Turn Around and Take Me Back To the Start

Some reflections on Beethoven, the Eroica and my summer vacation.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Detail from The Knight in Shining Armor: Pity and Ambition
by Gustav Klimt as appears on the cover of the Beethoven Symphony No. 3 recording reviewed herein.
Art and rendering © 1987 DG/UMG

Hi all. I'm back after a relaxing, grounding and enervating week in the woods of Northern Maryland. Today we are talking about Beethoven, and specifically a new to me recording of the Eroica Symphony which I am listening to as I type. This is an old (but new to me) recording of Beethoven's 'Eroica' Symphony, made in 1987 by the Vienna Philharmonic. No, that's not terribly "old" in a business with historic recordings that go back to the turn of the 20th century, but it is definitely the product of another time. The conductor is the late and brilliant Claudio Abbado, who would later record these same symphonies in his job as music director of the Berlin Philharmonic is the conductor here and there is much of interest in this performance.

On Crossing Barriers and Finding Escapes

Reflecting on ten years of Superconductor.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The office.

Tonight, Monday night. I was walking across Lincoln Center Plaza on route to the Metropolitan Opera to go see second performance of The Exterminating Angel, the new opera by Thomas Àdes.
This is the story of a group of wealthy individuals who find themselves trapped in a particular living space after a very strange dinner party. It got me thinking about the original purpose of this blog and how Superconductor started at now however ten years into existence where the blog maybe going.

Essay: The Critical Ear

What do reviewers listen for at a classical music concert?
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The protest against silence from The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.
Art by Jules Feiffer © 1961 Random House LLC.

You see us at the Philharmonic, at Carnegie Hall, at chamber music performances, and at the opera. We sit there sometimes scribbling in ugly notebooks, sometimes perusing progam notes or musical scores, sometimes with eyes closed, heads bowed in some sort of deep communion with the spirits of the creators of the music being performed.

A Communication to My Friends: A Millennium Approaches

Some thoughts and some blog news as we approach the 2000th Superconductor post.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at his desk. Painting by Serov.

As we approach the 2000th article on Superconductor (which should happen sometime in October) I've been looking for a good way to celebrate that still keeps readers entertained. This blog has been a lot of work and it's been around a long time now, mostly due to the indulgence of certain arts organizations, our cherished advertisers and you, the classical and opera loving community that has become a strong audience for my writing. And yet there's still so much to do.

The Blog of Five Rings

Superconductor goes to the 2012 Olympics. 
(well, not really.)
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Most definitely not the five rings of the Olympics.

Like much of the world, I have a deep and abiding fascination with the Olympic Games. From watching the Miracle on Ice at the tender age of 6 (I wasn't even going to the opera yet) to the Herculean efforts of Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson, the Olympics are regularly part of my life (with a pronounced preference for winter sports to summer).

In honor of the just started Thirtieth Olympiad, I'm going to try to theme the 16 days with posts relating works of musical art to Olympic events. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do all of this, but I thought of tying certain events to operas or compositions. It would also allow me to write about some of the back-log of recordings I have piling up.

Putting Ideas Together I

Ed. Note: Sometimes you just want to put up a blog post so you can get back to writing. This is one of those days.

Brian Eno's Music for Airports

Superconductor turns FIVE!

Celebrating half a decade of furious classical and opera blogging.

Image © 2012 Julie's Cake House, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Great Britain.

Five years ago, this blog launched with a review of a Boston Symphony Orchestra performance of Berlioz' Le Damnation de Faust at Carnegie Hall. George Dubya was prezzydent. James Levine conducted. We were still at war in Iraq.

To celebrate this auspicious day, here is that young hopeful singer, Robin. Hit it, maestro:

Footage from The Muppets. © 1978 Jim Henson Company/Walt Disney Corporation. 

#OperaPlot Until You Plotz

"I'm out. I'm out of the contest!"--Cosmo Kramer

The original "omniscient mussel" from
Richard Strauss' Die ägyptische Helene.
Poster art by Rafal Olbinski © Patinae.com.

Over on Twitter, The Omniscient Mussel is holding the second annual #operaplot contest. Hopefuls (like myself) are allowed a maximum of 25 entries in the annual "do." So I decided (just for fun and in the interests of disclosure) to run a little contest of my own.

Here's my list of 25 submissions to this year's contest, from my own Twitter account.k

Dear readers, feel free to comment and guess as many of the operas as you can. The reader who gets the most right might get something nice sent to them from the Superconductor grab bag.

Here's the list. You have til 12am Friday April 22. Eastern Standard Time.

Answers will be posted in a week.

1) Peter the Great climbs the perch. Selling anti-Streltsy merch. Mother Russia's in the lurch. Time to go and burn a church. #operaplot
1 hour ago

2) Maybe I should make that deal with Samiel. The last magic bullet might hit that guy who arrived on the ghost ship last night. #operaplot
1 hour ago

3) It's not a bad life. Have hot wild sex in a cave: win a no-frills round-trip package to Italy complete with tour of the Vatican #operaplot
1 hour ago

4) Mo-mo-mo-Moses, supposes, Jehoveses, he knowses, but Moses, supposes, Aron-eously. #operaplot
11 hours ago

5) In the depths of a river, three mermaids did flit, singing "Weia-la-weia-la-weia." A dwarf hit upon them, they'd have none of it. #operaplot
20 hours ago

6) Vasco, Vasco, Vasco da Gama, brave as he could be. Vasco, Vasco , Vasco da Gama, watch out for that tree! #operaplot
14 Apr

7) Crazy Middle East despot sings love song to tree, builds bridge to nowhere with government money. #Operaplot
7 hours ago

8) Whisk flour, salt in bowl. Cut in cold shortening.Toss with fork. Roll dough flat. Put in pie plate. Add children. Bake. #operaplot
15 hours ago

9) On top of a mountain, where sheep graze the lee, 'twas once a poor maiden, And now she's a tree. #operaplot
18 hours ago

10) I love you. I believe you. I'll marry you. Have a glass of water.#operaplot.
18 hours ago

11) Cistern Christian oh your time has come. And I know that you're the only one to say....Auuuuuuuuuuuuuugggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!#operaplot
18 hours ago

12) The fish are in the pot. He's sleeping on a cot. He'd like to have a tot. But married bliss there's not. These rhyme with #operaplot.
20 hours ago

13) I get knocked down. I get up again. And then I think I'm gonna drown. #operaplot
20 hours ago

14) I'm spending all my time watching Fox. And if I see Fox, I'll shoot it. #operaplot
20 hours ago

15) Ethiopia invaded: Egyptian army captures military strongman--cites "pyramid power." #operaplot
20 hours ago

16) Breaking News: Operation: Haircut fallout: Thousands of Dagon Faithful Killed in Freak Temple Collapse. #operaplot
21 hours ago

17) Up Scheldt creek without a paddle. Or a swan. #operaplot
22 hours ago

18) To-do list: 1. Go to church. 2. Annoy tax collector. 3. Fix shoes. 4. Slap apprentice. 5. Beer und pretzels mit mein homies. #operaplot
22 hours ago

19) Figgy played guitar. Then he dressed up his boss, for some Pace Goia. While they're housebreakin' the ladder was tak'n. #operaplot
13 Apr

20) Stan: Join me on fiesta deck for cocktails. We can discuss Ireland-Cornwall tax problems and knock back a few. XOX- Izzy#operaplot
13 Apr

21) Could you maybe pull out the sword and not sing loudly while doing it? My husband's trying to sleep. #operaplot
13 Apr

22) Oh how I hate to get up in the morning. Oh how I hate to come out and drink. Cos the tenor's waiting there. To stab my derry-air.#operaplot
13 Apr

23) Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping? Hagen son? Hagen son? Time to kill the hero. Stab him back to zero. Ring is won. Ring is won.#operaplot
13 Apr

24) Thr 1ce ws a grl nmd Kundry She rde for the knites 4 thr sundries Thn alng cm a fool Sh tht h ws cool. Bt died rt b4 Easter Snday#operaplot
13 Apr

25) Julie: Mt me @ Father Larry's 4 wdng XOX--Romez #operaplot.

Happy Birthday to Me!

A former boss of mine (and now a good friend) sent me this as a birthday greeting. I'm 38 today, and thought I'd share this absolutely excellent video with you of Zubin Mehta conducting a series of variations: (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner etc.) on "Happy Birthday To You," composed by Peter Heidrich.

The song "Happy Birthday to You" is copyrighted material, originally written by the sisters Mildred J. Hill and Patty Smith Hill. The ditty will remain under copyright until at least 2030 or until Congress grants Warner Brothers another extension. You can click here to read a legal analysis of the copyright saga of "Happy Birthday to You."

But it's more fun to watch this video.

Music: The International Language

"All right gentlemen. Let's make it a good one. The world is listening."
--Russell Mulcahy in Highlander 2: The Quickening.

I wanted to step out from behind the curtain for a moment, to express my pleasure and amazement at the international character of the readership of this blog. Although the majority of my page-views come from the United States (I'm based in New York) it is a welcome thrill each time I see a new country pop up on the Google page view tracker.

I know that those pv's just reflect clicks and may not necessarily mean that people in those countries are reading my articles on a daily basis. But it's still exciting to play "world traveller", even as I stay here on the east coast of the United States, pretty much year-round.

So here's a quick shout out to the people in countries that read this blog (so far.) As far as Google can tell, the penguins, scientists, and Shoggoths in the Antarctic aren't reading Superconductor. But anything can happen.

It's an interesting list. Some surprises.

North America: Canada, Mexico, United States.
Thank you. Gracias. Thanks.

South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay.
Gracias. Obrigado.

Europe: Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
Danke schön. Děkuji. Tak. Kiitos. Merci. Köszönöm. Grazie. Blagodaram. Ačiū. Dank je wel. Tusen tak. Dzienkuje. Obrigado. Spazeba. Gracias.


Asia: China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, The Philipines, Singapore, South Korea, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.
Xie xie. Dhanyawaad. Arigato. Sagolin. Shokran gazilan. Ca om.

Africa: Egypt, Kenya, South Africa
شكرا لك.  Dankie. Darokomano.

Australia: Australia, New Zealand.
Wiyarrparlunpaju-yungu. Tika hoki.

Thank you all for reading. Kiitos paljon. Now, back to the headphones.

Paul

An Interview That's Better Than It Sounds

Richard Wagner at the piano. Artist unknown.

I got a request for an interview over New Year's. So here it is--me holding forth about (what else).
Wagner. It's only five questions, but I hope it makes for interesting reading.

The link is on FavoriteClassicalComposers.Com, a blog written by Sebastian Mitchell

Enjoy!