TOTEM by Cirque Du Soleil – Trailer

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOA6q88PssE

Official Cirque Du Soleil TOTEM trailer. Opening May 2010.

TOTEM traces the fascinating journey of the human species from its original amphibian state to its ultimate desire to fly. The characters evolve on a stage evoking a giant turtle, the symbol of origin for many ancient civilizations.

TOTEM retrace le périple fascinant de lespèce humaine, de son état primitif damphibien jusquà son désir ultime de voler. Ses personnages évoluent sur une piste en forme de tortue géante, symbole dorigine de plusieurs civilisations anciennes.

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/totem

Cirque du Soleil has unveiled details about Totem, its acrobatic show inspired by the founding myths and legends of aboriginal cultures and slated to premiere in Montreal in April 2010.

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Cirque says Macau ZAIA here to stay

Jerry Nadal (senior vice-president for resident shows of Cirque du Soleil): ‘We’re here for the long hall’ as reported April 7, 2010 in the Macau Daily Times. Full article posted here with link to original MDT article at end of post.

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Taiwanese Boy Lin Yu Chun Sings Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” LIVE

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA-tOsM6F4Y

Maybe I’ve been hanging out with too many ladybodys in Macau, but this is pretty damn cool. Lin Yu sings Dolly Parton classic on Taiwanese talent show Super Star Avenue, giving his all for the $1 Million prize. (Parton wrote and first recorded the song, which Whitney Houston later recorded.)

Adam Guettel

Adam Guettel is the composer and lyricist for “The Light In The Piazza” – a musical, but really worthy of the title “opera”. I’ll tell you first why Piazza and Guettel interest me, and then following will be more biographical info and article links.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ikqeG4ab3Q

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Leonard Bernstein – What is Orchestration?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz7HCGpRZDM

Leonard Bernstein. Young people’s concerts. What is Orchestration?. March 8, 1958

Bernstein discusses orchestration beginning with Rimsky-Korsakov live performance examples. He also plays examples of bad orchestration.

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PDQ Bach

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMSEPUuNP8k

(Part Two is the performance, so I post it first)

Itzhak Perlman and Peter Schickele mix it up in a hilarious duet at a Boston Pops Concert with John Williams conducting. Part 1 is mostly the setup, with Peter Schickele expounding on the life of P.D.Q. Bach, “the 21st of Johann Sebastian Bach’s 20 children.”

PDQ Bach is the ultimate in combining High Art and Low Art for awesome high brow comedy. It was great in this video to see PDQ Bach, violinist Itzhak Perlmand and composer/conductor John Williams all working together on the gags. I also like how the music makes you wait for each subsequent gag as they are interspersed with a fiarly straight ahead Riccoco style orchestration.

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Introduction to Orchestration

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ4E6irKQtE

Introduction to Orchestration by Thomas Goss. See my “Orchestration” category here on my blog for more music orchestration study tips.

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Holst Mercury – Example of Orchestral Sketch and Piano Reduction

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yIKu3LSwcE

Gustav Holst – The Planets Op.32 Mercury, the Winged Messenger

Here is an example of the full score and following that is a two piano reduction. I have been racking my brain in several futile attempts to find the most economical and free way to do orchestral sketches on the computer – and I think the two piano reduction idea is fantastic. It seems like a painfully obvious approach to me now – but I was very frustrated with the idea of sketching with a single piano part because it’s difficult to think in tonal colors and sections with that approach. I don’t want to spend a lot of time editing – I want to input the ideas. The 2 piano approach gives me room for counterpoint between sections – and to insinuate different textures. Orchestrally, the counterpoint happens between sections and textures rather than just notes – so Viola!

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