The programme included: Wiegenlied and Das Heimliche Lied by Louis Spohr, performed by Andrea Quintana Mesa (soprano), Simón Martín (clarinet) and Cristina Díaz Álamo (piano); Yesterday and Can’t Help Falling in Love performed by Paula Herrera Hernández (mezzo-soprano), Nira Vera Almeida (harp) and Laura Urbín López (harp); and Bastien und Bastienne (Bastián y Bastiana) by Mozart, with Teresa Rodríguez Vázquez (Bastiana), Daniel Marrero González (Bastian), Francesco Pisapia (Colas), Marta López Falcón (flute) and Riccardo Vignaga (piano).
7 April: Happy Piano Day 2024 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, various locations (11:30—22:00)
This year, the 6th edition of Happy Piano Day was postponed because of rain, and I was afraid it would be cancelled again because, well, it was raining in the morning. But it stopped in the afternoon and in the evening I headed straight to the Parque San Telmo to watch Levi Keyb & Kisandra Pujol (19:00), Sergio Alonso & Magdalena Padilla (20:00) and two Charlie Chaplin films accompanied by Federico Lechner (21:00).
11 April: Luismi Segurado @ Teatro Guiniguada, Plaza F. Mesa de León
13 April: «Étnico» @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos, Parque Doramas
Another great Musicando concert with José Manuel Ramos (guitar, vocals) and Benito Cabrera (timple).
14 April: Zumba @ Parque de El Rincón
As a part of the Tour Universo Mujer, Jessica Expósito gave two free classes of Zumba Fitness; I joined in for twenty minutes or so.
17 April: Grupos de cámara @ Palacete Rodríguez Quegles
The complete programme of this evening of classical chamber musi is available here. My favourite part was Pagan Dances for Saxophone Quartet (Pagan Ballad and Pagan Fugue) by Steve Winstead performed by José Manuel Falcón, Gabriel Climent, Gabriel Santana and Alberto Medina.
25 April: Alba Rodríguez and Víctor Lemes @ Museo Castillo de Mata, Calle Domingo Guerra del Río, 147
A double bill of Gran Canarian singers-songwriters in one evening, the fourth concert from the cycle «12 Noches de autor».
27 April: Maratón de Jazz @ Auditorio José Antonio Ramos
18:00: Maracujazz Trio featuring Ernesto Rossger (electric guitar), Jonay Mesa (acoustic guitar) and Nelson Saavedra (double bass), plus a guest vocalist Melania Piñeiro.
19:00: Manu Sija, an Argentine multiinstrumentalist (electric bass, guitars, keyboards, drums, percussion, accordion, violin, vocals and loops) — a true discovery for me!
20:00: Gary Willis Trio featuring Gary Willis (electric bass), Gergo Borlai (drums) and Zsolt Kaltenecker (keyboards). Unfortunately, this last set was interrupted by rain.
The works by José Luis Luzardo revolve around sex, gender violence, religion and disease. Naturally, they generate controversy: the Abogados Cristianos, the foundation known for being prodigious litigators in “defense of religious feelings”, were not exactly happy with images of Virgin Mary, saints or Pope John Paul II within glass dildos and (so far unsuccessfully) demanded to suspend the exhibition.
Can we afford the rich? You don’t have to watch a 90-minute film to answer this question. Here’s another one: is there any hope left? I mean, for the humankind, in general? The last Swedish documentary I saw left me very much doubtful about it. It also left me angry. Is it a bad thing?
I can’t say that I’ve learned an awful lot from Breaking Social. But I enjoyed it all the same, thanks to the beautiful people appearing in it.
In English and (Chilean) Spanish — I wish those parts were also subtitled!
Lucas Pereyra is a moderately successful writer in his mid-forties, married, with a son, and right in the middle of a stereotypical mid-life crisis. He gets infatuated with a much younger woman, the titular “girl from Uruguay” named Guerra. A series of mildly comic mishaps ensue.
The main problem of this film for me is that I don’t find Lucas “mid is his middle name” either likeable or funny or intriguing — quite unlike his romantic interest. Now I didn’t read novel of the same name by Pedro Mairal on which the film is based. I don’t know whether Pereyra is supposed to be that mediocre. If the answer is yes, Sebastián Arzeno does a splendid job portraying him. Luckily, there is no judging or moralising of any sort in the film; still, I couldn’t care less about Pereyra. Which is a shame. Fiorella Bottaioli shines as Guerra: both down-to-earth and full of mystery.
музыкальный суп / супец: гороховый суп // literally, “musical soup”; pea soup
набивать себе цену: to push or bid up one’s price; typically said of somebody who refuses or hesitates to stay for dinner, take another helping, accept a gift and so on ♦ «бери ещё, не набивай себе цену»
навести марафет, наводить марафет: put something or oneself in order
не продохну́ть: can’t get a break, there’s no respite
невпроворот: bags of (things to do) ♦ «у вас у самих небось дел невпроворот»
Truth was not stranger than fiction, just a little faster.
David Schickele
Is it a biopic? Docudrama? Docufiction? Mockumentary? That’s what I was thinking while watching this 1971 movie starring Paul Eyam Nzie Okpokam and Elaine Featherstone for whom, as for most of actors here, Bushman was their only cinematic appearance. I don’t want to give any spoilers. Please don’t read reviews beforehand; go and see this “lost and found”, newly restored feature and discover for yourself.
Didn’t I write years ago what I think about classical ballet? Yes, I did, and yes, it was years ago, so it’s time to reiterate. To say ballet isn’t pretty is an understatement. It’s a sadomasochistic art form we can live without. I almost wrote “we all can live without” but the tragic truth is that some people can not — or act as if they can not — live without ballet.
Which apparently is the case of the titular Darling (Danica Curcic, Lang historie kort). Not content with destroying her own body, she is bent on inflicting the same suffering on the others, primarily on her substitute Polly (Astrid Grarup Elbo, who is a real ballet dancer) but also, at least potentially, on her future students. And so, the abused becomes the abuser herself. As Darling’s partner Frans (Gustaf Skarsgård) tells her, “your hip is your least problem”.
Incidentally, Frans the choreographer seems to be a reasonable guy who is not buying all this “no pain, no gain”, “a dancer must suffer”, “in my days,” — in my flipping days, says the woman in her early 30s, but wait for it — “I danced the whole act with a broken leg” bullshit.
Another incidentally: I didn’t realise until now what a weird story that of Giselle is.