Martell Sings Marvin

Reggie is a Street musician and he encourages members of the public to come up and

sing along with him on the Streets of New York as content for his youtube channel.

And on this particular occasion captured just 9 months ago he managed to lure

performer and dancer from Chicago, Martell Ruffin who just happened to be on his way

to work at The Lincoln Centre. And so Martell chose to perform Marvin Gaye's 1971 song

What's Going On, a composition that became a social statement of it's time. 

More of Reggie's Street youtubes can be seen on his channel guitaro5000  HERE.

More on Dancer Martell with a link to his instagram HERE.

NO SUNSHINE, NO HOLIDAY

As I write this early Sunday morning I should be waking up on holiday in Cornwall. But for this

past week the weather forecasts for West Cornwall have been truly appalling, with literally rain

predicted daily for this week.

In fact the cottage owner in St Ives probably thinks I'm already there and settled in. But I think

I decided a week ago that I wasn't going to turn up this week. And my stay there in June wasn't much

better. How did I manage to pick the wrong 2 separate weeks? I will of course phone the Holiday Company on Monday and let them know that I'm not there this week.

Of course I'll just have to write off the extortionate money I paid out for this week as I wouldn't get a

penny back at this late in the day. In fact I booked this very week back in April because later

this week the new School terms restart and all the holiday Let prices drop down by around two or three hundred pounds.

But if you want to make a booking throughout July or August, the standard weekly fee for a self catering cottage is going to be anywhere between £800 to £1,000 just for a week. So I came up with a cost cutting idea and that is to simply cut out my regular second visit to Cornwall in September and just

settle for a May or June booking when the weather is often more reliable.

And despite all this St Ives wins yet another award.

ST IVES IS U.K's HAPPIEST SEASIDE TOWN.

 

The Palais Garnier Paris France

Earlier this month Classic FM compiled a list of 10 of the world's most breathtakingly beautiful

opera houses. Of course most of the venues were obvious choices with one or two surprises thrown

in like choice No 2, The Teatro Amazonas, a grand opera house set in the heart of the Amazon

rainforest. Although surprisingly there's no mention of La Scala theatre in Milan, seen as the home of   Grand Italian Opera.

The top choice of the Palais Garnier in Paris is certainly a spectacular looking venue, although that top image here is actually the main Gold Auditorium where they sometimes put on fashion shows.

And the actual Palais Garnier theatre is also home to Ballet performances.

CLASSIC FM's LIST OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OPERA HOUSES.

1.  Palais Garnier, Paris.   2. Teatro Amazonas, Manaus.  3.  National Centre for The Performing Arts, Beijing.   4. Royal Opera House, London.  5. Sydney Opera House.  6.  Teatro San Carlo, Napoli.

7. Teatro La Fenice, Venice.  8. Cairo Opera House.  9. Oslo Opera House.

No 10.  Copenhagen Opera House.

_______________________________________________________

When I first heard the climax and finale of Verdi's La Traviata I knew I had stumbled onto

music that was on a higher plane. I think it was something I was always looking for, something 

that went just that little bit further.

I think we live in a world where most people are happy to listen to the music that they know best,

never experimenting or seeking out new genres. But the climax of this mid 19th century drama

with it's sheer power, tragedy and finality becomes an assault on the senses and I'm often left

with my ears buzzing after enjoying a listen on the headphones at the highest bearable volume.

It makes me feel like I'm right down there in the orchestra pit listening to it the way it should

be heard.

Interestingly La Traviata was first premiered in 1853 at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice,

Classic FM's number seven choice of best opera houses around the world.

Of course La Traviata was set in Paris in the mid 1800's but this production here features

the players wearing modern costume.

The leading soprano playing the role of the dying Violetta is played by Patrizia Ciofi.

Video kindly uploaded to youtube by Federico Vazzola.

 

Below:  My acrylic painting of the Maestro which does seem to move about a lot. It now sits

out in my private hallway outside my main room.

The Gainsbourgs

Above:  Charlotte Gainsbourg, Daughter of Jane Birkin and maverick French poet

and musician Serge Gainsbourg, in a wonderful image from Charlotte's debut album

'Charlotte Forever' released in 1986 which featured tracks from the film of the same

name with music mostly composed by Serge Gainsbourg.

And it was around this time when Charlotte arrived on the entertainment scene that

she adopted a rather androgynous and make-up free persona. She certainly inherited

her late Mother's beauty.

Of course many might remember Charlotte when she was introduced to English

audiences in the 1993 movie 'The Cement Garden' directed by her Uncle Andrew Birkin.

I recently bought this album with it's eye catching image of Charlotte on the cover,

and added it to my ever growing vinyl collection.  

 

VIDEO KINDLY UPLOADED TO YOUTUBE BY PHILLIPPE ISABELLO

FEATURING CHARLOTTE PLUS ARCHIVE FOOTAGE OF SERGE AND JANE.

Above is a catchy little tune by Serge Gainsbourg that featured as part

of the soundtrack to the 1977 film 'Goodbye Emmanuelle, something I also

recently bought on vinyl. And all the tracks have an upbeat Caribbean Reggae

calypso feel to it with most of the filming having taken place in The Seychelles.

Gainsbourg first emerged to British fans with his controversial 1969 hit 'Je t'aime moi non plus.'

And the song was immediately banned by the BBC, which as always, assured the song's

success.

Gainsbourg and his partner Jane Birkin were seen as the 'It' couple in what many deemed

a tempestuous relationship while Gainsbourg went through many ups and downs in a career riddled with controversies.

They're relationship ended in 1980 when Jane Birkin could not live with his alcoholism and behavioural problems. And over the next ten years Serge Gainsbourg descended into

a life of over indulgence, passing away in 1991 at the age of 62.

But it seems that Serge was much loved and missed by the French audience. 

JANE BIRKIN   DEC 1946  -  JULY 2023

Above:  Jane Birkin and Joe Dallesandro in Serge Gainsbourg's 1977 controversial film

'Je t'aime moi non plus' in which Jane Birkin adopted an androgynous appearance

that was later to be emulated by her Daughter Charlotte (below) in the 1992 movie

'Amoureuse.'

THE EPIC THAT NEVER WAS

It must be rare when a major film production gets shut down and terminated after only

a month. But that's what happened back in 1937 after a brief few weeks of shooting of

what was planned to be an epic production of I Claudius. But unfortunately the whole film

project came to a sudden end after the film's leading actress Merle Oberon was involved

in a car accident.

And headlining the cast of the doomed project was one of our greatest actors Charles

Laughton. And it was Laughton who struggled to get into the part while also not getting

along with it's Director Josef von Sternberg, one of the last of the old fashioned Hollywood Directors. But it seems that Laughton found his inspiration after listening to a recording

of King Edward VIII's 1936 Abdication speech.

So what came out of the existing film footage was a 1965 tv documentary titled 'The Epic

That Never Was' with Charles Laughton giving what some say might have been his finest

ever performance.

And although in history Claudius was the Uncle of the tyrant Emperor Caligula, the

Roman Senators saw him as a stuttering buffoon and certainly didn't want to see him

follow Caligula and become the new Emperor.

But what is interesting about the build up followed by Laughton's great speech is

how Claudius quickly transforms from a stuttering and much mocked clown, and into

a strong and decisive leader ready to take on the responsibility of Emperor.

Much of the video above shows the build up to Laughton's speech but I've set it to go

straight into the speech itself.

THIS VIDEO WAS KINDLY UPLOADED TO YOUTUBE BY TINNED TEA