert once and it vibrated right through my body. Definitely different in person. I totally recognized this piece. Even me--the uncultured. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're absolutely right, Rita. There is a HUGE difference between seeing a live performance and one on TV - especially ballets or operas. I usually get frustrated watching performances on TV, with all the bad and clumsy camera angles, etc.

      Hey, you're not nearly as "uncultured" as you think....

      Delete

  3. Вы идиот и интересны.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. Now Jon!!!!! If you don't have anything nice to say.....come sit by me, lol

      Delete
    3. Alle zukunftigen kommentare weerden sofort geldscht.

      Delete
    4. Mike wasn't complimenting me - he was thumbing his nose at me with his usual pompous superiority.

      Delete
  4. would have loved to have seen a performance or two back in the day when you were doing them. there is no end to your creativity with words or music.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I appreciate that more than you'll ever know.

      Delete
  5. Delighted to know I'm welcome here! Yes, 2 years of German in high school. I also wrote historical articles for NSA (no, not that) National Stereoscopic Association in the mid-'90s and had to learn Cyrillic script for a piece on poet M. Lermontov, so I agree emphatically that you are interesting. I will add you are talented and capable. Your "Swan Lake" transcription is exquisite. Sometimes my wife thinks I'm an idiot but that would take us off-subject into Dostoevsky.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Geo - everyone is welcome here except those people who constantly insult me, put me down, and continuously lurk simply because they love to hate me. I'm not specifically referring to one particular fish - it is several more than that.

      Actually, after all the vile things the Fish has previously hurled at me, I'm surprised that he still has the nerve to hang around. Perhaps I admire his audacity.....

      Delete
    2. I'm sure that many people think I'm overreacting to these things, but I simply think that life is too short to waste playing games and enduring shit.

      Delete
    3. Jon, I delete more comments than actually publish any. Life really is too short for such nonsense. I guess because I am openly gay and love cats I am setting myself up for ridicule or worse. It's funny that nobody has attacked my poetry (so far). I'd actually appreciate an in depth analysis.

      But it's always my fondness of cats that gets me into deep water. I think it's because most straight dudes think cats are inferior to dogs. I beg to differ. Plus it's the silly stereotype of only women and gay men liking cats. That somehow makes us effeminate?

      All critics of cats should watch A STREET CAT NAMED BOB (or dare to read the book). The words on James Bowen's T-shirt tell the story true: Real Men Love Cats. Hang in there! You are a winner and far from effeminate.

      In fact, I see you as quite macho, but a secret sweetheart :-)

      Delete
  6. Have you seen Mathew Bourne's version of Swan Lake(UK)? It was used in the end scene of the movie Billy Elliot. A totally new experience.

    Are you left handed? WOW on the performance!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Well, I accidentally deleted my reply to you, so I'll try again. I haven't seen Bourne's version of S.L. but I did see his rendition of "The Sleeping Beauty". Although I'm basically a ballet traditionalist, I did love Bourne's extremely creative and innovative ideas.

    Do you remember (I'm sure you do) the Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo (the guys who did ballet in drag)? They were absolutely fantastic. The "Dying Swan" routine was hysterically funny.

    I think I'm possibly ambidextrous. I'm not left-handed, but I eat (and brush my teeth) with my left hand. I'm sure my l.h. is well-trained from so much piano practice.

    My cat Bosco jumped on my desk and is annoying the hell out of me so I'd better stop while I'm ahead.....

    ReplyDelete
  8. That is the first time I have heard this piece and to no surprise, it was very beautiful. Can you just move here so I can hear it everyday, then we can go out for drinks each day.

    ReplyDelete

I love comments. Go ahead and leave one - I won't bite. But make sure you have a rabies shot just in case.