Paco de Lucía documentaries

I enjoy this documentary film Paco de Lucía: Light and Shade.



I'm posting the version of the film available in Spanish with no subtitles for translation. If you want to view the version in English, you have to put up with the somewhat intrusive voice-overs, but don't let that stop you.

Here is a second documentary made for Spanish TV: Francisco Sánchez (AKA Paco de Lucía), and with extensive interviews of Paco de Lucía from his home in Mexico.

The Magic Flute

I was fortunate enough to see a production of The Magic Flute by the MN Opera (review here). The production was designed by the 1927 group, debuted in Berlin and then went to LA. My friend thought the visuals sometimes upstaged the music, and she missed the colerful costumes of more traditional stagings, but I though the singing was quite good throughout, and really enjoyed the creativity and innovation. I did not like the Queen of the Night-giant spider characterization, but the rest of the characterizations worked for me.

This clip from the LA Opera's production shows how they us used early cinema as the aesthetic. So inventive!


A different staging, equally creative is Julie Taymor's design for  the Metropolitan Opera's abridged English production  Nathan Gunn as Papageno is so expressive!And


Papageno and Papagena's duet.

I went looking to compare performances of the Queen of the Night.  Here, dramatic soprano Edda Moser performs the first aria,"O Zittre Nicht".


Nathalie Dessay is so compelling on stage. I love her in everything I see:


Edith Gruberova:


Diana Damrau brings the drama! There is a DVD of this production that I must find:


And here's a recording of Lucia Popp, with the conductor taking things at a slower tempo, and her splendid technique.

Anne Miller for Easter

Thanks to TLo for posting their Easter Parade piece again, and reminding me of this wonderful Anne Miller number.

She started dancing professionally when she was 13, but lied and said she was 18. Born in 1923, she danced with  with Ginger Rogers in Stage Door in 1937, a lanky and youthful 14:




"Too Darn Hot" from Kiss Me, Kate

and 40 years later, 

Janelle Monae and Kimbra

"Rock Steady"