‘alooo…

Hillary up asking Q’s on C-span 3 right now…

Luciano! RIP.

Very eloquent Christy.

that was a nice post.

the good, the true and the beautiful are all defended here.

sporkovat at 5 — I needed a break from the angry. Thought we could all use one this morning…

Christy – we live in the country and my kids went to a rural school district. For a lot of the kids, the only exposure to the arts they had was through being in band and chorus. Some of them got lucky a got to go to the local opera company or to concerts at the local university. But for a lot of kids, without band and chorus, their school day would have been just…empty. My son got interested in Japan and Japanese culture through being a drummer in band, and then going to see a performance of Kodo. Percussion workshops have followed and he’s studied with drummers and percussionists from: Australia, South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Italy, Central America, Mexico, Japan, and Canada. The language of music transcends all national barriers.

So glad you posted this, CHS. PBS kept me sane in the late 70s, then 80s & 90s, w/their wealth of arts & info programming. Let’s not forget the McNeil/Lehrer News Hour, the PBS News Hour as it once was…& hopefully will be again under different management.

Thanks for remembering.

CHS – slightly OT, but have you ever listened to or watched the CBC?

their cultural programming is awesome, kind of like PBS was/could be/is on it’s better days.

We have a number of Pavarotti CDs and I have just put them all on so now I am set for 4 or 5 hours of bliss……..and tears.

Thanks Christy

FWIW

A year ago, I picked up a still-sealed, 4-record set of Pavarotti arias at a Salvation Army thrift store. Great London-label vinyl.

1 dollar

Music and the arts make us all rounded, make us into Renaissance people. And if there’s anything cultural politics has taught us in the last two decades, it’s that real politik also determines all artistic productions, including the historical conditions.

I’m going to wipe the tears from my eyes now…

Thanks for the wonderful video.

Thank you, Christy,

You are so right about supporting the arts.

May Luciano sing to us forever.

Marie — It really has been a rough few weeks in terms of news, I thought we could all use a bit of exhale. And nomolos, wish I were there to listen with you…sounds heavenly this morning.

Does anyone know if Bush, or anyone in the Bush family, has any connection with/exposure to the arts? I mean, shoot – Bill Clinton plays the sax – Huckabee plays the bass, for heaven’s sake.

Bush on hearing the news: “Lucy who?”

epu’d Luciano & Lou, Perfect Day! fantastic! youtube

Not only does education in the arts make for a well-rounded eduation, studies have shown that children who participate in the arts do better in the 3 R’s.

madmommy at 19 — Exactly. Better concentration for reading comprehension, and a more well-rounded understanding of mathematical constructs, which helps for both math and science.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 20

madmommy at 19 — Exactly. Better concentration for reading comprehension, and a more well-rounded understanding of mathematical constructs, which helps for both math and science.

Too bad they can’t figure out how to translate the arts into multiple choice questions on those stupid standardized tests. Arts education would be available at every school then.

Requiescat in pace…

Isn’t it

Requiescat in pacem?

Art, Music feed the soul. Have listened to Mountain Stage for years!

Listening to the Senate hearing with the Generals. General Joulwan keeps referring to how the Iraqi army was purposely disbanded and how difficult it is to create a new Army and try to maintain order all at the same time…almost impossible.

Talk of protecting the Syrian and Iranian borders. Several statements by General Jones makes me wonder how all of these reports will be used to drum up support for more aggressive actions towards Iran.

The neo-cons knew there would be sectarian violence, they knew that enough troops were not being sent in, that disbanding the Iraqi army would be counter-productive…these creeps are twisted beyond belief.

The Iraq population is 25 million in the last 16 years 2 million have died due to sanctions and the invasion, 4 million are refugees. What is that one sixth of their population are now refugees? With 60,ooo Iraqi people leaving a month in five years another 3 and a half million will be refugees and one fourth of their population will be displaced. What would that look like if the same thing happenned to the U.s? Where is the outrage for the Iraqi people?

Our nation should be held accountable for war crimes

Thanks for this, Christy.

Pains me to acknowledge that my state has now fallen to 50th in the country, dead last, in funding for the arts.

[sigh]

This, the state with the 6th or 7th largest number of electoral votes, home to nearly 10 million people.

As a kid, growing up in West Virginia in the 70s, my introduction to opera came with a Pavarotti performance at the Met that was broadcast on our local PBS station. I was not very old — maybe five? – the opera was a Pucchini (Perhaps Tosca? I’m not certain but that seems right.), and I remember sitting transfixed at the beauty of the music and the soaring voice coming out of that big bear of a man on the stage.

Growing up in Ireland with no electricity, no radio and television was not yet a thought over there we had a wind up gramophone and one record. I listened to that one record of Harry Lauder so many times I can still remember both sides. It was our only music and I remember it fondly.

madmommy @ 19

Not only does education in the arts make for a well-rounded eduation, studies have shown that children who participate in the arts do better in the 3 R’s.

There is a clear connection between mathematics and music. Something about the sequencing and patterns.

madmommy @ 19

Not only does education in the arts make for a well-rounded eduation, studies have shown that children who participate in the arts do better in the 3 R’s.

Music is not just good for kids. The New Horizons band programs target retired people – even people with no music experience – and I recall reading an article once about it where the first program(started in Rochester, NY by a professor at the Eastman School)actually did testing before and after 10 weeks of lessons and playing with the help of the University of Rochester and they found great advances in aspects such as memory among the elderly who participated. Great stuff. http://www.newhorizonsmusic.org/nhima.htm

Christy Hardin Smith @ 6

sporkovat at 5 — I needed a break from the angry. Thought we could all use one this morning…

Thank you, Christy. You often provide “a break from the angry” just when I need it most.

The state of public tv can be put in two words AFAIC: Suze Orman.

Or Robert Kiyosaki (sp?).

Is there any greater argument that they need to shut down their present incarnation, than that PUBLIC television, brought into being largely to counterbalance the go-go Madison Avenue ethos of commercial TV, ought to be the LAST place you’d see these priest(esse)s of the get-rich-quick, never-mind-the-community mindset?

Toby Wollin @ 16

Does anyone know if Bush, or anyone in the Bush family, has any connection with/exposure to the arts? I mean, shoot – Bill Clinton plays the sax – Huckabee plays the bass, for heaven’s sake.

I think Bush has a paint-by-number set.

thank you christie, what you wrote brought tears to my eyes and a smile to my face……..luciano has always had a fond place in my heart……..you posted pavoratti’s nessun dorma earlier, can’t do it right now, no time, i’m on dialup, might do it later……..but i bookmarked it for later……..

that is on my list of top ten favorite songs of mine, done by luciano………i still remember the first time i heard it………and i made everyone i knew listen to it…….there is something about his voice that cuts to my soul………

only other time i was affected like that was that singer (what’s his name? can’t remember) who just won a contest, like american idol, in england singing opera………chilling, in a good way, in the same way………i felt the same joy in hearing him that i felt when i listened to the great luciano pavoratti……….

RIP Pavirotti

We have also been trying to introduce The Peanut to classical music and jazz since she was tiny. She now loves to sing along with just about anything that happens to be playing. Anyone know when a good age is to begin piano lessons? I started them in the second grade, but I seem to recall my teacher saying to my parents that she taught younger children. Thoughts?

Paul Bremer has a piece up at the nyt saying that he gave BUSH a report informing him that he was gonna dump the Iraqi military AND he explained the plan to Bush in a video conference. Bush claims he didn’t know that Bremer was going to pull the plug and that what Bremer did was contrary to policy.

So if you believe Bremer- well then Bush is just lying- nothing new about that.

If you believe Bush- then a much more fantasic
Bushworld opens to view- one in which subordinates go off on their own making monumental decisions that cost american lives- all on their own- with no overview- and that the pres doesn’t even know that it’s being done..Even worse- once he finds out- he does NOTHING about it- nothing at all..

Either way- this is a cracked door into the sickness that is the Bush administration. It’s horrifying. Who the hell’s running the fuckin show?

The press isn’t much interested in it- probably just sees it as more Bush lies (ho humm).

rw at 34 — Read the piece from James Fallows that I linked up in my first article this morning. It hits that point square in the head.

Now I must first state that I’m not an opera lover. But growing up in Kentucky in the 50s and 60s, we always had music classes in school. There were band classes starting in about fifth grade for those who played. Art classes began in sixth grade. So they at least attempted to educate and enlighten us, even those of us that are completely tone deaf.

The various Arts open the mind to the possible. And I would wager that Little Boots never had someone like Mrs Land blowing the pitch pipe and trying to open his mind (and heart) to the possibilities of beauty.

Between public radio and public television, I’m tremendously grateful for the world of art, music, science, and politics that they opened to me. Between 1973 (when I first remember watching and listening to Oregon Public Broadcasting) and now (the joys of KCRW for the best pop music in the world) the arts, science, and political content have become, well, programmatic – like damned near everything else in this country of our.

Even before “No Child Left Behind,” public schools across the country, urban, rural, etc. (all except the wealthy districts) started cutting the arts, especially music. Another crime of the century; in this world, as you indicated Christy, one needs to escape to beauty for sanity’s sake. One of the first times I knew how much I disliked Condi was when she was interviewed after she gave a special piano performance I think at the Kennedy Center. Asked why she did not pursue a musical career, she referred to the difficulty of making it in a performance career (very true) and stated that she would then be — I think she used the word “stuck” but that was the point — teaching. Fine, don’t teach, but, as the widow of an excellent piano teacher, I was very offended by the way she said it. The ability to teach and especially the ability to teach those who are not precocious is a great gift and a real necessity.

Correction:

“the arts have been a neglected facet of [a neglected institution], education.”

Here’s a nice XMas gift for the peanut.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 33

We have also been trying to introduce The Peanut to classical music and jazz since she was tiny. She now loves to sing along with just about anything that happens to be playing. Anyone know when a good age is to begin piano lessons? I started them in the second grade, but I seem to recall my teacher saying to my parents that she taught younger children. Thoughts?

Well, the Peanut strikes me as very bright, so that should not be limiting factor.

I do know that Suzuki violin starts them off very young.

How about the size of her hands? Is that something to consider?

ccmask @ 30

Toby Wollin @ 16

Does anyone know if Bush, or anyone in the Bush family, has any connection with/exposure to the arts? I mean, shoot – Bill Clinton plays the sax – Huckabee plays the bass, for heaven’s sake.

I think Bush has a paint-by-number set.

that was the best one liner yet

Christy Hardin Smith @ 15

Marie — It really has been a rough few weeks in terms of news, I thought we could all use a bit of exhale. And nomolos, wish I were there to listen with you…sounds heavenly this morning.

A friend of mine who is a grad student in the Music dept. @ at Cal State Northridge said it better than I ever could- This was commissioned as the music of kings, Marie, & now we all get to listen.

As it should have always been…

Sorry for the OT but….A federal judge struck down parts of the revised USA Patriot Act on Thursday, saying investigators must have a court’s approval before they can order Internet providers to turn over records without telling customers.
This at TPM

Christy Hardin Smith @ 33

We have also been trying to introduce The Peanut to classical music and jazz since she was tiny. She now loves to sing along with just about anything that happens to be playing. Anyone know when a good age is to begin piano lessons? I started them in the second grade, but I seem to recall my teacher saying to my parents that she taught younger children. Thoughts?

Christy – I was nailed to a piano bench at the age of five and slogged my way through lessons until I was 13. Our experience with our kids (who all started with public school lessons in 4th grade) is – the instrument your kid starts will may NOT be the best one for them. My eldest started with clarinet and hated it – changed to trombone in 9th grade and took off like a shot. Daughter the second started with flute and then changed to sax and loved it. The son was a drummer from day one and has never changed. I refused to have anything to do with music until I was 49 and took up the fiddle because I wanted to learn Celtic music – I now play the nyckelharpa and fiddle doing Scandinavian traditional music. So, you might want to try a little experiment – if you have a Suzuki school near you, you might try violin as well as piano – she may find it a lot more fun to do “Twinkle twinkle” on one of those teeny 1/8 size fiddles and it’s great ear training should she move to something else.

my 31–

the singer who won the contest-his name is potts……..here he is singing nessun dorma……..i think pavorotti wouldn’t mind him being in his thread……….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA

Christy Hardin Smith @ 33

We have also been trying to introduce The Peanut to classical music and jazz since she was tiny. She now loves to sing along with just about anything that happens to be playing. Anyone know when a good age is to begin piano lessons? I started them in the second grade, but I seem to recall my teacher saying to my parents that she taught younger children. Thoughts?

Christy, see my comment at 38. My husband strongly felt it was important not to start too early, but it was never too early to expose a child to music. There are programs using rhythm instruments and other things for pre-schoolers. In rare cases, as where a younger child in a family where older ones were taking lessons was constantly at the keyboard and begging for lessons, he might consider short “lessons” tailored to the younger child – more play – less formal. There are methods that start formal instruction very early. He never thought these were a good idea, and they sometimes caused problems later.

Lyrics in English
MY OWN SUN

What a wonderful thing a sunny day
The cool air after a thunderstorm!
The fresh breezes banish the heavy air…
What a wonderful thing a sunny day.
But another sun,
that’s brighter still
It’s my own sun
that’s in your face!
The sun, my own sun
It’s in your face!
It’s in your face!
Shining is the glass from your window;
A washwoman is singing and bragging
Wringing and hanging laundry and singing
Shining is the glass from your window.
But another sun,
that’s brighter still
It’s my own sun
that’s in your face!
The sun, my own sun
It’s in your face!
It’s in your face!
When night comes and the sun
has gone down,
I start feeling blue;
I’d stay below your window
When night comes and the sun
has gone down.
But another sun,
that’s brighter still
It’s my own sun
that’s in your face!
The sun, my own sun
It’s in your face!
It’s in your face!

o! sole mio! youToobz

dedicated to christy & peanut!

Thanks for posting this – so glad to see Pavarotti acknowledged this morning. (do the right-wing blogs ever take a “break from the angry?”).
Ad you’re so right, all of you, about music and art education–I was so lucky to grow up in the 50’s and 60’s in Indianapolis, where we had art and music classes throughout grade school, and most of all, we had the “Music Memory Contest.”
This was a wonderful thing, my first intro to classical music, a project of the Indpls. Symphony and the Public Schools.
The contest brought children from all over the city to listen to excerpts from classic pieces and identify them. Somewhere my mother probably still has my certificates.
Teachers and kids stayed after school to listen to the pieces for the contest, and we learned how to listen, how to identify instruments, the parts of a symphony, movements, etc.
I still remember hearing Carnival of the Animals (Saint-Saens,IIRC?), Peter and the Wolf, Flight of the Bumblebee, Night on Bald Mountain, and so many more.
And PBS- without them, I would never have seen ballet, never gone to live performances, etc. etc.

My mom raised me on classical music & flash cards – I really miss her.

dmac @ 46

my 31–

the singer who won the contest-his name is potts……..here he is singing nessun dorma……..i think pavorotti wouldn’t mind him being in his thread……….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA

Oh, yes ideed. So very fine is our “up from the root end & audience so very proud of him” Mr Potts. What a talent.

Christy:

My kids started piano lessons when they were four-five years old.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 33

We have also been trying to introduce The Peanut to classical music and jazz since she was tiny. She now loves to sing along with just about anything that happens to be playing. Anyone know when a good age is to begin piano lessons? I started them in the second grade, but I seem to recall my teacher saying to my parents that she taught younger children. Thoughts?

My son started Suzuki cello at age 4 — they offer piano, violin, viola and cello at that age in most places. It has been great for him. The philosophy is that people learn to speak and understand language before they know how to read — works the same with music.

Contrary to what you might have heard, Suzuki kids do learn the note names and learn to read music — they just do it in a different order. My Mom taught conventional piano for years, I memorized her books by the time I was 4 and I made a terrible piano student as a result ;-)

My suggestion is to look around for teachers and see how they approach lessons with youngsters. If you have a chance to take her to a ‘pre-Twinkle’ Suzuki day it might be a low-risk way to introduce her to instruments and see how she responds.

We have also been trying to introduce The Peanut to classical music and jazz since she was tiny. She now loves to sing along with just about anything that happens to be playing. Anyone know when a good age is to begin piano lessons? I started them in the second grade, but I seem to recall my teacher saying to my parents that she taught younger children. Thoughts?

Chior, Singing. Peanut can learn to “play by ear”, then musical skills can develop.

dakine01 @ 36

Now I must first state that I’m not an opera lover. But growing up in Kentucky in the 50s and 60s, we always had music classes in school. There were band classes starting in about fifth grade for those who played. Art classes began in sixth grade. So they at least attempted to educate and enlighten us, even those of us that are completely tone deaf.

The various Arts open the mind to the possible. And I would wager that Little Boots never had someone like Mrs Land blowing the pitch pipe and trying to open his mind (and heart) to the possibilities of beauty.

aw c’mon….can’t you just SEE the Bargoyle rocking little Georgie and humming Brahm’s Lullaby….?

(btw, is anyone here a fan of “Clockwork Orange”?)

I grew up in a small town in central Illinois. Band was my refuge in junior high and high school. I can’t imagine surviving high school without it.

My parents worked hard to expose me to the arts. I still remember shows that we drove 30 to 60 minutes to see. It was the start of my eclectic musical tastes. I can’t thank them enough for that.

Toby Willin@27: I’d never heard of New Horizons. I’m not surprised by the results, though. Music seems to be the last to go. My Dad is in the late stages of Alzheimer’s. Conversation is a no-go, but he can still sing.

Christy@33: The right age to start piano lessons is whenever Peanut will stick to it without dire threats. (My folks tried me ca. age 7. I now wish they’d pushed harder and started just a little later.)

A BA from a music and liberal arts school
A Job as a teacher where one makes a difference each day
No money for conspicuous consumption and appreciation of simple things
A sense of wonder and beauty- PRICELESS

OT, but it looks like Craig will be leaving after all…

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..eheadlines

What an inspiring essay, Christy. I begin another semester teaching college Music Appreciation in four hours. It is one of my life’s chief joys. Every year, I teach another 360 kids how to love music. Most are unfamiliar with either the art of “classical” music or with cultural history. Fewer still seem to be able to write about it (!!!). But every season, when I’m at the symphony or opera or some recital in the community, former students will come up to me to thank me for turning them on to the stuff.

I have a t-shirt that reads “ART CAN’T HURT YOU”

OT:

WASHINGTON (AP (AP) — The Energy Department plans to send plutonium in Washington state and at research laboratories in New Mexico and California to the Savannah River nuclear complex in South Carolina to improve security and reduce storage costs.

The department said Wednesday that the plutonium shipments, involving 3,000 coffee can-size canisters, could begin as early as next month and last three years.

Thank you for this video Christy. One of my favorite vocal pieces to hear and to sing, had never seen his face as he performs this. Chills down my spine.

The world has lost a beautiful soul.

Christy a beautiful piece. I send my sympathies to Luciano’s family. While Pavarotti made opera more so-called main stream, unfortunately what he did also left the opera business in such dire straights it would take volumes of books to explain.
Actually Pavarotti and Domingo et al are to opera what the Bushies are to government. Believe me I have lived it, it is what I do. They took and took and took, never gave back. While he will be given his Princess Diana moments, those that know, will be relieved not by his death, but that the era of his reign as the “so-called” great tenor of our time is finally over, and those who know music can start the rehabilitation process and rebuild the opera business.

skippy has luciano singing la donna e mobile from rigoletto (you’ve all heard this one, and love it, i can assure you). and tonite’s music club will feature some of the more esoteric duets pavarotti did.

By the way for you all.

THIS is the greatest tenor of our time who died last year, and this is the Nessun Dorma of our time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avjNx_J1iHo

Morning pups. There’s still lots of activity in the prior thread for comments on other topics.
Thanks.

Franco @ 62

Christy a beautiful piece. I send my sympathies to Luciano’s family. While Pavarotti made opera more so-called main stream, unfortunately what he did also left the opera business in such dire straights it would take volumes of books to explain.
Actually Pavarotti and Domingo et al are to opera what the Bushies are to government. Believe me I have lived it, it is what I do. They took and took and took, never gave back. While he will be given his Princess Diana moments, those that know, will be relieved not by his death, but that the era of his reign as the “so-called” great tenor of our time is finally over, and those who know music can start the rehabilitation process and rebuild the opera business.

Gosh. would love some kind of explanation

There are also programs like “Music Together” that are great for preschoolers — lots of singing and dancing and banging on pots :-)

O.T. (good news) Judge struck down part of the new Patriot Act. -per Think Progress: http://thinkprogress.org/

There’s a young singer named Russell Watson I especially enjoy. Opera and contemporary songs. Really nice voice. I think he has 2 or 3 cds.

ohhh what a lovely post christy…my kids started music lessons in 1st grade – not because of me but at that time music appreciation was part of the curriculum and my kids were found to be musically gifted…sadly today thats not the case – music doesn’t seem to be offered in elementary school anymore – this is so sad to me.

nomolos@66

As I said it would take volumes of books to completely explain, what the Pavarotti phenomenon did to opera. But He was a “good” singer with a big personality. I will let him rest in piece. There are going to be a few books coming out in the next 2 years that will explain it all.

christie-i started on violin in the third grade…….i remember being to grasp it, and learning to read music……but i liked it and applied myself to it, others, not so much, they struggled…….

in the fifth grade my dad wanted me to play bagpipes, i resisted……

chose guitar…was challenged by it…wanted to play mandolin, but no teachers in area…..

neighbors had a piano, i played around on it……born free was the song i learned first and played it over and over……liked it…….

gma’s neighbor, my surrogate gma, had an organ, she played at her church, the song i played for her was, just as i am……..

a year ago, a friend gave me a mandolin to try, always wanted to play it, but haven’t gotten hooked on it………..

i always heard to start kids out like recoveringlurker suggested……learning rhythm and structure first……

i remember in the fourth grade we had a teacher who would play things like peter and the wolf, and get us to imagine what the music was telling us, something like that might be a good thing for the peanut…….and fun……

oh, and my uncle (he lived at my gma’s)had a rare classical collection, and always had music going, and a shortwave radio, which had music from all over the world……but he mostly had it on classical out of england……….he would call me in to hear big ben toll, one of my favorite things from when i was young…..we spent a lot of time there.

Christy Hardin Smith @ 33

We have also been trying to introduce The Peanut to classical music and jazz since she was tiny. She now loves to sing along with just about anything that happens to be playing. Anyone know when a good age is to begin piano lessons? I started them in the second grade, but I seem to recall my teacher saying to my parents that she taught younger children. Thoughts?

Hi Christy – Whenever the child is ready. There is no set age. I loved dance, particularly ballet. We had no TV at that time so I had little influence other than my imagination. I was four years old. I twirled and danced around the living room to music. Finally, at age six my parents sent me to ballet classes. I couldn’t get enough. I practiced and lived for days I went to ballet class. By age 22 I joined a dance company and performed professionally for nearly seven years, throughout my twenties.

I am so grateful my parent recognized my abilities and love of dance and sent me to class much earlier than was the accepted age for a child to begin the discipline. That discipline served me well in every aspect of my life and dance opened all the arts to me. I am now a devotee of classical music in particular. My love of poetry, literature, music, art, opera, plays I credit to those formative years in a ballet studio. Was I too young? I don’t think so.

Redd- Went back and read the piece you linked to in the first thread today..

Yeah- that does a pretty good job- I think it would be very interesting to have a shrink take a look at this incident. I favor the “he just lied” explanation.

That raises some questions.

How could this guy lie so casually about something this important. How could he just blame Bremer without thinking that Bremer might fight back? How could he claim “no one told me” without noticing that such a comment gets him out of the frying pan and into the fire? How could he claim that Bremer sold the country down the river and then not remember what he (Bush) did about it. “Hadley has some notes”!

Holy shitterooo

This guy’s way round the bend and this small conversation proves it if anyone would pay attention to it.

Sane people don’t do this.

nomolos @ 66

Franco @ 62

Christy a beautiful piece. I send my sympathies to Luciano’s family. While Pavarotti made opera more so-called main stream, unfortunately what he did also left the opera business in such dire straights it would take volumes of books to explain.
Actually Pavarotti and Domingo et al are to opera what the Bushies are to government. Believe me I have lived it, it is what I do. They took and took and took, never gave back. While he will be given his Princess Diana moments, those that know, will be relieved not by his death, but that the era of his reign as the “so-called” great tenor of our time is finally over, and those who know music can start the rehabilitation process and rebuild the opera business.

Gosh. would love some kind of explanation

me2

Re piano lessons, for most children not before second grade. One of my 3 begged so I let them start in the first grade, but before that what they learn is that practicing is a chore, not a good way to start. Music should first be fun, then beautiful.

At even the youngest age they can listen to all kinds of music, learn to do things with rhythm, play simple and fun instruments themselves, sing songs, and watch the joy that a parent has doing her own music.

If you have a piano or keyboard at home, you can let them play what they want, not what is written in some book. You or a friend or relative can teach them a couple simple songs to whet their appetite for later. I’m in the minority by letting very young children bang on my piano with their fists and flat hands. What a delightful look on their faces, they do this and great sound comes booming out!

Finally, when you do begin instruction, it’s not a sacrilege to tape little pieces of paper with numbers around middle C to correspond to their fingers, so they know where to place their hands for simple pieces.

On YouTube: Luciano Pavarotti sings Shubert’s Ava Maria.

As a kid, growing up in West Virginia in the 70s, my introduction to opera came with a Pavarotti performance at the Met that was broadcast on our local PBS station. I was not very old — maybe five? – the opera was a Pucchini (Perhaps Tosca? I’m not certain but that seems right.), and I remember sitting transfixed at the beauty of the music and the soaring voice coming out of that big bear of a man on the stage.

I believe you are referring to the “Live From The Met” broadcast of “La Boheme” with Renata Scotto in 1977. This was the first of many “Live From The Met” television broadcasts (later called “The Metropolitan Opera Presents”) and holds the distinction of having the largest audience ever for a televised opera broadcast. It’s available on DVD

Dear Christy,

I’m someone to whom classical music is very important. I’ve been playing piano since I was ten, and have been doing it a lot in recent years. It’s wonderful to read your words, good to know that you feel the power of music, and even better to have you pause to appreciate it, and Pavarotti, in the midst of all the other things that FDL is involved with.

Can’t stay around, but thanks again!

Richmond @ 68

O.T. (good news) Judge struck down part of the new Patriot Act. -per Think Progress: http://thinkprogress.org/

YES. Take note,ye lawyer and judge bashers out there.

Mods: Please delete my 77. Thanks.

The senate hearing with General Jones, General Joulwan, Ramsey is worth the watch. On C-Span 3

John Dean @findlaw has a great new piece up.

Completely off-topic, and obvious, but thought it should get out there.

Top CIA officials confirm Bush purposely ignoring evidence denying WMDs in Iraq.

What presidential candidate has the best position and the best record for promoting arts in the public schools?

Answer: Huckabee.

Richmond @ 68

O.T. (good news) Judge struck down part of the new Patriot Act. -per Think Progress: http://thinkprogress.org/

Isn’t it likely that the Republic dominated Supreme Court will overturn this ruling?

edteller at 59 says-”I have a t-shirt that reads “ART CAN’T HURT YOU””

i have the coffee mug, given to me from an elementary art teacher who coordinated the event, as a thank you for judging the fire department’s safety slogan poster contest…….what a hoot………i had kids’ artwork spread all over the floor trying to narrow it down…….my best friend helped me, she teaches high school art……..some of them made us laugh and cry at the same time……

our joke is, ever since that slogan came out, is, yes, art can hurt you if it falls on your head……..

Christy Hardin Smith @ 33

Anyone know when a good age is to begin piano lessons? I started them in the second grade, but I seem to recall my teacher saying to my parents that she taught younger children. Thoughts?

How much “hand” does she have? If her hands are small, I’d suggest starting with a child’s size guitar or possibly violin, rather than piano.

Hearthsong sells a child size guitar… (thus speaks the filker)

Fresh thread from RJ Eskow for everyone…and it’s a doozy.

Senate Hearing with the Generals worth the watching. C-span 3

John Dean@ findlaw has a new piece up. Always insightful.

What most of our reps did on their summer vacations…. They went to Iraq. Just too bad they did not do their homework before they gave their support to an illegal invasion

New thread upstairs.

dmac @ 46

my 31–

the singer who won the contest-his name is potts……..here he is singing nessun dorma……..i think pavorotti wouldn’t mind him being in his thread……….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA

Thank you for this link. It’s wonderful.

#75

My take:
Maybe it’s because they were such big names that nobody notices anyone else involved, or any other productions. They went out and did those concerts, and people weren’t going to go to the operas that the music was from, or buying the recordings, if the ‘big names’ weren’t in the production.
That’s bad for the field – it’s like having one big-name candidate for president who gets the attention and the money, and nobody bothering with the less-well-known candidates, who might actually be better for the job.

Kathleen @ 82

The senate hearing with General Jones, General Joulwan, Ramsey is worth the watch. On C-Span 3

John Dean @findlaw has a great new piece up.

OOOO, I love this regarding Dean’s book published last year in which, among other things, he examines the idea connecting the GOP conservatives with authoritarian personalities:
“At the outset of Conservatives Without Conscience, I provided a quick and highly incomplete summary of Altemeyer’s findings, explaining that his empirical testing revealed “are frequently enemies of freedom, antidemocratic, anti-equality, highly prejthat authoritarians udiced, mean-spirited, power hungry, Machiavellian, and amoral.” To be clear, these are not assessments that Altemeyer makes himself about these people; rather, this is how those he has tested reveal themselves to be, when being anonymously examined.”
Ding, Ding, Ding. We have a winner.

egregious @ 76

Re piano lessons, for most children not before second grade. One of my 3 begged so I let them start in the first grade, but before that what they learn is that practicing is a chore, not a good way to start. Music should first be fun, then beautiful.

At even the youngest age they can listen to all kinds of music, learn to do things with rhythm, play simple and fun instruments themselves, sing songs, and watch the joy that a parent has doing her own music.

If you have a piano or keyboard at home, you can let them play what they want, not what is written in some book. You or a friend or relative can teach them a couple simple songs to whet their appetite for later. I’m in the minority by letting very young children bang on my piano with their fists and flat hands. What a delightful look on their faces, they do this and great sound comes booming out!

Finally, when you do begin instruction, it’s not a sacrilege to tape little pieces of paper with numbers around middle C to correspond to their fingers, so they know where to place their hands for simple pieces.

What egregious said, Christy. Before 2nd grade they have a very tough time with understanding that lessons require dedicated time and practice. If they chafe under the demands, they will not learn to love it. Starting later isn’t bad, either; my daughter started playing viola with her school’s strings offering in 5th grade, is now quite accomplished in 8th grade and has been asked to participate in orchestral competitions. She’s old enough now to be internally driven to achieve.

unlikely but wonderful pairing and performance – RIP James and Luciano

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCIyzNISw1Q

Christy Hardin Smith @ 33

We have also been trying to introduce The Peanut to classical music and jazz since she was tiny. She now loves to sing along with just about anything that happens to be playing. Anyone know when a good age is to begin piano lessons? I started them in the second grade, but I seem to recall my teacher saying to my parents that she taught younger children. Thoughts?

Piano playing, after the first scales and little melodies, involves more than one note at a time. After years of embarassment at not being able to wrap my head around that, in a family of pianists and organists, I found it quite doable to play the pennywhistle and Irish dance music, which only obliges you to play one a note at once. So, I wonder if there are two kinds of people: one-noters and multi-noters.

If your Peanut balks at the piano, doesn’t seem to ‘get it’, consider something like pennywhistles or recorders — no reeds or keys involved, put it in your pocket and take it with you into the woods or wherever, and some spectacular examples of musicianship in the Celtic tradition.

Then there’s the Irish harp. Sublime, in the right hands.

Edward Teller:

But every season, when I’m at the symphony or opera or some recital in the community, former students will come up to me to thank me for turning them on to the stuff.

That’s wonderful! Gives me hope for the future.

I have a t-shirt that reads “ART CAN’T HURT YOU”

Do you wear that to school board meetings?

This is a wonderful tribute, and the need for arts programs in schools is acute. We are all diminished by the deprivation of the arts in our schools and in our lives. Pavarotti contributed greatly to this and we are the poorer for his passing.

But, please, folks. The way music is talked about sometimes, one could well feel subhuman if one isn’t able to hear the music. There are many ways — music is not the only one — to be transported by the beauty and joy of something. I’m not trying to be crabby or harshly critical, just pointing out that there are other ways of looking at things, more than one way to be enriched.

The US Open is an amazing event; last night I saw Venus and Federer. Tony Bennett, a great voice from Queens was there among many other familiar faces. The news of Pavarotti was sad and I couldn’t help but think how little we appreciate our own great and talented people in the US, such as in our education system.

Franco @62

Before we leave this thread, please give me information on your statement. It is another perspective and I would like to know how it has impacted opera. I have no doubt the commercial world will exploit any thing it can to make some bucks. I enjoy the arias and when alone traveling through the mountains, I sing along. (I definitely need to be alone for this.) But I more often listen to the entire opera. The more I sang along, the more complete operas I purchased and then various performances of the opera.

oddmommy @ 75

nomolos @ 66

Gosh. would love some kind of explanation

me2

Think about when one or even a few eclipse all others in a field, no one is able to preform outside their shadow, motivation to excel can wither. Would this not be the subject?

P J Evans @ 92

#75

My take:
Maybe it’s because they were such big names that nobody notices anyone else involved, or any other productions. They went out and did those concerts, and people weren’t going to go to the operas that the music was from, or buying the recordings, if the ‘big names’ weren’t in the production.
That’s bad for the field – it’s like having one big-name candidate for president who gets the attention and the money, and nobody bothering with the less-well-known candidates, who might actually be better for the job.

Well, being a big name means you can command all the money you want, leaving little behind for the day-to-day operations. Kind of like celebrity CEO’s in corporations; they demand and take golden parachutes, at the expense of line workers’ wages and shareholders’ dividends.

Another example is the Bill Clinton model; he may have been great as an elected leader, but he really did very little to ensure that the rank-and-file and grassroots of the party were nurtured and encouraged. As the figurehead of the party during the ’90’s, he should have been going out into the field and talking with the local party machine, gratis, to make sure they were on their game. We wouldn’t need the 50-State Strategy so desperately now if he’d done even a bit of that (but thank goodness for Howard Dean, who understood that). I suspect as the figural leader of opera, that Pavarotti didn’t do enough to encourage newcomers, schools of music, venues that were suffering from financial problems, in order to encourage long-term sustainability.

But our heroes are flawed humans; we have to take their limitations as well as their super strengths. It is up to us to learn from both.

THANK YOU. This still can bring tears to my eyes.

I am a professor at a university in large part because of music. Retention studies have shown that students perservere because school gives them access to something they cannot (or believe they cannot) get otherwise. For me, that was music.

Finding a place to play outside school was difficult. It was easier in school, and there were terms that I returned in part because I knew that band and orchestra were there. That lasted through my MSc. When I returned for my doctorate part of the deal (with my now ex-) was that the trombone went into the closet. It stayed there for almost ten years, and putting it away was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.

It’s a poorer world with one less popularizer of music. And here’s my thanks to Mr. Anderson, Mr. Boles, Dr. Koshak, “Colonel” Moore, Dr. Helder, Jack Mason, Dr. Brady, Dr. Mehling and Dr. Simanitzki. Thank you all for giving me a place to make music while I was in school. It was a certain refuge when my real life was overwhelming.

As far as starting kids on instruments, it’s difficult to say when the right time is. For some kids it’s very young. Violinists (and strings generally) require such skill and practice that playing highly proficiently means you have to start young. Wind instruments, not so much. The scale of some winds (trombone is a notable example) is such that starting before age 9 or 10 is not practical. More important than age is a connection between the child and the teacher. If practicing is a chore, there seems to be a high probability that the kid will quit.

Get the kid, teacher and instrument right and things blossom on their own. I went through violin, piano and guitar before the trombone and I met. I play at the first three, but the trombone is my musical voice.

BC

Pavarotti is one of those people I thought would live forever. Rest in Peace, Luciano.

Christy, I would emphasize music appreciation & enjoyment like you are now. The reason most teachers wait until 2nd grade is because of both dexterity and attention span. I don’t know, maybe things have changed…

And when you start lessons, make sure your Peanut likes the teacher!!! (I hated mine–it was so obvious that he was teaching for extra money and not for love of teaching. and so I dropped out. He killed my desire to learn piano.)

Thanks for this piece. When my daughter was very little, she called Pavarotti “Tissue Man” because of his hankerchief…she loves all kinds of music. We’re very eclectic in our house.

cheers.

behindthefall at 96 says-snip-”If your Peanut balks at the piano, doesn’t seem to ‘get it’, consider something like pennywhistles or recorders — no reeds or keys involved, put it in your pocket and take it with you into the woods or wherever, and some spectacular examples of musicianship in the Celtic tradition.

Then there’s the Irish harp. Sublime, in the right hands.”

in the 5th grade everyone in our school learned the recorder…….i loved it……..my dad gave my mom a tin whistle, she isn’t musical, he thought she would like it………

irish harp, i know someone who wasn’t musical her whole life who has picked up the irish harp, she plays beautifully……

Arnie @ 101

oddmommy @ 75

me2

Think about when one or even a few eclipse all others in a field, no one is able to preform outside their shadow, motivation to excel can wither. Would this not be the subject?

I honestly don’t know why. It is the love of the art form that drives one to accomplish mastering the work. Recognition is wonderful but ones own sense of accomplishment is even greater. Many wonderful artists of various genre work alone, quietly.

dmac @ 106

in the 5th grade everyone in our school learned the recorder…….i loved it……..my dad gave my mom a tin whistle, she isn’t musical, he thought she would like it……

Is a recorder the same as what was called, in the early ’60’s, “song flute?” It was plastic, I believe, and maybe blue or purple. Anyway, around 5th grade in the Indianapolis schools everybody learned song flute, too. Once or twice a week, I think, and it was at least a nice break from the 3 R’s.

QuakerGirl @ 107

Arnie @ 101

Think about when one or even a few eclipse all others in a field, no one is able to preform outside their shadow, motivation to excel can wither. Would this not be the subject?

I honestly don’t know why. It is the love of the art form that drives one to accomplish mastering the work. Recognition is wonderful but ones own sense of accomplishment is even greater. Many wonderful artists of various genre work alone, quietly.

I just noted that when Baryshnikov left the stage, all manner of dance became evident, such was the brillance of Mikail’s overwhelming talent. Also a part of this is attracting audience, without audience willing to experiment with “unknown” artists, these are left behind. It has little to do with the artist/performers themselves, it has a lot to do with the availability of scarce resources (venues, support, knowledgable audience).

tejanarusa @ 108

Is a recorder the same as what was called, in the early ’60’s, “song flute?” It was plastic, I believe, and maybe blue or purple. Anyway, around 5th grade in the Indianapolis schools everybody learned song flute, too. Once or twice a week, I think, and it was at least a nice break from the 3 R’s.

More or less. I ended up in band in the 6th grade because our choices were band or art/music. Art/music was drawing and flute-o-phone (a/k/a song flute). For me, that wasn’t a choice at all — I wasn’t a fan of visual arts at the time, and the thought of spending half a school year drawing made my skin crawl. Honking on a flute-o-phone wasn’t much more appealing. But I found the instrument that stuck.

BC

Nessun Dorma – the 3 tenors:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MDt…..mp;search=

The Senate Hearing at C-Span 3 is both informative and detailed. Seems the new spin will be “Transition to the New Mission”

Retired General Jones and Joulwan are being straight up. I really like General Joulwan he continues to repeat how very serious mistakes were made by disbanding the Iraqi Army and not protecting the borders between Iran and Syria.

I think this Committee’s findings will be more important than what Patreaus has to say, which I believe will be to push for aggressive actions towards Iran.

This a gorgeous rendition of Gounod’s Ave Maria, by Kathleen Battle – angelic:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z_-…..mp;search=

Here are some eloquently stated impressions from people who participated in NPR’s Hearing Voices feature back in July.

My favorites…

“To hear Pavarotti is to wittingly empty the breath from your own chest that he may better present its intentions” — Ardith Wagley

“A newborn baby’s first taste of air” — Jessica Carlson

and the hilarious…

“What seagulls must think they sound like” — Dick Hershberger

I give thanks every day that I was born in 1940, young at a time when free art and music was supplied by my community in Toledo, Ohio. I saw concerts and shows, had art and music appreciation lessons in school and at the Toledo Museum, in addition to what was available on the radio and in the public library. The Boston schools are “seriously considering” restoring 2 hours a week of art or music to the curriculum. Two hours a week! I have never passed a day in my life without at least two hours of making and/or appreciating art and music: it is what makes life worth living. Now that I am retired I can spend all but an hour or two every day reading, writing, thinking, acting, singing, dancing, designing…. and scolding my fellow citizens for imprisoning themselves and their children in a drudge’s round of getting and spending. Bread and Roses!
Geralyn Horton http://www.stagepage.info

My mom was an opera nut who grew up in NYC.
She knew the names of all the famous singers
and the operas they performed.

Until I went off to college, I had to live with
listening daily to WQXR “the radio station of the New York Times”, in the car and at the dinner table. When my kids fiddle with the radio knobs too much I find a classical station , make them listen a while, and tell them this is how I was abused as a child.

Pavarotti was her absolute favorite.In the late 70’s she saw him live in NY and got to go back stage to meet him. She and her friend drank
champagne with him. When I picked her up at her friends house that evening,she was slightly buzzed (the only time I can remember in her 78 years). I felt like the father who just picked up his teenage daughter after meeting her favorite rock star.

I hope she and Luciano are now having fun together again.

I am afraid that those who love, nurture and enjoy these important cultural and historic contributions to civilized society are a dying breed. It will be a sad time when the last of these affectionatos pass on.

Thank you CHS for adding the classical touch we desparately need in these times.

Nessun Dorma, from Turandot, an opera by Puccini to libretto of Adami and Simoni:

None must sleep! None must sleep!
And you, too, Princess,
in your cold room,
gaze at the stars
which tremble with love
and hope!

But my mystery is locked within me,
no-one shall know my name!
No, no, I shall say it as my mouth
meets yours when the dawn is breaking!

And my kiss will break the silence
which makes you mine!

(No-one shall know his name,
and we, alas, shall die!)

Vanish, o night!
Fade, stars!
At dawn I shall win!

As a “peanut worthy” introduction to opera, I’d suggest the DVD of Ingmar Bergman’s production of “The Magic Flute” Alot of fun for all ages, in fact (yes, I realize the words “alot of fun” & “Ingmar Bergman” are strange bedfellows, but it’s true).

Are the arts for the middle class?

Thank you for reminding me of some of the good things.