October 31, 2015

Sci-Fi 10: In Advance of the Landing by Douglas Curran

In Advance of the Landing
photos by Douglas Curran
photo of book front by Styrous®


This is in the Sci-Fi category but there is nothing fiction about it. "In Advance of the Landing" is a photographic documentation of real-life people doing real things in the real world. It is a fascinating look into the lives and stories of the people who sincerely believe in the existence of extra-terrestrial life and have interpreted that life through drawings, models, tableaus and life-styles.    




In Advance of the Landing
photos by Douglas Curran
photo of book back by Styrous®



The book, written by Douglas Curran with photographs by him as well, examines the lives of everyday people who have dreamed and constructed their interpretation of what an extra-terrestrial might look like, the vehicles they might ride in, the clothes they might wear and the life-style they may lead. He spent 8 years traveling across North America in preparation for the book. The documentation is done with sincerity and no critique nor judgement of these people. The photographs, drawings, etc. are excellent.                  







recto title page
In Advance of the Landing
photos by Douglas Curran
photo of book by Styrous®



Photo below is the Diorama at the Roswell UFO Enigma Museum depicting the crashed flying saucer and dead aliens from the 1947 Roswell UFO incident, near Roswell, New Mexico.     

In Advance of the Landing
detail from back cover
photos by Douglas Curran
detail photo of book by Styrous®




 From Wikipedia:
"Alien life, such as microorganisms, has been hypothesized to exist in the Solar System and throughout the universe. This hypothesis relies on the vast size and consistent physical laws of the observable universe. According to this argument, made by scientists such as Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, it would be improbable for life not to exist somewhere other than Earth. This argument is embodied in the Copernican principle, which states that Earth does not occupy a unique position in the Universe, and the mediocrity principle, which states that there is nothing special about life on Earth. The chemistry of life may have begun shortly after the Big Bang, 13.8 billion years ago, during a habitable epoch when the universe was only 10–17 million years old. Life may have emerged independently at many places throughout the universe. Alternatively, life may have formed less frequently, then spread—by meteoroids, for example—between habitable planets in a process called panspermia. In any case, complex organic molecules may have formed in the protoplanetary disk of dust grains surrounding the Sun before the formation of Earth. According to these studies, this process may occur outside Earth on several planets and moons of the Solar System and on planets of other stars."           
 


 detail from back cover
In Advance of the Landing 
detail photo of book by Styrous®








One of the many groups featured in the book is the Bond Family with their costumes; they belong to the Unarius Conclave of Light in San Diego, California.       
    


The Unarius Conclave of Light has the model of the flying saucer used in the film, “The Arrival”, which was positively received by critics; review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 63% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 32 reviews, with an average score of 6.3/10, and its consensus states that "The Arrival is stylish and inventive and offers a surprisingly smart spin on the alien invasion genre..." It starred Charlie Sheen, Ron Silver. and was directed by David Twohy.     

Spaceship used in “The Arrival” movie











The science of extraterrestrial life is known as exobiology. The science of astrobiology also considers life on Earth as well, and in the broader astronomical context. Meteorites that have fallen to Earth have sometimes been examined for signs of microscopic extraterrestrial life. In 2015, "remains of biotic life" were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia, when the young Earth was about 400 million years old. According to one of the researchers, "If life arose relatively quickly on Earth ... then it could be common in the universe."       








From Wikipedia:
"It is often hypothesized that life forms elsewhere in the universe would, like life on Earth, be based on carbon chemistry and rely on liquid water. Life forms based on ammonia (rather than water) have been suggested, though this solvent appears less suitable than water. It is also conceivable that there are forms of life whose solvent is a liquid hydrocarbon, such as methane, ethane or propane."       
"The panspermia hypothesis proposes that life elsewhere in the Solar System may have a common origin. If extraterrestrial life was found on another body in the Solar System, it could have originated from Earth just as life on Earth may have been seeded from elsewhere (exogenesis). The first known mention of the term 'panspermia' was in the writings of the 5th century BC Greek philosopher Anaxagoras."      






The Blue Bird, De Tour Village, Michigan
In Advance of the Landing
photos by Douglas Curran
photo of book by Styrous®



Since the 1950s, scientists have argued the idea that "habitable zones" around stars are the most likely places to find life. Numerous discoveries in these zones since 2007 have generated estimations of frequencies of Earth-like planets —in terms of composition— numbering in the many billions though as of 2013, only a small number of planets have been discovered in these zones. Nonetheless, on November 4, 2013, astronomers reported, based on Kepler space mission data, that there could be as many as 40 billion Earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars and red dwarfs in the Milky Way, 11 billion of which may be orbiting Sun-like stars. The nearest such planet may be 12 light-years away, according to the scientists. Astrobiologists have also considered a "follow the energy" view of potential habitats.     







For more than 20 years, Vancouver-based photographer Douglas Curran has documented various beliefs and cultures, from tent preachers to a secret spirit mask society in Central Africa. When not pursuing his own projects, Curran is a still photographer for the motion picture industry. More about Curran and his work can be found on his website.        















Cover Image
By Douglas Curran
Foreword by Tom Wolfe
62 illustrations, 28 in full color
144 pages • 10 x 9" • Cloth
ISBN 0-7892-0708-7 • $35.00


It's a remarkable view of life on the edge!



Styrous® ~ Halloween, Saturday, October 31, 2015



October 29, 2015

101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes 113: Joan Sutherland sings excerpts from Mozart ~ Don Giovanni









Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 

Don Giovanni



~ ~ ~

I started the Vinyl LP series because I have a collection of over 20,000 vinyl record albums I am selling; each blog entry is about an album from my collection. The 101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes series is an extension of that collection. Inquire for information here.   

~ ~ ~

The first opera I ever saw was not actually a live production; it was a film. I remember it vividly! I saw it at a theater, the El Capitan, on Mission Street in San Francisco, California, in the late fifties. It was an ancient movie palace from the twenties that had seen better days and was in sad condition. It is no longer there; well, the external structure is there but it was gutted years ago and turned into a parking lot. The entrance to the lot was the original theater entrance. I was to move into my studio two blocks away fifteen or so years later. To the right of the theater you can see the sign for the Greek import store where I would buy those great albums from Greece    


El Capitan theater, San Francisco, CA
photo by Wendy Harman

I didn't even know what I was going to see. I was expecting a regular old movie but I was in for a gigantic surprise. It was a film of a 1954 stage production in Salzberg, Austria. This production of Don Giovanni was filmed in Salzburg’s open-air Felsenreitschule theatre as part of director Paul Czinner’s movement to preserve renowned theater performances for posterity. It was conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler and featured Cesare Siepi as Don Giovanni, Lisa della Casa as Donna Elvira, Elisabeth Grümmer as Donna Anna and Otto Edelmann as the Don's comic man servant (link to this film on YouTube below).    




Joan Sutherland sings Mozart ~ Don Giovanni
reel-to-reel tape box 
photo by Styrous®



The complete title for Don Giovanni is, Il dissoluto punito, ossia il Don Giovanni, literally The Rake Punished. It is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Da Ponte's libretto was billed, like many of its time, as dramma giocoso, a term that denotes a mixing of serious and comic action. Mozart entered the work into his catalogue as an opera buffa. Although sometimes classified as comic, it blends comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga (now called the Estates Theatre) on October 29, 1787.       



Joan Sutherland sings Mozart ~ Don Giovanni
reel-to-reel tape box back
photo by Styrous®



Don Giovanni is currently tenth on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide. It has also proved a fruitful subject for writers and philosophers. It is based on the legends of Don Juan, a fictional libertine and seducer.       




Joan Sutherland sings Mozart ~ Don Giovanni
reel-to-reel tape box back detail
detail photo by Styrous®




The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote a long essay in his book Enten – Eller in which he argues, writing under the pseudonym of his character "A" and quoting Charles Gounod, that Mozart's Don Giovanni is "a work without blemish, of uninterrupted perfection." The finale, in which Don Giovanni refuses to repent, has been a captivating philosophical and artistic topic for many writers including George Bernard Shaw, who in Man and Superman parodied the opera (with explicit mention of the Mozart score for the finale scene between the Commendatore and Don Giovanni). Gustave Flaubert called Don Giovanni, along with Hamlet and the sea, "the three finest things God ever made." E. T. A. Hoffmann also wrote a short story derived from the opera, Don Juan, in which the narrator meets Donna Anna and describes Don Juan as an aesthetic hero rebelling against God and society.    

In Nordic and Germanic languages, Leporello's "Catalogue Aria" provided the name "Leporello List" for fan-folded printed matter, as used for brochures, photo albums, computer printouts and other continuous stationery.   





Joan Sutherland sings Mozart ~ Don Giovanni
reel-to-reel tape box spine
detail photo by Styrous®



Joan Sutherland made her debut in Don Giovanni on July 26, 1958, with the Vancouver Opera, the largest opera company in western Canada. It was conducted by Berthold Goldschmidt.      

She was dubbed La Stupenda by a La Fenice audience in 1960 after a performance of the title role in Handel's Alcina.  
Her voice was described as "fresh," "silvery" and "bell-like" until 1963, Joan Sutherland's voice, later became "golden" and "warm", music critic John Yohalem writes it was like "molten honey caressing the line." In his book Voices, Singers and Critics, John Steane writes that "if the tonal spectrum ranges from bright to dark, Sutherland's place would be near the centre, which is no doubt another reason for her wide appeal." According to John Yohalem, "Her lower register was a cello register, Stradivarius-hued." Her voice was full and rounded even in her highest notes, which was brilliant, but sometimes "slightly acid."



Joan Sutherland sings Mozart ~ Don Giovanni
reel-to-reel tape box and reel
photo by Styrous®





Joan Sutherland sings Mozart ~ Don Giovanni
reel-to-reel tape box and libretto
photo by Styrous®




The synopsis

Don Giovanni, a young, arrogant, and sexually promiscuous nobleman, abuses and outrages everyone else in the cast, until he encounters something he cannot kill, beat up, dodge, or outwit. The infamous womanizer, makes one conquest after another until the ghost of Donna Anna's father, the Commendatore, (whom Giovanni killed) makes his appearance. The Commendatore offers Giovanni one last chance to repent for his multitudinious improprieties. He will not change his ways, so, he is dragged into hell by a horde of demons amid fire and smoke (link to complete synopsis below).       





The Libretto






Net Links:      
            
Don Giovanni ~ Synopsis         
Don Giovanni ~ Roles
          
                     

Mozart ~ Don Giovanni on YouTube:                   
                   
Don Giovanni, Furtwängler, Salzburg 1954 (complete opera)          
Don Giovanni - Commendatore scene (Furtwängler)                  
                    
                
The Joan Sutherland , Mozart ~ Don Giovanni reel-to-reel tape is for sale on eBay      





Styrous® ~ Thursday, October 29, 2015 
   

101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes 112: Joan Sutherland sings excerpts from Gounod ~ Faust





~ ~ ~

I started the Vinyl LP series because I have a collection of over 20,000 vinyl record albums I am selling; each blog entry is about an album from my collection. The 101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes series is an extension of that collection. Inquire for information here.   

~ ~ ~


Faust is a grand opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play, Faust et Marguerite, which was based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1. It debuted at the Théâtre Lyrique on the Boulevard du Temple in Paris on March 19, 1859.

The Devil has a great aria in Faust, Le veau d'or est toujours debout! (Song of the Golden Calf). The Soldier's Chorus is fun, happy and full of life; there is a video of the Kremlin Guard performing it and it is an interesting interpretation. It is slower, aggressive and threatening, almost scary.  

But neither the Devil's song nor the Chorus are my favorites in this opera. My favorites are, Alerte ! alerte!, the final scene, and the finale which follows. They are outstanding! The final scene has the singers dramatically, constantly, shifting  from one key to the next with intense emotion until you think they can't possibly get any more intense or go any higher. But they do and you go out of your mind with the beauty of the music! And if you're lucky enough to see a production that uses an organ in ADDITION to the orchestra, well . . . (links to music on YouTube below).      




Faust was rejected by the Paris Opera, on the grounds that it was not sufficiently "showy", and its appearance at the Théatre-Lyrique was delayed for a year because Adolphe d'Ennery's drama Faust was playing at the Porte St. Martin. When it was finally staged, in 1859, it was not well received. 

However, when it was revived in Paris in 1862, it was a hit. A ballet had to be inserted before the work could be played at the Opéra in 1869: it became the most frequently performed opera at that house and a staple of the international repertory, which it remained for decades, being translated into at least 25 languages.   

Its popularity and critical reputation have declined somewhat since around 1950. A full production, with its large chorus and elaborate sets and costumes, is an expensive undertaking, particularly if the act 5 ballet is included. However, it appears as number 35 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.   





photo by Styrous®



It was Faust with which the Metropolitan Opera in New York City opened for the first time on October 22, 1883. It is the eighth most frequently performed opera there, with 747 performances through the 2011-2012 season. It was not until the period between 1965 and 1977 that the full version was performed (and then with some minor cuts), and all performances in that production included the Walpurgisnacht and the ballet.                  




reel-to-reel tape box back detail
detail photo by Styrous®



Synposis

The action takes place in 16th Century Germany. during the German Renaissance. It is the story of of a man who sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for knowledge and power. Gounod’s opera does not attempt to match the thematic breadth or the philosophical sophistication of Goethe’s sprawling masterpiece, concentrating instead on Faust’s romantic encounter with Marguerite (Gretchen in Goethe’s drama) and the tragic results of their liaison (link to complete synopsis below).  

 


reel-to-reel tape box back detail
detail photo by Styrous®






reel-to-reel tape spine 
photo by Styrous®






reel-to-reel tape box open 
photo by Styrous®


photo by Styrous®

The copy of the libretto that came with the tape has yellowed with age with the form of the reel emblazoned on it which gives it a strange depth effect.    


photo by Styrous®






The miscreant tape reel

reel-to-reel tape label detail
detail photo by Styrous®




Joan Sutherland first sang the role of Marguerite on March 9, 1965, with the Connecticut Opera, a professional, non-profit, opera company based in Hartford, Connecticut, and a member of OPERA America. The company closed in February of 2009, after 67 seasons.  


Credits:  
      
    Baritone Vocals – Raymond Myers, Robert Massard     
    Bass Vocals – Nicolai Ghiaurov     
    Contralto Vocals – Monica Sinclair
    Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Margreta Elkins
    Soprano Vocals – Joan Sutherland
    Tenor Vocals – Franco Corelli
    Choir – The Choir Of Highgate School
    Chorus – The Ambrosian Opera Chorus
    Chorus Master – John McCarthy
    ConductorRichard Bonynge
    OrchestraThe London Symphony Orchestra
         

Label: London Records ‎– L 90172
Format: reel-to-reel tape
Country: USA
Released: 1970
Genre: Classical
Style: Opera        


libretto detail
detail photo by Styrous®
  



 

 

Links on the Net:           
           
Joan Sutherland ~ excerpts from Donizetti ~ La fille du régiment    
Joan Sutherland ~ excerpts from Mozart ~ Don Giovanni         
  
Faust ~ Synopsis                          
Faust ~ Roles                        
    





Links to music on YouTube:         
         
Joan Sutherland ~ Jewel Song
Joan Sutherland ~ Alerte ! alerte! & Finale     
         
Soldiers Chorus         
Kremlin Guard ~ Soldiers' Chorus          
Le veau d'or est toujours debout!          
final scene (Alerte! alerte!)              
Finale             
Complete Faust opera           



The Joan Sutherland ~ Faust, reel-to-reel tape is for sale on eBay      



Styrous® ~ Thursday, October 29, 2015